HARBOUR BOARD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14868, 20 December 1911, Page 7

HARBOUR BOARD.

THE NEW FERRY BUILDING. AN "EXTRA" DECLINED. The Auckland Harbour Board met yesterday. Present : Messrs. J. H. Gunson (chairman), C. Bagiey, G. Hutchison, J. ; E. Taylor, J. H. Bradney,'J. D. Heather, 1 J. Fisher, J. S. Bond, 11. H. Adams, A. ' J. Entrican, -and E. W. Alison. The Chairman extended the welcome of tho Board to Mr. Entrican, who for the first time since his return from a long trip to the Old Country, and since the election of ■ the new Board, occupied his seat at the Board's deliberations. ..' . Mr. Entrican, in his reply, said he had . gone away with a very high ideal of tho. Auckland Harbour Board and of its works. He had comeback convinced that Australia and New Zealand had done wonders in making provision for shipping. They were not only not behind, but were, in his idea, actually ahead of many other countries, in the nature of the equipment provided. That this was the case was greatly to the. credit of comparatively small countries. He referred to the case of Marseilles, where the vessels had to be tendered in the stream. The result of this was that tho Orient Company, after January 1, intended to stop coaling there, and to go to Toulon for the purpose, as frequently gales made work of ' the kind at Marseilles dangerous. He hoped that the secretary would, on behalf of the r ßoard, acknowledge,the courtesy extended| to him as a member by the Clyde Harbour Trust. Mr. Alex. Wiseman, architect, wrote suggesting that tho Board should authorise the erection of a • hood over the ticketselling windows at the ferry building, at a cost of £119 17s. ;V" ' : '■'" y -■' The Chairman said the time had come for stopping the authorisation of " extras"; on tho. ferry building. The amount named seemed to him to be quite extravagant for such. an addition,- and if a hood were found to-be necessary it could be built later at a much less cost. Mr. Alison said the amount expended under the heading of " Ferry - building" was becoming staggering. It was" decided "that 'the suggestion, should, not be entertained. ■ " ' THE NORTH SHORE TRAFFIC.

NEW WHARF AT BIRKENHEAD.

