HARBOUR BOARD STATISTICS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1715, 11 January 1905, Page 27

HARBOUR BOARD STATISTICS.

PROGRESS OF THE PORT. The net revenue of the Wellington Harbour Board for the year which ended on September 30th amounted in round figures to £118,384. The sum of £55,991 was paid by importers and exporters, and £5(5,085 by the owners of snips, the remaining £O3OB being derived from various sources. The importers paid £31,992 in inward wharfage, whilst for outward wharfage they paid £0558, the sum received from shipowners under this head being £293; and for transhipment wharfage, the amounts paid wore respectively £4279 and £8778. The sum of £2023 was received from the owners of ships for the use of the Board’s hydraulic plant, and the amount charged them for overtime labour was £2282. Shipping also contributed the following sums: —Harbour improvement rate, £4186; water, £5175; pilotage, £434; port charges, £8397; harbourmaster’s fees, £6018; pressing of wool, hemp, etc., £8939. Importers and exporters paid £1544 in rent and labour charges on goods in the Queen’s Wharf bonded warehouse, £720 in weighbridge charges, and £684 for the examination of goods for Customs purposes.

The number of vessels which arrived at the port during the year ivas 2959, of a total tonnage of 2,220,314 tonsThis represents, in comparison with the figures for the previous year, an increase of 83 vessels and 98,095 tons. There has been a steady, increase during the past eight years in the tonnage of vessels arriving, a result due to the remarkable development of the steamer traffic. Whilst there was a falling-off in the number of sailing vessels last year, steamers increased by 102. The statistics show that the quality of wool and skins exported in the year was 109,202 bales, a decrease of 7812 bales upon that of the previous year. The export of hemp and tow decreased by 97G5 bales. There is an increase of 2341 tons in the export of butter, and 2118 tons in that of cheese; but a fall-ing-off of 1548 tons in frozen meat. The quantity of coal which passed over the wharves (exclusive of Government tonnage) amounted to 105,511 tons, an increase of 5030 tons over that of the previous year. There is a decrease of 7412 tons in the quantity of coal transhipped overside. There were imported 10,421,840 superficial feet of timber. The quantity of goods imported from British and foreign ports amounted to 130,747 tons; in the previous year it was 107,105 tons. The export of goods for colonial and coastwise ports reached 79,597 tons, or 4741 tons more than in the previous year.