WEST COAST HEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3764, 4 May 1926, Page 58

WEST COAST HEWS.

(F.hom Our Own Correspondent.) April 28. COAL WORKERS. Prospects at the State Coal Mines are brighter just now than they have been for some time. Probably, on account or the approaching winter, ord-rs have been coming in more freely and the men are kept oh full time. During the past fortnight nine shifts have >een worked, only one having been lost. This is the best record for several months. During the preceding fortnight only five shifts were worked. The men at the James ana Rewanui mines, owing to the scarcity of orders, have averaged less than four working days per week since the New Year. At the Stockton Mine a dispute arose during the week about the locomotives, and so far the .nine is still idle. A block of coal from the James Mine was sent to the Wembley Exhibition in London and was awarded a medal by the directors. UNEMPLOYMENT. There is a marked increase in the number of applications for work during the past month. Most of the applicants are men of a good stamp, who a month or two ago could readily have obtained work. A case is cited of two young men who walked from Gisborne in search of employment. ELECTRIC POWER. The Dispatch Foundry in Greymouth Ims had the honour of being the first place in the town to be lighted with electricity from the Dobson power house. About two dozen buildings are now connected with the current, and as the time draws near for the full power, a large number of prospective consumers are joining up. The street lighting, which will comprise for the nresent some 200 lights, will he ready in the course ofr the next two weeks.

GREY HARBOUR. Now that the line has been passed by the Railway Department, work in connection with the Grey Harbour Board’s improvement scheme will be proceeded with at once on the south side of the river. The wooden staging at the end of the breakwater will be removed and .he space filled with stone. This work will be the first allotted to the new 20-ton crane which has been ordered. Repair work is being done to the line on the north side of the river, preparatory to similar improvements there. COMPETITIONS. At a meeting of the AVest Coast Competitions Society it was decided to appoint Mr lemple White, of Wellington, musical judge tor this year’s competitions. The appointments of judges for elocution and oratory were held over fo the present. ITEMS. An enterprising party o. co-operative miners at Dunollie are erecting a plant tor the manufacture of fire bricks. There is abundance of suitable clay in the locality, and the men propose using for generating heat the slack from their mine, winch would otherwise be only a waste product. A party of 57 scholars from the Westport and other Buller schools left for the Dunedin Exhibition during the week. Ihcy stayed a Jay in Christchurch en route. The Public Works Department has issued to the Grey County Council the balance of the vote on the 1925-0 Estimates for the construction of the main road from Greymouth to Rotomanu. Men are already at work on two contracts on this road, and a third will now he undertaken. This road is one of the most important in the county, and will link up such settlements as Inchbonnie and Poerua. and provide what will probably become a popular round tour from Greymouth. At a social tendered to the Grej'mouth Municipal Band, which competed at the recent Dunedin contest, an Exhibition souvenir medal was presented to each bandsman, the Mayoress p.nning them to their tunics. A Kokatahi farmer has imported a nhmber of Angora goats, which he proposes to try out as blackberry exterminators on his farm. Plans for a new railway station at Moana, to replace the one lately destroyed by fire, are in course of preparation. A new refreshment room is also under consideration. An officer of the Railway Engineers’ and Survey Department has been this week inspecting the Greymouth Harbour Board’s line to the South Tip at the river mouth. This line has been laid down for the carriage of stone from the Cobden quarry in connection with the harbour improvement scheme, and as it passes through the railway yards it required to be passed by the department’s engineer before being used. Amongst the final contingent of school children to visit the Exhibition were 32 from South Westland schools. Some of these came from schools 60 miles south of Hokitika, and the trip will be among the great events of their lives. The death has occurred at Greymouth of Mrs Hannah Tindale at the age of 80 years. She has been resident on the Coast for 52 years, the last 30 of which were spent in Greymouth. She was a lady of a very fine type of character. She is survived by her husband and seven sons and daughters. The services of a number of railway platelayers in the Buller district have recently been dispensed with. The Westinghouse brake cleaning apparatus at the Greymouth Railway Workshops, and the machinery, are being removed to Addington, anu the carshed at the workshops has been converted into an engine shed. All protests against the disrating of the place appear to have been unavailing. In response to a request made some time ago to the Minister of Mines on behalf of the Greymouth Borough Council for some mining publications issued by the Mines Department, a number of such publications has just been received, which it is proposed to make the nucleus of a reference library. The coal, timber, and general merchandise traffic through the Otira tunnel from this district during the past week amounted to 7990 tons. The new convent at Greymouth, which is nearing completion, is to be officially opened on May 16. At the annual meeting of the Greymouth R.S.A., which was held during the week, it was proposed that as the membership has decreased and little interest is shown in the association, it should be disbanded. It was finally decided, however, that as there is still need for such an association it be carried on for another year. The Hon. A. D. M‘Leod. Minister of Lauds, paid his first official visit to the* district during the week. He visited Reefton and Greymouth, and in company with the member* for the district paid a brief visit to the Kokatahi district. He also went to Otira and inspected the power house there. As usual, he was inundated with deputations at each stopping place. He will ere long be paying another visit to the Coast, when he hopes to have more time at his disposal.