The Westport Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1873.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1047, 18 February 1873, Page 2

The Westport Times. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 1873.

The setainer Raugitira is to make several trips from Wellington to Greyinouth for coals,—The stocks are becoming very small, and sellers qjueffce coal at £3 10s per ton.—The Government will probably subsidise the first steamer coming to the West Coast for coal. —The Christchurch people are agitating for Government assistance to . open up the Malvern Hill coal seams and increase wharfage accommodation . at Lyttelton to create a coal trade.— These, and similar items of telegraphic news, show how colonists are bestirring themselves to expand a too long neglected source of colonial wealth, casting in the shade, in its ready results and material inexhaustableness, the richest gold mines. Our neighbors at Grey mouth have strained every nerve, vigorously battled against all obstacles heretofore retarding the development of their coal resources, and in persevering have at last achieved the first fruits of success. The Grey River coal will now command the Wellington market, and following thereon many others. The steamers despatched thither for coal cargoes will pass almost within signaling distance of the . Buller district coal mines, wherein are measures containing literally millions i of tons of splendid steam coal, lying idly unprofitable, awaiting the enterprise that shall make it a merchantable and .valued commodity. Why such • resources have so long remained useless and almost unknown to the commercial world, is an enigma to be solved only by those who have penetrated the arcana of colonial state craft, and to private enterprise alone is due the preliminary .work of opening what has proved but one out of many valuable coal seam?, sufficient to aup-' ply the world with coals. In no hyperbolical terms do wo make this assertion but deal with sober actual facts. Our columns recently reported that enormous discoveries of cosil had been made at the Ngakawhau, and the iriformat'on then given has since received ample confirmation. The Provincial Engineer, A. D. Dobsou Esq., has visited the coalfield, has inspected several of the new found measures and outcrops, and expresses himself astounded at the magnitudo ■of the discovery. The depth and ex-

tent of* the seams exceed Ml previous conception, and the coal, even on the surface, presents nil the good qualities that coal should posses. It is compact in substauce, of glossy blackness and gives forth, When struck, the true metallic ring tha* is as music to the ear of the expert coal viewer. Official intimation of those facts has probably: reached the General Government, and in due course of official routine will be made known to the public, but something more is needed than this. Instant and energetic action, not only on the part of the Government, but of the people, to turn this very mountain of riches to profitable account. As yet private enterprise has done somewhat to open up the Ngakawhau mine, but it lacks assistance. The Buller public, absorbed in quartz speculation, have treated as of no account the more sober venture in black diamonds; and neither General or Provincial Government have deemed the matter worthy of much notice. After long and unnecessary delay the Ngakawhau company has obtained underlease, tolerably liberal concessions. The area granted is wide enough to ensure the lasting success of extensive works, but the company need more than this before the perfect success of the enterprise is assured. To get the coals to a profitable market steamers are needed, as also harbor or railway works, and to this end both the general public and the governing powers should arouse to instant action. The public subscribing capital to the company, and thereafter sharing also in the pleasure of a safe and profitable investment; tho government by authorising the prompt expenditure of moneys voted for public works in this district. To attain this end organization is needed. If the Ngakawhau company present a liberal prospectus to the general public, it may bo safely predicted that the share list will soon give convincing proof that the presumed apathy in the matter has, if it ever existed, now altogether vanished, and that shrewd men of business will invest in coal shares to the full extent of their means. So too by organization may the General Government be iuduced to give effect to the prayer of a memorial already presented, that public works, i.e. railway works; shall bo at once commenced with the express object of opening up communication with tbe Ngakawhau coalfields. The question between the Ngakawhau company and the Buller public narrows down to this issue. The one needs the means of bringing tbeir coals instantly to market, the other needs a railway to develope, not only the Ngakawhau district, but the extent of valuable country intervening the Bailer and Ngakawhau rivers. Both objects will be better accomplished by judicious combination than any playing at cross purposes; and to thij end we would counsel instant and hearty co-opera-tion. Success in this will be but the stepping stone to other and more material advantages. In fact the prosperity of the district depends upon the tact and boldness now to be displayed in taking at the flood the tide which leads on to fortune. [Just as going to press we received a telegram stating that action had already commenced in Wellington. The provisional directors mentioned therein are men not likely to let the grass grow beneath their feet.]

