WESTPORT NOTES

Grey River Argus, 27 July 1940, Page 11

WESTPORT NOTES

[Our Own Correspondent] High Tides —Port Westport: Saturday, 27—2/40 a.m. 3.6 p.m. Sunday, 28—3.29 a.m., ‘4.1 p.m. Monday, 29 —4.30 a.m., 5.14 p.m. I Tuesday, 30—5.48 a.m., 6.35 p.m. Shipping: WESTPORT. July 26. The Wingatui, coal-laden for Wellington, sails this afternoon, and is expected to return about Friday next to again load for Wellington. The Gabriella is due from Lyttelton during the week-end, and loads coal for Auckland and Portland on Monday. The Kaimiro is due on Monday to load .coal for Auckland and Port Whangarei. The Pukeko is expected from Wellington to load coal for return to Wellington on Monday. The . Titoki is due from Tarakohe on Sunday, and loads on Monday for New Plymouth. The Nikau is due to load coal for Nelson on Monday. The Alexander is expected from Picton on Tuesday to load coal for Nelson. Personal: Mr Arthur Hill is paying his customary business visit to Westport. Messrs Cummings and Johnston, Inspectors of Schools, are making one of their periodic visits to schools in the Buller district. The death occurred in the District Hospital, Westport, yesterday, of Brenda, the 10-year-old daughter of Mr and Mrs J. Taylor, and granddaughter of Mr and Mrs George Taylor. The sympathy of the community is extended to the bereaved in their sad loss. The Harbour: A slight fall in the trade of this port is recorded in the annual report of the Marine Department, which administers the harbour, and which states that shipments of coal on which the revenues of the port, per medium of royalties and shipping dues, are so largely dependent, decreased by some 18,000 tons on the year’s working as against the previous year. At the same time, the total for the year, in exceeding 400,000 tons, maintained a satisfactory standard. The total quantity of coal shipped during the year was 408,380 tons, a s against 426,393 tons the previous year. The demand for coal was higher than the supply from the local mines could meet, and until late in the year there was every prospect of the previous year’s good total being exceeded, but industrial trouble at the Denniston mine, the main mine in the district, in November, when there was no output from the mine for three weeks, resulted in a serious drop in output, and subsequent delay in pick-up. The advantage to shipping which otherwise would have been gained by improved depths of water on the bar were somewhat nullified by the consistently unfavourable weather an.! surface conditions which were experienced. Conditions were not favourable to dredging, but every reasonably. possible effort was made ir. this direction to assist, and to combat, the forces of nature, in the maintenance of the port in the best condition possible under the circumstances.

As available from the harbour quarry at Cape Foulwind, further heavy stone had been tipped at the head of the western breakwater to safeguard the apron of the wall, where work ceased rather abruptly in 1931. At the same time a considerable quantity of second-class stone had been placed in repairing weaknesses in the bank ’facing at Organ’s Island, which developed from flood attacks a few years ago. This work had been completed, and, now a low training wall at the lower end of the island is being lengthened down stream to confine and direct the channel of the river where otherwise it was meandering and causing erosion of the banks and deposition' in an undesirable manner. Visit of Inspectors: Inspectors of the Technical Board of the Education Department made a periodic visit to the Technical High School on Monday and Tuesday of this week, they being Mr A. B. Tomlinson, M.A., Mr R. Hynes, B.Sc., and Miss McKenzie, B.Sc. They expressed pleasure at the work being done, and made useful suggestions for further improvements. Fire Outbreak: The Westport fire siren was used for the first time yesterday afternoon. A call was received at 4.30 p.m., to attend an outbreak of fire at Callaghan’s bakehouse, and within two minutes of the call the Fire Brigade was on the scene. The fire, which was located in the rafters of the bakehouse, had been caused by the heat from the ovens. The brigade immediately got to work and with the aid of a bucket pump soon had the fire under control. This was the first fire in Westport since January. Basketball: Following are the results of last night’s basketball matches: —Old Girls’ B 15 beat Kawatiri B 7; Old Girls’ A 17 beat Tiki 10. 45’s Championship: The results of the 45’s games played at the Fire Station last evening were: Cosmopolitan 74, Country 59. Criterion 76, Campbell’s 69, Railway 96, Royal 76, Henderson’s 90, Post Office 90. The latter teams played off, Post Office winning 4-0.