HOKITIKA NOTES

Grey River Argus, 24 August 1946, Page 7

HOKITIKA NOTES

[Our Own Correspondent]. HOKITIKA, August 23. Several fishermen secured small catches of whitebait on Wednesday and Thursday, the best being about eight pints for the day. The catches are being railed to the Christchurch market. The prices received range from 10s 5d to 11s 2d a pound. One fisherman secured just on 2'llbs of fish for two days, for which he received over £lO. There has been heavy rain, thunder and lightning at Hokitika to-day. The morning was boisterous, and at 7.30 a.m. the storm broke over Hokitika. It appeared to travel from the sea towards the mountains, and was accompanied by extremely heavy rain. All low-lying areas were quickly flooded. The lightning caused extensive damage throughout the town and district, many wireless sets being blown out, also fuses and. electric light globes. The gold dredges suffered interference, and were held up temporarily. One family at breakfast had the electric light globe shattered to pieces, and in another residence the telephone was struck and damaged. Many telephones in the Gibson Quay area were put out of order. Housewives using electric appliances had some hair-raising experiences, and in some residences' windows were blown in. Despite the recent spell of rainy and windy weather, one sawmill team in Westland lost no time. The bush team worked as usual, while the mill lost only one day because of a breakdown. In view of the extremely stormy conditions, the record of the whole team is a good one. Many of the team have to travel from Hokitika to the sawmill, and the bush workers then join the bush loco en route to the bush. The Kiwi junior rugby team left for Westport on Friday evening. The team will play a game at Westport and return to Hokitika on Sunday evening. Mr M. B. James is at present r. patient in Westland Hospital. Mr A. R. Elcock, Mayor of Hokitika. has been confined to his home for the past few days. The announcement that a number of Government houses are to be commenced in Greymouth and Cobden, while no announcement has been made in regard to Hokitika, is causing home seekers great concern. For the past few months promises of a start with the construction of three State houses were received, but apart from buying the sections, no further progress has been made.