OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 9875, 21 October 1893, Page 6 (Supplement)

OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

(Fkqm Our Own Correspondent.)

Ross, October 12.

SIR ROBERT WHITEWASHES HIMSELF.

One could hardly credit the amount of bitterness existing throughout nearly the whole of the Inangahua electorate at Sir Robert Stout's action in deserting it after having been treated so handsomely at the last election, and it is quite a common thing to hear the good folks thereof say: " I'd vote for a Chinaman now before Stout if be were to stand for Inangahua." In order to justify his conduct the knight of Dunedin addresses the people through the Reefton public prints in the following terms:—"Ladies arid Gentleman,-^! regret that circumstances compel me to forbear becoming a candidate for your district. I feel this all the more because of the many and kind requests I have received from all parts of the electorate. While regretting the annoyance and disappointment I may have caused my friends, I can only plead that I could not oppose one who did his utmost to assist in my return, and who is now unable to contest any other seat. Although severing my political connection with the Inangahua electorate it will be a great pleasure to me, whether in Parliament or private life, to assist in the development of the resources of your district, and thus offer some small return for your great kindness and appreciation." GREY HARBOUR BOARD MATTERS. At the last meeting the board's engineer reported that 7953 tons of stone had been deposited on the breakwater during the previous fortnight; the Grey bar had had an. average depth of 19ft; the rainfall during the month of September was ]2.02 in; and the shipping returns for the same period were :—lnwards, 42 steamers of 8971 tons register; three sailing vessels of 325 tons. Outwards :42 steamers of 9254 tons. The board having applied to Government for an advance of .£2000" on their debentures, and the secretary of the Treasury having informed them that the application is under consideration, ,a resolution was carried making a demand by telegraph for the money, which the board reckons they are entitled to have, and some talk of resigning if the amount be not forthcoming. . ! ■' A "GEM" PUZZLE. The towns, the villages, the settlements, and the country are wholly in the hands of the "ladies." Nothing is heard in the trains, the coaches—even the ferrics —but woman's franchise, woman's rights, purification, and so on, and the contemplative man is. allowed small leisure wherein to reason out what may be the ultimate fate of his sex in the unparalleled disaster that has well nigh overtaken it. Already, too, the air is disturbed with the ominous avant courier cries, "Latchkeys," "meeting rooms," and "lady reporters," from the rounded throat and cherry-red lips of the " faymale form duvoine." They are mobilising, too, having already girded on their armour by registering; their "souls are in arms, and they are eager for the fray." ,Miss Jone3 confidentially informs Mrs Robinson that unless Mr Seddon can see his way to reduce the duty on silk by putting it on that nasty tobacco—well, she doesn't think she shall,vote for him I Whereat Mrs Robinson, whose fond husband loves to whiff the fragrant weed, replies hotly "That if Mr Seddon dares to increase the duty on ' baccy'—why, she'll get all her cronies to ' block vote " against him!" Now what is a poor distressed candidate to do under such untoward circumstances? Either he must turn his back on the lovely Miss Jones and her unknown hosts of ardent worshippers, or else brave the wrath. of the intrepid Mrs Robinson and her staunch allies! Phew ! 1 shouldn't like to be a candidate at the approaching election. FOB THE LADIES. The distressed compiler is puzzling over a term used in the ''enrolment forms" issued for enfranchisement of women under " The Electoral Act 1893." This is what line 3 says:—"My name, place of abode, and occupation or addition are correctly stated," &c. Now what do the two words in italics mean? ■

T Will it be said of young ladies wrapped in respectability, hedged in by propriety, and mystified on principle, who may chance to have their names on the electoral roll, that they will "come out" on poll day ? And, gracious, who is to play "gooseberry ' when the debutante enters the polling booth? The present regulations admit of only one person entering the booth at a time. What glorious times returning officers may possibly experience when distressed damsels perforce feel called upon to appeal for their aid. ■■'■. As the term " Chairwoman" at public meetings of. women -appears on the face of it to be tic trop, how would "Presis" do? I fancy "Mrs Presis and ladies," &c, when called upon to address the chair, would be more euphonius than " Mrs Chairwoman," or to anglicise it say "Mrs Present," &c. This is'a'"gift" chaste in its character, but what value the ladies may put on it, if any, I dare not think.

