OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2076, 7 December 1893, Page 13

OUR WEST COAST LETTER.

(From Our Own Correfondent.) Ross, November 29. MORAL SUASION.

A friend of mine once remarked to me: "A ounce of honey is better than a, barrel of gall ! ' and since then I have verified his words. He advanced that axiom as an argument showiDg how a business might be run profitably even in the enemy's camp. There is more power in the aphorism than the casual thinker would ever dream of — nay, it hath the strongest power in the ■world — moral suasion. The Hon. Mr Seddon has long used that power, and it is his intimate knowledge of its value and his tact in the uses thereof that have raided him from the ranks to the highest grade to which a commoner can attain. In this connection one might be pardoned for propounding, say, the following philosophical though somewhat knotty riddles : " What is best for a State— that its leader should be over-thrifty or over-lavish?" I believe some such question was asked a few centuries back ; but let me endeavour to give the answer my classic friend '• Civis " might reasonably be calculated on to Fupply : "He who is a bohn ruler, and maintains about him an ai-my of mercenaries, governing by fear, should be ppnurious. He who is made ruler, who courts the piople, and would reign by love, must win their affection by generosity, and dazzle their fancies l>y 'confidences.' " Another unsolved prol>lecr. was once propounded 1 y a very great man to traitorous patricians, and it might be appropriate at the present juncture :—•' ls it better for a State mler to le over-fur^'iviug or over-iust?" I doubt if moral suasion itstlf can readily solve that. "watkrs." "Waters" is mayor of the "city" of Greymouth ; he had a walk over — none, according to liis own account, daring to oppose him. Ths friends of aL obi. er noietfortby candidate rushed down with a nomination paper duly signed, filled in, and attached to the "deposit" demanded by the act ; but, alas ! those chimes ! Twi lye— the hour of noon — had been struck away for ever ere this paper reached the hands of the clerk, and no matter if Gabriel sounded the last trump, Sir Waters wa3 mayor to all intents and purposes. Aud swelling with that amount of pride begotten of such an auspicious occasion, dazzled by the pomp called forth by his newly-risen day star, and thrilled through and through by the richtoned proclamation of the town herald startling the fiuietude of Hospital street with these soulstirring words, "Waters is mayor!" his worship el^ct rushed off to the pre3S and had tbe following Thespian thesis put in a metal cast :— "To the citizens of Greymouth.— Ladies and Gentlemen,— l cannot c'aim that you have done me the honour to elect me chief magistrate of this borough, as I go in unopposed ; but I must not let this opportunity slip of saving that I am deeply flattered at the position chance has conferred upon me, and my best thanks are due, and given, to my nominators. I pray that I may and will endeavour to so demean myself during my term of office that when it expires every man and woman in Greymouth may say : " Well lone, friend Wateru."' Since the appearanc of the foregoing, tho "citizens," headed by the town bang-, have serenaded "Waters," who, adds the

