HOKITIKA NOTES

Grey River Argus, 16 December 1930, Page 2

HOKITIKA NOTES

(Our Own Correspondent.) HOKITIKA, December 15. During the past week two members of the South Westland Shipping Coy, Messrs G. Perry and R. Wild, journeyed to Wellington with the dual purpose of interviewing various engineering firms as to merits of their respective Diesel engines for installation in the steamer Gael, also to interview the Government regarding the South Westland trade. The company for a /lumber of years have met with very bad luck, and have lost every vessel up to t lie Elsie. From reports to hand th.’ Acting Premier gave the mem bcr a sympathetic hearing a‘:d promised snap" I Io i.n. Th. Die.-' l t-ngine ba- been ordered and will be >'f t e well known Gardiner make, and il show d arrive in New Zealand at the rad of Jaeuaiy or early in February. The work of dismantling the steamer and taking out the boder and steam tfigine will be commenced after the holidays. It is proposed to make the present hold 12 feet longer, also to remove all the present deck housing | and bridge. The ship will then have , a much longer fore deck. The wheel and controls will be housed in a wheel ■ rouse, just under the aft deck shc-tcr. | The captain’s and engineer’s cabin it j is intended to build on deck aft of ( the wheel house. The new engine is of llr? tour cylinder full Diesel cold starting type, and will l><‘ the latest j p ocumble. The whole job will be I carried out in Hokitika, under expert supervision, and it is expected to have the ship ready for sea by tire end of , Marcli. The Gael when completed I : h' ul<l inctease her i.'irivug capacity from 5(1 to 3U tons general cargo, and w’.iereas she carried forme v 20,009 • iiiperficia’. feet of limber, s e will carry betwe-n .3(1,000 and 32.000 feet, and her speed will be inc:eased from seven k'.iots to nine, and her manning , scale will bo reduced from seven to ix hands A’together the conversion tb.e Gael from steam to oil will re- ’ suit in making her a vastly inip.ov<‘d sh p. Especially wil this be noticeaide in her draught, and the alteration wil’ make the Gael much more suitable for the south bars. 'Pile position so fa as I e ship will serve tl.e port :■ al llok.tika is a- very satisfactory on The Jlaibour Board will r<‘ceiv.* I a I proximat el v £4OO n wharfages, and w 11 aiso keep the port on the map. The Wed'iigton Hokitika service will ■ b mai‘.itain(‘d and local business people will reap the benefit of a direct scr- I vice at reasonable freight rates. The j Company deserve credit for their deci- ' sion to carry on. after their varied expei cnees, and we are certain towns- . people and the South Westland resi- ( dents will extend every help in the i matter of providing freights and trust that after all the company will come , out on tju* right side of the ledger. I Hokitika cricket team gained an- . o|i' er wiM yesterday, defeating Ru<*itapu l»y an innings and eight runs, and gaining a threi* point win, at the Mental Hospital ground. Ruatapu scored ■ i>9 and 37, while Hokitika made 114. i Whitehead scored 36 for Ruatapu and Aiuger I<S. For. Hokitika Goode scor- | ed 21, Williams 23, Jordan 17, and | Freitas (not out) 15. For Ruatapu I Aingcr took six wickets for 42, C. 1 ('ampbell 2 for 16, a'nd T. Oates 2 i for 4(l Fur Hokitika T. Daly took 1 wickets for •> runs and 5 wickets for 19 runs: while Goode took 1 for j 13 and 5 for 10; and Williams took | 'J for 8. ; j Last week le& : than half an inch ’ i of rain fell here, while the sunshine | recoijd was 32A hours. In the cricket match, Kanieri v. Rimu yesterday, at Ki mu. Kanieri de- | tented the home team by an a nJ twenty rirtis. i The Borougu Council at its meeting on Friday accepted an amount of £4O i f'om the Returned Soldiers’ Associa--1 tion with the proviso that the money i was to carry a subsidy from the UnI employment Board’s Number One i scheme at the rate of £2 for £l, and returned men to be employed on the J works, and married soldiers to be i given preference. Thus the Council re- i | ceived a sum of £.1.20 with which to do work in the Borough, the Public I Works Department specifying that , i £95 of this amount was to be spent | | on wages. The Council appointed a i , selection committee to select the men, I namely Messrs R. Patterson, A. Arm- ' strong and the Town Clerk. The men have been selected and work will commence this morning. There is still a considerable num- ' ber of unemployed around Hokitika, I and a committee was formed last Friday evening to endeavour to do something for these men under the Unem- | ployment Board’s scheme Number 2. I | As many readers seem to be in a fog ' i regarding th ; s unemployment money, i I it must be generally understood that ' l this money can be obtained by local 1 I people for the following purposes: — ’ Bor any property owner that requires i | bis property drained, painted, cleaned ' up, or wood chopped, or assistance | . with clerical work, then by applying I . to the local committee, and giving de- ■ tails of the work to be undertaken, ■ people can put on employed labour | I to do the work, and pay them at the ( | rate of 7s per day. and the L'nem- ' { ployment Board will pay the balance • of 7s per day. making 14s in all. ' I Workcr.s to obtain this work must, of : : course, |»e registered as unemployed ! through the local Postmaster, who is I acting as the Labour Officer at HokiI tika. By outlining this scheme, one ' hopes to enlighten the business people and property owners in general and if there is any handy work that they ; caSi 4 ave put in hand then it will be i to their own hnefit as well as helping some unemployed worker to obtain a 1 I He money for Christmas. Citizens, i> their rfuofs want painting, their yards cleaning, on want firewood chop- i p**d, or any of the hundred and one | things that need doing for- Christmas, ; should let the Unemployment Fund help them a\s well as helping the workers who have no work to do. T'he local Committee is waiting for applications to come in. Other towns alwttys reap the benefit of Government assistance, Hokitika is generally con-

