THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1888, 25 August 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus PUBLISHED DAILY TUESDAY, AUGUST 25, 1874.

As might have been expected, the publication of Mr Moriarty's report yesterday on the best means of improving the navigation of the Grey river, created very much discussion and not a little difference of opinion. In the morning a hurried meeting of the members of the Borough Council was held, in order to take further proceedings regarding the report. It was very reasonably suggested by two of the Councillors that such a meeting should not be held without the presence of representatives from the two Coal Companies that contributed towards the expenses of obtaining Mr Moriarty's report. An adjournment was agreed upon in order tbat these bodies should be united to send their representatives, and, accordingly, in the evening the conference between the members of the Borough Council, and the representative members of the Brunner and Greymouth Coal Companies took place in the Town Hall. It was in reality a simple conference, at which statements were made affecting the public interests, which should only have been made in a public meeting. The representatives of the Council present were the Mayor, Councillors Coates, Dupre, Glenn, Moore, Maclean, Hamilton, and Kerr. The only representative of the Brunner Coal Company was Mr M. Kennedy, and the representatives of the Greymouth Coal Company were Messrs Moss, Barkley, Morice, Wickes, and Johnston. The Mayor proposed that th 3 combined Co^.l Companies and the Corporation ought to send a deputation to Wellington, to ui^e the adoption of this or some other similar plan upon the Government for harbor works here. He had received a letter on the.snbjeot from Mr Moriarty,- w Wcii was read as follows :— " Sydney, July 31, 1874. "My Dear Sir, — I received your letter on the sixth instant, and your telegram about the Greymouth plan, the delaying and the lithographing of which I very much regret. As you are aware the first set of sounding on the bar did not reach me till long after my return here, and then had to get the plan, prepared at Greymouth, reduced to a convenient size for lithographing, and had considerable difficulty in obtaining the services of a competent draftsman for the purpose. " Then occurred the flood, the results of which I thought ought to be shown, so I telegraphed for a fresh sound of the bar. Immediately on receiving it I had the sounding transferred to the reduced plan, and I trnst when you see the lithograph plan you will consider it was worth delaying for the additional information supplied. : "I forward by steamer Adelaide, tomorrow, 500 copies of the report, printed in a pamphlet form, and accompanied by a lithograph plan of Greymouth, on which are delineated the training wall inside the river, and the breakwater on the southern side of the entrance. The reports will be forwarded by the Alhambra, which leaves Melbourne on the 4th prox., so that you will probably receive them about the 12th, and I hope they will arrive in time for Parliament. "I enclose received lithograph account, which I have paid for printing report and. lithographing plan. ; ! , "In framing the estimate you will observe that I have charged the stone at per ton, which has been my usual prac- ! tice, as it enables the superintending officers to check the exact quantity of stone deposited in the work, by running it over a weigh-Dridge ; thus you would only pay for the exact quantity of stone deposited from time to time; and would avoid disputes with the contractors as to sinkage, or loss from storms or other causes. The prices I have allowed are a little higher than I am paying for similar work; your proximity to the gold-field will probably make labor dearer with you than it is here. "Trusting to hear of the successful issue of your undertaking, and believe me to remain, yours, very truly. "E. Mokiarty. " P.S. —lf you will please transmit the amount of the accompanying account; through the Bank of New South Wales, I will feel obliged." The discussion that followed was long, but it was certainly not satisfactory, for the reason already stated. Mr Kerr was the principal speaker in-moving the first resolution, and congratulated the Council and others present upon the reports and plans of Mr Moriarty having been received with so much satisfaction. It was worth trying for to get 16ft of. water on the bar at neap tides, and that would carry a large quantity of coal from Greymouth. After a long speech, he moved the sending of a deputation to Wellington to interview the General Government and ask them to adopt some measures for the carrying out of works for the improvement of the harbor and bar of Greymouth and the navigation of the river.

