WELLINGTON NOTES.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 11492, 27 January 1903, Page 5

WELLINGTON NOTES.

THE STATE COAL MINES.

WIRELESS TELEGRAPHY.

(SPECIAL TO "THE PRESS.") WELLINGTON , , January 26. Mr Gordon. Consulting Engineer to th# Government, lias returned from a visit td the State coal mines on the West Coast He is thoroughly satisfied with. Use progress made on bolh properties Binoe they were taken over by the State. Over one hundred men are now employed on them. The tunnel, which is being driven into the "care" area in the Westport-Cardht at Seddonville, has now pierced the hill for a distance of about 800 feet, and it is estimated that it will have to be extended 900 feet more before the coal seam is opened up. JtVn arc. engaged in construtting a. tramway between tli? tunnel mouth and the coal bins at. the of the railway Hup, which nins into Wtstpor:. A*, the Coal (reek mint four tuniv\s are being constructed, and although the. pn>-gx-e.vs lias been very satisfactory a great" deal of " ijtad work" yet lequ'iKs u> ot> done. Tlit? completion of the u-.iwav line between Coal Creek and Greyinouth" will employ a number of men for months to conic. .Mr (.Gordon dote not think that there will be any output of ccal irom either ol the mines lor the next eight or nine months. Mr W. Hogarth, the officer in charge' of the naval stores at Sydiwy. ha« had interviews with several of the Cabinet Ministers and a number of business men in reference to the object of his mission. The Admiralty is prepared to enter into cantracts for large supplies of tinned meats and salt beef and pork, and it may also be induced to purchase quantities of potatoes, flour, frozen m«at. etc. Mr Hogarth will be taken over the meat works at Ngaluiurangn and Petone to-morrow, and will le;ive for the south on Wednesday. The latest list of officiating ministers in tha colony shows that there are 314 belonging to the Church of the Province of 2Jew Zealand (connnonly called the Church of England), 213 to the Presbyterian Church, 165 to the Roman Catholic* Church, 165 to U» Methodist Church of Australasia in New Zealand. ~3b to the Primitive* Metlio dist Connexion, 23 Baptists. 19 Congat'g.itional Independent, 12 to the Church of Christ, nir.* to the Salvation Army, eight to the Lutheran Church, .six for "Hebrew congregations, four to the Catholic Apostolio Church, three Seventh Day Adv«iti.sts, three to the Free Methodist Church. two to Central Missions (Wellington "ami Auckland), and one each to the forward movement, the Auckland Society of the New , Church, and the Unitarian Church. 'An.-. make a total of 985 for the coh-uy. The cargo taken ftom the colony for Sydney by the Victoria this mJrninjr amounted to about 1100 tone. The principal items were:—ls,3sß sacks oats, iuoo sacks barley, 746 sacks wheat, und 300 sacks bran. The New Zealand Government has bsen 1 making enquiries regarding the possibilities of wireless telegraphy for New Zealand. _ and m regard to a suggestion by Sir W. J Steward, that the system should be installed between the mainland imd the Chatham Islands, the Poutmaster-Generai has written a letter, in which lie says:—.'. "From the information available by the Department there would appeal to be no eygtem suitable for ue« between the two pjaoes, wJiicb are four hundred end fifty miles apart. The Marconi system for practical working over long distances being yet in the experimental stag*, the Maroon! Company makes it a condition thai, it* own engineers and fitters shall irwtol the system. Enquiries have been made of a German firm on several matter* relative to wireless telegraphy, and the owunectiag of Chatham Islands by a ajvteni of its own was epecdally mentioned. It is feared, however, that even were the connection practicable the initial expense of the installation, and ti»t of «»ploying skilled experts at each side to maintain the high grade apparatus in efficient order, would be co great that the expenditure would* not be justified in the mean time."