WEST COAST NEWS.
(From 00-b Own Correspondent.! i March 10. KUMARA JUBILEE. Kumara’s jubilee celebration may be pronounced ati unalloyed success. The weather throughout was ideal. All the functions were enthusiastic. The pioneers, each of whom was decorated with a jubilee badge—a gold-coloured ribbon with the device “Kumara, 1870-1926/' enjoyed themselves in their unsophisticated manner. Amongst the decorations of the town was a picture showing on one side of an arch an early prospector panning out his gold, and on tl other the modern method of hydraulic sluicing. An equal contrast might have been suggested to the hardy men of 50 years ago who trudged into the town, swag on back, by the 200 motor cars parked there on the opening day of the celebrations. “Be J,ile-hem-Ephratah, least amongst the cities of Judah," gave the world its greatest Son, and Kumara, forlorn as it is to-day, has, as one of the speakers at the banquet said, given to New Zealand one of its richest gold fields and one of its greatest statesmen.
The source of Kumara’s alhiv.'al gold has not yet been found, and perhaps if some of her modern sons will imitate the example of their fathers the prediction of another of the speakers may be fulfilled and Kumara become a “city larger than Greymouth, with suburbs extending as far as the Junction.” At least the exhortation of the Minister of Mines is worth considering: “The terraces about Kumara are full of gold. Do as your fathers did—go out and get it.” ELECTRICAL FOWER. At a meeting of the Westland Power Board the application made a week or two ago to reticulate a portion of the Westland County for electric power was favourably considered. The application was made on behalf of a New Zealand Company with a capital of £20,000, and the proposal is J° r develop power in the vicinity of Waimea. A portion of that power will be used for mining purposes, and it is for this purpose mainly that the application is made. There will, however, be sufficient power available for other purposes, such as dairying, and probably to light the borough of Kumara. The area affected will extend from the Teremakau River boundary to Hokitika. Satisfactory arrangements of details having been made, the promotion of the company will oe proceeded with at once. GOLD. A miner near Greenstone last week unearthed two fine nuggets of gold. Numerous other smaller pieces, weighing from £dwt to 7dwt, have recently been panned out in the same claim. The Minister of Mines at Kumara last week outlined a proposal that lie hopes* will soon be adopted for more systematic amt effective gold prospecting. Instead of subsidising private prospectors as heretofore, lie proposes to have geological maps prepared and to send out in the most likely localities competent prospectors, each party being accompanied by a geologist, who shall keep a daily record of discoveries and indications, which shall be kept for reference. In an address delivered at the jubilee celebrations the Minister made some interesting statements about the gold that has been produced in this district. Up to the end of 1925 the total export of gold from New Zealand was 23,176,0910 z, of which the West Coast had produced 0.408,91G0z, or nearly one-third of the whole output. During the past week the services of 3ome 14 men have been dispensed with at the Nev Dig River mine. Repairs to the upper portion of the shaft of the Energetic mine have been completed. Preparations are being made to bale out the bottom level, where, it is anticipated, operations will shortly be resumed. VARIOUS ITEMS. The Westland Progress League has decided to approach local bodies with a proposal to ensure the speeding up of the bridging of several bad streams on the Main South road to the Waiho Gorge. Ihe total cost of the bridges being £IO,OOO, it is suggested that the district raise £2500 by loan, repayments to be made over a period of 15 years. It would be a remarkable event if a Minister of the Crown should visit this district on any pretext and escape without being waited on by a deputation. Representatives of the State Miners’ Union interviewed the Minister of Mines, who had come over in connection with the Kumara jubilee, and aired a number of grievances. Some of their requests, which were reasonable, the Minister promised to consider; respecting others he spoke very plainly, saying that he was becoming tired of the “foolish and pinPricking attitude adopted by the union. Steps are being taken by the committee of the Greymouth Main School to celebrate the jubilee of that institution, which falls due in May next. The grand stand on the Greymouth Trotting Club’s grounds was totally destroved by fire during the week. The building, which was the finest of its kind on the West Coast, cost £13,000 to build, and was insured for £BOOO. A number of the members of the fire brigade were away in Dunedin at the time, but in any case the position of the building was such that the brigade was able to do little towards extinguishing the fire.
Lady Marjorie Dalrymple, commissioner of the girls’ guide movement, is visiting the district for the purpose of forming Kiris’ guide companies. Meetings are being convened in the various centres. The carbo generators at the power house at Dobson have been given a run preparatory to a trial under a test load which will be made this week. A start will be made this week with the low-tension reticulation of Greymouth, and given favourable conditions the electric light should bo installed there very soon. Lambs from South Westland are still being freely consigned to Addington. A further train lodd of nearly 1000 was sent this week.
The goods railed through the Otira tunnel lust week amounted to only 1569 tons. Many of the hay crops in South Westhand have been completely ruined by continod wet weather, and prospects for winter feed are not good. A number of deer stalkers are going into the Haast Country next week. Blocks allotted to various parties cover practically the whole of the deer country. The danger to school children at the Greymouth Main School has induced the committee to have the school opened and closed 10 minutes earlier than has been customary so that the rush of traffic may be avoided.
In connection with the Grey Power Board there were 150 applications for the position of shift engineer, and 59 for that of secretary and treasurer. A few names have been selected, but a final decision lias not yet been made.
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Bibliographic details
Otago Witness, Issue 3757, 16 March 1926, Page 58
Word Count
1,104WEST COAST NEWS. Otago Witness, Issue 3757, 16 March 1926, Page 58
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