REEFTON.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVII, Issue 4, 17 May 1889, Page 23

REEFTON.

April 30th, 1889. Nkveb before have the Catholics of Reefton had the privilege of assisting at so many devotional exercises during the holy season of Lent, and of witnessing so many ceremonies u«ed io the religious celebrations of Holy Week. And it is gratifying to reflect tbat they were not slow to avail themselves of these opportunities. This is the first time tbat two priests nave bean stationed together in this parish, and it people have not profited by the religious instruction and admonitions they have receive! it is entirely their own fault. On Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday in Holy Week there was a very large attendance at church morning and eveiing. On Thursday the side altar was tastefully dressed for the reception of the Blessed Sacrament, which was deposited thereon after tbe celebration of solemn High Mass and exposed for adoration until the following day. On Good Friday the kissing of the Cross took place before Mass, and at night, after Tenebrae, Father Ginaty delivered a pathetic and beautiful sermon on the sufferings and death of cur Saviour. The next morning a large congregation wag present at 10 o'clock Mass, preparatory to which Fathers Roll and aid Ginaty wenc through tba ceremony of blessing the fire (to be used for church purposes), triangular candles and paschal candle, Baptismal font, water, and oil. During this ceremony, tbe priest, deacon, and acolytes marched in slow procession two or three times round the church, tbe choir solemnly chan ing the appropriate psalms and litanies, which sounded extremely dirge-like, unaccompanied by any instrumental music. After the procession the officiating priest prostrated himself for a considerable time before the high altar, and this concluded the impressive and affecting ceremonies of Holy Week.

Father Ginaty his had an unnsually busy time of it since his arrival in Beef ton. The schoolmaster, Mr. Jones, met with an accident one day whilst out driving, and was incapacitated for nearly a fortnight from discharging his school duties, which thus devolved on Father Ginaty, who had already quite enough to attend to. One day at Boatman's, another day at Reefton ; visiting tha sick, burying the dead, hearing confessions, instructing children for Confession, Communion, and Confirmation, preaching long sermons every day, and performing innumerable other duties. Altogether Father Giaaty ha? come to the conclusion tbat this is a parish of great responsibility and a veiy onerous one to have control of.

" There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, There is a rapture on the lonely shore, There is society where none intrudes By Ihe deep sea, and mu9in in itj roar."

Father Holland has beei endeavouring to regain his health, not "by tbe deep sad sea," but evidently be mun have found " a pleasure in the patnless wools " of the loaugahua country, through which he has been travel iie lately, and " a raptura on the lonely shores " of its beautiful rivers, for he hasretur.ied, to all appearance, greatly ben«fitted by the change, and speaks in warm and eulogistic terms of tb« generous hospitality fhown him by the settlers of tue up-country districts ; one and all seemed delighted to welcome him, and took advantage of his presence amongst them to perform their flaster Juty. Th« Matakitaki district is vastly different now to what it used to be in bygone years. It was one of the drat goldfields opened on the West Coast, having been rushed in 1860, and was enormously rich, the river-beds to the water's edge yielding splendidly. Hundreds of diggers flocked overland from Nelson, and tho earlier years of life on the Matakitaki was comparable (though, of course, in a lesser degree) to the wild riot of Ballaiat and Bendigo. The gold was quickly and easily got, and knocked down with a reckless prodigality. All this is channel now. The d^ys of big nuggets anl wild rioting are past, but a few straggling miners are still there, plodding sturdily on, working away with pick and shovel in the gullies and terraces along the beds of the Malikitaki and Bailer rivers, seldom earning more than £1 or 25s per week, but alwats sure of that The Tablet has a Urge circulation in those parts: Lyell. Hampden, Blue Duck, Horse Terrace, Glenroy, Glencurran, Mangles (why on earth is not the Maori nomenclature generally adapted and retained instead of those outlandish titles), as far even as the Spencer Ranges, and as a natural consequence, everybody — farmers, miners, etc. — are well posted up in political m\tters, an<i are as ;i ru>e staunch patriots. Tbe latest attack on Ireland ie levelled a?amst her culinary departmeat. The " Vagabond," wri'm* to tha Melbourne Age, declares thit '• a properly boiled potato " i 9 not obtainable in that much abused land. It would be interesting to learn what tbe " Vagabond's " definition of a '' properly boiled potato" reilly is, *nd whether he has a partiality for toat nutritious escu'enc wi:h its jacket on or off, Possibly, when the "Vagabond" last visitel Irela id, his digestive organs may have been out of order, or he may have been suffering from a severe attack of catarrh, which destroyed his sense of taste for the time being, and rendered him incapable of discriminating between a potato and a turnip

Broadway wore a very deserted appearance during thj Easter holidays. Our tennis players left in bign glee for Greymouth, to pUy the return match thord. They had been challenged by the Greymouth and Hokitika teams, and succeeded before returning in establishing %

reputation for splendid play. In the G ey mouth match 87 games were played on each side, and endei in a tn. The players were beaten by foot games. The Reefton Volunteers (or, to give them a more dignified appellation, the luangahui R flj9; also departed to take part in the Hokitika encampment, with drums beating and banners flying, looking the very personification of valour and intrepidity. " The man who wears a regmental suit Is nothing batter than a raw recruit, Bat what of that."

