THE WHARF BARRIERS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 21, 26 January 1911, Page 3

THE WHARF BARRIERS.

HARBOUR BOARD APPROVES. The chairman of the Harbour Board last evening reported to the Board that the matter of dealing with the- crowds on arrival and departure of steamers had been left in the hands of himself and the engineer. The only solution was the erection of barriers. This had been -done and it was eminently successful. There were one or two "growlers"; there always were; but members of the board knew that since he had been a member of the Board he had always been an advocate of allowing the public the freest possible access to the wharves. The barriers had met with the approva l of the shipping companies and the travelling public. There was proof of that that evening when there were some 500 or 600 people outside the barriers who had no business with the ship. Som& order was evolved out of chaos. Mr. Hildreth suggested lowering the charge of 3d at the barriers to 2d. If 2d was enough for the Government at the railway station, it should be enough for the board. The chairman pointed out that the 3d merely covered expenses. Sometimes there was a small surplus, sometimes a deficit. There was no desire on his part to make arbitrary regulations. It was not wise for the present to make any change. Let the board see how it worked, and then, if necessary the charge could be reduced. Mr. F. G. Bolton, while approving of the barriers, thought the charge could be reduced by Id. For large families 3d was too high. The chairman said he was quite willing to consider a reduction- when the barriers had had a fair trial Mr. Jones thought the object of the barriers wu to keep crowds from the ships. The charge of 3d was quite low enough. - 1 Mr. Tewsley warmly approved the chairman's a*tion-so did all other members of the board