HARBOUR BOARD.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 19970, 3 July 1930, Page 7

HARBOUR BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING* Tl»e regular meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board was held yesterday, when the following were present: Messrs H. Holland, M.P. (chairman), E. Galbraith, P. Horrell, J. Leslie, H. T. Armstrong, M.P., W. T. Lester, F. E. Sutton, H. M. Chrystall, E. T. McMillan, P. L. Parnham, W. J. Walter, and B Gallagher. Apologies wei* received from Mr E. J. Howard, M.P., and Captain H. Monro. Dealing with the matter of whether or not the Board could give any relief in connexion with unemployment, the chairman said he had gone into the matter with the Board'b officers bnt it had been fonnd that it would be unwise to increase the construction gang. He thought the best thing was tic keep a reasonable number employed for the maximum period, and to give what help it conld in other directions by monetary grants. Finance and Trad* The treasurer's report showed the following returns:— Paid into the Harbour Pond account:— t S. d. Wharfas# v .. 2789 4 11 Pilotage 1 i 1830 11 10 Fort charge* ,»<*<>. 1837 13 3 Berthage . % .. .. 696 10 3 Towage, warps, fenders, and electric light .. .. .. 465 14 4 Dork and slip .. .. »- 86 0 0 Storage and cool ctorage 880 13 11 Bent .. .. «. 113 10 0 Hire of electric cranes »» 742 7 9 Refunds and sundry reoeipta .. 79 6 6 £8471 12 1 As compared with £12,071 8s 2d for June, 1929. Total ordinary receipts for the first six months of 1929, were £58,214 12s 6d, as against £68,280 3s 9d for the corresponding period of 1929. The sum of £2359 is on fixed deposit to meet loan instalment and interest

which came due in Sydney on July Ist. Cargo Statistics. Following are the cargo statistics for the month of June, 1930, as compared with June, 1929: 1930. 1929. Imports— Tons. Tone. From British ports .. 3,694 7,701 Prom foreign ports ~ 8,723 14,839} From intercolonial porta 5,568 937$ From coastal ports .. 10,392 12,682 28,277 30,560 Esporte— ■ To British port# „ 6,594 6,919} To foreign ports ua 97 To intercolonial ports .. 266 860} To coastal ports 15,819$ 22,599 532,7765 29,879 TranshipmentsCoastal to coastal „ 31J 80 Oversea to coastal j. 26 4} 87} 84} Total tonnage handled 61,091 65,523} Commenting on the report, the chairman said the drop in the total was not peculiar to Lyttelton, but was being felt in all other ports, including Wellington. 1 The Board adopted a recommendation of the Finance and Standing Committee that debentures up to £19,000 at 5$ per cent, be issued. These will mature with the earlier issues at June Ist, 1953. This will be the balance of the instalment authorised by the Local Government Loans Board, and part of the £300,000 loan authorised by the Lyttelton Harbour Board Loan Act, 1926. The earlier issues were £46,800 at 5} „and £19,800 at 5} per cent, respectively. After discussion a grant, equal to two weeks' leave, was made to Mr J. Hardwicke, who had resigned from the Board's service. The chairman said that as Mr Hardwicke had resigned it would be necessary to pay this out of the unauthorised expenditure fund. The man had been employed by the Board for 10 years, and, under the agreement with the men, was due for three weeks' leave each year. He had worked 10 months, and the grant represented the proportion of holidays that would have been due to him. Engineer's Report. The engineer (Mr P. W. Fryer) reported that the dredge had been working in the outer channel from which she had taken 108,054 tons of spoil. From the inner parts of the harbour 910 tons had been taken making a total of 108,- I 964 tons. :

During June the grab dredge had removed 3360 tons from the berths at No. 3 Jetty East, and No. 3 Jetty West. The bearer piles and piles for the rounded corners in connexion with the lengthening of No. 5 jetty had been driven and work was proceeding. Mr H. M. Chrystall asked what length would bo added. The engineer gave the figure as being 39 feet and stated that No. 5 was so short that it would not affect ships berthing at No. 6. Mr Chrystall: Do you think 200 feet sufficient length for . a wharf? The engineer: Yes. * Mr Chrystall: How .is it then that other ports have a minimum of 300 feetf '■

The engineer: They have the room, and we have not. Touching on the question of wharves that had been damaged by shipping the engineer stated that the rule was that all ships had to pay for the repairs. No. 5 had been damaged to the extent of £l4 and No. 2 to £ll. Port Tonnage. During the month of June, 1930, 127 trading vessels, aggregating 179,762 tons register entered the port of Lyttelton, as compared with 118 vessels agregating 166,544 tons in June, 1929, as detailed below: — June, 1930. June, 1929. Vessels. Tons. Vessels. Tons. Coastal „ 107 89,775 101 87.371 Intercolonial .. 4 7.512 24,67 a Overseas .. 16 82,475 15 74,501 137 179,762 118 166,541 The secretary presented a long and comprehensive report covering the Naval point reclamation roadings and other, matters. This was taken in committee. Eeporting back to the Board it was stated that two resolutions had been carried. One, that the next meeting of the Board be held at Lyttelton on August 4th, when the members would make an inspection, and two, that the Board insists on the Lyttelton Borough Council proceeding with the work of constructing the roads leading to the properties of the Board's tenants in accordance with the agreement arrived at previously.

A letter was received from the Marine Department stating that the plans for the launch wharf bad been approved. The Government Produce grader wrote asking the Board to double the building facilities at present available at the port as the Department wished to install extra machinery. The secretary reported that the cost would be about £l2O for the building and that.extra current ufed was estimated at Gs 8d per day. It was decided that if the Government would provide the oxtra plant and pay for the current the Bpard would put up the building required.