Imprimis, now that women have got the franchise may I venture to'ask If one of their platforms will be the re-imposition of the bachelor tax? . SOUTII WESTLAND MININO. Last Saturday the tributers of the Donnelly's Creek Quartz Mine, Donnelly's creek, Ross, cleaned up (the boxes only), and obtained 20oz of retorted gold from 14 tons of stone. This is a trial crushing from their late find, and is reckoned to be highly payable. They have now a block of stone overhead 80ft in length with -30ft backs to stope out before going ahead again with the main low-level tunnel, which holds a good body of stone in the face. ; Everyone in Ross is'in a good humour over the satisfactory result, and prospecticg is going on with renewed activity, and on an extensive scale. Some years ago what was estimated to be a continuation of Donnelly's reef was discovered in a deep gully coming out from the eastern slope of the mountain holding the reef 6n the Ross or western face ; but beyond bringing some pieces to Ross, and proving their gold-bearing nature, the prospector made no further attempt at development. Now, however, encouraged by the present payable result got by the Reefton men, a party is making up to_ set in at the creek draining the eastern flank into the Totara^ river, and further developments-will be watched with interest. Encouraged also by the payable rsturns from Mr John Allen's special claim at Lake lanthe, another party of diggers have taken up a special claim peg-a-peg with Mr Allen's, and no doubt they will do equally well. The Mont dOr Company washed up last Friday, and obtained the exjellent yield of 288oz of gold from one box only, the other having got smothered up for the present by a fall. The difficulties of this company regarding the road appear to beat an end, the Ross Borough Council having last Saturday formally taken over the new road made by them in lieu of the one destroyed. Since the appointment of the new legal manager (MrT. W. Bruce) I am free to say that the friction between the company and the public is fast dying out, and matters will probably now get along smoother than formerly. Manera and party, notwithstanding the fact of Government refusing a further subsidy, continue to starve and drive the low level tunnel into the Donnellv's Creek hill. Unable to afford air pipes, and the air being bad,.Manera, who has commenced another tunnel on the opposite side of the creek, in the hope of intercepting the reef at a shallower level, leaves the long tunnel to work inthe new till the smoke of shots clears away This is what I call real pluck, even if it be also Scotch navigation.

