HARBOUR BOARD.

Press, Volume LXVII, Issue 20415, 9 December 1931, Page 16

HARBOUR BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. RETENTION OF SIGNAL STATION. The Lyttciton Harbour Board m#t at Ljtteiton yesterday afternoon. PreCaptain H. Monro (chairman), Messrs F. Horrell, H. M Chrystall.. H. T. Armstrong, H. Holland, W. G. Gallagher, W. T. Lester, F. E. Sutton, J. Leslie, A. Parnham, F. W. Bowden, and H. T. Macmillan. Apologies were received from Messrs E. J. Howard and W. J. Walter. Tlio chairman reported that, as a result ot an accident to a waterside worKcr c aused by a broken electric light cable for supplying light to ships, lie had instructed the engineer to install separate switches f«r each portable light. A shed on the waterfront near So. i wharf, vacated by Messrs lapie.r and Co., had been purchased jfir £2O for use as a store for crane and capstan gear. The 1 chairman's v.t uon was* approved. Treasurer's Eeport. The treasurer's report showed the reoepits for the month to be £6093 3s 6d, as compared with £6541 14s 6d for November, 1931. . ' The total ordinary receipts tor the first eleven months of the calendar year 1931 (January to November) were £41,981 14s lOd, as compared with £v9,452 9b Id for the corresponding period of 1830. Engineer's Eeport. The report of the engineer (Mr P. W. Fryer) was as follows: — The annual overhaul and survey of the unction dredge Canterbury was <umpleted on November 10th, dredging resumed on the following aay.j Imrtng the remainder of the month the dredge was engaged in ,the entrance v/hepce Bhe removed a total of 61,433 tnrisof spoil. : The grab uredgo Te Whaka' was engaged during the montji in deepening the berths at Xo. 4 weit and No, ,6 west, tho total nuuntity of spoil removed amounting to 4700' toaa, • • Piles are how driven and caps laid for 4('2 • feet on No. 1 breastwork.. Fborbeains are in place for 423 feet. ! .xcav'atiQu for the concrete retaining wall has been carried out to 346 feet and concrete lias been poured to lowlevel for part of this distance, foundation piles and tie rods have »'*o been put in for the above-men-tioned distance. A further 100 feet of the old work has been dismantled, i A rubbing piece of timber has been bolted on to the edge of the wharf about three-quarters of the length »>l the ferry bertn, in order to protect th» wharf. "•"lie surfaces of No. 2 jetty, No. 4 ;etty, tlx* launch jetties, and the Akarna jetty have been tarred and sanded, liepairs have been carried out to the founded coiners of No. 4 jetty and to I'ort Levy jetty, also minor repairs to No. 2 jetty and No. 7 jetty. General. The widow of Captain R. Sproule, formerly master of the Board's tug, wrote asking, as a compassionate alio trc nee, the monetary equivalent ot holiday leave due to her husband. Tho Board decided to allow her £SO. Boatman F. Barrett was granted further leave, on half-pay, until De- • ember "9th, when he is expected to resume duty. It was decided to vote £5 5s to tho Canterbury Sailing " aiicl Power-Boat Association towards the fund for sending a boat and crew to Wellington to compete in the Sanders Cup contest. The Now Zealand Society of Civil Engineers wrote asking the Board to i'rant the necessary facilities to enable the Board's engineer to attend the annual conference in Wellington on Tuesday. February 23rd. It was decided to accede to the request. The -matter of arranging a date for the annual meeting of the Boaid, jrhich ordinarily would fall op Decem.3oth, was left in the hands of the tnairman and secretary. Dredge for Nelson. A letter was received from the Nel*ou Harbour Board askiug on what terms the Board would be prepared to hire the To Whaka, including . the ww, for work at Nelson. The secretary reported that, as the flredgiuj*' at Lrytteltbn was well forward, the dredge could be spared for a period.' The Te Whaka had been hired out to the Railway Department in 1923 for dredging at Nelson. ft was decided to offer to hire out the dredge, the chairman, the secretary, and the engineer being authorised to arrange terms. Kazbotiziaa«ter's Staff. The secretary (Mr C. H. Clibborn) presented a report sh~ ring that, should tfa* annual leave oi members of the Harbourmaster's staff be reduced from

three to two weeks, a saving of £156 per annum could be effected. The report stated that the staff were now allowed "time off" and were not required to stand-by 365' days of the year. Messrs • Chrystall, Armstrong, and Macmillan spoke against any change being made, and it was decided to take no action. Time-Ball Signal Station. I A proposal that the use of the timeI ball signal station, as a signal station, be discontinued met with strong opposition from the majority of the Board, ilnd the proposal was defeated. The secretary reported that owing to ill-health tho present signalman was to be retired on superannuation. This opened up the question as to the necessity for the continued use of the , signal station, in view of the information obtainable during business hours from the Board's officei. The berthing instructions could be ' transmitted to ships equally as well from Adderley Head. The station cost the Board £250 per annum. In a special, .report, the Harbourmaster (Captain T. M. Hunter) said he could not recotnmend the discontinuance of the signal station. The station at Adderley Head was at times obscured by,: fog, and vessels depended on the tipie-oall station from which to get their berths. The station could also alter a berth if necessary, or instruct an incoming ship to wait until sin outcoming ship cleared the moles. The station was also necessary for signalling a ship lying in the stream. The signalman had a clear outlook to all parts of the outer and inner harboux - , and could at oncfe report accidents, boats upspt,. or fires , afloat or ashore: The station was an asset to the port, and was valuable to shipping firms and stevedores, as they could tell exactly when a ship signalled at the Heads was likely to. arrive. Wellington and most other large ports had a signal station of look-out tower commanding the inner harbour. The chairman said that the necessity of the station was very much in question, owing to the altered conditions regarding shipping. While .admitting that the - Harbourmaster, was nijtr' jn. favour of discontinuance, »he thought the Board flight give it a six months' trial to see. how they got on without it. . •> • - • ' . , Sir Horrell said they would not be doing the. right thing in closing "down the station. It was an asset to the. port. ; Mr Sutton said he was strongly op-' posed to closing the station. It was one of the facilities of an up-to-date, l>ort. Watorsiders, by watching the signals, knew what vessels were coining in and when to go .down to the wharf. In the past the signalman had undoubtedly prevented loss of life, reporting boats upset. ' . Mr Cnr.vstall supported the continuance of the station. He said ,it was about oiio per cent, time-ball and 99 per cent, signal station: It was necessary to have a station overlooking the harbour,-the slime iis jn -Wellington. Mr Armstrons.said, the safety of the port was worth preserving at 'so small a cost. Mr Lester also opposed any change being made. Thei chairman's motion that the rePort be adopted w ( ns lost, and it was decided to continue the signal station a* at pifseht. •