THE HUNTLY DISASTER.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 73, 27 March 1915, Page 8

THE HUNTLY DISASTER.

CHRISTCHURCH'S MAYOR INVESTIGATES THE RELIEF QUEST.ON.

Christchurch, March 20. The Mayor, Mr W. Holland, who recently visited Huntly on behalf ol the local Huntly Relief Committee, laid before a meeting of the committee to-day the result of the investigation made on behalf of the commit tee The secretary of the Huntly Mining Disaster Relief Committee submitted a statement to him showing about £8,500 available for bestowing relief. The committee at Huntly was at present paying £32 10b weekly, reduced payments being made to those receiving benefits under the Widows Pensions Act. He was also shown a letter to the Public Trustee, wherein the committee expressed willingness that the fund should be administered by tho Public Trustee under certain conditions. The Public Trustee had replied stating his willingness to take over the administration of the fund on the conditions named.

Referring to his personal investigations, Mr Holland said he had most closely enquired into property owned by the beneficiaries, and found one woman possessed of two houses which she had let, the total capital value being £5lO. Another had two houses, of a'total value of £940, one being Jet. A third had two houses, value £470. She lived in one, as did a widow in the previous case, but at the time of his visit she was receiving nothing from the other. Two widows possessed farms, one in Huntly West and one in North Auckland, which carried'3o cows. In the last-men-tioned case the farm was mortgaged for £OOO. The value of the equity was unknown to Mr Holland, and he was unable to say if the other properties mentioned were mortgaged. Another widow had a farm at Taupiri. The house in which one widow lived was insured for £385. Two widows had accepted compensation from the company, one receiving £SOO and the other £650. There remained 27 who had issued writs against the company, each claiming £ISOO. He found that 15s per week and 5s weekly for each child had been paid already from the relief fund, in addition to £SO from the Miners' Fund, £SO for funeral expenses, and £2O from the Medical Union. It was never denied by anyone in Huntly that expensive tombstones had been provided by widows, and the average cost had been between £25 and £3O. Some cost very much more. Mr Holland stated that he told the chairman of the committee at Huntly that he would advise the Christchurch committee to keep money in its hands oh deposit till the compensation cases were settled. After a short discussion, it was resolved that the funds in the hands of the Christchurch committee remain on deposit until the committee is satisfied that the conditions under which the Public Trustee had accepted administration had been incorporated in a deed of trust, then the money to be paid over to the Public Trustee. [t was reported that the funds in the hands of the Christchurch committee total £1055.