OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2055, 13 July 1893, Page 21

OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Fsom Ova, Own Correspondent. Ross/ July 5. children's concert. The event of the week in so far as.Ross is concerned was the children's concert in aid-of a fund for procuring firewood to warm the State schools. Last Friday the public hall was packed to the door, and scholars to the number of 70 went through a very creditable programme-consisting of 36 items, so that the affair was a big success financially and otherwise. The chief attraction was, of course, the infants and their action songs. The profits arising from the entertainmentwill more than supply the school with fuel for the remainder of the winter. i WEST COAST PUBLICLOMNION. Concerning the Premiership the whole of West Coast newspapers (a baker's dozen) are unanimous, for a wonder. They argue-and truly-that the Hon. Mr Seddon has won the position^ airly— i.e., by sheer force of character, devoid of plausibilities, servile compliances, and also from the fact of his having been first mate at the time the Parliamentary snip lost its commander. Some argue that he, being possessed of the shrewdness necessary to perceive that if progress is to be steady well-considered measures must obtain, and the facp of his having the backbone to carry them out irrespective of the theories, fada, or - caprices of the more extreme sections of party, eminently qualify him for the' position- he .has attained. It is also freely asserted -thati Sir Robert Stout ought not to press his claim— if, indeed; he has other than an imaginary claim -to" the coveted position. WESTLAND AGRICULTURAL AND PASTdSAL ASSOCIATION. ■ ' The following officers were elected at the annual meetinglastTuesday :— Patron.Hon. R. J. Seddon; president, Mr J. L Smith: vice-president, Mr J. & -V^ l^'" treasurer, Mr H. Karnbach;'- auditor, Mr T. Harris ; committee— Messrs B. Haslem, C. Glass, T. Meharry, J. Olaon.-W. Douglas, B. Ward, J. Smith, E. Ryan, and J. Hodgson. The meeting also authorised the committee to communicate with the various mining associations' in the district with a view to co-operation in the way of assistance and political action. ■A SCARE. '. -oConsiderable dissatisfaction having been expressed by individual miners at thevery loose manner in which the Receiver of Gold Revenue at Ross collect rents from the big companies, the Miners' Association took the matter in hand and represented the position to the Hon. the Minister for Mines, who in reply has sent down information that instructions have been given to prepare lists of companies and lessees who are in arrears giving them the option of paying up at once or bearing the penalty of cancellation. The chief cause of irritation among the miners Appears to be that the whole country is monopolised, by these useless concerns, and the miners are thus prevented from prospecting it. The" cry' has become quite chronic—" We, the company, hereby object to Smith, Jones, or Robinson's application for water-race, because we have the prior right, &c."— the result being, " application refused, notwithstanding that the evidence frequently proves the rights or privileges of objectors to have lain, unused for 10 or 12 years. • ' ■ - - LOOMING TROUBLE FOR A SCRIBE. * " . ' A paragraph appearing in the West Coast Times charging the trustees of the Kumara Hospital with having literally starved to d^ath a late patient named John Cunningham, has excited so much feeling in the home town of the' Premier that an inquiry was held by the House Committee last Monday, and the evidence of doctor, war.dsman, matron, and a special night nurse all showed the most careful and liberal treatment*; that no complaints were made at the time 'even by Cunningham himself, his wife, relatives, or friends; and that the Times' statement .was wholly without foundation. Under, such circumstances the board of trustees is now to determine further action in the matter. On the other Band the W.C.T., replying to their threat of consulting their solicitor, says :— " Should they r do so, we are quite prepared to prove what we said in a court of law." i ' - ' VERY SAD. . . "... 'Before Mr D. Macfarlane,' R.M., at Ross last Saturday, a contingent of those guileless almondeyed children of that great yellow army, the Heathen Chinee, got it particularly sultry. '■ It appears they worked in a creek (on sufferance only) immediately beneath a miner's tail .race, but on his tailing site, and the 'saffron workers vfindJ - ing the tailings of the European , brother irksomely cumbersone, went to court with.him, and, ■ - with all the wiliness of their tribe, engaged the ' most sapient of counsel, who of course informed ' them they were bound to win; whereat the leading "John" of the party talkee^talkeed 'the celestial patois among his brethren, the outcome of which was that the lawyer was told that his fees were too much, and that'they were going to conduct .the case themselves. Thia, of, course, had the effect of rousing all the inherent cunning of the law priest, who quietly went -oyer to. the other side. ' The result; was very ,sad . in the estimation of .the children of the. Flowery Kingdom, who not only lost . the- ..case but. had .to pay four guineas expenses, the lawyer's fee, and a pointed refusal to be allowed,to withdraw the infermation at the incipienc/ of th«. court. