HON. E. A. RANSOM

Hokitika Guardian, 23 May 1929, Page 3

HON. E. A. RANSOM

WEST COAST VISIT. GREAT MINERAL RESOURCES. CHRISTCHURCH, May 21. Arriving from the West Coast by the express last evening, the Hon Mr Ransom, Minister lor Public Works. I ~pent two hours in Christchurch before leaving for Wellington by the lorry steamer. Since the Minister left Christchurch last Wednesday lie lias inspected Uie railway works in the Murchison district and in the Bullor Gorge, and the Westport-Greymouth coastal road from the Bailor end. Mr Ransom found the coastal road blocked by a slip, which was not of large dimensions, south of the Fox River. The latter is the last serious obstacle on the road,' and the plans for the bridge which is to lie erected shortly are ready ‘for consideration by the Department’s engineers. A considerable number of Public Works employees are engaged on the formation of the roadway, and the work is well advanced. While in the district Mr Ransom authorised the spending of a sum. not m excess of £loo'on a tunnel through the limestone cliffs, which will enable the river, which is greatly affected by the tides, to he forded without difficulty when there are no floods. “It is a great asset to the West Coast,” said the Minister, m referring to the. scenic beauties of the coastal road. Satisfactory progress is being made wtih the construction of the Buffer Gorge railway, and Mr Ramson addressed about 200 of the employees at the Tiroron camp on Monday. The men seemed satisfied with the conditions of their work, and had only two matters of somewhat minor importance to bring before him. These concerned the provision of a swing bridge or cage to enable the men to cross the Buffer River and other transport improvements. The Minister gave satisfactory replies to the requests. He ascertained while in the Gorge that about 300 men are now working on the railway. Mr Ransom also met about 100 men working on railway construction at Grassy Fiat, near Owen Junction. More workmen are being engaged on the undertaking there. Among the works which he inspected in the Buffer Gorge were Burley’s coal mine and tho Cascade Company’s colliery. A HUGE COALFIELD. At Charleston, on the coastal road, he was shown a huge coalfield, which at present is receiving the attention of geologists and surveyors, who are ascertaining its extent and depth by niea.uk of boring, with a view to discovering whether its exploitation by a company which lias been formed will be.worth the heavy expenditure necessary on the purchase of plant. It is not proposed to mine the lignite coal there, which is 20 feet to 30 feet deep in places, but to'sluice off the shallow covering of earth, which will afterwards be treated for gold production, and to utilise the coal for the manufacture of by-products, including benzine. There are several millions of tons of coal in the field, but the necessary plant would cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Throughout his journey! down the West Coast, Mr Ransom was greatly impressed by the mineral wealth of the district, and ho said last evening that when fully developed this asset would have great possibilities. The new railway lines under construction would assist in this. He was shown some fine samples of slate quarried in tho Buffer (Jorge, and learned that there were very extensive deposits of this material, which would he easily | worked, but nothing coukl be done ' until the completion of the railway. This work would be considerably ad- . vanced by the bridging of tho Cascade i river, and the plans for this structure j had now been prepared. Although numerous deputations : waited on Mr Ransom on the Coast, not one dealt with unemployment, except to ask that measures would be taken for relief if the position became acute, and he regarded this as an excellent sign.

Mr Ransom motored through Bell Hill and Kotuku yesterday morning, and boarded the express at Poorua. He told the representative of The Press thnt work was proceeding on the road which would ultimately pass over the Lewis Saddle, aiid he hoped to be in a position after the session to make an inspection of the proposed route. Everywhere on the Coast the roads were good, and in the. Grey County particularly so. The setting up of the South Island Main Highways Board would he placed before tho House in the Government’s legislative programme in the coming session. When lie returned to Wellington, the report of the engineers on the Gowan river hydro-electric scheme for Nelson, Marlborough, and the Buffer district would be placed before him. This was the lost of such schemes for the Dominion, and its adoption would bring about tho completion of the chain of hydro-electric stations.