HOKITIKA NOTES

Grey River Argus, 10 November 1931, Page 2

HOKITIKA NOTES

(Our Own Correspondent.> HOKITIKA, November 9. I Mr D. J. Evans, County Clerk, returned from South West land yesterday, and has resumed his duty at the! County Office. Mr Evans has improved greatly in health. The Arbitration Court will sit at Hokitika on December 7th. There was an improved run of whitebait in the middle of last week, but on Saturday and yesterday there was almost a cessation of the run, the fish being very scarce in spite of the sea being favourable. A fair number of unemployed men started work at the Westland Hospital i this week under Scheme 5. The work |to be undertaken is land development and drainage work. Already the unemployed have effected considerable ’ improvements to the grounds, but in order to meet the wishes of the Minister of Unemployment, and put the . men to useful work, it was decided to J increase the. number allotted. The (whole of the work is under the supervision of the Chairman of the House I Committee, Mr G. Davidson, who is to be congratulated on the great improvejinents being effected. A quarter of an inch of rain was ' recorded here last week, while there ' was 54$ hours of sunshine. j A meeting is being field here this evening to form a Gold Prospecting Association.

’ It is understood that the Hokitika I Harbour Board will at 'its meeting to Ibe held this -week decide immediately to apply to the Local Unemployment j Committee for permission to employ up to 50 unemployed workers on a scheme turn the main waters of the HokiI tika River back to the old course along i the wharf. The. County Engineer has j submitted a plan for the proposed work, which will have to commence as I soon as possible and it is hoped to start it on Monday, November 16th. ! It is a wonder the work has been dcj layed so long. One most vital matter to be considered is that of public I health. All the sowers of the town discharge into the stream at the wharf, and as this is only tidal at present and [at low tide the upper portion is entirely dry, a fearful stench is present, and with hot summer weather is a menace to the residents.. On top of this, the motor ship Gael has been practically high and dry at low water .at the wharf, and with some 30,000 j super feet of red pine aboard, the owners are naturally concerned lest the ship strains herself. A third danger (that, presents itself is the fact that the (water going down the middle channel is butting right into the training wall

at the flagstaff and a considerable depth of water is present at the signal station. Soundings taken at low water revealed 24ft of water. Residents can imagine that with the big summer floods and the whole river rushing at this vital point, the pressure might take the wall to sea/aud should such a. disaster happen, the sea might again encroach on the town. With these imminent dangers, the Harbour Board has the backing of the whole town in its undertaking, and with the relief workers taking keen interest in the job, success should meet the efforts of all concerned. The Board is pressed hard for finance, but this work is important and needs the help and assistance of the residents.

The whitebaiters of the district intended holding a whitebaiters’ ball at an early date, but owing to the poor season being experienced, it has been decided to postpone the event for the present. The proceeds were going to be devoted to some deserving object. The Gael, which sailed on Sunday morning for Wellington with a full load of timber, is to load transhipments from the Northumberland and returns to Hokitika next Thursday, when she will load again for Wellington. Captain Nalder keeps the local | trader on the move. A new propeller j designed by McGregor’s, of Dunedin, was recently fitted at Nelson, and the vessel maintains a speed of 8A knots. Associated with Captain Nalder as Chief Engineer is Mr R. H. Jones, who ; it will be remembered, was engineer on the Zingara. ! The Westland County Council has 1 some important works in hand which : are being carried out with unemployed ; labour. One of these is the straight■ening and widening of Flowery Creek hill, which is almost completed, and is a very creditable work. It has been well carried out. This was formerly a danger spot, and with the improvements the hill is much safer for the motorist. A general cleaning out of all the drains and water channels is being undertaken throughout the county, and distinct improvements may be immediately noticed. The. road through Blur Spur to Humphrey’s Gully has been greatly improved. While on County matters, it may be said that all are pleased to learn that the County Clerk, Mr D. J. Evans, continues to make satisfactory progress towards his former good health, and is now able to resume work. ■ The Municipal Band, under the Conductor, C. Ross, visited the Mentai Hospital yesterday afternoon, and gave a programme which the inmates much appreciated, as well as a fair number of visitors. During a discussion at the annual meeting of the Swimming Club, Mr Lawn mentioned that out of all the pupils from the second to the sixth standard, numbering some 156, only 5«5 ' were able, to swim. The Club intend to take the matter up with the Rector and School Committee, with a view to remedying this deficit. Every child in the Westland district should be able to swim, and the Baths Committee intend to tackle the task of teaching the school children the art.

