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Kumara Times, Issue 3149, 7 December 1886, Page 2

A public meeting was held in the Town Hall last evening, for the purpose of considering the question of the deviation of the Grey-Hokitika Railway so as to connect Kumara, and also for the consideration of the .question of connecting Kumara and Greenstone with the Midland Railway at Lake Brunner. There was a large attendance. His Worship the Mayor presided. The following resolutions were unanimously carried : That in the opinion of this meeting, and in the best interests of the colony, It is absolutely necessary that the GreyHokitika Railway be so deviated as to connect Kumara. That unless this be done, a serious injury will be done to the inhabitants of this part of the colony, and the railway, if made on the direct route, will not pay. That the configuration of the locality through which the deviation passes will permit of a line with easy grades and less altitude than that reported on and by which the Minister of Public Works has been guided in refusing the deviation. This meeting would strongly urge further survey, as there is no particular hurry for constructing the piece of line in question. That, seeing the Minister of Public Works has promised to visit Westland, that he be respectfully requested to let the matter stand over till he arrives, and can then decide on the merits of the case. That this meeting would strongly upon the Government the necessity of at once putting in hand the survey of the branch line from Kumara to Lake Brunner, as shown on the plans attached to the report of W. N. Blair, Esq., on the lauds traversed by the East and West Coast Railway. That his Worship the Mayor and the member for the district be requested to attend a meeting at Hokitika to discuss the question of the Hokitika Railway deviation. That his Worship the Mayor communicate with the Mayor of Hokitika to convene a meeting to discuss the matter. That copies of the foregoing resolutions be telegraphed to the Hon. the Minister of Public Works. At the meeting Mr Seddon read several communications which had passed between himself and the Minister of Public Works on the foregoing subjects. The following reply to Mr Seddon’s latest telegram was received this morning : R. J. Seddon, M.H.R., Kumara. It is not possible to answer your questions categorically, but I think the following figures give substantially all the information that is necessary in order to understand the state of the case; Summit leave, on best deviation, 212 feet; summit on coast line, 78 feet; north bank Teremakan, at crossing, 27 feet • Kumara township, where branch comes in’ 257 feet. The best of the deviation adds one and a quarter mile to the length of the line, ° T was in Cabinet till lato yesterday and therefore unable to deal with your’telegram. Mope you have not been inconvenienced thereby. Edward Richardson. Wellington, December 7, 1880. ;

The following letter, which we received to-day from Mr H. F. Greenwood, will be read with interest by members of the Kumara Fire Brigade, of which the writer was formerly a member;—“Our team (Fire Brigade) has been picked for Dunedin ; it consists of Firemen Campbell, Kitchen, Austin, Jamison, and H. Greenwood, with Foreman Harwood in charge. We begin regular practice on Thursday next (December 2nd.) Although two teams of five men have been practising for the last six weeks, and we ran off a competition on Saturday week, as follows, our team won ;—Five men start 10 yards behind reel; run to reel, pick it up; run 100 yards with reel to pl u S > put down hydrant, couple on hose, run out 100 feet, and shew water over 10 foot rope; take off branch, fix double union, run out two 50-feet lengths from each delivery, fix branches and put water oyer 10-foot rope. We did this competition in 59 l-sth seconds with a pressure of 75 or 80-lbs. of water.”

Measles have made their appearance in Hokitika, in the family of a prominent townsman; and the West Coast Times advises the Board of Health, in order to restrict the advances of the unwelcome visitor as much as possible, to be on the alert and isolate any cases that may occur.

Never Return,— lt is said that one out of every four real invalids who go to foreign countries to recover health never return, except as a corpse. The undertakers, next to the hotelkeepers, have the most profitable business. This excessive mortality may be prevented and patients saved and cured under the care of friends and loved ones at home, if they will but use American Co’s Hop Bitters in time. “Rough on Catarrh” —corrects offensive odors at once. Complete cure of worst chronic cases; also unequaled as gargle for diphtheria, sore throat, foul breath.