tent to help itself. This means that other towns get our share. Some day we have to leave the grave, why not now? A very profitable work that could be attempted by the Harbour Board and that would serve two good purposes, namely, absorb some of Ihc unemployed :i*nd effect desired improvement in the drainage of Hokitika, would be an attempt to turn the Hokitika River into one main stream down the w.harf instead °f f'* ,e t wu streams as at present. The work has been -ooked overt by the Board, and engineers’ reports have been obtained. Although it would be costly to build a retaining wall to turn the river, of our old inhabitants maintain that by cutting a channel on the town side of the channel, near Mr J. Foote’s trench, it would allow a good deal of water to come down the main stream by the new brewery site, and this would relieve a great pressarc tljat is helping to drive the other channel through the maiji island opposite Sale Street, the river would be g ven every encouragemehit to take its old course. The Railway Board at present pay out £2 5s per week to the County and Borough Councils to collect rates and another £lOO per annum in office and harbour salaries, and practically no wharfages' coming in. The Board also has £lOOO lying at interest earning £5O per year. Now if the Board evetn took £lOO out of the money box and secured an unemployment subsidy of £2 for £l, this would moan £3OO to make an effort to do some good. When the ratepayers think what a mess previous Boards have made of our harbour works, the present members could with every confidence attempt this othen means of restoring the river to its ..right channel. Here is an opportunity to do something for a modest outlay and ti*nd employment for eight men for three months. Thousands have been wasted, so another hundred would not matter. It is up to the Board to give it a go. Acceptances for all day events at Westland Racing Club’s meeting close at 8.30 o’clock on Friday next. Bank Draft, handicapped at 7.0, was omitted from the Thompson Handicap on the list of weights published on Friday for the first Jay of the Westland RacAig Club’s meeting. Black Duke’s weight in the main event on the first day should be 10.3, not 10.13 as first published. A considerable quantity of bulk timber will be required for the launching of the new .hull for the Rimu dredge next month. This will avoid the necessity of some of the local mills closing down as early as was thought, as the orders will keep some of the teams active for the time being. The town presents a quiet appearance, although it is only a. few days to Christmas. At the appointed time for the sale of privileges 00. behalf ot the Westland Racing a>id Trotting Cubs on Saturday afternoon there were only about a dozen spectators and not. one representative of the licensing trade among the lot. Matters looked bad for the clubs’ sale of privileges. Time went on and at a quarter of an hour past the appointed time of sale, the proprietor of the Red Lion looked i’ll to see how things were moving. iThe auctioneer then commenced to outline the opportunities that presented themselves at the forthcoming meetings, the main one being that the majority of race goers would this year not have enough spare money to back the gee gees on the machine and therefore the successful buyer could look forward to an increased business at the booths. The booths were finally knocked down

