THE WEST COAST.

Otago Witness, Issue 3870, 15 May 1928, Page 34

THE WEST COAST.

(From Oub Own Corbrspondent.l GREY JUBILEE. May 10. A largely attended meeting oi the general committee of the recent Grey jubilee was held during the week, when the balance sheet was presented. This showed a deficit of £BO, which will be reduced to £55 upon receipt of an outstanding contribution. The result was considered very satisfactory. It was decided not to call on the guarantors for the deficit, but to invite local bodies to make it up. Unfortunately some little friction occurred on one or two points. The failure of the Jubilee Souvenir was attributed to the free issue of a jubilee extra by one of the papers. A lack of sufficient organisation was cited as the reason for the unremunerative character of some departments, and wrangling occurred over an honorarium to the secretary. Altogether the celebrations were voted a success and a splendid advertisement for the district. MINES DISPUTE. The board appointed to consider evidence relative to the dispute between the Miners’ Union and the State Mines management met during the week. The point under discussion was the advisability or otherwise of removing the pillars in a section of the Liverpool mine. The union ■ •ont'-nded that the extraction of the pillars would endanger the lives of the miners. An appeal was made to the Mines Department, as a result of which the board was. after an inspection of the position by the Under-secretary for Mines, set up to deal wtih the matter. This was several months ago. The board consisted of two representatives of each side, and the stipendiary magistrate of Greymouth was appointed chairman. The mine was visited, and the conference was then held in Greymouth. The proceedings were Characterised by informality and goodwill. The question resolved itself into a matter of opinion, and after discussion the vote was even, the members voting for the organisation that they represented. The chairman .voted _ with the min? management, thus giving a preponderance of voting to the contention that it was safe and proper to extract the pillars. DOBSON MINE. The Grey Valley Collieries Ltd. has recently installed a hoist for the convenience of the men to and from the underground workings of the Dobson mine. The hoist is driven by an air winch erected over the entrance to the d’ ive, and is capable of lifting 40 men at a time. Under previous conditions the men, when leaving the mine, had to climb an incline 19 chains long, with a grade of one in less than three. ITEMS. Through some disagreement with an employee on the score of wages the Liverpool State mine was closed for part of the week. At the instigation of a recent visitor to the Franz Josef. Glacier, the Highways Board was approached by the Canterbury Progress League relative to the bridging of the remaining streams on the Waiho road. The board stated in replv that it had arranged for the erection of a bridge over the worst of the streams. Material was on the ground, and the bridge wonkl be completed within a few months. Instructions had been given for survevs to be made in connection with bridges over two other streams, and it was nroivldc that these structures would be erected 1 during the current year. Bm-ond tins it was not clear that the board old be able to go any* further at present. Goods traffic carried through the Otira tunnel for the past week totalled 9004 tons, as compared with 7232 tons for the corresponding week of last year. The embargo on the export of certain grades of New Zealand timber, which has been in operation for the past 10 years, and which has be<m a source of much dissatisfaction amongst sawmill owners has been removed by an Ordcr-in-Conncil. so that mi'lors are now at libe'-tv to export to the full extent of oversea orders. The industry is very quiet at present, and it is reported that several mills are about to cease work owing to lack of orders \ hv the m-mhe- for the district for a remission nf ties recently imposed on the Millerton m’ners has been refused by the Prime Minister after careful consideration of the whole circumstances. , TI. Hansen, one of the nioneers of the Buller district, died during the week a v x • of 90 Vears. He came to the district 60 years ago, and has spent his life as a gold-miner. Legal action was taken against the lessees of the G-evmouth Onera House for permitting Snndav whi-b were run bv the Swimming Club ir? md nf the <!» . y evidence it was stated that the sum of £i(10 had been raised in this wav by the club. The charge was dismissed A very sTic""csful -r 1 sheen was held at the Wataroa yards during the we"k h v nJ) church firms. At the conclusion of the sale a deputation of settlers waße.l on the firm’s representative requesting that regular «*ales bn held j n f n f nrp The Wataroa River has made serious encroachments on tlie road at a deviation that had recently been made, an : v.-t'h was considered quite safe. ’ P-vmanent protection of the road is difficult on account of th" soft natime of th" coil nn d further deviation appears to lie th" only remedy. A considerable o f fh e road will have to be reformed. "Mr O D. S"wc]]. s-h.ioi • a<h"r at Blackball, who has been transf"rrcd to Parnassus, was accorded a farewell bv the residents, with whom he was very popular. The erection of the town baths was largely r due to his nersistent efforts in the face of many difficulties. Tie was presented with a wallet of notes and a sib-oy pencil The weather during the week has been very wintry. Tim “ Barber ” has made its annual appearance, which means several hours of bitter cold in the forenoons. The Greymouth Harbour Board is making steady progress with the extension of the moles in connection with its harbour

improvement scheme. During the past month 1825 tons of stone have been taken from the Cobden quarry and deposited on the northern breakwater, which now requires 44ft to make it coterminous with the southern. The installation of machinery for the btewart dredging experiment is well under way. Although the bar no longer needs scouring, the board will have a demonstration of the capabilities of the plant with a view to future requirements.