THE HARBOUR BOARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XIII, Issue 4479, 22 March 1876, Page 3

THE HARBOUR BOARD.

TkVordinaVy of the-3TarSour 'Board wan-held-yesterdayafternooninthe.Board's. "Office, "fort-pljeet. Presentlfr. _WV ~C. Daldy (chairman)? Messrs; Mays.vMcKenzie, Buchanan," Niccol, "Cosgrave, Holdship, Boylan, and Tole. . "Waikato Coal.—A letter was received. from/MrC KIT C. 3Ufrlinson, r lreferringi to'fa specimen o£ coal which-the writer had. for.warded to the Boards. ..The coal liad been taken from a seam'oi" feet in thickness, in the Kilbnrne and Maramarna ;Coal Company. The coal had been received and is on view at the office of- the Board. Solid Rock Baths.—A.letter was received from Mr. F. -Whitaker, in reply to one from the Board "asking for a legal opinion npon several points respecting the solid rock baths. The letter was as follows ''I beg to acknowledge-the receipt of your letter asking for an opinion upon certain questions connected with'the solid rock baths. lam not in a position to advise the Board in respect to-this matter, having been already consulted by the proprietors of the baths. —lam.-etc., F. Whitaker." North Shore Naval Reserve. —A letter was received from the Colonial Secretary stating, in reply to , one from the. Board, that there was' no longer any objection on the part of the naval authorites to the removal of *'the 'fence at the A orth Shore. It was held that the boundary of the reserve was high water mark, but if the public convenience required any alterations in the boundary on the eastern side of the reserve, he did .not doubt but that such alterations might be made. —The Chairman moved that the'letter be. referred to the Endowment Committee, .with this object, that when the Commodore'of the station, , who is expected shortly, arrives, delegates be appointed to wait upon him, and ■ represent the whole matter to him. Xf this were done, .he thought the difficulty might be. got rid of without further correspondence.—; Mr. .Mays said that the man- ; in , charge, at the Naval. .Reserve. had ..cast a boat, adrift that had been beached there, and that the boat had been thrown on ■ the; rocks and damaged. But he did not do this in every case ; • for a boat belonging to a* person who had bribed him was allowed toi remain securely on the beach; He thought; the Board should not allow such for it was certain the public would help: themselves in this matter if; the Board did not take some action.—The Chairman; promised to write to the officer commanding the Renard with' respect to the complaint made by Mr. Mays.—-A letter was read from : Lieutenant Nowell of the Renard, stating' in reply to a letter from the Board, that the' Commodore of the Australian station is on his way to this port, and that he would leave the matters stated in their letter to his •decision. —The. Chairman said. ,that if the Commodore did not arrive within a few days the Board would act eh the authority of the Colonial Secretary's letter. — The motion that the matter be referred to the Endowment Committee was carried.

.Railway Extension. —In reply to a letter from the Board to the Under-Secretary, the following answer was received :—" I beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the14th of February expressing the opinion of the Board that the Mercer Railway should "be extended into the centre of the city. In reply, I have to inform you that this question will be fully considered by the Government before the. next session of the Parliament." :. :......:,.- i Drainage.—A letter from the Mayor wa3 read, bringing under the notice of the Board that complaints were numerous of the stench arising from the silt basins, and also, stating that stagnant water was lying in Custom-house-street.—The Chairman said that measures should be at once taken to remove the stagnant water ; but with regardto the siltbasins, he thought the nuisance was caused by the fact that the sinks from the main streets were trapped, and the private drains were not, so that a strong north-east wind drove the gas out of the sewer into private yards. This, he thought, was doing a great deal- of harm. The private drains should be trapped, and other measures taken to prevent the gases from spreading over the city. Hβ moved, " That the matter be referred to the Worke Committee." —This motion was seconded, and carried. Steam Djcedoe.—An application was received from Mr. Lodder, to authorise. the necessary extra expenditure -to complete the steam-dredge. . The amount required was estimated at £53 10s.—The application was referred to the Works Committee, with power to act. Finance.—The following accounts were ordered to be paid :—General account, £544 5s 5(1; loan do., £3796 16s 5d : total, £4341 Is 10d. Statement of funds : To balance in bank, £3254 9s 10d ; cash on hand, £11 10a lid ■ total, £3296 0s 9d, less accounts to be paid as above—£s44 os od; balance; "£2751 15s 4d. Moneysvoted, £1100 ; interest due 10th July, IS7O, £3228; exchange, etc., £31 • total, £4359. Loan account : Balance in bank, £4417 4s Sd; accounts to pay, £3706 16s od; balance, £602 Ss 3d. Cash on deposit: In Bank of 3S T ew Zealand, £57,500; mortgage, £22,650: total, £SO,ISO. Patent Sup.—Mr. T.. Niccol's application for a site for slip having been considered, it was resolved—"That your committee having carefully considered Mr. Nicool's application ■<; for a site for a patent slip on the side of the breakwater, and the public interest connected therewith, recommend—(l) That provided he can make arrangements with the proprietors of the salt water baths for the erection of buildings, &c, on another site to be granted by the Harbour Board, a, lease should be granted him of a site for a patent slip, in accordance with the plan deposited with the Harbour Board, on the following conditions: (1) A nominal rent of £1 per annum for a period of forty-two years, the site so leased to be used for the purpose of a patent slip only, and with liberty to remove plant at the expiry of the lease. (2) That tne committee cannot.recommend any bonus being granted by the Board. (3) That unless the works shall be completed as proposed, within twelve months from the date of the lease, such lease may be cancelled, or the lessee shall pay a sum of £10 per month until the slip is in complete working order. (4) That in consideration of the public health and convenience, the Board shall grant a lease for a site for baths further to the eastward, and between the present baths and St. Barnabas Point: and that permission should be made west of Hobson-street for the reservation of a site for baths, for the benefit of the inhabitants of that side of the city."—The Chairman moved the adoption of the report of the Eudowment Committee.—Mr. Mays seconded the motion.— Mr. McKenzie said that the report did not appear to him to go far enough. Everyone connected with theshipping had the same feeling. He thought that Auckland was behind every port in the colony. The report told Mr. Niccol to deal with Mr. Hilditch in the matter. That was equivalent to telling him they could not do anything for him. Whoever would erect a slip for Auckland would confer a great public benefit, and he did nof think it would be exceeding the duty of the Board to build the slip. There was no place in the port where anything could be done to a vessel, and they ought to do all they coulo towards remedying this defect.—The Chairman said that, although the Committee wer< willing to do all they could in this matter, they did not like to plunge the Board into : wrong position legally, or to deprive the inhabitants of the use of the baths.—M r. Cos grave thought it was an outrageous proposihoi to want to deprive the public of to obli«e one man with a" site for a paten slip.—Mr. McKenzie moved as an addition t the report, "That the chairman be em powered to get legal sdvice as to the posi tion of the Board in relation to thes matters."—Mr. Mays seconded the motion which was oarried nem. con, and the adop tion of the report, with .the addition mad to it, was put and carried. PCBUC Baths.—Mr. Boylan moved "That the Board instruct the tndowmen Committee to report upon the best site 0 the western, and on the best site on th eastern side of the harbour, for bathiz places • that snch sites be rented to tl City Council, at a nominal rental,; and thr his Worship the Mayor be respectfully r

