OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2051, 15 June 1893, Page 13

OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Ross, June 7. THE IMPENDING ELECTION.

Ere this letter can reach you the numbers will have been up for the Inangahua election, and from what I can make out at the present time there can ba little doubt that the knight will head the poll by a considerable majority. Meanwhile the "fight," and the intrigues and subtleties attending it, appears to crinkle the faces of the 12 newspapers published on the West Coast, giviDg them quite a crabbed, oldwomanish appearance. In one you will find 'tis Mister O'Regan is the man for Galway ; in another the electors are told to quietly and soberly examine Mr O'Rtgan's utterances, and not allow themselves to be led by the effusive oratory of this rash young man, who, with the usual temerity and impetuosity of youth, flies in the face of experience, like a wilful and headstrong fledgling who thinks it knows more than its mamma. Again you will find some older established newspaper, run by the silvery head of age and wisdom— even if a little wanting in discretion and judgment— grinding out the praises, in hackneyed accents, of tho "greatest statesman New Zealand ever saw" —Sir Robert Stout— and holding him up as the ideal representative. Turn we yet to the more diminutive sheets blazing forth their? pigmy thunders, and there, interlined between contemptuous sneers at the one candidate and fulsome flattery of the other, we fiud such an extraordinary mixture of advocacy and condemnation as are likely to addle the brain of the ordinary elector. The reports of the candidates, too, don't, seem to give any better eriteiion, because we Bohemians find that Mr O'Regan "addressed a large and iuflaential meeting; met with a most enthusiastic reception; and was rewarded for his brilliant effusion by unanimous votes of thanks and coludence." In the next paragraph we resd that Sir Robert Sfcout tickled the delighted ears of the multitude by an exhibition of eloquence hitheito unparalleled in the annals ot West Coast public speaking ; and that he, too, was rewarded, not only with votes of thanks and confidence, but also by the formation of stroDg and influential committees determined to secure his return to Parliament as the representative of the Inaugahua district. RETRENCHMENT. Owing to the loss of revenue from the gold duty and the- mining property rates, the Ross Borough Council has had a serious attack of economy, and last Friday evening cut down with one sweep salaries, wages, subsidies, and allocations to lesser bodies by 50 per cent, all round. The total savings will be nearly £200 per annum. A HAIR-BREADTH ESCAPE. When Mr William Sham, assistant engineer for the Coast, was returning home from South Westland, whither he had been laying off fresh sections of the Great South road, whilst attempting the big Wanganui, which wan in high flood, his horse was swept down the stream for a considerable distance, but by great exertions the animal scrambled out with his rider. Had they drifted down another chain both must have been smashed to atoms on the rocks of a rapid. I may add that the Wanganui is one of the most dangerous rivers in South Westland. PATAL ACCIDENT. Last Wednesday afternoon an employe on the Hokitika and Greymouth railway, named Robert Neilly, was killed while at work there. Deceased was standing in a truck shovelling out gravel for the permanent way, when the engine, moving suddenly forward, jerked him on to the rails, and the truck passed over his chest aud he expired 10 minutes afterwards. Deceased leaves a wife and three daughters, who will doubtless look to the Government for compensation, although at the inquest the jury returned a verdict of "accidental death." THE BLACKBALL TOWNSHIP. The auction sale of leases of the sections forming the new Blackball township resulted in £283 10s beiDg realised by way of bonus on the upset price of £1 10s per section. It is said the Midland Railway Company is perfectly satisfied with the prices realised at the sale, while the purchasers are certainly satisfied that there is a great future ahead for the Blackball, the coal ot which is said to be of exceptionally fine quality. A BAD ATTACK. The Charlestonian3 appear to have a bad attack of Cassel, and seem to imagine that if they could only get one of these celebrated goldgaving apparatus their township would become one of the most flourishing centres of the Middle Island. A counter irritant to this virulent epidemic, however, has suddenly appeared in the partial collapse of the Nile bridge, which the local paper says has gone to the bottom of the river. THE U.S.S. COMPANY'S OVALAU. All Grej mouth and wife appeared to be greatly exercised last Sunday over the arrival of the U.S.S. Company's 1200 ton steamer Ovalau at their port. According to the lecal pipers she is the largest boat that has yet crossed the Grey bar, in passing over which she experienced no difficulty. Ot her the Argus ga y 8: — "For several hours after her arrival a continuous stream of humanity went in and out and all round her cabins, bhe is a very fine looking vessel, and the patent anchor at each bow, making her independent of cat-heads, shows at once that a good deal of trade lies where there are no wharves to tie up to. The Ovalau will load here for Melbourne, then go to Sydney, and thence head once more for the Islands. One of the incidents of the voyage was that a Solomon Islander happened to fall asleep on board while fruit was being taken in, aDd he was only discovered when the steamer was well out to sea, so that involuntarily he is booked for the round trip. He proved a very great object of interest to the Sunday school children, who crowded the steamer^ after catechism." WHEN GREEK MEETS GREEK. The West Coast Times says :.