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. The Mokihinui railway will, it, is anticipated, be running coal through to Weatport some time during the current month. The shipping facilities at that port appear to be improving, the depth of water at the staith at low water being reported to be"3oft. Part of the clothing qf poor White, one of the unfortunate victims of the late drowning fatality , at Fern Flat, has come ashore, but neither of the bodies has yet been found. The boat they were in was found smashed up at the White Clifts, near the junction, Buller river. It is reported that Mr Robert M'Kenzie, a wellknown West Coast contractor, is to be, a candidate for the Buller seat at the forthcoming geneI ral elections. The Greymouth people are collecting money for the widow and children of the late J. Quinn, drowned recently in the Upper Buller river. At the late public meeting at Grey mouth anent the coal difficulty at Brunner several speakers, among whom were Mr Boase, the Government manager of the Laoour Bureau, spoke strongly against aid being rendered to a private company; ' and excused themselves by advocating the construction of a railway line to the Blackball coal mine -another private comp*ny. " -' There is consternation among >the volunteer corps on the We3t Coast at Colonel Fox's sweep- ' ing report on the volunteer forces, in which he proposes to wipe out the whole of the corps on , the West Coast, and the probability is that combined action will be taken with a view to wiping out Colonel Fox. The Humphrey's Gully Gold Mining Company obtained 1640z lOdwt of gold, valued at £641 lls— a very poor washing. ' ''. . . The Mount dOr Gold Mining Cbmpanyj'have acquired a five-years' lease of the Mikonui waterrace tunnels from the Ross Borough Council, although several members of that body stoutly ' objected to such a lengthy tenure. . V 1 regret to inform you that the exodus, from Brunnertpn still continues, numbers of miners^ with their wives and families leaving for West- 7 port, where work is more plentiful. Replying to resolutions carried at the' public-

meeting held at Greymouth on Monday last in connection with the difficulty at the Brunner coal pits, Mr Major Kettle received the following from Sir Bobert Stout:— "Fully recognise need of attention to matters referred to in your telegram. Have interviewed Premier. He is sending three experts to report. After receipt of this report Cabinet will consider the matter. You may rely upon my attention to the matter." The chosen lo'flriftngahua being thus fully alive to the gravity of the position, and the Premier b%ingalso favourable, the cause of Brunner will apparently receive due attention. ■ The temperance party at Grey mouth are scandalised 'over the large sum of £1315 paid to the Borough Council by the licensed victuallers in the shape of license money for the current year. The number of names on the electoral roll for the Grey district is 2419. Of course that is irrespective of the supplementary roll, which will not be completed before the next election takes place/ ' • .fMilmer and' party, putting in a 700 ft tunnel through old ground at Kanieri, had a narrow escape from fire damp last Wednesday, an explosion taking place, and a line of fire running down the tunnel. \ Fortunately the men got away withoiit sustaining any injury. The Whitewashing of Mr Bichard Beeves, exM.H.B. for In'angahua, has been completed, he having been granted his discharge from the Nelson Bankruptcy, Court, whereon Bichard wired the good news to His Beef ton friends. Dr Gaze is how in Beef ton superintending the initial operations of his plant at the Sir Francis Drake] Battery/. The trial treatment will probably last about a month, at the end of which time great things are hoped for from the enterprise. Like glue to, -the pot, like tar to the rope, stick the men of the laangahua Rifles to their arms and accoutrements. The company having been disbanded, public notice was given that all such property should be returned to the Government agent immediately, but the mandate not having been obeyed summonses are now being issued against the defaulting e&members. The, Eeefton Fire Brigade appears to be in a bad way, it being over £50 in debt at present and the responsibility increasing at the rate of £1 per week, in consequence of which a public meeting was held last Friday evening, on which occasion the members, to 3k the opportunity of informing the subscribers and the general public that they would undertake this responsibility no longer, and they consequently left the question in the hands of the subscribers to say what should be done. This had the effect of calling forth one or two sweeping retrenchment proposals, one of which was to dispense, with the services of the night watchman, engag.ng an enginekeeper at from 10s to £1 per week in his place. No better solution of the difficulty being offered, the brigade threatened to resign, when a proposition was .carried appointing a committee to canvass the town for additional subscriptions, it being given the canvassers to understand that they were to demand large subscriptions from those who had larger properties. It was also re3olved to prepare a petition for presentation to Parliament praying that body to pass a measure amending the Counties Act so as to allow county councils tho power of striking special.rates for the maintenance of fire brigades. * / Greymouth is going in for urging the construc- • tion of a railway to Point Elizabeth in order to utilise the magnificent coal measures there. The popular Bishop of Nelson pays his annual visit to 1 Greymouth next Sunday, and the residents of Wallsend are' getting up an entertainment in his Honour. < The dividends declared by the Big River and Progress (Beefton) Mining Companies last Saturday are tcalculated to promote a more healthy feeling'in Beefton than has been the case for months past. The probable cost of raising and replacing in her former position the Alexander dredge, capsized in the Buller river, is estimated at £200. The directors have ordered the work to be taken in hand.

