The Evening Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 17, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 702, 17 June 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. MONDAY, JUNE 17, 1878.

V/:; would i:iiptO.?.-: t:p.>rt the r.iinds ■• th<>su I>ii::etlin people who, from ignorance ..f s.u.eiliiug worso. have been in trie :i:'ti'.t of using tin.:"-" p.!-!!-: i'.r.tl t--'.";.' ■;• - in trfi'.l Ti'atia.f tiie e\ee!;>;!iee <»£ cho Oasuani iiaro->• itiat th« uhett c,':.»...- the I'o'-t Ciuiimerj b.:r .•« Fridav las', lumped tiire-3 times, and th:. wriilt- df.lv.iif4 only ]">U't. of water. V.'.hav,- inn reproduced trus faei fur t!:■..ntirp.Kse <>f cold water 1.11 t:ie bar upon waieli tit [>elid.s D;::i.-il:.'i'.s imiiricroi.il :;!.e<-e.:s it is evid,-u: that e. little mure v.ati-r in that directi";-, would l<o acceptable—hut vie!: the objee: of [ioituin\' out that hail tho been emeriti'-: the Port of Oamani with atich a ilrati!,'lit she would not have come inti> contact with tlie hottoin. Neither U it our intention to arouse the fears or disturb the wonted harmony of the Dmiediu Harbor Board by holding up to its Sir Ji>h.v Cooim's report 011 their harbor works. That celebrated engineer strikes a tyrribL* blow at all the dearest c-J.pt.et.i----tions of 3lr. Tewslf.v and the other oratorical engineers that have graduated in the Dunedin Harbor Board by telling them that the channel that they are cutting will have the effect of damaging the entrance to the port. What a calamity if tiie depth of water on the Port Chalmers bar were to gradually surfer a reduction until it would be unsafe f>>r anything; bigger than a whaleboat to attempt to cross. We are sincerely eorry for those members of the B'-ard whose daily occupation for years has been to assist the Hoard's Engineer. by every means in their power, to concert some plan whereby big vessel:; could be brought to the warehouse doors of the; ruorchar't princes of Diiiieeiin. Tlii-y have talked ail day about it, and dream: ■ of "New Eras," and the recalcitrant , I'noriiFOoT : they have alternately bl-ick-ejuarded and cuddled each other; and ;•• what purpose I They had better hav. done nothing. It would be ipiiie po.'.s ; b!e j t;> cut a channel such as that contemplated, hut there would be no entrance i" it shortly after its completion, so that tiie project can scarcely be said to be a masterpiece of marine engineering. The >itnation is pitiable, and so far from re-ttu-nfog the jealousy of some of the! Dnuedin pet-pie, we offer them—e.--pe- j eiallv Mr. Tksv.-.i.EY, and a few others .-f

'. t!i-> geutieuien u> whom belongs the credit of having r.cced as consulting engineers to the .lio.ti-ti—>>ur heartfelt coinmiscr.-tri :;. Tiiis is the pitiable outcome of years of ilolibei'&tion ami sharp debate. 3lany thousands of pounds have been spent in starting' work that will have to be abandoned, or it will ruin the port of Diiiiedin. Fifteen feet of water —reckoning the ' ; send'"—on the Port Chalmers bar is quite little enough ; but to be told bj one of tiu- world's authorities in engineering matters that the depth of water vill gradually diminish, especially when a mint of money is being expended in order to bring about such a disastrous result, is enough to knoalc the conceit out of alii

who have h:i I .mything an all to do " : th , promoting such sad blundering. Wo are not a bit jealous of the Dunedin harbor, because, in our opinion, there is nothing to be jealous about. There is plenty of trade for the ports of Oan:ai-u and Dunedin, without in anything more than fair rivalry. Vv'o therefore oiler the Dimedin Harbor -Board the following valuable suggestion—Gut a channel from the Ocean Beach, across the fiat, into Dimedin harbor. Kwe mistake not, this scheme was propounded some years ago by a Dunedin architect, and, although it seems somewhat chimerical, there appears to be no other way out of the dilemma into which the Dunedin .Harbor Board have drifted.