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Westport Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1147, 3 February 1874, Page 2

To allay any needless fears that might still linger from the action of local alarmists, wo call attention to the advertisement for supply of sleepers for the Westport and Mount Rochfort line. It will be observed from the date of the notice that its publication was actually authorised and in fact the order had been despatched to Westport prior to the late meeting and subsequent telegram of the Westport Railway Committee.

The news of Mr Kynnersley's death will be received with profound regret by all who knew him. His illness has been long and lingering, but hoping against hope, and trusting that he might be spared yet a little while longer, his friends will now feel in i heir bereavement that they have lost one whose memory they will ever hold in respect and esteem too deep for utterance. It is difficult to arrange the arrival and departure of mails to suit the wishes of all correspondents. In fact any postmaster who would attempt to do so would but rehearse the fable of the old man and his donkey, but we have been requested to call attention to the proposed alteration in the arrival and departure of the Lyell mails. It is said that the proposed interval of time between the arrival and despatch of the mails will barely allow for any reply by return post. This is a subject that we are quite sure the Chief-Postmaster will, if need exists, arrange to the satisfaction of the public, having of course duo regard for the exigencies of a difficult mail service. The Greymouth Mail referring to the railway works there, says:—The waste of money, time, and timber, in the works deserves little consideration at the hands of the people of Greymouth. Pop a more stupid blunder was possibly never perpetrated. The proposed viaduct to load to the Greymouth terminus has long been a theme for comment from our practical townsmen. It has been wondered if the intention of the engineers was to land passengers in the balconies of the various hotels alongside the quay; while one gentleman suggested as the probable cause of the extra outlay that it might be the intention of the engineers who planned the works that steamers requiring coal should lie supplied through the medium of their funnels, about tl'e level of their tops being the proposed course of the line. Whatever may have been the idea, it is now apparent that it has been discovered to be a mistake, and the work is to be discontinued, and the contractor recouped the money he has already expended for the timber that is already on the ground. The annual yearly meeting of subscribers to the VVcstport A.tliona>uui v/as held on Friday evening. The principal business being t .0 election of a committee of nine members for the ensuing year. The nominations wore eleven, namely : —Drs Thorpe and Giles, Messrs AVhyte, Andrews, NorthJrot't, Powell, Humphrey, Kerr, Graves, Eugene O'Conor, and the Rev. A. C. Soutar. Upon the usual ballot being taken the first nine gentlemen named were elected.

By boat from the Lycll, Mr M'Kay, of tlio Geological department, has sent down a quantity of fossiliferous and quartzosospecimen's, which will bo forwarded toDr Hector at Wellington, The specimens were all collected in the Butter district, and will, when classified and arranged in theWellidgton museum, form tin interesting and valuable collection.

Mr Charles Mace, of Eoef ton, ou Saturday returned from inspecting the Molcihinui reefs, and he report s very favorably thereon.

lie spent some days tracing the lino of roofs by the outcrop, aud is satisfied that a very huge track of valuable mining country awaits profitable working. The track, if it can be so called, to the reefs he stigmatizes as a disgrace to any government. The blazed line is useless, and travellers have still, as they best can, to struggle through supplejacks and other obstructions. It was only hy dint of hard struggling and perseverance that he was able to get thiough in two days from the township to the reefs, and ho refers to the bridle track at the Lyull, leading right by every claim there, and along which a horse may in places even canter, as the sort of work t',;at might easily bo accomplished at the Mokihinui

These items will bo of interest to residents in the district who have embarked in the timber trade:—Among the tenders accepted for railway sleepei'3, the following are from Auckland men:—Copland, for Greymouth, lii.ooo, 4s Id, 4ssd, H. Palmer, for Lyttelton, 45,000, 3s 4d, 4s sd; J. Lundon, for Lyttelton, 45,000, at 3s sd; 31,000 (large size), 4s sd. A contemporary says :—We are in receipt of a nine-verse poem on a faded rose. What superficial people these poets are. Here is a long mess of stuff commemorating an event that is of daily occurrence, and of precious little consequence. But if a respectable citizen has a tumor on the back of his neck, or swallows a button with a brass eye in it, or something like that, or something that effects everybody, and is of the nature of a tragedy, not a single solitary poet would trouble himself to write aline about it; he would not breathe out his soul to a single verse. But he can rhapsodise all night over a little decayed vegetation. We are out of all patience with such people. The box for the reception of registration papers from parties desiring to enrol themselves as electors, is now placed in the lobby of the Court House, and very few who are not already enrolled, or whose names require re-registration, should need reminding that they ought not to lose time in taking the necessary and very simple step laid down by law, which entitles them to take part in public affairs. It is a bad thing to put off until to-morrow what may bo accomplished to-day. Register your votes at once and be done wPh it is our advice. The period appointed by the Act for registering is during the months of January, February, and March; the qualifications are freehold, leasehold, or household.

The adjourned half-yearly meeting of the Alpine Quartz Mining Company has been further adjourned for a few days.

The_ members of the new Provincial Council lost no time in commencing their wort. The Mail of the 28th instant says seventeen notices of motion were on the Order Paper, and since that date the number has been increased.

The Lyell paper states that Mr Bird, of the telegraph department, has already secured office accommodation at the Lyell, and guarantees that the wire will bo across the Buller by the 24th proximo.

Roefton files to hand give the following mining items : —Magnificent stone is now being obtained from Andersons. A piece of quartz about six inches square, obtained from the face, was brought to Reeftnn on Monday, showing splendid coarse gold all through the solid. The reef is now six feet in thickness, —The incline shaft of the Golden Fleece is now down to a depth equal to 100 feet perpendicular, and at this level the reef shown excellent gold and is well defined with a solid body of stone. The race levels have been taken for the new Quartz Crushing Company's race, and at a recent meeting of directors the manager re-orted that the total fall was °44 feet; deducting from this 15 foot for fall in the race, and 5 feet for the rise in floods, there remained available 24 feet; the length of the race would bo 120 chains. Negotiations had already been commenced with the Energetic Company for crushing 20,000 tons. Air Goorare Wise, sharebroker, &c, has been appointed to seeceed Mr D. Bun tin as legal manager of the Just-in-Time Company, Boatman's. We regret that we cannot acknowledge as having received, either from the new Chairman or the Secretary of the Westport Coal and Railway Committee, the usual courtesy of a copy of the telegram on important publie business sent to the Committee by the Minister of Public Works.

High tides are now prevailing, and on Snndaj eveniug the waves came washing nonrly up to the comer of Wallabi street. No damage resulted, but the encroachment tells a tale of coming disaster whenever a heavy sea and nor'-westerly gale prevails.

The balance sheet of the Athenaum Committee shows cash in hand to the amount of £2O, and several new subscribers entered their names during the last week. The Committee will thus be enabled in a short time to make another addition to their library, and thus extend the usefulness of the institution.

The last fresh in the river brought down several pine logs squared and branded ready for exportation. They now lie stranded on the beach between the Buller and "Waimangaroa rivers.