WEST-COAST COAL.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXX, Issue 15180, 18 December 1909, Page 7

WEST-COAST COAL.

PROSPECTS OF THE MINES, f. INTERVIEW WITH MR, W. REECEfe Mr W. Reece, who is chairman of th« Board of Directors of the Westport Stockton Coal Company, returned yesterday from a visit to the company'! mine at Westport. Speaking.to a rei porter, he said that he" found the mine very busy with a great rush of: orders! Skilled labour was difficult to obtain for the mines, but the .numbers were increasing, and the output would pro* bably be increased from 800 tons tsi 1000 tons per day. The Newcastle strike had created a demand from con* sumers who had not used New Zealand coal hitherto, and it was hoped that the result would be that tßev wouiJ continue to use the New„;2Jealand prop duct. The Stockton Miners' Union favoured the Arbitration Act for the settlement of disputes', and it was vert questionable whether the Unionwoula have joined in any strike 7 . .t|. With regard to the strike in the State mine, Mr Reece said that it did not seem to be generally understood that the State miners _ were reallJL worse off than those in the othej mines, and the general opinion appeared to be that they should be puf on the same level as the men working in privately-owned mines. A perma* nent settlement would probably be ar« rived at when the Minister visited thi mine. . The effect of the State min« strike had been felt by commercial 1 travellers on the West Coast, and they had not taken many orders owing tp the fear of the merchants that th* strike would last. The effect, howS ever, had not been very eerious. . £;