NEW PLYMOUTH.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1847, 24 November 1884, Page 2

NEW PLYMOUTH.

(Fapji our ow» Correspondent,) The present topio hero is the weather, which has been very unsettled for the past month, indeed the average has been four wet days to the week, and when a fine day does make its appearance it has usually been accompanied with a strong south-westerly wind, bringing the loose sand in clouds from the sea-beach, and plentifully besprink-' ling the town, These wind.? are the

abomination of the New Plymouth shop keepers, and when prevaling " clusters" are in great request. Tho weather here, I am informed, is' as a rule, very precarious until the new year- The Maoris, however, predict a warm summer. The breakwater is slowly but- surely progressing, and Mr Rhind''/the engineer in charge) is giving evident satisfaction to the Harbor Board. ■' Mr McGregor, of Oamaru, the newly appointed Consulting Engineer, was here a few weeks ago, and submitted to the Board a lengthy report, adv.ocat-j ing a entire new system of placi&g th<t large concrete blocks than the, present one (Sir John Uoote's). He advocates throwing tha blocks in pell-melkfoith-out first removing the sand. fnsF the /*> sea bottom) and allowing them to' settle as they will. This plan, however, has not been adopted by the Board, who believe it will be more expensive than the original, which consists of removing the sand from the bottom by means of divers, and thus obtaining a solid arid substantial formation ; upon which to deposit the blocks by placing, sacks filled with Cttinent upon the rooks whiclv lie .beneath. ..The.blocks are composed of stone, taken from the Sugar loaves, which is crushed by means of massive machinery on the spot. The crushed stone is then mixed with moist cement in large boxes, and allowed to settle forming blocks of about 12ft long b*s*' sft width and bredth,. they are then removed to the end of the breakwater, by trucks and deposited by means 'of a crane a massive machine manufactured in Dunedin, The struoture is st&o run out a hundred or two feet, mn take a curve, thus forming a half-circle inside which it is proposed to build wharves. The Board have- still sufficient money in hand to carry -on the work for the next twelve, months I viz., L 50.000. The people of New Plymouth are very anxious for the completion of the railway line to the breakwater, and the local newspapers comment very warmly upon the subject. His Worship the Mayor communicated with the. Minister of Public Works somefePk weeks since, in which he urges upon tho Government the necessity of pushing forward the work as saon. as possible, and thus give work to.the large number of unemployed there. .Jt was hoped the Minister would have been able to give some definate reply on the subject, but no notice has yet been taken of the letter. The question has been brought beforejj|o Borough and County through want of funds neither of those bodies have been able to afford the unfortunates out of work any employment, Something must be done in the matter shortly, as many of the men have large families depending on them for support. M A short time ago Mr Ifymgdon,, o| Urenui, wrote to the OfoverninenJ re. affording fasciliteis fo.r gold prospecting in native districts, and also for the provision being made for the sitting of the Native Land Court at Mokau. The letter was referred to Mr Samuel, M.HR, (member for New Plymouth) who brought it under the notice oflhe House. The following is the reply fa the communication from, the Native Minister to Mr Samuels, which. I clip from the Taranaki News : "Native Office, Wellington, November 4,1884. Sin,—l have the honor to acknowledge the receipt ot yoin- minute of the, 24th ultimo, upon a letter from Mg|, M. Kyngdou, of Urenui, relating™ gold prospecting in Native Districts, and the necessity of providing for the sitting of the Native Land Court at Mokau, With reference to the sub- - ject of gold prospeoting, I have to draw your attention to the regulations published by the Mines Department in the Gazette of the 18th October,. 1883, paragraphs 6 and 7, and also to 'Gold Mining Districts Act, 1873,'. sections 184 and 185, now in force, At the same tjine., J haw tq s.tate that J do not consider any application for gold, prospecting- m Native Distriots can be entertained until the consent of the natives owning the land has been definitely obtained. The subject of holding a sitting of the Native Land Court at Mokau will be referred- to the Chief Judge, to whom the" natives should make formal application if they have not already done so, I have, <k,' "■• J. The amusements provided for thr Prince of Wales Birthday were very poor, comprising a race meeting, and one or two .crioket' raatohes. The day turned out bitterly cold, there being a strong mountain breeze blowing, quently very little enjoyment was to be deiived from the days outing. Tndeed the holiday.was not recognised by many business men in town. Willmott's Dramatic Company have just concluded a rather unprofitable season here. The weather has certainly not been favourable, and may, in a degree, account for their not being patronised ■ but the real cause, I believe, is the presentdepressioniu the money market. Woodward's Japanese Troupe also open here this week for a short season but lam afraid their efforts to please will meet with but little appreciation. The Taranaki Ironware Industry bids fair to be pushed forward with increased vigor shortly. The Company formed here some timeago has collapsed , but a Mr Bristed, of W firm of Bristed Bros, of Oamaru, visited thisy* town some two weeks since, and mad™ arrangements for a lease from the defunct . oompany of part of their, beach at Henui, (where the works are situated,) for the purpose of renowing operations. Some tons of, the ironware, have been shipped to ' Lyttelton for re-shipment to where a final test is to be made, and if this'test is satisfactory it is.intended to commence operations with the utmost speed. Should this firm meet with the success it deserves, the New Plymouth public will have every reaspn to feel grateful to them, as thy working of this industry will necessarily involve the, circulation of a large sum of money in the town, besides giving employment to a large number of workmen. There is no fear of running short of material. There aro thousands of tons ot the -sand lying idle on the beacb, which might be woiked up with profit;