WEST COAST NOTES

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19158, 15 November 1927, Page 15

WEST COAST NOTES

li tff Commerce, that he is niak- <**" ■•• into the Chamber's reP^la»d a tP^"» bMCh ' Punakai " J* for .toA-raWng purpose*. ])ffcain g.Honso Destroyed. **"»* „" a t Favcrsham, between owned and occupied was completely do*s br fie. Owing to the lack of mJ yJL applian«s none of the eonand the occupants U m make a hurried escape. The b,d ,rtwa« insured for £2OO, but the sJ?dSfwt nearly cover the loss. Petrol Tax. T« eonneiion with a resolution passed the Grey Chamber of Commerce tirgr - on the Government a more equit,fl. distribution of the petrol tax to iS under a population of 6000 ♦wi Prime Minister has telegraphed Mr i McLean, chairman of the Chamber, .Wising that under the present arrangements boroughs under a population of «AOO will be entitled to all the benefit, of *hc Highways Act, of 1922, and ♦hit the Highways Act of this year •Hows the Board to give special arrangements to boroughs where special (jrcumstances exist. The Prime Minister also telegraphed Jlr McLean advising that duty on petrol oed on bush and rail tractors was refundable as provided in Clause 7 of the Act. Boy's Death. A twelve-year-old boy, James O'Brien, tbe youngest son of Mr arid Mrs J. O'Brien, of Nelson Creek, died suddenly Tdterday afternoon. The boy was in the company of other boys, riding his trtle, and got off to push the machine ip»'hill. When about half way he colUpsedand fell to the road, and it was found that life was extinct. He had offered from heart trouble. Summer Time Bill. The confusion which existed at Blackball last week as the result of one section of the population observing mine time and the other summer time was brought to an end yesterday, when, at i largely attended special meeting of Ihe Blackball and PapaTpa Miners' Union, over which Mr A. McLagan prelided, it was decided by a large ma- * jority to fall into line with the provisions of the Summer Time Bill. Ministerial Visit. The Hon. Mr McLcod (Minister for lands) and the Hon. Mr Hawken (Minuter for Agriculture and State Forests) Till visit Wcstland shortly after Parliament rises. Some portions of South Wwtland are likely to be traversed by He Ministers, who will be travelling together. Eemanded. William Jamicson, who was arrested by Constable Gurden, of Ahaura, was eharged before Mr D. Armstrong, J.P., it Ngahere, with assaulting John Butterworth, thereby causing him grievm bodily harm. Jamicson was remanded to appear at Greymouth on December 12th next. Bail was allowed in one nrety of £SO. The charge was the sequel to an inddeot which took place at Ngahere on the evening of Sunday, November 6th, when.it js alleged that Jamieson struck Butterworth, who fell, fracturing his «x.utt. Butterworth is a married man employed as a sawyer at Bell Hill. He was admitted to the Grey Hospital last Monday evening in a critical condition, which remained unchanged until when lie underwent an operation. His condition, though improved, is still serious. . . Miner Injured. Through becoming jammed between t*o trucks at the Blackball Mine a miner, named W. Young, had his leg severely crushed. He received medical attention, bui will be incapacitated for some time. v Magistrate's Court. Mr W. Meldrum, S.M., presided at today's sitting of the Greymouth Magistrate'! Court. Herbert McGlashan, bus proprietor, *aa charged with attempting to pass over the Cobden bridge level crossing •n September 20th, when the crossing was not clear. The charge was a sequel to a collision between a motor-bus driven by McGlashan and the Rewanui tram, as a result of which the bus confining three passengers was struck by the engine, and after being carried some dJttanee along the line, was thrown over •a its side. None of the occupants *»i injured. Defendant was fined 103 •M COsts.

Ciarged with a breach of his prohibition order, Joseph Hind was fined 6s •M costs.

Hugh Hassan, a miner, employed at we Dobson Mine, pleaded guilty to wing 'a cigarette in his possession in ' P*rt of the mine where safety lamps 2«e required. Mr J. AV. Hannan ap«ed for the Grey Valley Collieries, in ?" e Magistrate imposed a fine or JI J an « costs, arid stated that in future 1 'eavier penalty would be inflicted for "y similar offenceThe Weather. „„„ *** Coasters were given tlioir first •PPortumty to-day of ascertaining "«ner the Summer Time Act was a «"efit or otherwise when, after a long P«iod of dreary climatic conditions, *" B occasional fitful bursts of sun"»e, the weather cleared, and the sun W its welcome rays on a water-logged sMj **' Luckil y the rain ceased at "*W yesterday, and tho Grey river, J~" '"**» in high flood up to a late. h> «. ever »ng, subsided more rapidruan it rose. Farms at y Coal Creek t»and the Omoto racecourse and lowTfß parts of Kaita, which were innna»i i!!- 4 evenin P. were high and dry P™ this morning. As settlers antici- {::*\ a % flood all stock was renew*- the dan S er zone - With the tiefl °? 0f roads bcin e scoured where jju.nood waters overflowed them verv £«• damage resulted. The railway at hj«,r WT the mile P c ß showed further tolfiit ° f subssdenc c to-day and a ji * was kept busv in restoring Un « to its normal level.

Personal. to-Bw & s t«ne, of Cobden, will leave •f j?" 0 * to attend the annual meeting ■ e "esbyterian Women's Missionto be held at Christchurch. b v£r Peth «bridge, of Hamilton, UTt 110 * "latives at Cobden. Cirirf.f 8, B,n g will leave to-morrow for Templer, who was recently manager of the GrevmouUi •*«W • the Bank of Ncw South *tt£L?? v , ei on Saturday. He was lJW 4 Mrs Templer. tig fo.' I?™* leaves tomorrow mof*nChristchurch to attend the <Wv T^f mbl y of the Presbyterian j£» of New Zealand. *•&» W ,Uhar ' of Blackba l'i entered *>Bpital to-day to undergo an fc2£° b f t Hodgetts, a well-known Kg' °' Burnett's Face, died on He had been in ill-health for

a considerable time. He leaves a widow and one child. Railway Time-Table. General dissatisfaction is expressed at the proposed alteration in the West Coast railway time-tables, on the ground that the alterations will be detrimental to the business of the district, and will cause great inconvenience alike to the general public and country pupils attending technical and secondar--schools at Greymouth. Exception is also taken to the change in the express time-table, as under the proposal the express will leave Greymouth seven minutes earlier, and will not reach Christchurch any earlier than it does now on the westward trip. The express will be thirteen minutes later in arriving at Greymouth. It is contended that this will mean great inconvenience, as there is common complaint that mail matter from Christchurch arrives too late under the present time-table. A movement is on foot to have representations made to the Railway authorities with a view to getting the express to leave Greymouth and Christchurch at 9 a.m., so as to enable passengers to arrive earlier at their destinations. In reply to a protest made by the Chamber of Commerce at its meeting on Friday against the suggested alterations, the Prime Minister has telegraphed to the chairman, Mr J. McLean, stating that he will be pleased to arrange for the District Manager, Mr Chapman, to interview him (Mr McLean) regarding the matter. Mr Chapman is expected to arrive here this week.