OTAGO HARBOUR BAORD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6626, 11 May 1883, Page 2

OTAGO HARBOUR BAORD.

The ordinary meeting of the Board was held yesterday afternoon. Present: The Chairman (Mr: H. S. Fish, M.H.R.), Messrs Barnes, Burns, Barron, Burt, Guthrie, Paterson, Ross, Ramsay. THE S.S. t'ENSTANrON. The following correspondence was read: — New Zeal,nd Shipping Company,': Duueuiu, May 7th, 1333: Captain Thomson, harbourmaster. : Dear Sir/rlt is our intention to despatch the- s.S; Fenatauton on Thursday, tho 10th nut., evo.iing tide. Will you be pleased to make arrangements ? I thinli it necessary that a tug snould be in attendance ty tow tho ship across the bar, and, as I intimated to you before, I mjst call on the, Harbour Board to " bupply it.—l have, &c., , .- ... . • , - W:u. B. Bovd, Local Manager. ... LytteltJn, May 3rd. ! Tho Secretary Harbour Board, Dunedin. Kindly Bitt'.o what draught water will be safe to load Fea-tautoii to. Propose despatch steamer on : Thursday. Reply paid. : . . . Isaac Giims. ,

The following reply was sent to the letter of; the Manager of the New Zealand Shipping Company :—

Sir, The harbourmaster has submitted your favour of the 7th mat. to the Chairman of: the Board, and ho instruct*) me to reply that the Board will bu glad to supply »ny towage service that inuy bu uidercd on tuo uaiul ternii, but on no other. 1 ham, &c.,

.1. L. Gillies, Secretary. The following reply was sent to MrGibbs' telegram:—

1 understand tho Fenatanton will load to'2o!tßin, which, under all ordinary circumstances, is aperbctly safeclraught, vossolsUrawim-mnrethan that very oiten passing out ami in. After Thursday the tidoa will begin 10 take off. .

J. L. Gillies, Secretary;, The Chairman said the telegram fromf Christchurch was sent after it was quite well known, apparently, to what depth the steamer would load; therefore the necessity for sending the telegram was obscure. The letter was unique. He was not aware that the Board was called upon to supply tug-boats to vessels in the harbour, or that there were special circumstances connected with the JFenstanton, unless it was that this correspondence and other things surrounding this Company with regard to its relations to- Christchurch indicated a desire on the part of the agents of the ship to do anything they could to disfavour this port, so as to give them an excuse for making Lyttelton the chief port of call and departure. Except on some such hypothesis, it seemed to him hard to understand that there should be such exceptional difficulties in the way of this Company's ships. He thought it would not be unwise for the Committee of the Chamber- of Commerce, instead of passing idiotic resolutions, to direct attention to a question of this kind, which was of -importance to the port, and let the New Zealand Shipping Company understand that if they could not bring ships, or were disinclined, to, bring ships, to this port and make it/ a chief port, the mercantile community mightconsider ifcad visible to let some other company knuw that it would be worth their while to get the support of Dunediu. He could not help thinking there was a great deal of peculiarity" about the business, and to speak plainly, he thought there was a great desire on the part of the New Zealand Shipping Company to disfavour this port if they could get half aii excuse. It was well known that the Sorrento,belonging to another company, passed out of the Heads drawing nearly a foot more than the lTenstanton. Mr Bdbt : At what state was the tide ? The Chairman: About the same as it is now, I suppose. Mr Paterson thought that what the Chairman said was quite correct. Everything in connection with the Company's sayings and doings had been like throwing mud at Otago Harbour, and the letter and telegram were only another fling at the harbour. He would give the Company no more assistance than wan given to any other person. The object of all the Company's sayings and doings had been to keep ships away from this port aa much as they could. No doubt there were other steam companies which wonld be very glad to take advantage of the trade of Otago, and which would send their vessels even in spite of the New Zealand Shipping Company. The Chairman quite agreed with that. Mr Burns said that of course he agreed with a good deal that had been said by Mr Paterson and the Chairman ; but he was not quite sure j that it would not be politic to give the use of a tug, if the Company wished it, at the bare cost of coal and wages. It struck him that after all there tvas something to be said against them. The case of the Monarch was a bad job for them, and the Company had a right to protect their own property. This Company was nothing to him individually, but if there was such a feeling as he had referred to, it would have done no harm to give them a tug-boat, which might be of assistance in case of accident.

