WITH THE HINEMOA.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XIX, Issue 6482, 27 September 1892, Page 3

WITH THE HINEMOA.

A TRIP TO THE WEST COAST,

MORE ABOUT COAL: THE HARBOR WORKS.

(FROM OUR PARLIAMENTARY REPORTER.) After we had inspected the mining works at Denniston, there was time for a brief glance round the township. You never saw such a place. Being situate on the crest of j a mountain, they are of course cramped for •pace, and the houses are very small and have no back-yards. They are all weatherbeaten ami much the worse for want of paint. Shanties are perched on rocky crags, and huge tree stumps and roots are round about and in between them. There is only the one narrow lit! le lane, and the houses are justscatteredabout higgledy-piggledy whercever a piece of rock can be got to hold them. The population of the place is over a thousand, no less than 400 miners finding employment at this mine. The average earnings of a coal miner are £118 10s 2d per annum, 6a per ton being paid for raising the coal. The Denniston mine, with its present staH and appliances, is capable of putting out one thousand tons per day, and they are only working what they call one shift, whereas it would be possible to work three shifts, so •hat it will be seen that if a trade could only b« secured the export might be enormous. There is no fear of the coal running out, for it has been proved beyond the shadow of a. doubt by borings that there is coal there to last for generations at twice the present output. With improved facilities for shipping, the trade has and will greatly increase Last year's increase on the year preceding was 35,000 tons, but the yearly increased output cannot be expected to be much greater than hitherto until the harbor at Westport is completed to such an extent that vessels carrying? 3ooo tons on one bottom can leave the ports so as to carry coal to markets outside the colony. No large sudden increase in the output from the mines ot Buller or the Grey need be expected until the completion of the harbors at these places, as it will take some years' to find foreign markets for the coal. Seeing that there are now a large number of coal mines being worked in Japan, where the cost of labor is extremely small, the coal from that country being taken to different ports in India and South America, it is only owing to the superior quality of our coal that we may hope to find a market, and this will take a certain time to establish. It may, however, reasonably be expected that on the completion of the West Coast harbors, the coal properties on the West Coast will be able to compete with those in New South Wales m supplying coal both to our own and any other of the neighboring colonies. Before leaving Denniston we observe a track cleared straight down the face of a steep mountain on the opposite side of the deep ravine below ua, and enquire what it is. We are told that on the top of that mountain, als© 2000 feet high, shafts have been sunk a»d any quantity of good coal discovered. It is the old Koranui claim. The track down the hill was cleared in order that an incline railway might be constructed. It was at the time the miners of Denniston were preparing to construct their incline, and the people of the two claims considered aud decided that it would never pay to go to the expanse of two great uphill railways where there wao plenty of coal in either mountain for both parties, "bo ca. *im.lgamation was agreed to and the claim which was to be worked was decided on in a most extraordinary manner. It was to be settled by tug-of-war. Picked teams from the rival claims strove for the mastery at the foot of the hill one day, and after an exciting pull the Denniston people gained the day, aud it was the Denniston mine which was opened up. The mining round Westport is not wholly of coal. There are a few gold miners still working on the ocean beach between the Buller and the Mokihinui rivers, but most of the mining population is between Westport and Fox's river, near Brighton. The quantity of gold obtained in Westport last year was 14,1480z5. valued at £56,540. There is an extensive area of ground in which numerous leads or runs of gold-bearing drift have been found, at Addison's, Croninville, and Charleston. At the latter place, which has a population of 2000, the Buller County Council is bringing in an additional supply of water for the miners from a creek some distance away, as it is considered by those in the locality that with a plentiful supply ground which was considered valueless in the early days of the field can now be made, with modern appliances, remunerative for working. At Addison's flat there are still some very good claims on the rich leads of gold discovered when this flat was first opened, and of recent years a new lead has been discovered' near Cape Foulwind giving good returns for working. The average earnings of the miners is computed at £80 12s a man. A «pecial train took us to the ends of the breakwater piers. The work is a grand one. It has cost half a million of money, but the result has justified the expenditure, and refl«cts great credit upon Sir John Coode, whose plans were adopted, aud