as follows: Racing Club’s booths. No. I (both days’ rights) £45; No. 2 (both days) £45; total £9O. Trotting Club, one day only. No. 1 booth and No. 2. £5(l. The buyer in al leases was Air A. Nancekeville. The rights to lht> Trotting Club’s race cards were bought by Mr W. Richards for £lO. The prize list of the Secondary Department at the Hokitika. Distr ct il'tji Schoo] i n’s foßows:—Form Vh —D. (’agney ]. E. Richards 2. G. Oliver .3. Form Va.—A. Shanin n (Dux JK'dal) 1. F. Wallace 2, (’. Cox 3. Porm VI.—R. Thii l 1. 1. Bell 2. Spec al 1 nt-ii I’r’ze.—Chris Preston. Form IV.—• General.— Robert Wilson 1. Joan. Baker and Sydney Bla-tk. 2. Jea n* Barrowman and Doug as Spence Special French I’i* ze for Diligence. —Edna Baker. Commercial. — En i Th’i’le 1. Ida Pascoe 2. Form lII.— General —Jessie Gunn 1. James Dorr. en 2. Marjorie McCarthy 3, Terence i tfc-w 4. Comiiit'rcial—Joyce Parkhill 1, Eva. Randall 2. Mary Ale Mui lan 3. Specials.—Progress.— Alaurice Moore, Jack Denia. HONOURS LIST, i-’ori.i 1 IL-—(leneral.—Jessie Zlunn 1.. James Dorr •• n 2. aarj-uiu McCarthy 3, Terence Dew I. George Stap etun 5. Commercial—Joyce i? -khill 1, Eva Randall 2, Joan Z egler 3. Mary AL - Mullan 4. Evelyn McFarlan'* 5. Form. I V.—Guneral---P- ib Wilson 1. Joan Baker 2. Sidney Blank .3, Douglas ■ipeii'e 1, Edna Baker I .’viiimen-ial. — Ida Pascoe .1, Ena Triele 2. Eil/eti Watson 3 Form vb.—General.--Des-mond ('agney .1, Edwin Richnryls 2. Richard Irwin 3, Gordon Oliver 4Form A r .—Commercial. —Gwen Robin>on 1. E-'sie Robinson 2, Dorothy Newman 3,Helen R dland 4. Mr. J. O’Brien, who weal to Wellington last week in regard to tho ex ]-cnd?lur/.*- of road votes in the district wired the Goumty Office stating: — * 1 The Minister of Public Works is u Dunedin, and will not return until th * : (lt!’. of December. 1 have Jone ihe best I (‘an here, and I think some works will he authorised.’’ Regarding a South Westland pro position it ‘s sa<id that at the time of du- ear a well-known figure from South WesV'and confided to a camp mate at the front as to the locality of a niiniuir proposition in the south, which he intended to take up on re-turn,-ng .home’. Unfortunately. the West ladder was not fated, to return, but the eamp-mate returned, and after a. long interval of years bethought l?'in of the mining spe,<ulat ion in thesouth. He secured ;1 mate am! came down to Westland, and early this week wc.it, south, only to find that, the auriferous country had been peg ged out already and was about to be worked as. :■ sluicing proposition. 11 is understood that the referred to is i.s the Waikukupa district south of Weheka. Prospectors are out also n i hr Ocmocj’oa country adjoining Waikukup t. The Rimu Town Ila 1 I was filled :o over.f’lowling for IJiie- annual tynneertt of the Convent S.diool. The jirogramino presented. was varied and judging by the applause was iniu-h appreciated. The children’s items were very pleasing and those of the adults were well rendered. From beg* nning io end there was nor a dull moment and 1 he concert was voted as one of the best held in Rimu for some tim«y 'i’he luii.il following the concert was .. groat sn.ccess and the. bright music supplied by the Melody Orchestra kept the dancers busy. A delicious supper was served by a ladies’ committee. who deserve every credit for their generous work. The New Zealand Refrgera’-ing Company. Christchurch, forwarding to the. Borough Council returns of meat delivered into Hokitika during the months of September and October,