Mr Ramsay quite agreed that the New Zealand Shipping Company had a right to protect their own property, but he said, emphatically, it should be done at their own. expense. The Board would be doing wrong altogether to give the New Zealand Shipping Company, or anyone else, the use of the tug-boats on any other terms than were open to the general public. The mere fact of the Monarch striking had nothing to do with them. The Fenstanton might strike to-day going out—he hoped and believed it would not;—but tha mere fact of having a tug alongside would not affect that part of the question. He agreed with the Chairman that on the face of the matter the. telegram and letter appeared to have been sent for a purpose not to the interest of the people of this place. He hoped the Chamber of Commerce would take up the matter, and see that the interests of the place were properly looked after,' Mr Ross thought the best thing for the Board to do would be to intimate to the New Zealand Shipping Company that the Board were exceedingly desirous_ of establishing a reputation for safety for this harbour, and that they would be extremely obliged to the Company if they would only bring vessels here of such a class as would not require a tug to take them out. If steamers like the Fenstanton wero not able to navigate the channel, it was likely some disaster would occur whether she had a tug or not. The Chairman said they would have found, if a tug had been given to this steamer, that it would have been telegraphed all over the Colony that the Board deemed the bar so unsafe that they thought it necessary to place a tug in charge of the Fenstanton. Mr Ross would like to know what sort of a steamer she must be if she could not get out. The Chairman thought there was no doubt that the steamer could get out.

CONSTITUTION OF THE BOARD. The following letter was read :—

Chamber of Commerce, Dunedin, May 6th, ISS3. The Secretary OUigo Harbour Boaid. Sir,-1 have the honour, by direction of the Chairman, to acknowledge the receipt of your communication of the 3rd ult., enclosing copy of the Harbours Act for 1883, and asking the support of the Cnamber in endeavouring to get the bill passed into law.

In answer, 1 ait instructed ta say that, whilst generally according their support to the bill, strong objections are hold by the Committee to section 24, as perpetuating tome of the evils which exist under the present constitution of the Board, and in which they consider a charge necessary. The Committee therefore submit for tho contideration of your Board a copy of the resolution passed at their meeting on Thursday last.—l have, &c , H. Houohton, Secretary. The resolution is as follows:—

This Committee, after consideration of the bill proposed to be introduced to the coming Parliament by the Harbour Board, desire to record their direent from secion 12 of tho same, which treats of the constitution of tho Board. They regret that the principle of an elective Board should be sought to be porpecuated, and that the evils which this Committee believe exist under the present system should be intensified by tho still further widening of the constituencies. The Committee, therefore, have agreed to the following resolutions, which they suggest should be adopted by the Board in lieu of section 12:-

That in the opinion of this Committee, as technical knowledge is required to carry out harbour improvements successfully, the Harbour Board should not be an elective body, but consist of members appointcJ by the Uovernorin-Council.

'Ihat tho Board aa appointed by tho Governor Bhould consist mainly, if not wholly, of skilled men, whose sole business it should bo to manago the business of the Board, and who should receive adequate remuneration for their serrici S

That, whether an elected or an appointod body, no peisdn who has a personal interest in shipping, br in the loading or unloading of vessels, or who has a con-

tract under tho Hoard, should hold a coat on tho Board.

Mr Ramsay scarcely thought it worth while to take up time in discussing these resolutions, as he thought they were improperly before the Board. In fact he did not think they ought to be before the Board at all. The Board on 3rd April wrote to the Chamber of Commerce asking their co-operation in furthering the bill they intended to bring before Parliament next session. They had no communication with the Committe1 of the Chamber; in fact they did not know the Committee in the matter. The Committee had gone a good deal out of their way, and exceeded their duty, in forwarding those resolutions at all, or in forwarding them to the Press for publication without the authority of the Chamber of Commerce. Holding those views, he begged to move—"That Mr Houghton's letter be acknowledged, and that the following reply be sent to that gentleman :— - :

" Dunedin, 10th May, 3883. " H. Houghton, Esq., Bccretary Chamber of Commerce, Dunedin. "Sir,—l am instructed by the Otsffo Harbour Board to acknowledge receipt of your letter of sth ioet, onclo ing copy of resolutions passed by the Committee .of the Chamber on tho subject of the Beard's proposed bill. . . " Your enclosure is herewith returned, and I havo to intimato to you that tho Board will bo glad to give their best consideration to any resolutions on their proposed bill which nay be agreed to by the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, to whom their communication of 3rd April was nd'lressod.—l have, &c , " (Signed) Joh.h v. Gilmks, Secretary. Without going into the merits of the resolutions, he would simply say that on the face of them they bore evidence of being ill-considered, and appeared to be quite impracticable. One resor lution, besides, whether intentional or not, was somewhat insulting in its character, as it reflected in a großßly unfair manner on several members of the 'Board; who wore connected with shipping and the loading and dxßobarg-

