MEMORIAL TO THE WEST COAST EXPLORERS.—MOVEMENT IN CHRISTCHURCH.

West Coast Times, Issue 281, 17 August 1866, Page 1 (Supplement)

MEMORIAL TO THE WEST COAST EXPLORERS.— MOVEMENT IN CHRISTCHURCH.

(FROM THE LYTTELTON TIMES, AUG. 10.)

A meeting of gentlemen interested in this project, was held yesterday at the Chamber of Commerce, at 3.30 p.m. Mr Ollivier occupied the chair, and briefly explained the object of the meeting, which he stated was to consider the desirability of erecting some memorial in commemoration of those gentlemen who had lost their lues *on the West Coaat. He called upon Mr Strouts to address the meeting. Mr Strouts, after passing high eulogium upon those who had fallen victims to their zeal in exploring the West Coast, stated that he, in common with many other persons, was desirous of seeing some memorial erected in honor of Messrs Howitt, Whitcombe, Townsend, and Dobson They j had lost their lives in the service of Can- ! terbury, and it was only just that a public | recognition of their services should be evinced. True it might be said that they had been remunerated for those services, but still their zeal and energy as pioneers of the West Coast deserved recognition. Public monuments exercised a great and beneficial influence, both upon the present and upon future generations. A monument was being erected on the other side of the. province, and he thought that it was desirable that some token of respect to their worth should be erected on this side also. He had no settled plan to propose with reference to the subject, but he thought that it would be desirable that a body of gentlemen should wait upon the Government, and then that measures should be taken to raise a public subscription, which should be as general as possible, so that the undertaking might be a people's work supplemented by the Government. The Chairman, after endorsing the sentiments of Mr Strouts, with regard to the valuable services of the unfortunate men who had lost their lives on the West Coast, mentioned that some time ago the project of raising a monument to the memory of Mr Howitt had been decided upon by the Government, but that the subject had lapsed. He was sure that, if a committee waited upon the Government, the latter would do all in their power to aid the project. Mr Montgomery would prefer that the work should be done by the people entirely independently of the Government, who had shown so much apathy with reference t ■> the Howitt memorial. Mr Day exonerated the present Government from the charge of apathy ; at the same time he was of opinion that the memorial ought to be the result of private subscription. Mr Strouts believed that an appropriate monument might be procured at the cost of £150 or L2OO. He should like to see the subscription limited to Ll, so that it might be the more general. Mr Montgomery moved the following resolution : — " That this meeting is of opinion that a monument or memorial tablet to the memory of the explorers of the West Coast should be erected in some public place in Christchurch," Mr Richardson seconded the motion, which was carried. Mr Heywood moved, and Mr Strouts seconded the annexed resolution, which was put and carried: — "That subscriptions be invited from the public for the foregoing purpose, and that the subscriptions should be limited to Ll Is." The following gentlemen were named as the committee — Messrs Ollivier, Strouts, J. S. Williams, Day, Richardson, Turner, Buckley, Reeves, Montgomery, Harman, Stevens, Reid, W. HargreaTes, Heywood, Latter, Birch, Luck, W. Wilson, Denham, Maude, G. Gould, and Studholme, with power to add to tlieir number. Mr Strouts was appointed secretary and treasurer. The meeting shortly afterwards adjourned.

On Saturday, the 4th instant, we learn from the Wellington papers that the first attempt to recover the broken end of the cable was made. The Sturt, Government paddle-steauier, under the command of Captain JTnirchild, left Wellington, having on board the telegriphic engineers. Captains Francis and Mundle, started in the morning. On arriving at the spot indicated by the crossbearings, takon at the time of the accident, the buoy wa3not to be seen, and as the weather was unfavorable the attempt was given up. On Monday, tho Sturt again started, with Mr Donovan and his staff on board, and the grapnell was thrown overboard, with twenty fathoms of chain attached to it. The line, however, snapped soon afterwards. A second attempt was then made nearer shore, and about thvee miles from the broken end, in hopes that the bottom would be more sandy ; but this attempt also failed. The vessel then returned to port, Mr Donovan having resolved to take the longer but more sure plan of picking up the cable close to the shore, in Lyall Bay, and then running it under to the broken part. The Sturt started again on Tuesday for this purpose. On arriving at Lyall Bay, the grapnell was thrown over in fifteen fathoms water, without success. It was again thrown over nearer shore, in six fathoms, and this time the cable was caught. The under-running gear was then fixed in the stern of the vessel, and she proceeded easy astern for four or five miles. When off Sinclair Head it was determined to buoy the cable tlaere, about "three miles from the broken end, in twenty fathoms water, as night was coming on, and with it a strong wind and tide. It was under discussion whether ifc would not be prefered to cut and splice the cable in the place where it is buoyed, in preference to where it is broken , and where the tide runs so strong that any vessel would he carried a considerable distance while the splice was being performed. The machinery for payiug out is completed and ready for use, and there is nothing now to detain the submerging of the cable. The work of connecting the shore end at Lyall Bay with Wellington has been completed, the posts having been erected, and the wires strung into town. It will be seen k from our telegram that tho secoud attempt to lay the cable was to h<{ made on &c flvst fluo d*y,