At the annual meeting of the Hokitika Amateur Swimming Club, held on Thursday evening, the balance sheet showed the Club’s finances need stimulating in order to allow the Club to meet its obligations. As the 'President explained to those present, the two recent bad summers had caused the people to neglect the baths, and the school children’s season tickets showed a marked decrease. Various ways and means were discussed to. assist the club • <*• u

out of its difficulties, and Miss Dorothy Thwaites, of Greymouth, has kindly of- ' fered to organise a monster dance re- I eital and concert, to be staged in the ; Princess Theatre, on Thursday, Decern- i ber 3rd. Miss Thwaites has staged re- : citals previously in Greymouth and j Reefton and packed houses greeted i both performances. A Committee con-. i sisting of Messrs R. Lynn, M. H. Hous- ’ j ton, and E. W. Heenan were appointed i to meet Miss Thwaites and finalise ar- i rangements for the concert. The meet- i ing was held on Saturday at the Sol- i diers’ Hall, Miss Duff being also pre- | sent. The committee decided to ar-I i range for the 'draft programme to be i submitted next Saturday and Miss Duff Ii has kindly consented to assist by tak- i ing charge of the stage and effects. Mr i E. W. Heenan is to arrange the pub- ! licity, and the Melody Orchestra will i render the music. Performers in Miss I Thwaites’ presentation will come from ; all over the Coast, and a very bright.: and high class performance is assured.; ; In view- of the hard times being ex- j i perienced at present, the Committee ; decided to charge the reasonable j prices of 2s and Is, children half-price., The people of Westland are reminded to keep this date in view, and roll up and assist a very deserving object. The Okarito dredge continues to work satisfactorily, last week’s return being 75 ounces. Four of the directors of the Company, from Dunedin, visited the dredge over the week-end. Blacksanding along the Okarito beach and the back leads continues, evidently with satisfactory returns to those engaged. There is a hopeful feeling

about the prospects of the Okarito Lagoon claim. A large area of maiden country has been taken up by an Auckland syndicate in the back reaches of the Lagoon, and prospecting operations have been in hand now for some months. The ground is being tested by both boring and shafting and from the length of time devoted to proving the area the results are believed to be encouraging. It is said that there is a large area believed to be auriferous. The country is not dissimilar to that of Rimu Flat, and there are hopes that the venture may prove as notable as that of the locality just referred to. Hydro electric power rights have been secured in the Forks River, which also suggests the promising nature of the enterprise. It is expected that something definite will be known shortly as to the intentions of the Syndicate respecting more substantial mining developments.

At the Swimming Club’s annual meeting there were present: Messrs M. Houston, senr., E. Heenan, A. Lawn, 11. Lynn, V. Bergamini, M. Houston junr., F. Rochford, W. Andrews, and E.j Best (representing the Boxing Association). Mr M. Houston senr. was appointed to the chair. The report and balance sheet, which were adopted, were considered very satisfactory. The election" of officers resulted in last year’s office bearers being re-elected, with the addition of Messrs A. Parkhill and G. Tomlinson. The Chairmah stated its liabilities at present were £3O 15s, and the intention was that as soon as this debt was liquidated to allow the school children the free use of the baths. Mr Best asked the Club’s permission to store the Boxing Association’s timber within the enclosure for future tournaments. This request was granted. It was decided to affiliate with the West Coast Centre again this year, declared members to pav their own membership fees (pre-

viously paid by the Club). The final meeting of the Westland Sub-Union was held at Keller’s Rooms there were present: Messrs J. Stafford (chair), D. Dowell, A. Lawn, R. McDonald and E. Heenan, and apologies were received from Messrs F. McGregor and ,T. J. Breeze. The financial statement was submitted by the Treasurer, and after final amounts had been passed for payment, a credit balance of £3O remained. This, the Chairman stated, reflected great credit on all I concerned as the season was so far as gate receipts were concerned the worst so far experienced. However, the SubI Union had come out on top and it was a pleasure to all concerned. The Chairman earnestly hoped that the members would deposit this money in the Savings Bank, as the foundation of a fund to enable the Union to send a team on tour to the East Coast next season. Members had been striving for this goal for some time and ho was pleased that the visit would now eventuate. A motion was carried that the money be placed on deposit in the Hokitika Savings Bank. It was resolved to forward , letters of thanks to Mr Keller for thoj use of the meeting room and to Mr Pridmore for the very valuable assistance he had rendered to the players during the past season. This being the last meeting of the union for the season the President extended good wishes to all and expressed the hope that next year would see as many as possible rally to help the players an'l* the Union to keep the game going and maintain the improvement already attained,