West Coast Resources.

Inangahua Times, 21 August 1913, Page 3

West Coast Resources.

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GREENSTONE PROPOSITION. j ("The Press.",) J Iu recent years pastoral pursuits in tho Grey Vadley and WWland have • made, considerable, progress, proving that the obsession of the AVi'si. ('nasi • by gold and coal' and tinibor is not a. lasting bondage. In the Inangnhua. , Valley Ukj railway is still unopened beyond Cronadnn, but the dairy factory in that township lias helped to pro- ; mote settlement, on the river Hats and to give u more, fa.riti-1 ikt* appearance to the frontage .sections. Crossing the divide into the Grey, dairying activity ■ manifests itself where tho valley widens out at Totara Flat. Along the Clint branch of the railway, sawmilling is most ;in evidence, but here also, in the low-lying land near Piotomanu, drains ore being cut and praiseworthy steps are being taken to advance the pastoral industry. In Westland dairying is established at. Arahura and Kokalahi, and at AYaitaha and other places further sou th. And the latest aequisil ion of tho historic alluvial goldfiolds of Kumara is an up-10-date dairy Factory, erected in December last. The greatest pest on the West Coast is the blackberry. It has blazed a broad trail from' Xels,.n over the Hope Saddle and down the HiiHt'r Corge to Inangahua. Up the fniingahua it has, travelled, and over the 'Saddle into 1 lie _ Grey, and if you branch off at Stilhvat-j er and. make fof Otira you will lind j even whore the railway runs through | virgin bush, that black terry has sprung up alongside the formation and is strangling the bracken fern. You hard- J I ly lose sight or it until yon get up j i among the snows of Arthur's Pass, and you expect to yet hear at some future J date thai the blackberry has, like Hannibal, crossed the Alps. _ j From a- cropping point of view, the j wetness of the Coast: will .always be a j I handicap. It manifests itself on all j , sides, not only it) the ever-verdanl bush J (which as standing timbo i'is apparent- j Iv unburnahlo) but in the several rare ,

shades of moss-green which adorn Ihe itoel'ton plains. Parasitic growths are abundant, and the fruit trees are festooned with grey moss which gives .[hem a venerable whiskered appearance. Orcharding and intensive farming in the Groy cannot be said to have begun, but the pastoral industry is progressing, and higher cultivation will follow. Coalmining progress in the Grey Valley depends largely on fhe productivity of the new State Coal Mine (which is estimated to be equal to an output of oGO,OOO tons for 99 years) and of tho Paparoa. colliery, which has met with unexpected difficulties. Goldmining at Ueeftnn ftas gone ahead, and would progress rapidly if sufficient 1 ab- ! our were available. The timber trade '■is dull, and some firms., might have failed recently .but for timely financial backing. A new branch of mineral industry is promised in tho development of the big greenstone deposit on Griffin's Range, some distance outside Kumara. A company has been formed with the aid of New South Wales capital, and it is proposed to quarry the greenstone and forward it, firstly by aerial tramway and secondly by motor traction, to the railway at Kumara. From bore the railage distance is eleven

miles to Greymoiith, the proposed port. ■of shipment. Greenstone as a competitor with marble for ornamentation purposes is a now factor in the luuldin<r market. If it can be freely aold at marblo prices, the. company would appear tit have a, profitable investment. Kumara, while hopeful concernine; new sources of wealtli such as dairy l)rodnce and greenstone and the scarcely tapped timber resources between Kumara .and Lake Brimnrr has never despaired of its old love, alluvial gold. A large sum of Government money hai; been expended to carry a water race across the 'Paramakau to work the terraces on the opposite side of the river,

and another waic.' face' has boon purchased ;.:, ;i > h.L in th.- siu>'« direction. Th,. .Mji V .,r..f Kumnra (-Mr. -J. A. 31 urdoeh) states that sluiccrs are meeting willi encouraging rosttlis, and that a'r.'iwlv emcedi \v:ii<m' is being solil n» , /; , ; , ",/;, ~,..,_ ~„ :j )t , ~,.,{ „f <. f .iistrnctinii. In* ~,1/',. ;-;r'ier ijicirttM'.', on {lie C'o.'tsl a I.':.- r.x.-.-iie v"n-;i \i i/fKVrf uf .this.tenlure. Tho writer liters iluit i.W> Mrfy ; oi; is riu.Lt, .mid that; the ancient glory 'Ot Kumara (whose population <lecbiiocl i from 919 to 783 in the last census per- ' iod) will revive under the stimulus of good gold winnings across the Tarsiliiakan. 'l'liis important .river drains a jiroa of country, and includes among its tributaries tho Otird-. lints overlaps tin, Grey, ami th a divide between t.lio two watershed's near Inchbonnio is so low that it would appear to be a not very difficult ta.sk to divert tho Otinv waters to the Grey. Some fear has boon express! that'the railway protoetir ( > works may eaußO wnoli o diversion, [h f| (Xl <( time tho TVtraniakaii carries a, grout volume of n-'at' 1 er, and not long ,-og> it swept, away part: of the bridge near Kumara and isohit|od the people on the opposite side. The (Jrcynnmfli Harbour Board.*s rocket apparatus was si'iit up to effect a rope connection, by moans of which. relief was afforded, Tito bridge is now being repaired. 'l'n cope with tho Hood force of the iiio wa'tor' raoo.p'pcK laiiUuM'oss i|s bod have boon' fitted with , flexible joints. Alluvial gold is not the only quest in tho Kumara district. Koefing. which ha* done so much in the Inangfthua, has possibilities in tho valley of tho Taipu, about sixteen miles from Kumara. On (ho north sido the Sold finest failed, and tho plucky prospectors carried a wire across the Taipo to provide transit by cage when the stream r* unfoujablo. They are at work on a number of loaders, and hope to locale a parent reef. In all parts of Wesfland and. the Grey (here is considerable anticipation concerning the operations of the Nam (ioldlields hydraulic claim. Power for this pl'ant is electrically generated from wafer taken from i,ake Kanicri and carried in pipes to a. power house at. The Forks; whence the transmission ( lin'e fo the claim is about, twenty-four miles in length. Generally speaking, the Coast, supplies abundant instances of the hope eternal that distinguishes! gold seeking communities. If this hope is realised, so much tin* bet tor j but it is just as well that, pastoral .activity is awakening and that in the days to come flie eggs will not. bo carried all in the one basket.