— " Rather an interesting case will be heard at the Revision Court, Greymouth, next week. It is well known that in the sister town two firms of solicitors oppose each other politically as well »s professionally. At the laet county elections Mr M. Hannan was elected for the Paroa Riding, dispossessing Mr Guinness of the seat, aud present appearances favour the presumption that there wiil be a keen contest at the next elections. Recently, so it is alleged, a licensed holding was taken up in the Paroa Riding on behalf of 12 persons whose Katnes indicate that they would be strong supporters of the sitting member, and the name of each one has been placed on the roll. The Revision Court will be asked to strike these names off, it being contended that the act never contem-

plated the rolls being increased in numerical strength in this way." MINOR ITEMS. The Reefton people are forming a rifle club in lieu of the volunteer company disbanded. A resident of the Grey Valley named Pavitt shipped 80,000 ft of timber to Melbourne for himself and 290,240 ft for others during May, and the Midland Railway Company is said to have millions of feet stacked aloug the line seasoning for shipment shortly. Mr B. Wiseman has been appointed representative of the A.M P. Society iv Ihe Hokitika district. It is reported that a double shift of men is to be put on at Denni&ton colliery next Monday. Much regret is being expressed in tho district at the serious indisposition of the Hon. James Kerr (Grej mouth) from an attack of bronchitis. The Bailer Miner is responsible for the following :—": — " A miner, interviewing the Premier, counted, out 11 children to sympathetic Dick, who said, * Yes, yes ; I understand. You are a very much-married man. The old, old story,' and gave him a contract for 500 sleepers at 2s Id." The paper does not state, however, whether the mendicant was the father of the children or merely their foster father for the time being. In Sir Kobert Stout's address at Cape Foulwiad he is reported to have said on the education question that if he had his way he would have education free right up to the uuiversity. He could not allow taat State money should go to any religious denomination whatever. Every man Bhould look after his own religious affairs. In reviewing the spsech of Sir Robert Stout at Cape Foulwind the Westport News says :— "Sir Robert's address differed from the ordinary run of election speeches. It was pitched in a higher key, and erred, perhaps, in being too humanitaiian and sanguine. But it was clearly enough shown that his aims and aspirations are high, and that he is a representative of whom any district in the colony might be proud. His speech was admirably delivered and singularly free from ad captandum arguments. Sir Robert offers his services to the Inangahua district because he thinks, and is led to believe by his friends, that the Liberals require his assistance in the House. Though we do net agree with the party to which Sir Robert is allied, it cannot be denied that his presence in Parliament will be beneficial to the country." There resides in Ross at the present moment an old lady who remembers teaching Sir Robert Stout his ABC at Lerwick, capital cf Shetland, which is his native place, and where he afterwards became a pupil teacher. The coal export for Westport for the week ending June 5 was 3511 tons. The Ross Borough Council, having neglected to make up its burgess list, is now applying to the Governor-in-Council for an extension of time. The reduction by the same body of the wages of its maintenance man from £3 to £2 per week last week has caused no small stir among the working class, some of whom threaten to start & co-operative butcher's and baker's shop, and undersell the councillors of that ilk, who are accused of being mainly responsible for the reduction, £3 per week of six working days of eight hours being the standard rate of labourers' wages on the West Coast. The late floods have done considerable damage all along the Coast, principally to mining property. Many water ways have been partially demolished, some mining machinery destroyed, and roads and bridges throughout the Westland district more or less damaged. The Christchurch coach did not arrive at Hokitika till late on Monday night, it having been stuck up at Kelley's creek, about 700 ft of cribbing having been washed away there. I regret to chronicle a sad accident which happened on Sunday