upon Mr Napier Bell, under whose supervision the work was carried out. Two curved walls run out from each bank of the river. They are each 4000 ft long. The western wall is the stoutest, and is constructed of immense blocks of stone, nob concrete, piled one on top of another, rubble between, the whole a solid everlasting m >ss. The stone is a flinty granite, very durable, and some of the boulders weigh over thirty tons. The eastern wall is also very substantial, but does not contain so much stone, the surface of the stonework at the outer end being only as high as the highwater level, a rough wooden pier on top. We saw the breakwater at an opportune time, there being a heavy sea running and a small steamer going out whilst we were on the eastern pier. The coast, as I have said, is a most inhospitable one, and it needed a good breakwater to enable vassels to approach it. The depth of water has been greatly improved, and large vessels of 2000 tons, like the Taieri and Rotokino, now enter the river, and are berthed at the wharf. Still, greater success ia hoped for. The breakwater works are not nearly finished •yet. There are protective works some miles inland to prevent the Buller river diverging, and abreast of the town massive stone training walls are to be constructed to confine the water into a narrow channel, and thus cause a good scour, so that the depth of water on the bar will be oreatly increased. Part of the breakwater scheme was the construction of a splendid iron railway bridge across the river, just above the town. Whan I was told that all this great work had been completed within seven years and thought of the progress of Gisborne's breakwater during the last seven years I sighed, and Mr E. M. Smith, of Taranaki, who was with me, sighed also. A good deal of dredging has been done in connection with the work, the Board having purchased and fitted a dredging plant at a cost of £1,300, but the dredge was not altogether suitable, and to work costly For some time 28,000 tons were lifted a month, at a cost 3s 6d per ton. A great work in connection with the harbor scheme was the erection of staiths, which are capable of loading 500,000 tons per annum.- The staiths is a high bridgework wharf, alongside which a good many vessels can be berthed. The railway runs on to the top of the staiths, and the coal from the trucks is emptied into large shoots, down which the coal pours into the vessels' holds. A special train took us out to Cape Foulwind, five or six miles distant, where the stone for the breakwater comes from. At thiß point there are immense quarries, with heavy cranes for lifting the stone from the face of the cliffs into the trucks. The trucks themselves are worthy of inspection, being an invention of Mr Napier Bell's, and said to be very suitable for the work for which they are designed. Whilst at Cape Foulwind we went into the lighthouse and inspected the powerful flash light, and were shown a place where a steamer's boiler lying on tlie shore inai 'k s the spot where the SB. Sura, well-known in Gisborne, was lost. In the train with us were a number of school children, for whom Mr Joyce, M.H.R., had obtained a half-holiday and this pleasant outing, and the children entertained us with ■inffine on the journey. f regret that space does not permit me to fl o more fully into a description of the excellent harbor works. A word or two will tell of the conclusion of our trip. Captain Fairchild sent to the dance for all passengers Jo be on board before 10 o'clock, as it was too rough to cross the bar later, and soon after that hour the Hineinoa was away from TTeitport, Bteaming down the Buller auci

over the bar. We had heavy weather all the way along the coast, but the Government steamer proved herself a good seaboat, and only made a moderate number sick. We hoped to reach Wellington by 7.30 on Tuesday evening in time to resume legislative duties with the evening sitting, but at 4.30, when in Cook's Straits, there was such a heavy gale blowing and big sea running that Capt. Fairchild decided to turn back, as to go on would mean a long passage, punishment for everybody, and perhaps things smashed up. The skipper found a quiet little cove, where we lay peacefully at anchor all night, wondering what was happening in Parliament Buildings, Wellington, where the Government would be in the uncomfortable position of being without a dozen of their ardent supporters. "I shouldn't be surprised if that mischievious old beggar Grey were to spring a no-confidence motion and put the Government out," said one of them, and it was resolved by members of both parties who were with us to " hope for the best." That evening we had a jolly concert on board. Next morning at five anchor was weighed and our journey resumed. The gale had • moderated, and the sea was not very heavy in the Straits, but off Terawhiti and Sinclair Head there was an abominable roll, which spoiled irost people's appetite for breakfast. Wellington wharf was reached at 10 o'clock. The Ballance crowd, we were told, were still in power. After three cheers for Captain Fairchild the party dispersed, declaring it to have been a most enjoyable and instructive trip.