quested, under clause 363_pf Municipal JtaSe the £i|cßssary steps for'tne erection of public EatfiiDg-r^B^an^*saia--tK&= :Harl)OuTBoard" had r nqfc.-,the power-tot;, erect the would have preferred that it should have taken the matter up. The expense would be but trifling, and the City Corporation had-power to deal with it. —Mr. Holdship .-.seconded .the resolution, which waslearned nenu dis. Norm'?' Shore::' Mays moved, "That: in terms of the resolution o£ the Board of December last, a landing quay be constructed on- the west side of Victoria Wharf, North Shore, at a cost not exceeding £250." Mr. Mays supported his motion at considerable length, and after some discussion it was adopted; The Railway Wharf. — Mr. Xiccol moved, "That thSTßailway Wharf be extended 160 feet northward beyond the limits of the present contract, to obtain the depth of water originally contemplated, namelyj— 16 feet, at low water spring tide. (2) That the tee be so constructed that it would be in a parallel direction with the eastern tee of Queen-street wharf." Mr. Niccol spoke at considerable length in snpport of his motion. The object in view when the Railway Wharf was projected, was to provide greater accommodation for the shipping—-especially for the English shipping and ior the mail steamers. For these purposes the wharf, as it is at present being constructed, "\rould .be quite useless. In order to utilize it, there were two courses which might be adopted. They must either lengthen the structure as proposed in his motion, or resort to dredging. The dredging he thought would not prove satisfactory. This, he said, was also the opinion of practical men. The expense of dredging would ultimately be vastly more than the expense of lengthening the wharf. A cost of £200 per month would be required for dredging,, if that was made successful, but if it was a failure the wharf would dwindle down to a depot for coal. The extension of the wharf as proposed would cost, according to the present contract, £3,200, and this first cost would end the difficulty and pnmde the ample accommodation at first contemplated. He thought the Board should not hesitate to "' adopt this way of getting over what was no doubt a serious blunder. The effect the extension of the wharf would h:\ve upon the navigation of the harbour was considered by; the Harbour Master to be hardly appreciable. Mr. Mays seconded the resolution. Mrßoylan opposed it strongly, and the Chairman said he hoped the Board would not; stultify itself by. undoing what it had ■formerly done. One third of the cost of; dredging would ~be~iaved by using the material for the reclamations, and he thoughtit would be very unwise to carry the struc-. ture into the middle of the harbour. Mr. Cosgrave trusted the Board would not extend the wharf or commence' any other large undertakeing until the dock had been built. It was after some discussion agreed, " That ( the .consideration of this motion be adjourned, and that in the meantime the Works Committee be author-' ised to obtain information on the subject of dredging, and in connection with the inter-, ference of the navigation of the harbour by the extension of the wharf, and that a special meeting be called so soon as this infor-! mation has been obtained." '

. Timber. —Mr. McKenzie moved, "That; the Engineer of the Board be requested to prepare specimens of all timber used in the! construction of the Auckland wharves, with. , an opinion as to their value in comparison ■with, jarrah and other Australian timbers." The mover thought that the Board should be in a position to give information as to the value of different timbers for the purposes of harbour, works.—Several members spoke in favour of the motion; which was seconded and carried unanimously. ' This concluded the business.