MOTUEKA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIV, 3 February 1931, Page 7

MOTUEKA

HARBOUR BOARD MEETING REPORT BY HARBOURMASTER At Hie mold lily meeting of the Alofueka Harbour Board, there we.ic present Messrs llorntio Everett (<‘hn.iiimm), G. L. Harvey, A. Ih Edwards, C. 11. Alackny, D. Gaining. F. 0. Greenwood and F. G. Batchelor. _ Accounts amounting to £255 13s 2<l were, passed for payment, leaving a credit balance at hank of £1912 lls 8d (fixed deposit £l(i(>3 3s 7d, current account £219 8s Id). The harbourmaster (Ah - P. G. Alotfjitt) reported for the month as follows: — . . The total amount, of revenue received amounted to XSf :is Kid, compared with £l3O 17s Id for the corresponding month of 1929. “Tho falling off in revenue is chiefly attributable to the I net that the usual importations of fruit ease shooks mostly arrived in December 1929, whereas iii December 1930 tlie quantities which came were correspondingly small, the large quantities arrived in November lust year, when the revenue was higher than usual. "The quantity of fruit shipped, calculated in computed bushel eases ot fresh fruit, was 8522, compared with 3919 for December 1929.

“The number of steamers which entered and left, the port was 38, with a total in registered tonnage of 2798, com pared with 28 steamers, with ft total in registered tonnage of 2218 for the previous December. “It may he interesting to here quote a few figures with regard to statistics of the port for Hie years ended December 1930 and 1929, respectively, as follows (1929 in parenthesis). Revenues received £3190 (is id (£2242 J9s 3d); cargoes inwards, 9128 tons (9394 tons); cargoes shipped, 29,288 (10,335);, computed bushel eases fruit shipped 478,085 cases (353,304 eases). “The totals for cargoes passed over the wlmrf, both inwards and outwards, were for the year 1930, 29,410 tons and for the year 1929 25,729 tons. “Also, l have it,he honour to report to you upon the following works which have been completed, or taken in hand", since your last meeting: — “Trimming Hr trees and cutting lupins. —This job was finished anil all tin; cut off brunches and scrub have been cleared away and burned. With a view to safeguarding tlie fir-tree plantations from tlie danger of fire spreading it was found necessary to drag the branches with a horse, and to remove a large proportion of the lupins to a safe distance before setting the fires. Ihe response to your board’s written request inviting occupiers of the board’s leased sections of land to clear lupins and scrub, with the idea of preventing fires, lias been almost negligible.

“Renovation of offices. —Tlie contractor, Mr Stcfl’enscii, for the construction of the new partition wall, including counter, door, windows, cuphoards, etc., and accommodation for the post office, which latter it) conducted by the hoard at Port Alotueka, has completed Ids work quite satisfactorily. TJie contractors, Messrs Kelly and Haider, have not yet finished plastering the interior of the concrete walls of the offices. However, they expect to complete the work next week. In addition lo the contracts the concrete floors of the offices have been asphalted. “Offices for Agricultural Department ami New Zealand Fruitgrowers’ Federation. —Owing to incomplete verbal information and the lion-receipt of any written communication from the Nelson Fruit Export Control* Board, the erection of these offices, for rental, was delayed, and it was only a weejc ago J received instructions, from your chairman to put the construction in hand. However, the work is now well advanced and the offices will he ready for occupancy before next Wednesday, when, I understand, the first of the export fruit for this season is expected to he received.

Gravity Conveyors.—The gravity roller conveyors, ordered from England last year, came to band yesterday. As the machines have come cased all in parts, with a view to saving expense in freights and customs duty, it will be necessary to assemble them. Your own men, who have now finished making the adjustable stands for the (conveyors, will he employed right away in putting tlie parts together, so that the machines will be ready for handling export fruit at an early date. “Alainteimnec. —All the iron roofs of the goods sheds have now been fresblv painted with Nelson paint, and tho walls of the wooden sheds as well as all other exterior wood work have all been recently coated with other paint of British manufacture. All the plant, including the motor launch is in first class condition. It having now again become necessary to scrape marine, growth from the concrete piers and the' fender piles, etc., of tlie wharf, I propose to put that work in hand as tides suit, “Harbour entrance.—There are no appearances of diminution in the .quantities of sand gathering at the harbour entrance, but it is quite apparent that the crest of the sand bank at the higher, or northern part is again gathering n]i, after being reduced by storms some two years ago. This rising of Hie crest is generally looked upon with appreciation by your consulting engineers, but tlieir opinion is quite otherwise about the sand continuing ,to gather in the locality of the entrance channel.”