' Last Thursday afternoon a young map name John Richards, whilst working at Morris's saw mill, Westport," had the whole of the fingers an .. part of the thumb of his left hand cut off by the circular saw. Dr Craig, late of Geraldine, Eisfc Coast, who has been appointed surgeon superintendent of the Totara District" Hospital, takes charge here today. . ' The "arbitrators in the case of Grant Brothers v. the Wfcstport Cardiff Coal Company have awarded pfcntiffa £180. For the week ended June 30 Westport shipped 5226 tons of coal, and it is said that the output from that port is gradually increasing. The poll for deciding whether a Joan should be raised.for the construction of a road from the Buller bridge to the sea beach taken last Saturday, resulted in favour of the prbposal by a considerable majority. ' Last Friday forenoon a " hatter," named Peter Poulseh, was burnt v out under most; peculiar circumstances. Following his vocation at Donnelly's Creek,' Boss, he left his hut for .his dam, whither he went to turn on the water, leaving, as is usual among slulcers, a wet- shift to dry at the fire. Returning. within an hour he found only a heap 'of ashes in place of his hut, He also lost clothes, , watchj silver, and a few pennyweights of gold, and came into town in the only things left— his wet sluicing clothes. The Boss storekeepers were kind, and rigged him out anew. We . are just being visited by old "John Duncan/' "on Government dooty, sir." He looks after the 1 fishery laws, and is rounding up the "small meshes/ in a style worthy of all the sacredness of his piscatorial office. He is one of Westland's oldest, landmarks— the name " Old Duncan," ferryman of the South Spit, Hokitika, having long been familiar' in our mouths as household words. Although over the "allotted span," he being/pver 81 years of age, John Duncan is yet tall, straight, and strong enough for a coast , guardsman." ' Daring. the hearing of the Boulston-Glenn case, in the' District Court at Greymouth last Friday, some spicy information is reported to have' been supplied at time's in regard to men, manners, and business. There ate said to be 30 sluicing claims on the Kumara goldfield averaging five men to a claim ; and, aß* the Kumara Times aays each man finds bread for 12 souls, how many souls do these 30 claims' keep within material bodies? General regret is expressed throughout the Bass district at the departure of Mr and Mrs Leon Simon, who left here last Monday with their ''pile. Before leaving Mr Simon generously tendered the sum of £10 as a donation to the local hospital. Yesterday an inquest was held on the remains' of Mrs' George Cooke, who died very suddenly the previous evening at Hokitika. It appears that her soil, hearing her fall heavily on the floor, went in and found her lying down, evidently suffering from a pain in the head and crying, Oh I my head." Dr Kendall, who was called in, could do nothing to save her life, for she died a few minutes afterwards. A post mortem, held later, revealed a clot of congealed blood as large aB a r hen's, egg on thebrain. A verdict was returned in accordance with the medical, testimony. , The revenue on. the Bruriner line for the four weeks ended May 27 was £2288129, being an in- , crease bf £579 5s on the corresponding period of 1892. This shows up very well, as on all the New 1 Zealand railways a falling off of £3300 for the month is shown as compared with 1892. Letters are appearing in the Grey papers re-\ , questing the mayor of Greymouth to call a public meeting for the purpose of urging on Govern- '' ment the necessity of constructing the Coal Creek railway on the- same basis on which the West- • > port line was made. The Cobden residents propose getting up a petition for presentation to Parliament, the prayer of which is to urge on the same work. < The Boss Borough Council hold a special meet- * ing to-morrow night to give the finale to a deed of darkness — i.e., allow the Mont dOr Company to close a main street in the borough, which they want for a tailing site, and to open one in lieu , thereof at an altitude of about 200 ft above the present level road which, by the way, also forms part of' the Great South road— a colonial work now being widened and extended south by the general Government. In referring'to the altered , gradeofthebdroughby-way.theonlycrumbofcom-fort doled out to the burgesses is that those of an artistic* turn of mind climbing that way will be enabled to get better views of picturesque Boss— especially fof the mud at their feet, perpetually oozing* out ori the 'margin, and defilfpg the ' azure waters, of the ocean.