Brunner News parenthetically, " received them right royally in his baronial hall ' upstairs.' " A VOICE FROM THE EAR SOUTH. Writing of a recent tale afcpearing in the columns of the Otago Witness, entitled "A Miracle of the Western Cafion," a goldminer of the vicinity says in the Ross Advocate :— " Ajor's Ute thrilling tale of the Waiho and the dreadful gorge of beetling precipices through which perhaps twenty millions of tons of white water is ever rushing and roaiiDg like one vast cataract, may seem to those who have never visited the place to be overmuch coloured by poetic fancies of the sublime and terrible. One visit, however, to the locality will at once convince the most sceptical "critic that neither words nor word-painting can do justice to the terrible inlet to the heart iron-bedded Alps. In connection with it I may record that upon one occasion some men were working a beach at its junction with the branch from the Franz Joseph glacier. The weather was fine and balmy for this region, which usually seems to belong to 1 a latitude not far from the Antarctic circle. Suddenly the men noticed that the hurtling torrent lulled in energy— the deafening roar was succeeded by a murmur, which rapidly died away to that of a gentle ripple. The torrent had suddenly stopped, and rich crevices containing untold wealth, lay exposed to men's hands for the collectiog. A vast slip or avalanche in the interior of the cavernous canon had fallen and dammed back the waters, even as Jordan's flow of old was stayed at the command of the Most High. For some 20 minutes or so an army might have marched across almost dry-shod." MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. Last Wednesday, iv the Grey mouth R.M. Court, William M'Leod, for assaulting Eli/a Ellen Jones, was deservedly lined £5 and costs (£2 tis (id), in default 14 days' imprisonment, and bound over to keep the peace in sureties of £100. One sawmill at Kokiri (Greymouth) is said to be turning out 1,800,000 ft per annum. Another mill on a large scale is now being completed by Messrs Stratford and Blair on the Grey Harbour J Board's reserve. Last Monday Firemen M'Gregor, Ryan, and Goodall, of the Greymouth Volunteer Fire | Brigade, were presented by the mayor of Greymouth with long-service medals. The Greymouth Women's Christian Temperance Union, to the number of 276, have protested against the decision of the Grey Industrial Exhibition Committee allowing the sale of ] intoxicating liquors in the school building or enclosures. In the mattei of the late county election at Reefton a petition has been lodged against the return of the member for Boatman's riding by three different ridings. The demon of ill-fortune continues to mercilessly pursue the families of Mitchell and M'lnroe, a bull having so terribly gored a son in the latter family as to perforate his lungs. As I predicted, M.r Joseph Mandl has withdrawn from the Hokitika mayoral contest, so that the return of Mr Wade to-morrow is a certainty. The election of Mr John Staines as chairman of the Westland County Council appears to be a very popular choice. He is the youngest member of that body, and is the first colonial who has attained to that somewhat exalted post in this county. Hans Larsen has also been elected unopposed to the Westport mayoralty. The annual apportionment of the building vote by the Westland Education Board to the 19 local school committees under them is this year £072 10s. Such intense heat as has been endured here on occasional days of the past week has never before been recorded in the annals of Westland. Last Saturday one daren't go out for a minute uncovered, it being over 95 in the shade. We are close by the sea, yet so oppressive was it that for a couple of hours one could only lie and gasp. What the effect might have been on busy wayfarers in crowded streets and dwellers in narrow, unwholesome courts and alleys, one does not care to conjecture ; for when tropical rays are poured down for many hours on iron roofs, dusty roads and pavements, and reflected from heated walls and windows in a stifled atmosphere, a state bordering on "roast" or "boil" must be the result. Captain Agnew has been re-appointed borough valuer for the Hokitika municipality. The suit of Mr Myles A. Dixon for £500, as damages for injuries received on a county road, against the Buller County Council is to be heard at Reefton on December 13. A "strictly orthodox" acquaintance, speaking to me recently on the subject of the general elections, expressed his opinion on the Wellington "event" thusly : "You know, the women are nearly bound to go dead against Stout." "Why?" asked I innocently, " Well, you know," answered he apologetically, " I myself am a true ; Christian, and, speaking from that standpoint, I know the women must have their blooming I Christian, and Stout's a d d athiest— d d if [ he ain't ! " This resembles the story of the holy priest and the irreverent sailors. A heavy night storm came on, and the passengers, momentarily dreading the ship would go to the bottom, besought the prayers of the good father. " Captain," whispered his reverence, " d'ye think there's any danger?" " Come with me, 1 ' replied the gallant skipper, leading the worthy priest forward and pointing down the forecastle to the crew mixing card-playing and profanity in an awful fashion. " So loncj as that occurs, father, the ship is safe enough," said the captain, reassurinply, returning to the cabin. Half an hour later a tremendous sea struck the barque ; the reverend father glided away, but shortly returned, and quite calmed the troubled fears of the passengers with the fervent utterance of, "Glory be to God, they're still swearing like the devil ! " There seems to be no uniformity about the Union Steam Shipping Company's freight chargC3. Last week a friend of mine who is in the habit of transporting goods by this line had to pay 10s fid for a case just half the measurement of a box fetched from the same place three months previously, and for which only 9.3 wascharged. It is high time the Union Steam Shipping Company had another little touch of opposition, as if at present you demand an explanation for -these inconsistent imposts you simply don't get it any more than you will the goods if you don't pay up whatever the agent demands. Mrs Eliza Calnow must be a "prohibitionist," or else a hydrop&thist of a very pronounced typ?, for last Thursday, as the Minnpouri w:is round intr Cape Faiewell coming to Westport, she wanted to take a header into the " briny" oae night about the hour of 10, and so determined was she to carry out her pr< ject thit she nearly absorbed all the combined power* of the stewardess and the gallant captain of the boat, who, however, dragged her from the taffrail (o a safer place. The roar and hurly-burly of the elections to the different local governing bodies have ceased, and everybody whose brains were on the qul viva have resettled them in the wonted calm and restful repose of hum drum ordinary life. I, not unlike other Bohemians, admit to being as empty as a drum, and naturally cast about for a theme like a lost sheep on ihe mountain top No wonder cniiui kills the " compttencies " when workers seeking a "job" become so depressed. lloweve v , I the holidays are on our heels with plenty of " food " for the million ; so we are consoled. Ere January, the husband of May, thall have died long enough for February to have decently marriel the widow, the Public Works department arc confident that railway communicat'on will have been regularly established between Reefton, Hokitika, and Jackson's, on the Christchurch side. The engineer-in-chitf has inspected and passed two sections of the Midland railway alonst the northern shore of Lake Brunner. and the remain- I ing section to the IVremakau river is expected to be finished next February. The Greymouth Borough Council are still fiddling away at their celebrated steam fire I engine, which parsistently continues "on strike." Last Friday whilst a Lyell lad named George Dumpy was playing football an infuriated horse knocked him down and fractured the back part of his skull so terribly that small hopes of liis recovery are entertained. As the mail is leaving, I he is quite unconscious. Another lad named Doolan, of Hokitika, fell off a waggon, and one of the team walking behind trod on his face, injuring it so terribly that the poor lad lies in a critical state. pince- my_ last letter old Death has been busy with hisS sickle at Hokitika. Miss Julia Carr, a highly-esteemed young lady, succumbed to that J fell disease eons.umption on Monday ; Mr John