last to a Kumara lad I named William Zeigler, who, whilst out shooting pigeons on the Christchurch road, unfortunately shot himself in the left lung. It appears that the lad was with DrMyles about the time of the accident, and last Monday the medico telephoned to his friends at Kumara that he had not then found the bullet. Several Ross miners have forwarded another petition to the Minister for Justice praying him to remove Mr Macfarlane, R.M., from Westland. The petition also makes some serious charges against the administration of the law by the magistrate. The West Coast Times is unmercifully roasting our chief postmaster, who appears to have angered the " we " of that journal in some shape. The general public, however, take the part of Mr Creswell, who is an obliging and painstaking officer ; so that the galling and illconditioned attack of what is being termed •• the Hokitika paper tiger " will fall harmless so far as Mr C. is concerned. Mr Henry Morice has been appointed public trustee for the Grey district, in place of Mr Richard Nancarrow; and Sergeant Frazer for the Westland district, in place of Mr R. W. Wade. The exports for Greymouth, for the week ended Saturday la?t, were : — Goal, 2255 tons llcwt; coke, 14 tons 4cwt; bricks, 7' tons 4cwt. The customs duties collected for the month ended May 31 amoucted to £2008 9s Id. The Kumara Times, which, by the way, the more intelligent class frequently read with elevated eyebrows, gravely informed its readers last week that a diver is so powerful when under water that he " can'move a boulder as large as an aero." Speaking of this and other singular paragraphs which have appeared in that journal lately, a street arab is reported to have remarked that "it never rains but it Snows "—a neat play upon the editor's name. Until the line be finally opened for regular traffic, the people are asking the Minister for Public Works to allow of grains running between Hokitika and Greymouth on Saturdays with return tickets extending over Monday. The Westport Liberal Association, by a large majority, carried a resolution in favour of retaining party government in the New Zealand Parliament. Mr James Halloran, late secretary of the Rimu Miners' Association, was, prior to his departure, presented with a small money token by the miners in recognition of the valuable services he had rendered in the cause of prospecting for gold. I regret to state that owing to the serious injury sustained by the Kanieri J dredge from the late floods, operations are likely to be suspended. We have had the Rev. Father Ginatly here all the week preaching to crowded churches. The good father appears to be popularly received everywhere. I The "Yon. Archdeacon Harper, who arrived by the Christchurch coach last Monday, is now writing, preaching, and lecturing in the vatious centres of population in this portion of the diocese, the people, as is usual, getting up all kinds of entertainments in honour of this distinguished and popular ecclesiastic. A pig fed on Mr Bell's farm, Grey Valley, was killed last week, and when dressed weighed 7561b. The Reefton butcher's shop exposing the carcase was the scene of attraction last week to the people of. quartzopolis,

Mr Macfarlane, R.M. for Westland, lultd in court last Saturday that lawsuit 9 were " marketable properties, and could be bought, sold, and transferred ! " This strange ruling has so puzzled a newly-fledged lawyer that he has been endeavouring since to ascertain if a "lawsuit" is a " chattel interest " within the meaning of the statute. The celebrated Langdtn's Hill Gold Mining Company (Grey Valley), on which thousands of Greymouth money was spent, has passed into the handa of the workmen, who have seiaed it for wages due. Last Friday whilst two Kumara miners, named John Evans and J. Brennan, were washing up their tail race tunnel leading to the No. 2 Government water channel, by some unexplained action 16 heads of water got turned on at the flume, and lushing down caught both men in the act of lifting their blocks. The water rushed over them, extinguishing their lights and sweeping away their gold, and had it not been providentially turned off by a passer-by the men must have perished. It is confidently anticipated that the HokitikaGrey railway will develop a large timber trade on the West Coast, a grand belt lying along the Coast between the parts named. A number of companies are to be formed shortly for the trade. Last week's work of the tributers of Craig's Freehold (South Spit, Hokitika) resulted in a yield of 18oz of gold from the tailiDgs. At last Thursday's monthly meeting of the Hokitika Harbour Board, Mr Joseph Churches's motion that steamers beyond Cape Farewell be charged 3d, and within the Cape 2d per ton, was carried. To-morrow evening the board deal with a motion for the revision of wharfage rates. Owing to considerable agitation through the press the banks here have at length reduced the extortionate exchange charges on cheques from Is to 6d. The latest news concerning Ziegler is that the wound is not so dangerous as was at first feared, and there is every prospect that the lad will recover.