The Birkenhead Borough Council asked = the Board to favourably consider an appli- j. cation for leave for the construction of a , small jetty at tho foot of Lancaster Road. . The present' Birkdale Wharf was too small A to cone with the fruit export trade from J the district, and the proposed new jetty r would not only relieve the pressure, but c would otherwise be useful. V . t Tho. letter was referred to the Board in committee, the engineer to report. THE TAKAPUNA FERRY. J ' RECLAMATION AUTHORISED. The Takapuna Tramway and. Ferry Com- , pany having stated that the reclamation originally proposed to be made at Bayswater is" not now required, and that a r smaller area specified- by them is sufficient, \ it was resolved that an • Order-in-Councll be obtained for the reclamation of the less t area, the work to be completed by the company at its own cost, to the satisfac- c tion of the Board's engineer, and that the c company bo granted a tenacy, terminable at 12 month/, notice, at a rental of £10 t per annum." """',,.''„.; \ " — rr,,' -. f ■ THE HARBOUR PLANT. , —_— ' * AN APPROVING REPORT. , An important' report upon the dredgers and other plant of the Board was. sub- a mitted by a special committee, appointed i last June. The committee reported that; , the machinery of the dredgers was in first- j class condition, and the,work of the staff; in connection with the various vessels was good. The fire float was doing effective work, being much improved by the recent alterations in her engine-room. , ■ . i It was recommended that the following * changes should be given effect to:—That 1 to fill the vacancy caused by the death ot ] the chief engineer of the Hapai, Mr. Brebner, chief engineer of the tug Te Awhina, ( should be transferred to tho position; that , Mr. Watson, now acting chief, of the Hapai, £ should be transferred temporarily to the postion of acting-chief engineer of the To j Awhina until the return of the second en- 1 gineer (now on leave), and that the latter, ( on obtaining his first certificate, should be ( appointed chief, and that Mr. Watson, in ' the event of the Board adopting a recom- j mendation" made in relation to double shifts, should be appointed to- a position; a«J chief engineer of the Hapai, under Mr. 1 Brebner. ' '■ , I For the • infrequent use that is made > of the Calliope Dock and its plant, .the ' committee was of opinion that it was being J maintained at" too great cbst, the sorvices of the • dock engineer not • being fully availed of. » It was recommended that in addition to his present duties, and when the projected repairs : are completed, or new pumps installed (over which it is re- , commended he,act as. clerk of works), and = in view of the increased quantity of mechanical appliances on the wharves, he ( should have the supervision under the, j Board's engineer of the shore machinery j ( generally, excepting electrical parts. ; In view of the extensive works to which, ] the Board was committed, comprising tho ; j completion of the Freeman's Bay reclama- ! j tion, which (Should be pushed on with j nil" possible' speed, and also the large re- j j clamation at Mechanics' Bay to be done | j by the Board for and at the cost of- the \ , Government, the committee recommended ] ■ that the Board should adopt, by way of trial, a system of double shifts upon the ' | dredgers and attendant plant, to commence I on February 1, 1912. ' \ ■ • |j •. The chairman stated that the report was I • a most important one, and should be care- j 1 fully and fully considered. He moved •> 1 tentatively, "That,-.as the next ordinary h meeting of the Board would not be held ' for some time, a special meeting should be 1 held in committee to-day for the purpose 1 of considering the report." j < Mr. Bradney said he objected to the i . first of the recommendations made by tho] committee , concerning the proposed 1 changes of staff. The standing orders', ! forbade appointments, except ; after a I week's , advertised notice, to be made of i men who did not hold appointments under 1 the Board, and he contended that some of < the officers named in the recommendation ( did not hold such r appointments. They ; hail "drifted in." ' '• .' Mr. Alison moved an amendment, * " That the report should be considered at the next meeting of the Board in.committee," and the amendment was carried. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. • WORKERS' WAITINGROOM^ The town clerk wrote with reference to draining the area occupied by the tenants at the south-western corner of the Freeman's Bay reclamation, and asked . that , the Board should enter into an agreement with the Council, . undertaking at. the proper time to construct separate sewers . as required. In the opinion of the Coun!cil,* it' was advisable that the whole question of road construction should be-gone into. It would be unwise to paVe the roads until they had consolidated, as ultimately their importance would require more permanent construction than that afforded by water-logged macadam. '" . The matter was referred to the " Board in committee, the engineer to report. \ • The Waterside Workers' Union applied for the-use -of • the waitingroom oni ! • the Queen-street Wharf, for meeting purposes,

outside the "ordinary hours of the caretaker. It was decided that permission should be granted, Sundays excepted (unless by permission of the chairman), subject to the terms of their existing agreement as to the use of the rooms.

The Hon. E. Mitchelson, who, with Mr. •W. Ferguson, of Wellington, aid Mr. J. E. Watson, of Invercargill, had been appointed to a Commission by.the Lyttelton Harbour Board to deal with the proposal to provide additional harbour accommodation for Cliristchurch, either by making a new port near the city and a canal from Sumner, or by extending the accommodation at Lyttelton, wrote asking for information to enable them to make a comparison in the cost of labour between the systems of. handling cargo direct from ship to sheds, and from .ship ,to railway trucks. It was resolved to supply details of the wharfage charged at the port, and information as to the facilities given in return for those' charges; but that the cost of receiving, sorting, and stacking in the "sheds could riot bo given officially by the Board.

In connection with the hew gear shed being built on the Railway Wharf, applications were received from Nearing and Go. and the Union Steam Ship Co. for one room each, arid from the Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company for two rooms. That chairman said that the rental proposed was £20 per room per annum, which he thought was a moderate rate. The possible lessees had actually approved of a rental of 10s a week. A motion fixing the rental at £20 per annum was carried, an. amendment by Mr.Eritrican, that the rental should be 10s per week being defeated. • The secretary of the New Zealand Power Boat Association- wrote ' asking if the proposed boatshed at St. George's "Bay... was to bo a, two-storeyed building, as in that case the association would be willing, .to rent the.upper storey as a club-house. • It was decided that before the matter was settled the - association and other bodies would have an opportunity of laying their views before the Board in connection with this ; matter, as it involved a considerable expenditure. "': 'S'Ji ...:'■' '~,... 1f was .resolved that, the- Auckland City Council be requested to.reduce their charge for water supplied to the Board to a uniform minimum price, and to supply water for latrines free of cost to the Board. j

The meeting of the Board - will not be held : till January 16, < owing to " the intervention of the Christmas and' New Tear holidays. '"''■}' -'■. ,' ..' -.. '} • - ,