Anyone would have thouzht that we were sending a contingent off to Samoa, to defend the rights and liberties of British subjects. Rumour says, however, that the martial ardour of our warriors very quickly evaporated when confronted with some of the stern hardship* of even a mock war, Instead of proceeding in all their military nplend >ur to one of the tip- 'op hotels, the word ot command was given to proceed to camp immediately, aid to camp oar heroes unwillingly proceeded, where having to sleep on thu damp ground they subjected th -mselves thereby to serious attacks of iofluenza, sciatica, lumbago, and goodness knows what besides.

This week there is a slight improvement in mini ig affairs. Keep* it-Dark, Progress and Globe mines still command the best price in the market, the two former selling at 36s and 353, the latter at 26*. A tidy dividend has just been distributed amongst the shareholders of the last-named company, who are chiefly local residents. This means the circulation in Reefton of about £1800. Sweet is a dividend, and passing sweet to be a shareholder without having any calls to pay. Everything contiouesquiet in BMtnoau's. The Welcome has not yet resumed work, as the flae and other parts of the mine are undergoing repairs. Big River are saleabl jat ss. but shareholders are sanguine of a speedy increase ia value. Holders of shares in the United Alpine mine, Lyell, were greitly ela'ed last week by the news that a large reef had been discovered, in one of the levels, Up to this, however, no gold has been foun i in the stone, bat highly promising indication s exist, and the best hopes aic entertained of the gold-bearing nature of the reef. Sir Harry Atkinson has been to Reefton. "He came, he saw, he conquered ", just a flying visit, no time to linger in any place, consequently no special reception had beea prepared for him. Jus as well too, perhaps, for when they treated him to a banquet in Greymonth he coolly stated that in his estimation the money would have been better expended on roads and bridges. On his journey from Weitport to Reefton the Pramier had the rare treat of travelling along the most atrocious road on the West Coast, where landslips are almost an everyday occurrence, and traffic is constantly impeded. If tourists only had to travel along this route, the seen -ry would compensate them for all iaconvenience and drawback*, so wild is it, so sublime, so picturesquely grand, but unfortuuately coachmen and waggoners, wno have no time for the contemplation of the beautiful, have to pass along this road daily to the constant peril of life and property, and many and deep are the imprecations levelled again tt the Government for its parsimony in this particular direction, Home months ago a tramendons landslip occurred midway between Westport and the Inangahua Junction. Huge masses of rock h*d become detached from the overhanging cliff &a if by some mighty earthquake, and precipitated hundreds of feet on to the roadway below, forming an obstruction which could not be removed for month?.

While in Reefton several deputations waited on the Premier to make known to him the absolute necessities of the distiict. The county of Inangahua is cot immoderate in its demands. If it cannot get what it wantb, it will take what it can »ft. A subsidy for the maintenance of roads and bridges that cost, the c^un'y close on £5000 yearly, a road in one direction and a bridge in another, with a few minor requests — this is the sum total of our requirements, and yet ihe Premier accuses us of extravagance in the past. It rem3in9 to be seen whether the modest wants ot the county will receive the consideration they are entitled to during the next session.

On (lit that an advertisement is to appear in each of the local papers next week headed " Lord Onslcw's Poodle," and worded as follows :— "A beautifully enamelled and faithfully executed photo of the abavc charming little animal will be exhibited in the shop windows of the principal stationers cf this town. The establishment whose window displays the bibt photograph will be entitled to the largest share of public patron ige." — Rather a brilliant idea, thip. Generally speakinsr, snobbery is objectionable, but a little deference towards aristocratic poodles is rather commendable than otherwise.

The glad tidings ha^ been rectived at last that the Midland Railway is to be proceeded with at once. It is said that the formation of the line between Ns:abere (Nelson Creek) and Reeftou in to be let in live section". This is good ntws for the unemployed Five locomotives and several of tr.c cairiagcs have already arrived in GreymoutK One of the carriages is dcseiibtd as being an elegant aff tii, litted up in the best modern style. It is forty-six feet long, nnd the floor rests on gutta-percha block-3 so ab to render the movement as smooth ?nd easy as possible.