LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

Lyttelton Times, Volume LIII, Issue 5948, 19 March 1880, Page 5

LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

The ,Ly ttaltori Harbour Board held an or<)inary meeting yesterday afternoon, at, their oflloeßij Hereford street. Tbe following meinhers were present The Hon E. Richardson (chairman), Messrs R. J, 8. Harman, H., P. Murray-Aynsley, H. Allwright, -E. , Allan, ‘ P. Cunriingharii, O, W- Turner, and D. Craig.', , • t ' . ohaieuan’s bepobt. the Chairman reported as follows The following, sums have, been .paid into , tbe Board’s account since our. last meeting.— Wharfage, £1057 18s 7d j towage and pilotage exemptions, £9310s 4d : total, £llsO, 8s lid. Report No. 9of the Harbour Improroipenfc Committee will be brought up to-day. The Finance Committee have agreed upon the 1 manner of dealing with' , trie amount (aboqt £/000) now the Board’s credit with the National Bank in London. Tbo overbad of tho dredge ( has been somewhat delayed by some of ' tho gear, ex Waimate, not coming to hand) so rapidly as might have been expected, but it . is expected that the dredge will be ready for work again next week. The. Minna Bfll has in the meantime been engaged ,in dredging round the Transporting buoy,' and , lifting the inud into the bargo.Sumner,' which|,has,been 'taken down to Camp Bay. I will ask, the .Board to, extend their authority ~to employ the Minna Bell for two months longer, so as to enable the silt at the mouths pf the various sowers adjucerit to the - jetties to be removed, also along the breastwork, where the dredge Erskjne cannot reach. A tatter was 'written on Feb 26 last, to the ‘railway authorities here, and forwarded on at once to the Reeident Engineer at Dunedin, urging the necessity of laying in workable points on interinediate jetties Nos. 1 and 2. . As the greatest difficulty and loss of time are experienced in working these jetties at present, and as no authority had been received up to yesterday to remedy this evil, I again pressed upon the Resident Engineer the necessity of taking immediate action in the matter. Today, 1 have seen the Hon Mr Oliver on the subject, and he assured me he would give his authority for this work as soon as the request reaches him from the Commissioner, Application was made on March 8 to the New Zealand Guarantee Association to renew the treasurer’s bond of £2OOO, whioh would lapse ori March 12, but they wore unable to do so in consequence of their intention to retire from business. The Standard Insurance Company were at once applied to to. take the risk; but at that Company do not usually take risks of the kind above £IOOO the matter had io be referred to Dunedin, rind a,reply has riot yet been forthcoming, although- the agent states it may arrive at any moment. If it does not before the end of the present week other steps will bo taken to provide for the treasurer’s security bond. The Harbour Master has reported that it is necessary to provide a new set of coir springs for; tho wharves. Those now in nse are wearing out. We have now. 21 springs on the wharves, and 1 propose to ask the Board for authority to order taom Calcutta, from the firm who supplied the former pries, two more coils of coir' springs, each coil being abprit 120 fathoms, and this quantity'in all, would make some 22 warps. , I think it might be worth while to order at the same tiine a coir towrope for ihe tug. 1 will ask the Board to decide upon some rule to -be followed in the case of their'employees, being absent from duty bn sick leave. Of. lata there has.been ari inert a sing number of cases, which it has been oxtrefasely difficult,to deed with, and I think it would be better that the Board should lay down some rules to be followed in future. I have prepared a resolution on this subject whioh 1 think will meet the case.

HABBOUB XMPBOVEMENT COMMITTEE. ’ . The Harbour Improvement Committee recoinmended that the Government should be requested to sell, the anchor of the Lady Jocelyn, and that three, coats of boiled oil should be applied to the walls of the timeball tower, in order to keep out the writ, and that the walls'should be coated with cement.,; ! Mr R. 'J. S. Harman moye’d—“ Thjt report Nri. 9 bo adopted, arid that the Chairman be authorised to take the necessary action therein recommended.’? -

Mr Allwright Tfduld oppose the application' of boiled 1 oil,'as it would have no effect, the; atone being filled with holes like sponge. ' The Chairman said that the 'architect. had; advised that' oil wpuld answer the purpose.The method of application suggested would be that one coat of oil should be laid on, that any holes then visible should be stopped, and: after this had been done, that the other two coats Of oil should be given. Before any' action should be taken, he (the Chairman), would consult with the architect, and if the latter felt any doubt, he (the Ohairrimn) would , come to the Board again to sanction the expenditure of money. The place was so damp as to be quite uninhabitable. , Mr Murray-Ay rialey thought it would be cheaper to build a separate house for the keeper. . . The motion was duly seconded and agreed to.'";", ' ACCOUNTS. • Twosmall accounts were passed for payment; amounting to £l2 2s. . com spbings, Ac. r The Chairman was authorised to order, from Calcutta four coils of coir spriDgaV’also a coil sufficient for two tow ropes for the tugLyttelton,. , ■' ■■■. . r- - -■ SICK IBATE. On the motion of Mr Cunningham seconded by Mr Allan, it was resolved—“ That the fol- : lowing rule be 1 adopted in the pasepf Harbour: Board employees being absent from ill-health: —That a doctor’s certificate he; sent in to the officer in charge bh the’' 'day on, which, employee is absent; that fill rate of pay be allowed to the employee for the first'week he may be', absent, and after that time' for two, weeks at half-pay, and if the employee dpes not then return to duty, .that the matter he' reported to the Board. 1 ' , TENDERS. Tenders for.the .erection of the Board’s' offices in Lyttelton were opened. There,were only three, and the lowest, that of Messrs Hollis and Williams tor £2886, was accepted,i subject to their complying with some small details of specifications. ' ; ’ • tebasueee’s bon’d.'' ;i . ’ The matter of the Treasurer’s bond wasleft to the Chairman to deal with. : next meeting. ‘ 1 ’> The Board resolved to meet at Lytteltonon ■ Thursday, April 1.