U3O. viz... 35 sheep, 1 calf, and 1 pig. and advise that the fees for 12' sheep paid to Hokitika should belom. to Grryno.'iii ii. ni: I tin adjustnv'n' had h.’u i made bv reduction of ilu fees for tl.e forcgo'Ug month'; also advising that Ih<* following quanli ties of meat were doivered into floki .i‘>a during the month of Novemb? l 1930, viz.. 61 sheep and 4 lamb . The s.-.-reta ry, 11 ikitika llarboui Board. I\ "warding the Borough Conn c’l a. copy of resolution passed by the Harbour Board in the sih insi ■ iz:—‘‘That permission be granted the Borough Council to use the fore shore for a rubbi.-li dump be termin ate.l on this date, the road closed forthwith, the Borough Council In asked to have the offensive rnattii co'(‘rod up, and the Council be fur t ished with a. ropy of the Ratepayers petition. (’r. Evans moved that the Foreman instructed to (dean tip. place up at one'.-. SecO'iidrd. by ( i Duff, and rarriod. Cr. Evans said th Coum-il was to blame in not havin’ had propei supervision. Wherever 1m diiinp is it should bu under si riel co' l trol. Cr. Heenan said he woit'd stronv y object to tb.e dump being' agai' opened there. Ur. Evins moved tha the (.'otujcil wait- on the Harbou; Board on the matter, the Committee to consist of the Mayor and DepuA Afayor. Seconded by Mr. Elcock am carried. It was resolved that the In .‘.pector make a. visit of inspectioi with a xnew of finding a suitable sit' tor a dump, the north town iroundatu on the Leach being suggest<•<!. It wa mentioned that rubbish was b ‘in; dumped along t he road near th? <d dump on the Ila i Hau road. It wai nieniiiiiied that wherever Hie dumj was placed there would have to h< .'t rid siqiervision bv ihi* Council \ Officers and the suggestion made <<■ place the r’ghf to doposi’t rubbish he let to one carrier on y and niakhi in 11 sjioji: i Ide. The Dis*, ric* Tele graph Engineer wrote granting p< r mission for erection of street nano |;'ai’.-> un telegraph poles *n tl-*' I‘ Ol ' ough on the following conditions: — (1 ) Tb it name plates be erected be tw.-en twelve and fourteen feet above street level; (2) That they d" not in any way prevent access it Depart me;nt ’>> wifre's; (3) That they art' removable upon demand, and (4) 'that this Council accept ai' responsibility for any accident s arising as a, result of rhe erection of the signs. The Alanager. Kanieri Electric LtJ. Hokitika, granted permission to affix street name plates to electric light poles, such plates to be affixed, at such a height and position, as no. T.;i in anv way interfere with the, conduct ors. At th.’ Borough Council’s meeting a letter was received from the Plicate Secretary of His Excellency the Governor Genera’, stating that HiExcellency proposes to visit linktika on January 31. ami will probably stay till ALmdav. and as!; ng (hat ow’ng t.o the financial depression n : » unnecessary expense be undertaken It was resolved that the Mayor and Tow i Clerk arrange for the reception of IPs Exe Honey. The Treasurer r-' purled receipts £378/6/0; £475/17/0; debit £332/13/6. Accounts amounting to £696/15/8 were passed for payment. The Foreman’s report showed that, the wafer in the resei'oir averaged lift 6in. dur. ng the month. The Abattoir’s .Manager reported as follows:—Stock s-aughtered luring November; 20 cows; .34 heifers; 50 bullocks, 215 sheep, 5 lambs, 7 pigs; 7 calves : . Condemned, nil. Fees received £6B/8/- against £5B/17/- for the same' period last year. Tenders for a hundred loads of sand wer-* re reived, and Air. B. E. Coyle 1/3 per load i being the lowest was accepted

jit wa> rm-oixed that the Mayor, | Deput v Alavor. (.'i'- Heenan and Arm Ibtroao- be a committee in connection . Avitli Go* I ’ m'mployment Represent a - it ion scheme. Tenders for -and were •opened:—B. E. Cuy'e l s -3d. P. Coyle 2s. T. Stopforth 2s. Thu lowest tender j was accepted. The Public Works Com- ‘ mittec' reported that after investigai tion they had unanimously decided to j grant permission to Messrs. Newmans Motors, Ltd.. io erect two petrol pumps in Sewell Street. —Ruee-vo«I and adopted. The usual fees fur the regis■tration of dogs was fixed and agreed to The Town Clerk reported that ;n eminec! ion with the l’nem ployment Fund, a gra it totalling £lBO was available for concrete channel ing I —Received. It stated that the work, available would be for returned 1 soldiers only. Tn connection w th | Unemployme.i! Fund is was resolved j to appoint an Unemployment Representation < unimirte.' consisting of tb< Mayor. Deputy Mayor. Messrs. Heen an. and Armstrong, with power to add. It was resolved to ask the Lab our Bureau at Greymouth to arrange for a. local officer to be appointed to represent them in Hokitika*. It was a'so resolved to ask the Government to appo’-.n an officer. It was res'd\«-i I io have the usual ’Xmas < lean up of the streets, the work being left to the Town Clerk. •Oversceri, and Chait I man of Public Works to carry out.

The Reserves Committee reported ax» inspection of the Cemetery and Bp sive, and recommended the following work for approval:*—(l) Fence’ ana gate, at entrance to the Cemetery be painted*. (21 Top rail of post and rail fence for full length of the Cemetery I’i'l t*- !»«• pi nted. (3) That the mam paths of ill 1 Cemetery be tarsealed this year, a-id that the Borough staff attend to the chipping and cleaning of the footpaths prior to the tarsealiug. (4 That iron frame of turnstyle at Camp Street entrance to Marau.irew Square be repaired, and that new post be inserted at turn style in Hamilton Street, and that the Caretaker paint the tin at each turnstyle. Co j That the drain pipe be installed across the footpath on the south si le of Cas> Square at tJugate opp<» it the Dairy Factory _■ provide s’tfiicient drainage for storn water-. (6) Near the Pavilion in C-ass Square there is a depression, and we recommend that rhe grader be used to the higher ground, and the tpoil <-an bt ii*cd to fill the depression. ( 7 That 100 oads of beach sand be obtained for the Square for filling holes in the playrig field. (8) Fl.-.-t the Caretaker!* of Reserves dean ihe low«-r portion of the Clock Tower -»«! paint the iron chains. Th- report was adopted, aad left to the Town Clerk to giw! effect to as funds per mit.