Untitled

Hokitika Guardian, 20 December 1930, Page 4

I# u recent Issue of the Christchurch 'l’inies, in which it is customary to reprint items of news from the files of fifty years no, appeared the.,following:

Caswell Sound Marble.—Specimens of the white-statualry and dove-col-oured marbleis from the Caswell Sound quarries are to be seen at the offices of Messrs A. M’Rae and Co., Cathedral Square. They are all very good samples, though it is stated that they were obtained merely from the outcrop of the seams. The white marble, which comes from the quarries on the south side of the Sound, is of pure colour and fine grain, and appears free from liability to chip while working-—a very valuable quality in marbles. The dove-coloured, which iis found on the north side of the Sound, appears to possess equally good qualities with the white marble. Some of the veins in this sample present a. very handsome appearance. ft may be mentioned that these marbles took the first prize in the late Sydney exhibition.

Caswell Sound is one of the West Coast Sounds, but residents of Hokitika will recall that the Caswell marble proposition was of great interest locally, and that Mr Alec Mcßae and others here, including Hon. J. A. Bonar, were associated closely with the proposition. Another venture in which Hokitika capital was provided readily was for the Pawarika lithographic stone, which was located near Abbey Rocks. Much of the stone was brought to Hokitikal by the s.s. Waipara and used for lithography work by the West Coast Times, the Survey Office and others. There are particulars of this proposition in the entrance hall to the Museum, ns well as examples of the work produced off the stone brought up. Mention of these two matters, reminds us that a lnrg" part of the southern Wrist Coast remains a terra incognita. South of Bruce Bay there is a- long stretch o r country’over which few. if any. travel nowadays. Yet the early day miners and surveyors who passed that way made important discoveries, hut they have never been followed up properly. F-r instance near the lithovvapUm stone, kerosene shale was discovered, and a little further south deposits or outer ("is of coal were located. Westland ' olds a great variety of mineral denosits, v.et they have never been tried out at all adequately. There is some suggestion of a Government prospecting party being sent out, as one of the means of coping with unemployment. An important mineral discovery would of course ('rente a rush and provide an outlet toe much surplus labour, front!) Westland is the most promising .maiden locality in Now Zealand for such a venture. Hurriedly explored in the early days along the coast-lino, and various deposits located, the suggestion at once occurs to the mind that the hinterland should be closely examined. Between Enter*

Bay and ITaast tho south road makes a long detour inland to the high country, hut between the road and the sea eoant. there is a. great expanse of low land which is unexplored and largely an unknown quantity, excepting for the. vast stands of forest. It is a. locality of promise, seeing that tho early surveyors found so many indications of mineral deposits, and to neglect an examination of the territory is to miss a great opportunity of revealing, more of nature’s rich deposits in this interesting and well cm dowed country.