rhey should submit Mr Moriavty's plan for consideration, but leave it to the Greneral Government engineers to decide. This was seconded by Mr F. Hamilton and agreed to, after a long discussion had taken place as to whether the deputation should recommend the establishment of a Harbor Board, similar to that created at every other port in the Colony at which largo harbor works are being carried on, or that a royalty should be fixed upon the coal exported to pay for the interest and sinking fund of the debt. Incidentally, one shilling a ton as royalty was mentioned to be collected on the coal, which we look upon as a great mistake. It is too much. Every possible effort should be made both by the General Government aud the Borough Council to cheapen the price of coal, so as to increase its demand, and it is to be hoped that the deputation about to proceed to Wellington will keep this fact in remembrance and not be too liberal in their proposition a3 to the charging of royalties on the coal, to be brought to port by the two companies. The result of the conference was that it was resolved to. send a deputation to Wellington to confer with the Government as to the plans and report, and to devise some means of carrying them out. If what was stated last night is substantially correct, there is every hope of the work being carried out for two-thirds of Mr Moriarty's estimate. Mr Johnston, the Town Surveyor, informed the meeting that Mr Moriar.ty had calculated the cost of stone at 4s 6d and 5s per ton, while the actual cost of obtaining stone on previous works was 4s 6d per cubic yard. Mr Moriarty stated in his letter that he calculates by tons in Mew South Wales ; probably he understood the prices furnished to him in Greymouth at per ton, which accounts for the difference therefore of the cost per ton, and the cost per yard would reduce the two first items by about L 37,200. His estimate of carrying out Mr Moriarty's plan is L 60,000. We give the facts as they were stated last night, in order that the public may draw their own conclusions. There is a very serious difterence of opinion or some serious mistake in figures between the two engineers, which only amounts in the total to some £37,000, but who is responsible for the error we are not in a position to say. At the close of the meeting it was resolved that a deputation proceed to Wellington to interview the Government on the matter, to be elected by the two Coal Companies and the Borough Council, with the Town Surveyor, as he had drawn out all the plans upon which the report waa baaed. Private meetings of these bodies were then held, when the fol'owing were elected as the members of the deputation : — For the Borough Council — the Mayor and Town Surveyor ; for the Brunner Coal Company—Mr M. Kennedy ; for the Greymouth Coal Company -Messrs Wickes, Barkley, and Moss. The combined deputation is expected to proceed by the p.s. Charles Edward to Nelson this morning, but it is quite another question whether they will reach Wellington before the close of the session.

With regard to the deputation from the Borough Council, elected last night to proceed to Wellington, we may mention, that after the conference referred to in another column, the Mayor and Councillor Kerr were proposed as the deputation on behalf of the Council, but owing to the pressing business engagements of Mr Kerr he was compelled to decline the honor. Mr Moriarty's bill for the production of the report and plau for the improvement of the port was presented to the Conference last night, because it was considered that the representatives of the companies interested were p esent, and the amount would have to be divided. It was as follows : For professional services, L 35 0; cost df printing and lithographing plans and reports, LSB 5s 6d; total, L4OB 5s 6d. No action was taken with regard to the payment of the bill, because it did not come regularly before that meeting, but as the funds are in hand, there is no doubt it will be settled before the next Council meeting. The nomination of candidates for the vacant seat in the G-rey Valley Road Board, caused by ihe resignation of Mr W. H. Lash, took place at Ahaura, yesterday, at noon. Mr John Overend proposed Mr John JReid, saw-mill proprietor and cattle dealer, of Ahaura, as a fit and proper person. Mr John Wright seconded the nomination of Mr Reid. There not -being another candidate, the Returning Officer declared Mr Reid duly elected. A public meeting of residents of Nelson Creek was held at the Digger's Rest Hotel, Hatter's Terrace, on the 15th instant, to take into consideration the high price of bread in the district Mr J. M. Morris took; the chair, and explained