HOKITIKA NOTES

Grey River Argus, 9 October 1934, Page 2

HOKITIKA NOTES

(Our Own Correspondent). HOKITIKA, October 8. After being delayed by adverse weather, the Gael a.nd To Aroha sailed on' Saturday morning’s tide with timber for Welltngton, where they arrived this morning. The railway time table between here and Greymouth is likely to be altered shortly, and one result is L'kely to be that the service wvl bj> fast dr. Mr Gordon Byron, 'the musical examiner for the Associated Board of Music, is to arrive in Hokitika on Tuesday, October 23, and the examinations will be held on Wednesday, October 24. The only football match here on Saturday .was a jun?or game between the West port Old Boys’ team and Kiwis. The visitors won by 18 points to 14.

Wet weather prevented most golfers from playing during the week-end. In rhe men’s singles. Cox, beating Adamjon, entered the final, while Routledge. defeating Mclntosh, entered the semi-final against Reese.*'

The Acclimatisation Society is trying bo stock Lake Mapou.rika, near Franz Josef Glacier, with rainbow trout, having liberated there 100,00 b fry, towards the transport of which, Giaham Bros., proprietors of Franz Josef Hostel, paid, half the cost. At ,1 he bocal hatchery, 350.000 brown trout fry hatched from Southland ova remain to be distributed, while a similar quantity from Canterbhry ova 1 has been already distributed, also *’•00,000 quinnat fry in Lake Kanicri, i. aking a total distribution for the season by the Society of a million fry. Mr Ri'dland is in charge of operations at the hatchery., which will 03 completed next month. The drawing was held to-day of an ait union in aid of the junior lib* raiy. The winning ticket, No. 336, was held by Mrs C. Fowler. Revell Sr.-eet, and was so'd by Airs Li'ndsay. Tnere were 610 tickets sold. The stay here of the Duke of Gloucester on January 7 will be limited to 25 minutes before he proceeds to Waiho. It is suggested that children from the schools south of Teremakau River should assemble here so that the Duke may see them. The Education Board desires that children from Standard 111 upwards travel to Hokitika, where the Duke arrives at 5.15 p.m., .and is due in Ross, at 5.45 p.m., where he stays !•’ p i mites before motoring to Waiho. Mr J. C. Mercer had a busy weekend with his plane in South Westland. With Mr and Airs J. Cron, of the Haast, he arrived here on Saturday at 11.30 a.m.. and after refuelling, flew to the Haast, where the passengers landed. Then the .plane camo back to Okuru. taki'ng aboard Mrs Connell, of Huhuku and her daughter, the la'ttcr suffering from appendicitis, who were landed here at 4.30 p.m., after a flight of 90' minutes, the girl in the evening undergoing an operation. Yesterday the plane left fc*r Waiho at 8.45 a.m. Mr J. Stuart bei'ng aboard. Mr C. Saddler, of Reefton, intending to inspect and buy live stock from Air R. J. Eggeling at Okuru. joined the plane at Waiho. Air Stuart landed at Bruce Bay, and Mr Eggeling took his place. After the latter’s cattle were inspected from the air. they made a further inspection on the ground, and concluded a deal on behalf of a Reefton firm. Mr A. Cron was then taken by the plane iroin the Haast, and Airs R. Eggeling from Afahitahi, where Air Cron landed. After Mrs Eggeling and Mr Saddler were landed at Waiho, the plane returned to Mahitahi. and brought Messrs Stuart and Cron to Waiho, when the former and Airs Eggleton flew back with Mr Mercer to Hokitika. Mr Afercer returned this morning to Waiho to bring up Airs R. Graham and Air Cron, whom Mrs Egg’eton this afternoon was .to accompanv on a flight to Christchurch.