His Honor the Superintendent arrived here by the p.s. Charles Edward yesterday morning. He is accompanied by Mr J. T. Catley, receiver of Land Revenue. We hear that Mr Inspector Shalcrass has applied for the use of the Post-office building in Cobden street, as a lock-up and watch house, in order that the police may be located in the inhabited portion of the town, where their services will be more likely to be required at times than in the leafy solitudes of Wakefield and Palmerston streets. The idea is a good -one, and no obstacle should be thrown in the way of Mr Shalcrass' suggestion being adopted. The funeral of the late James Cusack took place on Wednesday afternoon last, immediately after the inquest. His remains were followed to their last resting place at the Orawaiti cemetry, by a numerous body of our townsmen, as also by representatives of the Foresters Society from Charleston, anxious to pay the last homage of respect to the memory of their young departed brother. The cortege left Derung's i£otel, at about 4 o'clock p.m., the members of the Loyal Westport Lodge of Oddfellows, and members of the Foresters Court at Charleston, assuming the usual mourning regalia, There was a tumult in the town on Saturd&y night last, a discordant din from belaboured kerosene tins, and the shrill voices of young larrikins, out of bed at unholy hours and unwhipped, and a terrible fusilade of random shots that betokened a reckless waste of blank cartridge, by children of a larger .growth. Half-scared housewives ran to their door sills to " ken the speerin o't," the valiant' force ' came at the double from their far off bush fastness ; loungers in the town sped into Bright street eager for any fun or excitement that would break the usual monotony, and swelled by their numbers a noisy crowd of roysterers whose special fun of .the moment appeared to be terrifying into fits the residents in two par;icularly quiet domiciles. Not a light was seen nor footstep heard within, but without the din was deafening. It meant just this and nothing more, a worthy townsman had made the fatal plunge into matrimony, and thi3 was the bridal serenade of the happy couple. The recent reported discoveryof -a quartz reef at the Cascades, which at first -was discredited and even contradicted by tome casual visitors to the locality, turn 3 cub after all to be an undeniable reality. The reef has been further traced, is well definod to a width of two feet or moTe, shews good colorable sto:ie, aud what is more to the purpose than all gold finds, is overlapped with extensive outcrops of coal evidently extensions of the Mount Eochforf measures. ' The long talked of track from Westport ra ly yet prove of infinitely more value than as yet anticipated.

The new organ harmonium at St. John's ' Church, was used in the services on Sunday. last, and gives general satisfaction. It is one of Mason and Hamblin's, cabinet size, and it ooßt, landed here, about fifty-five gnineaa. It is fitted with all the newest improvements, including powerful organ stops, vox humanis pipes, automaton swell and octavt; coupler, Rives forth a full volume of Bound, sufficient for even a,larger building than St. John's Church. We believe the clergyman, church-wardens, and congregation are alike pleased with the purchase. A telegraph station has this day been opened at Richmond, in the province of Nelson. Our subscribers in the Lyell district are requested to immediately notify by letter any irregularity in the arrival of their newspapers. VVe have had complaints made lately that papers come to hand there at uncertain intervals, and sometimes not at all, and. we are anxious to trace the cause for such complaints. There was a crowded house last evening at the Masonic hall. The Relief of Lucknow was received with •enthusiastic plaudits. Our notice, crowded out of this issue, will appear in our next. To-night the " Marble Heart," " Happy Pair," and the " Loan of a Lover" will be presented, as also new sensational songs by Bliss Andrews. Tomorrow another great bill is promised. We hear that one or more petition's are in circulation, asking for the appointment of a government postman and the erection of a receiving box in some central position in the inhabited portion of the township Bothof which are absolutely necessary, but it would seem advisable chat the public should not be content with the mere appending of signatures to .petitions, but should urge by all constitutional means a prompt attention to their requirements. We would suggest that a letter signed by the principal mercantile firms should be forwarded to Mr Alexander, chief-post-master, requesting tho favor of his recommendation on behalf of the memorialists. It is a matter that might and should be very promptly dealt with. The Independent, in speuking of the coal miner's strike, says that New Zealaud has made itself dependent on New South Wales for an article which is going begging at our own doors. Had the Government been actuated by the same spirit as the Governments of Australia, New Zealand might by this time have been entirely independent of any foreign supply. It says that the coal at the West Coast is superior to any in the Southern hemisphere, and found in the largest quantities. The Grey Valley correspondent of the Argus writes: Gn dit, a frightful catastrophe has nearly occurred in one of the long tunnels at Half-Ounce. A " stout party" went to inspect one of the them, and after traversing inwards for several hundred feet, he tried to return to the open air, but found to his dismay that tho drive was too small to admit of his turning round. Sinking a shaft from the surface, or the erection of mechanical appliances at the tunnel were the only means which presented themselves to the terrified bystanders by which to extricate the unfortunate man. The latter alternative was chosen.