GREYMOUTH NOTES.

West Coast Times, 24 June 1909, Page 4

GREYMOUTH NOTES.

<««•• (From A Correspondent). It is reported that there is a fairly large number of unemployed in the district at present, and it would seem that this is the worst winter we have experienced in this respect for several years. The agitation for alterations in the yime, rental and other conditions of lease in connection with the native reserves — upon which the principal business portion of the town of Greymouth is built — is about to be renewed. Mayor Coates has given notice to bring the matter up at the next meeting of the Borough Council. Fifteen years service is the record of Mr A. Vickerman as superintendent of Holy Trinity Sunday School. On Sunday last he was presented with a volume of St. Paul's works and an easy chair by the scholars. Mr Vickerman, who has resigned the superintendency will continue to take an acttive part in the imparting- of religious mstruction to the young people attending the above named school. There have been several changes in the proprietorship of hotel properties in the Borough during the past few days. Mr John Pater son, of Wellingr ton, has taken over the Post Office (Revington's) hotel, Mr Sweet, also of Wellington, enters into possession of the Criterion (Pollock's) and the Ausi tralasian (near the cemetery) has changed hands from Mr Morse to Mrs Quinn, late of Kumara and Waimea. Carpentry classes have again begun at the local technical school under the instruction of Mr C. Galbraith. The lads were this week given instruction in the art of how to use a plane. Magistrate Turton is determined to put a stop to cattle and horses trespassing on the Westland railways, that is, of course, if a heavy monetary fine will have, the desired effect. An offender in this respect was fined £5 and costs on Monday last, whilst only a few days ago a similar fine was imposed on the ow.ner of a horse which was caught in the cow-catcher on the Grey-Hokitika line, -delaying the train for a considerable time. The loss of a beast worth £40, add to this the Magisterial fine of £5, and the lesson and example should have been sufficient. The nuisance has become i a great one of late and the safety of the travelling public demands that it shall be stamped out ere we are overtaken with a serious railway accident, attended with loss of life and limb. The "Rakanoa," one of the largest— if not the largest — colliers that has yi sited these parts is now in port. She takes a cargo of 1900 tons of Blackball coal to Lyttelton. The Blackball mine is particularly busy at the present time and this large load in addition to the usual shipments by the "Petone" and "Ngahere," boats owned by the Company for the carriage of the output from its mines. The coal industry is particularly brisk at the present time and the local mines are fully occupied in meeting the demand for black diamonds. Although a slight improvement is discernible in the sawmilling industry orders are coming in but slowly the mills not anything like fully em-" ployed. After all these weeks and months of enquiry and peregrinations round the Dominion taking evidence the Timber Commission has as yet done nothing towards the improvement of the trade or otherwise. The Government, however, has taken one practical step in withdrawing the subsidy to a Canadian line which has been dumping Oregon pine into this Dominion in large quantities. This may have the effect of ridding local markets of the Imported article and gradually bring about an improvement in the timber trade. As to the Commission, it may as well, never have sat so far as practical immediate assistance, to the timber industry are concerned. The proroguing of Parliament too, will inevitably delay consideration of the Comission's report, and in the near future the Timber Commission, like many another of the same category, may be looked upon as a huge and expensive farce yielding nothing except a voluminous record unread" and availing nothing. In the meantime the industry, let us hope, will recover somewhat from the stagnation of the past few months, despite the dilatoriness and the "easygoing" way in which a vital question has been so lightly dealt with by the powers that be. The Hokitika Presidents (football team) returned home on Saturday last from Greymouth after waiting for over a week for a chance to reach Westport A week's stay in Greymouth may not have increased their prowess in the Rugby arena, but it is rumoured that their exasperation at the vagaries of a bar harbour were somewhat assuaged by their assiduity as pupils in comic opera, and will have reason to remember the chorus — "We walked into the shop." Thereby hangs a tale about a piece of cord, an unrehearsed ditty with the chorus girls, and the putting of the words into action. — Ask the "Presidents." ,