At. the Acclimatisation Society’s monthly meeting, the Secretary reported that fishing licenses had been issued to the following persons: fl. D. Buchanan, E. J. Lloyd. P. J. Kirwan, P. Douglas, J. Preston. C. L. Martin (Ross), R. Paterson. IT. Johnston (Ross). E. Dundas (Raufapu). E. Appleton. C. B. Preston. W. C. Braddon, A. Thompson (Ross), A. R- Elcock, A. C. Armstrong, 11. W. Lodge F Pierson, C. S. Neville. TI. Davidson. It was left to the Secretary to supply the Tourist Department with informa'.titn requested for r booklet for shooting—name’y, duck, pheasants, quail and all kinds of deer. than, chamois, moose, and Wapiti. It was reported Air G. Muir (Ross) had been supplied with information re royalties on shags’ heads, and the New Zealand Association forwarded a copy of a scheme, to establish beyond doubt that shags infestinc inland waters have become a definite menace to the trout population, also a eo.p v of a special comurttoe on freshwater research, requesting co-opera-tion.

A VISITOR’S IMPRESSION. As much from the fact that it is published in paper belonging to the distant Asiatic city of Tientsin, tis from its subject matter the following article is interesting. It is headed: “Holidaying in New Zealand-Hoki-tika.,” and the writer is Florence M. Knight, while the publication is the “North China Daily Mail.” She says: — Hokitika is the capital of Westland, although it is not the largest town. If 1 were asked to describe the plan on which it was built, I would say, “Draw four noughts and crosses patterns, join them together and you will then have almost exactly the very simple plan of this town.” Thus planned, one can wander about in all directions, with no guide whatsoever, without the slightest fear of getting lost. There is nothing at all exciting about it. The town is on the sea coast. This I discovered by accident, for Hokitika makes a point of severely snubbing the sea. There must be some good reason for it, which as yet I have not learnt. Most towns on the sea

coast consider their situation as an asset. Hokitika does not. The main shopping street, actually backs on to the sea, which you discover by chance behind it; and probably would not discover at. all tinless as w’hen I was walking there a magnificent, thunderous surf proclaims its presence. There is no attempt at even a footpath, much less a paved walk, and still less any sort of marine parade. One would have supposed that a town the size of Hokitika w r ould have had something of the sort. As it. is, these wonderful breakers hurl themselves over a three mile stretch of fine, dark grey sand—note the colour of the sand, in this part it is always, grey—g/rassgrown and rubbish-strewn. To beautify somewhat this untidy coast, large clumps of yellow lupins grow wild, and there are many of the familiar favourites of our English lanes, such as clover, dandelions, etc. Hokitika is so spacious that a single human being —specially as its population is so small for its size—seems very insignificant there. The roads are extremely wide, so wide that they dwarf the buildings along them. On either side of the road grow broad stretches of grass. This is very common in N.Z., and the effect is a pleasing one. Sometimes the grass is kept mown, sometimes, as in this case, it is not.

A striking landmark hen—in senses—is a tall memorial clock in the centre of the town which can be seen for two or three miles away in different directions. It is dedicated to the memory of Hokitika men who gave their lives for England during the South African War.

Rather unexpectedly, one finds here a large stone building, the Roman Catholic Church. Another <*ine building is the Government Office, outside which is a statue of Richard John Seddon, a former Prime Minister of New Zealand.

There is a Public Library, also a recreation ground called Cass Square, which consists of a very large square piece of grass, bordered with tall old pine trees, in the corner of which, at the moment, a fair is going on, with the accompaniment of caravans, merry-go-rounds, etc., and even a sma : l Great Wheel. Just at the entrance to this park is the memorial to the men of this part of Westland who fell in the Great War. It is simply the figure of a New Zealander, but is a remarkably fine piece of statuary, the carving of the face being extremely life-like. On a hoarding I saw an advertisement. extolling both-’s ale and Hokitika itself in these terms: “The best spot in Westland.” The New Zealanders seem to have rather witty and original ideas for their advertising. Tn the old days, i.e., the eighties, Hokitika was a large gold mining centre, with about 20,000 inhabitants and 100 hotels in one long street. Altogether Hokitika strikes one as an uncommon and interesting town whose future somehow seems to have got behind it. Note: I forgot to say that at Hokitika we stayed at Keller’s Hotel, “patronised by the Prince of Wales.”