A DAY ON THE HARBOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 14566, 31 December 1910, Page 8

A DAY ON THE HARBOUR.

INSPECTION OF WORKS.

TOUR BY THE MINISTER.

Under the perfect weather conditions that prevailed yesterday a day or the sparkling waters of the Waitemala provided all tho essentials of an ideal, outing. It therefore goes without saying that the excursion round the harbour which was made by the Minister for Marine (lion. J. A. Millar), for the purpose of viewing the various works, at the invitation of the chairman and members of the Auckland Harbour Board, proved in every sense an enjoyable one. A cloudless day, with the heat of th© sun tempered by a cool southerly breeze, left nothing wanting, and never

have 'the charms of the harbour been seen to belter advantage. The party consisted, of the Minister, the Mayor (Mr. L. JBagnall), Mr. T. Manning (British ViceConsul at New Caledonia), the chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr. A. J. I'Jntrican), Messrs. J. M. Mennie, J. H. Bvadney, P. J. Nerhenv (members, of the Board), the Hons. B. Harris. T. Thompson, W. Beehan. | M.L.C. s, Messrs. C. H. Poole. A. L. Glover, Arthur M. Myers, F. Lawry, M.P.'s, W. S. Douglas, W. Cecil Leys, F. D. Thomson (Minister's private secretary). Captain Dudev (harbourmaster), W. H. Haiuer (engineer to the Harbour Board), H. B. Burnett (secretary of the Harbour Board), and C. F. Garratt (treasurer of the Harbour Board). Hie Hon. Jas. Carroll, who had been invited to be present, was unavoidably absent. Before embarking on the steamer Pitoitoi the Minister was shown over the new Queen-street Wharf, an inspection being made of the two large sheds now nearing completion, the new harbour buildings, the vehicular staging, the new dredge Hqipoi, and the ferro-concrete works now in course of construction. A visit was then paid to the new Quay-street reclamation jetty near the Railway Wharf, which formed the subject of the recent prosecution of the Board by the Marine Department. The Railway Wharf was also gone over and the sheds and equipment inspected. Special attention was paid to the new electric cranes, and an exhibition of the lifting j powers of one of them was given.

The first point of call after the embarkation of the party was the Calliope Dock, where the dock sheer legs, and plant came under observation. The various proposed improvements, including the erection of a new pumping plant, was explained to the Minister. The Pitoitoi was then headed for the Tamaki, but before reaching there she was brought to anchor under the lee of the verdu;re-clad cliffs just beyond St. Heliers Bay. Luncheon was served here in the salc<n, and a tempting picnic collation received the justice that it merited. A short toast, list was then disposed of.

Mr. Entrican, in proposing the health of " Our Guests" said that Ministers sometimes were not conversant with the details of matters connected with theidepartments, and were thus at a disadvantage. He expressed pleasure at the presence of Mr. Millar, and also at having Mr. Manning, as an old Auckland boy, amongst them. (Applause.)

Mr. Millar said that he was very pleased to be present as he guest of the Harbour Board. The works that were now being earned out by the Board were the greatest harbour works that were being carried out in New Zealand. He had had his troubles with the Board, but any action that, he had taken had been purely from a sense of duly. (Hear, hear.) He commended the progressive spirit of the Board, which was -striving to make Auckland "the port" of New Zealand. (Mr. Glover: We have done so.) He wished them all success, and hoped that the port would continue to grow by leaps and bounds. (Applause.) Sir. Manning, who also returned thanks, referred to the greit advancement made in Auckland, since his last visit, towards making Auckland the greatest- port of the Pacific. He spoka of the desirableness of establishing a steam service between New Zealand and New Caledonia and other Pacific island*!. There was a good, cutlet for New Zealand products in the islands, but he marvelled at the fact thai- many of these products could be obtained more cheaply in Sydney than in New Zealand. New Zealand was in very good odour with the French authorities in New Caledonia, and if they had the means they would be very glad to give a more substantial subsidy than they were now in a position, to afford towa? is a service to promote trade between the two countries. (Applause.)

The toast of "Parliament'* was given by the Mayor and acknowledged by all the members of both Houses present. The members of the House referred to their efforts to secure justice to Auckland, and the members of the Upper Chamber explained that whilst the Council had no control over the purse-strings they flattered themselves that they acted as a healthy brake on the doings of the representative Chamber.

The toast of "The Press" was given by Mr. Myers and acknowledged by Mr. Douglas and Mr Leys.

Mr. Millar proposed the " Auckland Harbour Board." which, he said, in entering uj>;,ii its present extensive scheme, had ■undertaken a considerable risk. When the Board decided to pull down practically all their old wharves and build new ones in

ferro-concxete a new form of construction —they showed that they were men of grit and determination. The Board had surrounded itself with a capable staff, and it was to be complimented on the work that had so far been done. Sometimes the Board had been unduly blamed; little things that had happened had been magnified by those who wore inclined to I'Dse sight of the fact that it was wrong to do anything to injure any part of the Dominion. The Kaipara disaster last year, for instance, had: received a great deal more publicity than was necessary, but he was glad to say that it had not dona any injury to the port. (Hear, hear.) Sometimes he had to talk straight to the Auckland members, who never lost an opportunity of preaching that there was no place in New Zealand to compare with Auckland; but there was no man in New Zealand who was prouder of seeing Auckland go ahead than he (Mr. Millar) was. (Applause.)'

Mr. Ent.rican, in replying, said that in regard to the little trouble that had recently occurred between the Board and the Department, they were all satisfied that Mr. Millar was acting only from a sense of duty. (Hear, hear. The breach had been only a technical one, of which the members of the Board had not been aware. So far as his experience went Mr.. Millar had always done his best for the Board. When the works now in hand were completed Aucldand would be second to no port in Australasia. He had heard two experienced stevedores .say recently, that there was no other port south of. the line where goods could be handled so easily as on the Railway Wharf. (Hear, hear.) It was true that they sometimes made mistakes, but the men who never made any mistakes never made their mark on history. (Applause.)

Mr. Hamer, who also responded, referred to a statement to the effect that the estimates of the cost of the works; had been exceeded. As a matter of fact, although the work completed and in hand represented a total of about £700,000, the cost was about £20,000 below the estimates. (Applause.)

After lunch the party proceeded as far as the entrance to the Tamaki, the features of the two canal schemed being explained to the Minister en route. On returning the steamer was . taken past Orakei and Hobison Bay (where the drainage works are being carried out), and then to O'Neil's Point and Birkenhead, where the new wharves were inspected. The last call was at the Freeman's Bay reclamation, where the ndrth wall and the work of the suction dredger were the chief objects of interest. The party disembarked at 5.30 at the. Queen-street Wharf,