MINERS FOR WESTPORT

Hokitika Guardian, 21 February 1920, Page 1

MINERS FOR WESTPORT

ARRIVALS FROM SYDNEY,

The scarcity of miners at the various New Zealand collieries has been one of the principal causes of the reduced output in coal, and the position seems to become more aggravated each month.

A small contribution to the mining population of the Dominion arrived at Wellington, last Tuesday by the Moeraki from Sydney. The vessel brought 29 colliers with 16 wive s and 12 children, who are on their way to Westport. The men are of a sturdy type and should prove an acceptable acquisition to the country. WHERE THE COAL IS. INACTIVITY AT WESTPORT. The effects of the coal situation are very noticeable in Westport, where a state of inactivity prevails. The Westport “Times” commenting upon the state of affairs says: “At ten o’clock this morning there was a good tide, brilliant weather, and not a steamer in sight. The wharves looked spic and span, read to receive 10 or 12 5000-ton , steamers. A well-equipped railway sys- | tern was at hand to deal with 7000 tons of coal a day. The district abounds in co al—they make roads with it at Charleston; in the Buller Gorge one can obtain a sack of coal for the mere asking. The Westport Coal Company and the Stockton Company could supply almost the whole of the Dominion’s needs in coal. But .somebody won’t work—there; is something 'radically wrong when such a fine coal port as this is idle.”