“A SERIOUS LOSS”

New Zealand Times, Volume XLVII, Issue 10964, 28 July 1921, Page 5

“A SERIOUS LOSS”

THEFT OF ELECTRIC LAMPS • harbour- board suffers CONSIDERABLY. “DEER-SEA SHIRS THE 1 WORST.” Some light was thrown on the pillaging of Wellington Harbour Board electric lights in the course of a discussion at the board’s meeting last night, upon a recommendation by the wharves and accounts committee, that the engineer be authorised to call for tenders for the supply of 4500 electric lamps. Mr C. M. Turrell said that there wa» a very great deal of pillaging of these electric lamps on the waterfront, and shipowners were charged by the board for a large number of these lights reported as missing from the electric clusters supplied to the ships. He urged that some steps should be taken to stop this pillaging. A mechanical means could surely be devised to prevent the lamps being so easily removed from the clusters. In respect of one ship alone, the other day, his firm had been charged for a considerable number of these lamps, and it ran to a large sum of money. The chairman (Mr J. G. Harkhese) said that he had no doubt that the board’s engineer would take the suggestion made by Mr Turrell into account, and see if something could not be done to prevent the pillaging.

Mr Marchbanks (Harbour Board engineer) said that the deep-sea ships were the worst offenders in regard to the lamps, which were taken, out of the clusters by the men on the ships and used on board. They screwed off the backs in order to remove the lamps. The 4500 lamps now asked for were not only for these clusters but fop general use on the wharves. He added that he had given instructions that the ships* officers were in future to be" notified at once as to the number of lampe found to be missing when the clusters were returned, so that they could take whatever action they liked. . ' Mr Turrell said that the companies were often charged for the lamps long after the ship concerned had left. He thought that when a cluster was returned from a ship to the board a tally of the. lamps should be made, and any loss notified immediately. He contended that a large number of the lamps might be stolen after the clusters were returned to the board, but the blame was thrown on the ships. Mr Marchbanks: That is not eo. ■ Mr Turrell: There is no evidence that it is not so. If no tally iu made at the time of their return, there is no check at all upon it. Mr Marchbanks said that very few lamps were missing in the case of clusters supplied to coastal vessels. The losses were mainly in respect of the deep-sea ships. Sometimes twenty clusters were put on board one of these vessels, and at times the board would have a cluster returned without a single lamp in it- Replying to Mr G. Mitchell, he said that the guards at the back of the clusters could be locked on; but they were very light and could easily he broken off. so it would not he much of a safeguard. The committee’s recommendation, was carried. .