PORT OF WANGANUI.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1068, 6 March 1911, Page 2

PORT OF WANGANUI.

SYNOPSIS OF THE YEAR'S WORK (By CorrcGnondoßt.t 4. Some interesting facts, were" contained in the annual report of the chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. J. B. Murray), which was' placed '.before' members last evening, and which,'in view of tho steady development of. this,.port, are worth. rc r peating. Tho leading items in imports are general merchandise 43,310 tons, coal' 23,775 tons, the former showing an increase- of . IGOO tons, and tho latter a decrease of 3100 tons. In exports (nearly all of which are tho products of local indus- . trial concerns), tho leading ■ items arc: Frozen mutton 57,000 carcasses, frozen lamb 90,000 carcasses, frozen beef 17,390 quarters, crates of frozen meat 3011, livo cattle 2957, live sheep 5792, canned.meats 2100 cases. All of theso Totals are. In- . creases. The export of timber dropped from 2J million ■feet in the previous year to 981,600 foot, and wool from'39,94l'bales ' to 29,218, tho drop in the latter being chiefly due to railway competition. Regarding.finuncc, the chairman stated, that the total receipts for the year were .£13,291 ss. Id—an increase of 1534 13s. 2d. on the figures for the previous,year. Tho receipts from rents, wharfage, pilot dues, and ship dues were 112,149 18s. fld. Theso figures, however, do not show tho actual earnings of tho board from.the.se . sources. The balance-sheet shows that accrued dues not all collected at tho end of the financial vear, exceeded tho accrued dues for the vear 1909 by 13G1 4s. lOd.' That makes a total of ,£lßll 3s. 7d. actual earnings, aud exceeds tho earnings of the previous year by ,£626 17s. On December 31, 1909, there was a fixed deposit of ,£25,000, and a credit to current/' account of .£1324 9s. 9d. On. December . 31, 1910, there was a fixed deposit of ,£15,000, and a debit to current account of .£lls 2s. Id. Thus the board's balance • at the bank has, during the year, been reduced by ,£14,709 lis. 10d., and there . remains ,£14,554 17s. lid. to carry on with. , Tho ordinary or annual recurring ex- . pjnsos of tho board amounted last year to about 19385. This includes interest ,£SOOO, sinking fund 11000, handling aud i wharf charges .£2201 15s. 3d., pilotage 1009 lis. Id,, management rates, etc., about 1153. As the revenue of the board ■ for the year was 113,291, there has been a surplus of about 13900, which has been spent on improvements to the port. After detailing the various improvements effected during the year, the chairman went on to say: I think that tno board has good reason for congratulation, bath with regard to the progress and (ho sucecss of its work. The river channel from the heads to tho (own wharf has kept good during the year, and the dredged channel between the training walls shows no signs of shoaling, although it is over twelve months since tho dredge finished working there. By the dredg- ' ing of the channel between the walls, anc • tho greatly improved entrance to llu. river, the low tide level at the bridge has been lowered 12 inches, and, consequently, an immensely greater quantity of sea water enters and leaves the estuary every tide, thus greatly increasing • the scour, both in the river and on the bar. The question of coastal drift, which . the engineers said might cause. great trouble, as the moles were, being extended out to sea, lias caused no inconvenience so far. Having tho north mole a half-tide wall, allowing sand to pass over iufo the channel, has overcome the difficulty. Recent surveys by tho resident engineer have shown that the south spit, instead of being denuded and weakened, has accumulated large quantities of sand, and that tho bar has not been forced further out to sea, but remains in ■ the same position that it was in ISS4 when last surveyed. Tho depth on the bar is now 16ft. at high water spring tides, and' is apparently still increasing. The pilot's soundings for July, 1909, 'pave 10ft. at high water spring's, and 7ft. at neaps. The south mole was just started about.. that time, and (he depth on the bar has gone on increasing (ill the present time. Further work to be dnijc to complete the scheme agreed to bv the present lxjard will probably take till tlio end of the year to finish. There is an extension of the south mole (110 ft.) aud of the north mole (2Soft.). This ought to give several feet more water iv.i the bar. There is also tho extension of the south spit (raining wall, and tho raising of the level of tho north and south training walls at (he upper end in order to divert tho greater iwrtinn of the ebb waters into the sailing channel. There arc ample funds to complete this work.