MINING NEWS. Just as the mail closes the welcome news reaches me of the discovery of another new gold-bearing quartz reef within a couple of miles of Ross. My informant states that there is gold in every stone crushed. lam going up to-morrow, and I shall be in a position to speak freely on the value of the ' new find" in my next. Naturally Okarlto is jubilant over the news of £750 having been placed upon the Supplementary Estimates for connecting that somewhat isolated centre with Ross by telephone. The latest from Diamond's (Kumara) reports that another party have struck payable wash in a back lead, which find is calculated to add a fresh impetus to the field. I briefly mentioned in my last about Mr Wellman having struck it rich with his dredge at the Saltwater, Okarito, and since then no further news has arrived; but I might mention that the dredge is near the spot which caused such excitement 27 years ago. It was all along this beach that almost fabulous gold returns were got, one party of four miners getting over IOOOoz in six weeks, and no digger here earned less than £1 per day, the average earnings having been from *15 to £20 per week for each digger. To show what the sea beach was it may be mentioned that one man solemnly swore that one morning when the sun rose "the whole of tbe beach for miles appeared to be poated with gold!" This, termed at the time an extravagant statement, -was, however, verified by its yield of gold from February 23 to May 19, 186(5, which was over 29,0000z worth £113,000. Some of that gold was left in the deeper layers, and diggers who know the locality feel certain that Mr \Vellman has dropped on to a patch of it. The late handsome cleaning up from the Tyr Connell (Lyell), 22J tons of stone yielding over £700 worth of gold, or about 13oz to the ton, will undoubtedly cause fresh energy and attention to that portion of the goldfield. SIIiTOR ITEMS. At the last meeting of the Westland Education Board a letter from the New Zealand Educational Institute advocating payment of salaries direct to the teachers was read, but the board refused to make any change in the present system. Since the news was received that the Government did not intend this session to adopt the sweeping suggestions of Colonel Fox with regard to the demolition of country volunteer corps, the officer, commanding the district is visiting all the different centres with the object of inspiring new vigour into the different companies with the view of reorganising and increasing their strength. I might add, in conclusion, that the Defence Minister is being generallycredited with ingenuity in staving off the evil day. His name has not yet been given, but a man nas been taken up on suspicion of having something to do with the obstruction on the Hokitika and Grey railway line. niirf »f t 0 a toast recen«y at a farewell banSishon Br, unt? er Slven to Mr M'Parland, Mr a true r mme. manager there, struck, I think, capitalistic l-^ 6? -he remarked that from a was not a mlf T W- COal miniu S at Present wa.s not a payable business while from thp C™ talS af ,°^<* ™ bad' and tnere was little doubt but that the strike h^d ; made the pontoon worse for coal hewers Capital had got a night from which :t tad not recovered It wai to be hoped th.it capital and labour might nevnr again enter upon such a orujflict ■■ Mr Jay, contractor of the Lake Brunner section : of the Midland railway, has all but completed : ms contract, and then another large batch of im- ' • employed will be added to the swelling army now ' J stalkiDg the streets of Greymoiith,

The prospects of tho Julian Quartz Mining Company (Brunuerton), who have been prospecting some months, are said to be so good that tho directors last Thursday evening determined to evecfc a battery. The stone in the winze shows oxcolleut gold, and it is thought that a permanent veef has at length been found there. Minoownors and employers of labour are greatly exorcised in mind over the important amendment aKrood to by both Chambers of the Legislature in regard to the weekly payment of wages being made compulsory; but I fail to see any very radical change in the new law, the bill being nothing more nor less than a popular jingle. Mr North has retired from the Reefton arena, and leavus Messrs Collings, Reeves, and O'Regan tp fight it out. Since my last letter to you, Hooves, who is busily canvassing, is said tb be winning himself back to favour. The Brunner people ara .once again jubilant over the order of the Grey Valley Coal Company to proceed with the tramway immediately. By the collapse of a flume of the Government water race at Nelson creek most miners of the locality arc practically thrown out of work, and until it has been rebuilt will continue so. Just to be in the fashion, the Government water race at Dillmanstown, Kumara, caved in, an old tunnel underneath that portion having given way and swallowed up the Government mill stream. This occurred one day last week, but the break is now repaired. The water charges difficulty still continues at Kumara, and the agitation for its reduction are growing apace. The statements made by Mr Gordon that the best-off miners in the colony live at Kumara are being fiercely combatted. by the reassertious that the miners are scarcely earning sufficient to keep body and soul together; that certainly they are not earning the average wages paid to the humblest of labourers in the colony; that their expenses are quite disproportionate to those of any other class; that the auriferous drifts of Kumara are becoming annually poorer: that the field is fast drifting to that inevitable bourne whence there is very little likelihood of a return ; and that the ground would now only return fair liviDgs with free water, &c., &c. Perhaps the correct summing up of all this resolves itself into the axiom—aid the miners or lose them. Then the only uso the Kumara water could be put to might be to give power for a huge electric light to mark the spot where once a thriving mining township stood, and at night to pilot on chance swagsmen or weary pilgrims toiling over the no longer dusty but now grass-grown road joining the towns of Hokitika and Greymouth.