WELLINGTON HARBOUR BOARD. SPECIAL MEETING.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 37, 12 August 1905, Page 5

WELLINGTON HARBOUR BOARD. SPECIAL MEETING.

A special meeting of the Wellington Harbour Board was held this morning. .Mr. Wm, Cable presided, and there were in attendance the Hons. P. H. Fraser and T. K. Macdonald, M.L.O.'s, and Messrs. VV. T. Wood, M.H.R., Harold Beau•:hamp, James M'Lellan, T. W. Hislop, and F. Tbwnsend. It was agreed to accept the surrender of leases of the Hunter-street endowment, and to issue new leases for the unexpired balance of the term. During a short discussion prior to the resolution being arrived at, the Hon. T. K. Macdonald said he understood this was i mere formal resolution; that the Board could not help itself. The Secretory : We have the power to do it, and we are asked by the City Council to do it. Our interest in the matter lapses in eighteen months' time. " The Hon. T. K. Macdonald said he would vote for the forwal relegation, although he entirely disagreed with the course adopted by the City Council. He thought the City Council was entirely in error in the course it had adopted. It was, he said, quite on a par with what it had done with respect to the other leases. A letter waa read from the Gisborne Harbour Board asking that Mr. Ferguson, Engineer, should be allowed to give advice on a matter of urgency in connection with the Gisborne harbour works. The, letter stated that in order to create a. scour in the river and stopping the sand from the westward blocking the river, a training wall had been run out about 250 ft to the westward of the breakwater, and this was now finished with crib work level with the breakwater. The next section was a solid concrete work, and a deputation of shipmasters and others interested had waited on the Board asking that this work should not be gone on with, as they (eared that the heavy southerly sea breaking upon this solid pier would cause such a. range in the river that it would not be safe for passenger launches and lighters to enter the river when there was any sea on. The Board, therefore, wished to know Mr. Ferguson's opinion on the matter. The Hon. T. K. llncdonald moved that the request should not be complied with. He ' explained that there was a great principle involved, and said aa long as there were highly-qualified professional engineers in the colony, it was improper that any corporate body — harbour board or city council — should apply for the services of ai^ engineer engaged with some other board. It' was a great compliment to their Secretary and Engineer that other boards ihonld be desirous of naving the benefit of his high professional attainments, but 'the principle was unsound. If the Gisborne Harbour Board wanted professional advice theie were numbers of men in the colony qualified to give it. To try and Ijot an opinion "on the cheap" was wrong, itnd he would always oppose such an application. , t \ The motion was seconded by Mr. Jas. M'Lellan, and supported by Mr. Harold Beai;phamp. The latter said there had been' occasions when he had fallen in with the idea — for instance, at Auckland recently there was a great difference of opinion ss to the wisdom of carrying out a scheme of an engineer, and the Board, granting a request from the Auckland authorities, allowed Mr. Ferguson to report on the ncheme. That was an entirely different cafie to the present one, and he submitted tho Board was not justified in ontertaining the 'application. The motion on being put to the meeting was carried unanimously. Strenuous efforts are being made in Victoria to develop the fruit export f.rade, but a lock of co-operation among j growers is said to be a great drawback. 1 Mr. Swinburne, Minister of Agriculture ! «ml Water Supply, says that the Gov- j irnment is du.siruus of twisting the I Victorian growers to obtpin lower ; freights for their fruit, and better ar- I rangeinents for its tr.inspoit to Euro- \ ' ,oean markets, but, owing to such lick ■A no-operation, its hands were tied. If i ;rowers would come together and agree ; ro some arrangement by which /rait :ould be shipped in Inrgpr quantities, in- ', itend of sma'.l consignments, he could i probably coma to .some understanding j rliich would be beneficial to them. { A farmer near Urenui (siiys the Tara- j fiaki Herald) m.ide an interesting expeii- j Rent on top-dressing some years 050. 1 Having noticed what a much .stronger ,;iowth of grass was oblituv-d on the river < Qat there than on the top hind, he came 10 the conclusion that broken pupa might form a valuable manure for top-dressing, ft imy be as well to state here that these Jnts are formed entirely by alluvial depositu from the papa Iiill» inland. In working out ]m theory lie quarried several tons of papa and spread it on a wornout pasture. The result was astounding. The lumps of papa weathered away completely, and a luxuriant growth of grass ii now to be se<m where hawkweed and (em once predominated.