THE WHARF. NEW ZEALAND WOOD V. TASMANIAN WOOD.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXIV, Issue 3510, 15 October 1868, Page 3

THE WHARF. NEW ZEALAND WOOD Y. TASMANIAN WOOD.

Otjr attention has been called several times of late to the great difference between the New Zealand wood and the Tasmanian wood used in the construction of the Queen-street Wh»rf ; and, after an examination, we find that our own native woods are far superior in every respect to those imported from Hobart Town,' and wbich were largely used in the construction of the wharf. At the present time the upper planking, which bears the whole bruut of the traffic, is so cut up in many places that it has been found nece3Bary to take large numbers of the boards ,up and replace them with new ones. . /In every case those which hare been remored, through bsing so thoroughly worn -as to be not only udelesß but in many .cases unsafe for traffic, ate those' imported from Hobart Town at considerable expense." At the time, the planking was laid down opinions were divided regarding the , strength and durability of Newj Zealand and Tasmaman woods, and about an /equal quantity of each was used. Now nearly the whole of that imported (at double the., expense of kauri) i^ so far worn out that it will have to be removed^ while our native wood, the kauri, • of which the other half is formed, is aS good as ever, the boards being still hard, smooth,, and apparently as durable as they were the first day they were put dowu. The imported planks at their aide contract most unfavourably with them, being bUck, in many places rotten, and so cut up that they present a cough aud ragged appearance. In many instances they are & mere mass of splinters. The piles too .used in the construction of the wharf comprise wood both from this country and from T*smauia.< These latter will not bear the slightest comparison 1 with those of native growth. There are piles of tofcara that have been down from three to.aeveu yeais without being affected either by the sun or the saltwater. .On the other hand, those consisting of the imported wood from Tasmania are, in. many— y indeed in most — instances, rotted t to -the c<jre $ in other cases perhaps the amount of solid .wood 1 in them is not so thick as a man's finger. Indeed, so thoroughly worn out are they that numbers of theio have be>-n strengthened to prevent their falling to pieces. They are also m-».t susceptible 1;o the attacks of the worm?, which seem to have au especial delight in boring them so full of holss that in, many cis^s the interior is one miss of rot. These facts sp< ak very strongly for thnm-elve^ ani the New Zeahnd woods have triumphantly proved th-ir right to .be used in all local works, in to woodjfroin any other' country. We believe there will shortly be some very extensive alterations' and additions made to the Queenstreet Wharf in consequence of the daily increasing amount of shipping business ; and we trust 'that our Government will not again import woods at a heavy cost, and which prove on, trial t~> be almost worthless, when we have so much of a far superior article growing at our very door. ./ j