FIFTY YEARS AGO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15548, 4 March 1914, Page 14

FIFTY YEARS AGO.

THE QUEEN STREET WHARF.

PUMPS IN THE CITY.

.From the HERALD of March 4. 1864.) Extension of the Queen Street Wharf.— The Provincial Government have, we perceive, called for tenders from persons desirous of contracting for this work. A new tee is to bo affixed to the extremity of ,'m wharf, and the increased accommodation afforded to shippers by this improvement will, wo trust, in some measure meet the increased demand. A short time since we were shown two pieces of totara which had just been taken out of the water whore they hud lain for over two years; the one when placed 1 here was green and tho bark was still attached to it, the other seasoned and '"irked ; the former was as sound as the day it was cut down, the other more or less wormed and decayed. On enquiry we found that the result is invariably the same, totara, when green, resisting the influence of salt water far better than when the sap is out of it. The matter is worth further investigation and attention. The City Pumps.— One of the city pumps was yesterday placed over the well sunk in "Queen Street, opposite Mr. "March's shop. They have been constructed by Messrs. Vickery and Masefield, and cast from designs furnished by them. Tho pump placed yesterday in Queen Street is a handsome pieco of work, but its appearance is entirely destroyed by the unsightly colour which it has been painted.