Magan lost hi 3 life by accidentally falling down an old shaft at the once celebrated Hau Hau diggings ; and Mr Patrick M'Gurk, a wellknown carrier, passed in his checks last Monday.

6 wing to the uncertainty existing as to when the Hokitika and Grey railway will be opened for regular tratlic, the committee of the Greymouth Industrial Exhibition have petitioned the Minister for Public Wen 1m to airange for the ruuning of two daily trains during the exhibition season,

At the last meeting of tho Greymouth Harbour Board, the engineer reported that the training walls of the harbour works were "too high." The harbour master reported that the average depth of water on the Grey bar during the past fortnight was 19ft 7in.

influenza of a virulent type is very prevalent in Grey mouth at the present time. There was a great time altogether at Mr E. O' Conor's meeting at Westport, and some of the female electors took a hand in the fun. A correspondent says that one woman there perhaps the most energetic of Mr O'Conor's canvassers was hissing through her testh such remarks as ' Scrag Him!" " Hit him !" whenMr Munson was standing up for what he thought was right. Another woman heaved an umbrella at Mr Munson. Another told an elector who was about to ask a legitimate question to " Shut up ! " and asked the candidate not to listen to him. But this was not all, as a terrific interchange of language ensued between Mr Munson and O'Conor. 'lhe members of the committee endeavoured to persuade Mr Munson to sit down, but without effect. Mr O'Conor summoned the police to " remove this man." Sergeant Emerson and Constables Crawford and M'Donald advanced to the stßge, and after considerable persuasion on the part of the sergeant, and threats that he would have to lock him up, Mr Munson finally took his seat.

During the year Government has expended on roads and tracks on the West Cnast goldfields £30,624, apportioned as follows :— Buller, £4756 ; Inangahua, £Stslo ; Grey, £10,8SG ; and Westland, £6412.

The Ros3 mayoral election to-day resulted in the return of Mr John Hunt Currie ; for Hokitika Mr Robert Wentworth Wade was re-elected.