THE WEST COAST.

Otago Witness, Issue 3864, 3 April 1928, Page 35

THE WEST COAST.

(Fbom Ovb Own Corcesfondent.) ' r _ ' „ March 28, Mr T. E.' Y. Seddon, M.P'., has recently returned from an extended tour of the extreme south in this district. He expresses himself as highly pleased with the condition and prospects of this part of the district. The dry season has been very favourable for burning off bush and extending pasture land. Over 500 head of fat Hereford cattle were brought up from the far south to the Wataroa sale last week. Prosperous cheese and butter factories are in operation at Okuru. The chief drawback to that locality is the inadequate port. Mr Seddon considers that the road route over the high country to Okurp and Haast is a mistake. It is a mere bridle track, traversing 40 miles of difficult country, where the path is so narrow and precipitous as to make travelling arduous, and even unsafe. Several casualties occurred amongst the cattle on the recent journey. The tourist season has been specially good, a large proportion of tourists electing to go as far as Weheka and the Fox Glacier. The road between Waiho and Weheka has recently been improved, and passes through magnificent scenery. A hostel. is being erected at Weheka, and will be completed in July. GOLD. Advantage has been taken in various, places of the abnormally low state of the rivers to do a little fossicking for gold. At Blackball the coal miners during the period of slackness have found payable gold in the river bed. One man is reported to have panned out 23 ounces of gold from two dishes of wash, and another unearthed a nugget weighing over an ounce. In the Buller River also a ; prospector recovered a small nugget : and a quantity of free gold. The tailings from the Hohonu Gold Sluicing Company, whieb are deposited in the Greenstone Creek, dammed up. the waters of that stream during the week, so that they overflowed the banks, and inundated a large area of land, sub- ; merging -two bridges and about half a mile of -road. Traffic was held up, and a sawmill in the vicinity wag obliged to cease work; A channel for the release of the water was ultimately cut under the direction of the county engineer. JOTTINGS. - - - : - A meeting of ex-Otago and Southland residents in Greymouth was held during the week for the purpose of forming an association of such citizens. Officers were elected, and a committee appointed to draw up a constitution which will be presented at a future general meeting. In the earlier histjry of this district there was quite a large proportion of previous residents in Otago in this listrict, it having been a common occurrence for . men who,' liaj been attracted from Australia to ‘ the Otago gold diggings to migrate again to the Wist Coast on the discovery of gold here; Rain has become general near the Coast line throughout the district. Appearances indicate that it will penetrate inland and probably prove a permanent end to the long, continued diy weather. With only occasional and brief falls of rain the district has recently experienced -the longest spell of drought on record. It has riot been an unmixed blessing. Normal conditions are such that industries have come to depend on rain, and the dry weather has Affected the output of timber especially;; Water supplies and shipping have? also -suffered, and residents are probably more prepared than previously to accept with resignation the minoi disadvantages io comfort and reputation which pertain to a wet climate. A party of Canterbury mining investors is arranging for a report on a coal mining property at Canleston, near Reefton, witb a view to purchase. ■ Goods traffic conveyed through the tunnel during the past week amounted to 9591 tons, an increase of 5556 tons as comparea. with the corresponding period of last year. The excellent fattening character of land in the southern portion of this district has r ccntly received marked illustration. A week or two ago the highest prices paid at the Addington saleyards were for Westland lambs, and during the past week at the Wataroa sale a line c bullocks from the far south, after travelling over 100 miles, sold after keen competition at .114 12s 6<l, which was equal to the top Addington quotations. The drainage system of Greymouth has for long been felt to be in an unsatisfactory condition. Elaborate ilans have been drawn, up by engineers for its completion and improvement. At a recent ‘meeting of the Borough Council an interim report of the proposals was presented, from whicl it appears that_ there will require to be expended a sum in the neighbourliood of £90,000. It s proposed to provide a sum of £2OOO to assist ratepayers to link ur their houses. The scheme will be fully considered at a meeting in a few week’s time. Owing to the dry weather the blackberry pickers- have this season had an unprofitable time. Bush fires and the .intense heat have destroyed or rendered unfruitful large areas of the weed. The South Australian bowlers were well treated during heir stay in the district. They were motorr ‘■•o the Teu Mile and to Runanga. An-afternoon was spent on the Greymouth green. For a period of four weeks ending March 3, the exports from the port of Greymouth included 17,113 tons of coal and 2,314,608 feet oi timber. State mine was the largest contributor of coal, Blackball being a close second. Bush fires were still burning at the beginning of the week. At Ahaura, where there has been practically no rain since November, a large quantity of valuable timber- has been - destroyed. So heavy was the pall of smoke at Greymouth that visibility did not extend beyond a quarter of a mile. The Corsair Social dub. which visited the district at Christmas time, proposes to repeat the trip at Easter. The party will consist of about 550 adults and 100 children. Arrangements are being made at Greymouth for. their entertainment at . a swimming carnival arid at cricket and tennis. : . . ■■ - The Ngaliere. school carried off all the ' prizes given in. the recent competition by the Ai and’P. Association in agriculture and flowers. The; Farmers’ Union has

expressed, through the Education Board, its appreciation of the work of the teacher. Miss Dixon. . - .The Hokitika Progress League has decided to submit the following "remits for discussion at the. conference to be held at Westport in May: The completion of all bridges on the main highways as a necessary means of outlet. The extension of the railway into South Westland as a means of recovering tiie timber which is being steadily destroyed by advancing settlement. The improvement of the Ckarito harbour as a means for the economical handling of timber, and the development of the flax industry. The improvement of the Haast Pass route, and the establishment of camping accommodation at easy stages. Mr S. Dollimore, tourist officer at Grevmouth for the past two and a-half years, has been transferred to Sydney. Mr W Craw, station master at Hokitika, has been appointed to Greymouth. Mr T. Hoer.n, station master at Greymouth, has been transferred to Levin. The services of each of these officials have been publicly acknowledged and presentations made.