the object of the meeting, stating that the price of the best bread in Greymouth was only 2£d perlb,; while the price at Hatter's was 4|d. It was proposed by Mr vJ. S. Weetman, and seconded; by Mr James M 'Kenzie — " That this meeting is of opinion that the price of bread is too high." The chairman, before putting the resolution, asked if the bakers had anything to say in opposition to it. Mr John Callow made some remarks to the effect that the bakers of Greymouth were no precedent for those on the gold-fields, for with the price of flour as it was, the retail prices at Greymouth were ruinous. Other speakers addressed the 1 meeting, and the resolution was pub and carried. It was resolved, on the motion again of Mr Weetman, seconded by Mr M'&enzie— " That a committee be appointed to wait upon the bakers to ascertain if they would agree to supply the same weight of bread in future as they do now at one shilling in town, and one shilling and three pence in the outlying districts. If not, the committee would endeavor to find out upon what terms bread could be had from Greymouth." Mr Thomas Groom moved as an amendment that the words " full 41b loaf " be inserted in the resolution, instead of " the same weight of bread." The resolution, as amended, was carried. After the usual vote of thanks to the chairman, the meeting closed, to meet again in two weeks to receive the report of the committee. The " Ballarat Post," of August 10, has the following : — "We have been favored, by Mr B. H. Meyers, who has just returned from a visit t» New Zealand, with a view of some specimens of coal, coke, and fireclay, from the Greymouth Coal>mi ing Company's mine. A memorandum accompanying the specimens explains that the measures from which they were obtained (about five miles north of Greymouth on the beach) have been thoroughly prospected, and about 15 outer >ps of first-class coal have been proved 10ft to IBf t thick, lying from 50ft to 450 ft above sea level, and easily worked. The area held by lease is over 3000 acres. Specimens of coal, &c, can be seen at Mr J. Ditchburn's office. It is with unfeigned regret that we ( ' 'Ross Guardian," August 22) have to chronicle the departure from Ross of Mr William Banks, one of our public men. He has been resident here for many years, and always took

an active part in all matters that were likely to advance the district. As Chairman of the Road Board, a position which he occupied for twelve months, he gave full satisfaction to tho members and the public as well. He was also a leading member of the Presbyterian Church and of the Oddfellows' Society, in which he did good service, and as a private citizen was generally esteemed. Mr Banks intends settling at the Ahaura, Grey Valley, where he has bought the goodwill of a blacksmith's business. A vacancy has thus been created in the Road Board, which it is probable will not be filled up till the end of the year. The Messrs Read and party, of Tinkers, have been served with a writ for the sum of LIOOO damages, for polluting and casting tailings into the creek on Glassford's station, Loddon. A passenger from Wellington to Napier, on the last trip of the Cyphrenes, lost a carpet-bag containing L 74. He had it on board the steam launch, but failed to find it on reaching shore. The owner, an elderly man, has been left almost destitute by his loss. Amongst the list of givers of special prizes in the spring list of the Greymouth Horticultural Society, we accidentally omitted, in yesterday's issue, the name of Messrs J. Hamilton and Co. A tolegram was received yesterday by the Mayor from the Public Works Office, Wellington, stating that the Government would require to obtain a legal opinion on the question of the submerged sections on Richmond Quay before proclaiming them under the Public Works Act. The following particulars of a death |f rom exposure, recently reported by telegram from Taranaki, are furnished bj the "Herald :" — "Information was brought into town on Monday last, that a man had been found dead on the Paraiti road, about a mile from the Deven road. Constable Duffiu was ab on c sent to bring the body into town, when it was recognised at that of Mr William Waller, who had been living on the farm occupied by Mr J. Hill at Waiwakaiho. It appears that the deceased had gone to Bell Block on Saturday, and was last seen alive returning to Mr Hill's farm on the following morning. His body was discovered on Monday morning under a furze hedge, and was then warm. The deceased was, according to the medical evidence, predisposed to congestion of th 6 lungs, and his death was immediately caused by exposure to cold and heavy wet, by lying out in the open air."