WEST COAST NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3509, 14 June 1921, Page 22

WEST COAST NEWS.

(Feom Oua Own; Coerespo.xdent.) June 7. A meeting of the Hokiiika-Gi ey mouth Sawmillors’ Association was held last week to further cons.dir the crisis in the timber industry and to adopt means to steady the market and inspire confidence in the timber merchants. About 5(3 mill owners were pre-x-ni. and it was agreed that the best interests of the indu-iry as a whole would Le .st rved by the pooling of all orders and their di. triUivion amongst th. mills in proportion to Liner capacity and the number of hands employed, ibis would ensure all milks being kept going at a reduced production ior the long st possible time. A strong cotmmtl.ee v. as appointed to carry out the proposal, and in order that it might Loop in clo.-e touch with the position full attendance at all meet.ngs, either personally cr by proxy, was made compulsory. The situation rs a serious one for the district, and is being already acutely felt in some places. At Kumura, for example, procticahy the whole community is dependent upmi this indu-ti y. 'J here are nine mills within a. radius of five miles, and the closing of these rmiis would throw more than 70 men out of employment. In spite of precautions to minimise tlie? misfortune, several titi 11s have already ceased operations, but t uerc is a general ft cling of hopefulness that the slackness will be only of short filtration. Cases of unemployment are not infrequent, especially in the southern part of the district. Prospectin'- fur gold has ptevtously oeen the refuge of men thrown our ot wo. k, but many of the mill hands or the present day are young men who hive hau no experience of prospecting, too situation about Greymouth is not so acute, the public works of the county having absorbed most of the applicants for worn, throughout the past month, during which time 48 applications were made. Last week there were nine applicants, all of whom were placed. The probability, however, of the cessation of public works through the cancelling 0 f votes of money renders the position there somewhat precarious. There is fortunately a strtin of irrepressinle optimism about residents of the . est x oast, and great hopes are* now being based upon the result of a projected visit to America on the part of some company promoters from Reefton who are interested in both the gold and coal mining industries. ihe purpose of their visit is to consolidate the local interests of these industries and to raise capital for their fuller

development. They have expressed thenunbounded faith in flip future of the distnc and their conviction that the present slackness is only a passing phase. That tfiere is some foundation for their hopem.ness m reference to the two staple mineidh, of their district is indicated bv the recent discovery of gold, the extent °U"i"' C T appo,rs A A’ bH!I developing, ne report of the mining l °g. the HR 1 f ,opos ;t of the Reefton distiKt, which has been published in the -New; Zealand Journal of .Science, etc i-aking each acre of coal one foot thick as contain,ng 1500 tons of coal, he estimates tne total tonnage at 9,133,250. —New Goldfield.— new ar ™ldr.oVl in 'Tl *° - leave Rr ‘ efton for the new O oidnud. .The intermittent work at the coal mines is inducing a number of the mniers to try their fortunes, and a tood de.,l of prospecting is being done at Steven-hnU-M ’AT° ° f U behl " on the loangaizs&f&isset •*««» ™'"« : a Av e -■S'TTL.iS eSNI! business arising out of rl !e taking U p of n Yhat’Y! llf r' V ilell , ! rnnst ' Le transacted in that town. In renlv to the renre=entntUE h f° m R 7 fron respecting the advanta_c- ot a road trom that town to the field tne -Mines Department wrote asking if ar G arrangements had been made for a survey Of ahernauve routes. The County Council deeded to reply that, as the stnvW „f the Stevenson s Flat route had been made by ,e--: IC subscription. ,t did not recognise responsibility for any other information but was satisfied that the road from Reefton was the shortest and best. It informed th--- . ho N e r :t r ' , of the activities of L" f> tack water Miners Association, wlticli IV ■ ; llter, ' sn ng itself in the route from '' ainta r —Hokitika Savings Bank.— N S ’ !C, T ft •• allot 1 year, which « » ,nt P of growing prosperity. The exec-- of assets over IbUili-s ] l!ts been inf eas< V b -v over £IOOO. The rash credit has h ' v £toCa amount of ijU.iifa has boon dunner tho voar paid off mortgages. Forty thousand' pounds was lodged by depositors during the vear the V?° ?s deposits being now over " £86.000 Over £3OOO has. boon paid to donositor? durJ npr the yoar in interest. Tho' total as«et* ot the bank are valued at £102,245. —County Works.— A large sum of money was voted last se-sion for public works in the West Coast •bstrtet. and f ull advantage was being Taken ot .lie Governments generosity to make’ necessary improvement, to the roads in the , 4-V'U 10 '(’lson v. reek is nearing completion, and v ' l ' l II great bora, to motorist* The unexpected cancellation of the vote for the Nelson Creek Bell Hill road ha- paused - a.-,. ; : ali,,; . 1 . - remain to bo formed in order to mV,. nrP(? R to Greymouth to the settlers fn spvm.d venires and for a di-tanee of 35 mil; - from tne coast. A strong effort will he made hv tho County Council to have this grant reinstat'd. so as ltol to leave nugatory all the work that: has been done. -Jot tines. !he Ti a ;!-Couh ha rd memorial on the Ilium,ign road, which was unveiled last Mention was made at a recent me"ff ■;< r of the Buffer County Council that the XTosl pital Board absorbed one-third of the total revenue of the county. The need for 1111 oli' uii\ was stromjuv urged. During ftio past 18 inonths 3<84 paiiettls have been :r- a' 7 ju ilte Westport Th spiral, the operations [icing 175. West ('oast farmers are taking great interest in an approaching direct shipment ot Walpole T-hoid guano. The shinrr.onf will lie particularly acceptable in view of the tiliser. and as the heavy rainfall is said to he favourable to this manure the experiment of its use will be watched with interest. The electric light in Hokitika was finally installed last week. The number of lights is 50 per cent, more than Ibe old ga= lights, and th • town is therefore quite brilliantly illuminated.