OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4020, 6 January 1875, Page 5 (Supplement)

OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD.

Au ordinary meeting of tlje Harbour Board was held yesterday iv the Provincial Council Library. The following members were present ;—llia Worship the Mayor (in the chair), Messrs E. B. Cargill, Mercer, M'Dermid, M'Kinnon, Beeves, Keid, and Thomson, SXJB.VE7 OF THE HARBQUR. The Secretary reported that tlje Engineer had commenced a regular survey of the harbour. RETORT Or WORKS COMMITTEE. The P/orJvS Committee repotted having tak,en into jcon.si.depq,tlon t]i£ question of removing the present gridirflijj ai>d haying consulted the Board's Engineer, they recommended the site selected by him with the approval of Captain Orkney. The Committee a}so Reported that they had taken into consideration a niejno, .by Captain Thomson, suggesting that fii-e engines apd a sppply of Water should be available at th.c different jetties in the harbour in case of.fire breaking out on hoard ships lying alongside. The Com mi ttep wej.e.of opihiop that, haying no control over the railway jetjti.es, Pprt plialmers, proyisioj} for the safety of tho ship? ping there rented with the Government. Tlie Coir mittee recommended that tjie sug- | geslions contained in the last paragraph of the memo, should be adopted by the- Board. THE RATTRAY STREET SEWER. A report pij tjip Jtattray street culvert extension, by Mr .OaiVng, Goygmment Inspector of Works, was fo'rwarde.4 to tlie Bijard by the Provincial Secretary. The report stated that the worli was being proceeded wjth r&pidiy, and within four weeks would be completed t/j the cross wharf between Rattray street wharf and tj;e pld steamboat wharf, jt was suggested that £I' patchpit " or cess-pool should be formed at the Ijjouth of the sewer to prevent the debris. brought doy/n by floods, being discharged into the bay. The report set forth that the debris deposited in the catch-pit could be removed more cheaply than if aUowed to he carried ij'to the bay, whence it ■yvould have to he repioved by dpeSging. In transmitting this report to the lsoard, ihs Provincial Secretary stated, that, if the Board approved of Mr Caiins's suggestion, and desired the work to be carried out in connection with the construction of the sewer, the Government would arrange to have it done, provided the Board agreed to pay the actual cost. A memo, on the subject was obtained from the Board's Engineer, who stated he did not think there could he a doubt aB to the expediency of initiating some scheme for the prevention fif sewcral deposits jn t}ie harbour; but that the Board should bear the expense of the pit suggested appeared to him scarcely fair, or warraritsd by the circumstances of the case. The sewer was being extended to the cross wharf, because the area through which it runs ia proposed to be reclaimed. Were this space unreclaimed, there would be no necessity for any provision of the nature indicated by Mr Cairns, as a very simple, efficient, and inexpensive method could be adopted to -provide against the deposition of sediment in the harbour. If the Board were fo agar the expense, he would recommend that the sediment he allowed to find its way into the harbour through the sewer, as the quantity could only bp comparatively insignificant, and the cost of dredging it at least one-half that of removing it from the contemplated pit. Consideration of the matter was referred to the Works Committee, who were instructed to report at next meeting. The Board then adjourned for a week.