WEST COAST NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3775, 20 July 1926, Page 34

WEST COAST NEWS.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) July 14. GREYMOUTH HARBOUR BOARD. The Greymouth Harbour Board has requested its engineer to report on the electric dredge for work on the lagoon docks, as recommended by a commission of engineers which was recently appointed to report. The dredge will cost about £20,000. The board’s receipts and expenditure for 1925-26 were £42,733 and £46,289 respectively. The estimates for the coming year are: Receipts, £43,490; and expenditure, exclusive of harbour improvements, £34,520. The Harbourmaster reported that the site used for repairing the tug at Cobden was dangerous, and on two occasions had nearly resulted in its loss. He recommends a selected site for a grid in the lagoon dock, which for an expenditure of £7O would make a safe docking site. The board’s dredge has during the past month removed 12,500 tons of gravel, which floods had deposited at the steamer berths. The engineer reported that during June 2166 tons of rock from the Cobden quarry had been placed on the south mole at the harbour mouth. This work is now almost completed. General repair work has also been carried out on the north breakwater railway and the quarry sidings. The Harbour Board has granted the sum of £lO 10s to the Reefton School of Mines. ITEMS. The completion of the Grey ValleyTereraakau road, which is at present being agitated for, will provide an excellent tourist run of 110 miles through some of the finest scenery in the district. The round trip will include Ngahere, Nelson Creek, Inchbonnie, round Lake Brunner, and through Kumara back to Greymouth. There is little change in the unemployment position in the district. About a dozen names are still on the list at the Greymouth bureau. The Charitable Aid Board reports not more than the average number of applicants for this time of year. Most applicants for work are from other districts. There is a likelihood, however, of the position becoming more acute unless the prospects of the timber workers improve. Some of the white pine mills are likely to close down owing'to lack of orders. One mill which had large orders from Australia has received instructions for their cancellation. Though electric power is already in partial use in Greymouth, it is proposed to have a formal switching-on ceremony early in August, when it is hoped that either the Prime Minister or the Minister of Public Works will be present. The traffic through the Otira tunnel maintains a high average. For the week ending June 26 it was 10,246 tons. The following week it was 9918 tons, and now a new record has been established, the week’s traffic amounting to 11,455 tons. The traffic for the month of June was 37,629 tons, as compared with 34,862 tons for June of last year. For the half-yearly period it was 188,524 tons this year, and 170,980 last year. The traffic necessitates the running of an average of seven trains each way between Arthur’s Pass and Springfield daily on the Canterbury side. Coal and timber, of course, constitute the bulk of the traffic, the coal having been steadily on the increase during the past few weeks. It is reported that three or four new mines will shortly be producing coal in the Buller district. A large gold dredge is about to be erected on one of the tributaries of the Buller River, where prospecting has revealed satisfactory results. The management of the Rimu Gold Dredging and the Kanieri Electric Companies last week entertained their staffs to celebrate the one hundredth gold brick produced by the Rimu Dredge Company • since its inception. There was an attendance of 50 people. The management of the Dredge Company was complimented on the success of the company. The various Farmers’ Unions are advocating the Snowy Creek route for the road to the Alexander Reef mine as against that via Stevenson’s Flat. They recently enlisted the active sympathy of the Greymouth Chamber of Commerce in presenting their case to the Government. Another of the Greymouth local bodies which was approached by them declined to take any action. sishop West-Watson, of Christchurch, has been touring the district in his official capacity. He has had the good fortune to enjoy splendid weather, and has covered the greater part of his journey on horseback. Mild influenza is prevalent throughout the district. Though a considerable number of children have been absent, it has not been considered necessary to close the schools. Various matters, including roads to isolated farm lands, timber royalties, and a new route through Haast Pass, have been recently brought before Parliament by the members for this district, and received favourable replies. The Minister of Public Works nas promised that during next summer he will visit the district and judge for himself the urgency of some of the requests. The fate of the Cobden Town Board is still uncertain. After the expression of a great divergence of opinion, the board brought before the last meeting of the Grey County Council a request that it be again included in the Grey County. The meeting set up a committee to investigate and report. it _

The Main Highways Board has intimated to the Grey County Council that it cannot classify the Greymouth-West-port coast road as a main highway. The council, in view of the prospective importance of the road, has requested the board to reconsider its decision. The Public Works Department has authorised the expenditure on the main highway in the Grey County of £755 in restoration flood damage. Dr Teichelmann, of Hokitika, has been granted six months’ leave of absence as consulting medical officer, and is leaving for America to attend a conference of representatives of savings banks at Philadelphia. The promoters of the Charming CreekWestport Coal Company, one of several new coal ventures in Buller, are meeting with a liberal response to their offer of shares. The mine property is situated close to the railway at Ngakawau, and the coal is easily procurable and of excellent steaming quality. It will be flumed about five miles from the mine to the rail head. This addition to the Buller coal output will be very opportune, as the increasing bunker trade at Westport is making it difficult for the existing mines to supply the demand. Several steamers have recently cleared with short loads. With an extension of the berthing accommodation and improved machinery for loading, Westport is looking forward to a revival of the coal trade.