PORT AND CITY.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18722, 19 June 1926, Page 17

PORT AND CITY.

TO THE ZDITOB 0* THB PRESS. Sir,—One lias read and heard much about Lyttelton—congestion, smoky tunnels, electrification, canal schemes, road tunnels, Diesel engines, etc., and a varied assortment of associations fostering one or the other, or nothing in particular, and still the port remains as ; T as " 0n g° in g d° wn to the port, 1 • OUe EeG * 8665 g° o( * S °f •'ill kinds and descriptions being haulof tl'e vessels' holds, and dropped without any attemift at sorting, into the line of trucks; oranges, lemons, tin'tacks, and cast iron pipes, gramophones and cheeses, all higgledy-piggledy in the one truck, and so to Christchureh, as Pepys would say. If one examines tho train of trucks as they leave the Port or come into Christchureh, one finds that, with proper sorting and storage, the goods would have occupied about half the number of trucks. Of course, under the existing conditions at the wharves, it is impossible for things to be otherwise, but that does not mean that they cannot bo altered.

Haulage at the Port may well be costly with only half filled trucks. What does one find at Christchureh'* A few steam cranes in the goods yard, for handling heavy stuff, and in the shods—nothing. Ko run ways, no conveyors, a few small «leetrie trucks, no travelling cranes, no telphers, nothing but man-handling—methods used which were modern when the tunnel was built. Can one 'wonder that there are big delays'in getting delivery of goods from tho ships, that there are heavy losses due to breakage, etc., the cost of which is borne by the consumer'? One must blame not the man, but the system. Men may work as hard as they Uke under such conditions and get 110, satisfactory results, and consequently one gets still poorer results, because nothing discourages men more than to work with unsatisfactory tools or appliances.. It seems then that Christchureh is. distant from tho sea* not the 7 to-8 geographical miles merely, but the distance represented by the time'.. that elapses after the ship ties up at-the wharf, until the merchant receives his goods. As the Customg houses are in Christchurch, it is impossible for many things to be sent direct from tho Port-to the merchant, and a further, delay is entailed for Custom examination. Therefore the first stage in accelerating work at the Port, is •to take the Customs to Lyttelton; but no one thing will do much by itself to speed up the Port, and so bring Christchureh to tho sea. Diesel propelled trains, *oad tunnel traffic, and extended harbour, reorganised railway arrangements at the Port, are all'necessary to give Christchureh and Canterbury their right; but a start must be matde somewhere, and as, perhaps, some people in Canterbury waut concrete evidence of the savings to be effected, before embarking on such a scheme, would it not be possible to modernise one wharf at the Port? Reconstruct one wharf with modern transit; sheds, equipped with modern mechanical appliances for sorting and grading cargo in • and out. With railway and roadways inside the sheds, which' would' enable the trucks to be i loaded with one .class of goods which had passed the Customs, and would then be consigned direct to the consignee, whether in Christchureh or the province. With themodern quick handling, proper packing in railway trucks, and adequate facilities ' for ■' passing goods thfough the Customs, there would accrue not only a saving of haulage costs, but a great saving in time on both in and out goods. People who have not seen modern harbour equipment in operation, may find it difficult to realise the savings ■to be effected; but the expenditure involved in thoroughly reconstructing and modernising one wharf at Lyttelton,. wpuld bo • a mere nothing, compared with the importance of.-the whole question to Canterbury and Christchureh. The public should realise that Canterbury is handicapped not by distance, but by the time that Christchureh is distant from the sea.— T0.,., eU., WAKE UP.

TO THE EDITOR 07 THE PBEBS. Sir, —Anyone reading the report of the recent Harbour Board Meeting must have been agreeably surprised to see that' a loan of £300,000 was proposed for n«w harbour works. Had the dream com© true, then, that the Harbour Board were looking ) ahead, and really going to develop the harbour in accordance with Canterbury s demands for the future? Now we see that it is for the erection of cranes, capstans, and additions to decrepit wharves not placed in accordance with the demands of a modern harbour. In other words it can be likened to putting new wine into old bottles. I fancy that the authors of the Port and City Scheme will be amused at this quite unconscious attempt of the Harbour Board to help them, and bring the harbour up-to-d? It is well known that several of the wharves will not safely take the biggest of our locomotives. Canterbury people have been hoodwinked for years £bout the efficiency of these wharves. Eyewash and whitewash cover a multitude of sins, and I can best describe as such the provision of tall new cranes, electric capstans and the £45 000. 80-ton crane, which is a case alsb' of throwing good money after ta We are told a new dredge is required in spite of the fact that the present one actually dredges about one hour per day, the rest of the time bein* taken up in depositing, spoil, iepairs, moorings, etc. I suppose the new dredge will also dredge for about one hour. Why on earth do ™t die Harbour Board consider some method of allowing the present dredge to work for more than one hour, and make some use of the spoil m accordance Sth a real harbour improvement scheme? Have they got one? The answer is best found in their timorous silence in regard to any scheme for ™+thur access to the wharves (sucl as fS L) Tbe real dictator (tne Lilway Department) proves andJhe x. St™ X harbourmakers toake no comment oHll securely satisfied, and cheating themselves that all their little cranes, nil their little capstans, their oneall tlieir ii t- d their espenslve floating crane, will prepare the way much, of the Jfnt move hope thS ¥oi'ly he^v°i" e a" 1 are Wl? comprehend these poor words outfits, to pay 1 ggriously suggest to In conclusion, butt-hinges, t6e ?r a „Hh »Sr S »»k to complete w itn and enip i oy the their to? t |, lift them out bodnew 80-ton ater depositing the ily fron \ e f nD on the breastwork, same, P , thov are up, I advise When and of "Port and City" the voung ® j their ideas for the efto put o r f d t he v^ fc T-?J° ficient use o , t a i arm6 d if the Srt -s? A: JW - a *" and prosper-- Yoar RCHIM EDLS. Christchurch, May 13th.