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Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1015, 22 July 1879, Page 2

The following letter ha 3 been sent to the Otago Daily Times " Sir, —There has been of late a great deal of talk about the bar at Otago Heads, and the effects of reclamation in the Upper Harbor. Whether the latter in ail}' way affects the former or not, it is not my place to say, but certain it is that not only reclamation but reformation is urgently needed somewhere. It may be looked upon by some people as a matter of little consequence that ordinary facilities are not provided for the better despatch of ships trading to this port; but if the matter touched the pockets cf those ivlio arc responsible for the existing state of your harbor arrangements, I believe their crossgrained actions would cease for ever, and probably a better state of things come into existence. One tiling I do think, that they could tot be :tiuch worse. My ship, the Benares, brought hero, I suppose, the largest cai'go ever brought into this port, viz., 3600 tons weight and measurement, and during the progress of discharging I need not detail all the trouble, annoyance, and erpense to which I have been subjected; suffice it tc .say that while I have been in port my ship has had to be remoored no less than four times. What I now have to complain of is much more serions. My ship has been ready for sea for a week, and from all that I can learn she might as well be at anchor in the reservoir, or alongside the training wall at Dunedin. Perhaps your readers may .not be aware that the cost of detaining a ship like the Benares amounts to from L"2O to L 25 x> er a >' to the owners, while the shippers of cargo have also 5 very great cause of complaint, considering that the ralne of their shipments is equal | to about L 95,000, the interest npon which

for one week means something considerable. When the Staad Haarlem arrivorl off the Heads and could not enter, there was a great cry got up in some quarters about her having to pass this port. It now occurs to me that there is very little difference between my ship and this steamer, for while the one was shut out the other is shut in ; and, had I my choice of the circumstances, I would certainly prefer the,former. For the sake of what may .lie made'the finest harbor' in New Zealand, to express a sincere hope that some steps will speedily be taken to amend the existing state 1 of affairs.—lam, &c., IK B. Ixcus, faster of .the-: ship. Benares."- When Captain Inglis wrote this letter lie, we should imagine, felt grateful, thinking that lie had at last bid his adieux to a port as sadly mismanaged as • he has so ! -graphically "represented it to be. Little did he' think that a still more, .serious trouble awaited him, and that in a few hours his beautiful ship would be:-stranded on one of th" sandbanks at the. entrance to the harbor. Tint that was his destiny. His vessel has been stranded, and, although some consolation may be found ill the fact that, she has been got off without being picked up in pieces and leaving her bones to bleach on the sands of Port Chalmers bar, yet the disaster has. it would appear, proved serious, filie lias been got off, but in a crippled condition, and when she will again be able to make another attempt to clear the shoals of Port Chalmers Heads is a problem that would be difficult to solve. A survey will, of course, be necessary, as, if even the authorities could allow the vessel to leave the Port after the occurrence of sueli a disaster, and in a leaky condition, as the Insurance Coinpanics would be relieved of all responsibility until a survey has been held and she has been adjudged seaworthy, it is not imI probable that she will keep Port Chalmers company for a month or two at least. Then there is the loss that will be suffered through the detention of the vessel and so valuable a cargo. It is a pretty mess, and one of the worst shipping casualties that have ever occurred at Port Chalmers. It will now be seen that we were not romancing when reviewing Mi'. J. U. Russell's unfair comments 011 the Port of Oamaru we pointedoutthattliat official's representations as to its dangerous nature were more applicable to other ports of the Colony. We would ask that gentleman "What about the balloon now?" We wonder whether lie would rather have trusted his weak nerves to the shreds of a buret Montgolfier that in the Benares. We shall watch with some interest for his version of the affair, and his comments thereon. He lias surmounted the Breakwater difficulty by implying that breakwaters should not be constructed, and this because they arc not so safe as a burst balloons. Although we would not like to deprive him of honor ami glory by anticipating the suggestions that will be contained ill his next letter, perhaps lie will there advocate the abolition of bar harbors, and tho removal of the bottom of the sea, the bluffs that have stupidly been considered to be the bulwarks of harbors, and all beaches, in order to preclude the possibility of vessels touching anything harder than water. It is something entirely new for vessels to strand, and the Colony may congratulate itself that it has in Mr. J. U. Russell a man that is capab'c of writing so learnedly 011 the question. One thought here occurs to us. Vi ill Mr. Russell in his next treatise confess that, bad as tue Harbor of Oamaru is, he has discovered that Port Chalmers H -.vorse ? U r e really think that he should do so. We have loaded big ■mips here for several years without the occurrence of a single casualty of any kimk ami iliei-e is every reason to thai if the ill-fated Benares had been a visitor to our port instead cf to Port Chalmers she v.'or.M have been safe anil sound now, instead of being in such a leaky cor.di tion as to make from six to seven inches of water per hour, and having to unload a cairo of the value of nearly LWOjOO'J. and go into dock for repairs.