ing of goods, and, which waß worse, it conveyed the unjust imputation that there were or had been members of the Board who were interested in contracts with the Board. He felt quite certain that the Chamber of Commerce would never pass these resolutions. Mr Patkrson had much pleasure in seconding the motion, and in reiterating what Mr Ramsay had said. The course adopted by the Committee of the Chamber during the laiit 12 months had been most unusual. This was not the first instance in which they appeared to be diametrically opposed to the interests of the harbour, and even of the city; and when their resolutions came before the Chamber of Commerce they had been defeated by an overwhelming majority, i That was not a course which should be pursued by the Committee. Tha Committee and their resolutions should be such that they could be looked upon with respect. The- resolution's * emanating from the Committee during the last 12 months had not been such as lie would like, and these resolutions were part and parcel'of their previous conduct.,-. "'..,,- ',;.'■.-. Mr Ross had much pleasure in supporting the motion; It was somewhat" singular that tho Committee at the Chamber should hava passed 'such resblutionsj because three of the four members present at the Committee meeting were present at a meeting of the full Chamber, when .they elected as .their-.' .representative on,the Board; the member who was most intimately connected with shipping. -He did not think the Chamber wouhr agree* to these resolutions'.'" '" . • '''''■, The Chairman',,'said '.', he agreed \yith-the motion proposed by Mr Ramsay.'. He had , himself prepared.a series of resolutions showing what he believed to be sound objections to the resolutions forwarded to them. Butj as a matter of fact, these were not the resolutions of the Chamber,-and as they were only the reso' lutions of a committee of three or four men, hethoughttheywould.be lowering their own dignity and position if they discussed the resolutions for a, single moment. Therefore he would not bring forward anyvresolutiom There'was only one portion of the Committee's resolutions that he would refer to; ' They fnp» peared undoubtedly, to have!been passed with the intention of insulting certain members of the Board—those interested in shippingv They knew perfectly well that there were three members of the ;Board—Messrs Ramsay s Guthrie, and Millffwho were interested ifl shipping, and he, could not-conceive any reason for passing -these resolutions unless it was to.insult those gentlemen. As Jong as he had been a member of the Board these members had been on all occasions most anxious to carry out the purpose'for1 which the Board was originally constituted—namely, to bring the ships up to Dunedin.; Mr Guth'rie's interest was decidedly and diametrically opposed to the ships coming, up to Dunedin, but he would appeal to every member of the Board to confirm his statement that Mr Guthrie had been;one of the, most;earnest members:of .the BoarcTih endeavouring to bring up the ships to Dunedin, Apart from that, it appeared to him a fact beyond dispute, that gentlemin who were, interested in and connected with shipping were the'very best members they could possibjy havepntheißoard,"because!their special knowledge must be of considerable advantage to a Board mostly composed of'gentlemen who were excellent commercial men, but who had no .special knowledge of. shipping. — (Hear, hear.) There would be no harm in these resolutions but for this fact: that they had been telegraphed all over the Colony as the outcome of the deliberate convictions of the Chamber of Commerce. The Committee had no right to send those" resolutions to the Board until they were endorsed by the Chamber.' It was rather singular to notice what other people thought'of those resolutions. -This was what the Lytteltbn Times said:,— !' ',: ~;■ . :. ■,j ,■ ; .:i'lhitsMi*tetvt<ii escape from what ft CoHsldeM the Scyllaof an elective Harbour Board, the Committee of tho Dunedin Chamber, of Commerce seeks deliberately to fall into the Uhiirybdis of a board nominated ■■by the Government,,and paid-for it* services'. > Tho Coinintucs-h evidently not acquainted with the recent hi.-t>ry of harbour bo*rd\ ana has not reflected much upon matters political. A little knowledge would have shown them Mr Jlicbardson passed over simply heeahhi-, thiugh an'cxcellent member of the Harbour Board of Lyttelton, h'e'was not subsuryient to the Government. A little" "readlnir of newspapers would have shown them a.chorm.of .disapproval of the Gover;im> nt'u conduct towards Mr Kichanlson, even from many Minißteri'il journals.■'-; Did the OcmmUtee know anything of politics they ivould not require to be warned, that their ;Buafd, if haaded over to the Un !er Tuercießof tho Government, would become'an aa>lum for objequioiiii Ooveinmeot supporter*. Have they yet to bo told that thi-j .Government .never has ilwicany. hliiy (iir anyone who ia not a pronounced friend ? Ami it must tietai i th-.t other Governments »•« have had hive indulged in similar practice, 'Ths Cmnnmteo'g dssire to make the Harbour, B»rd an element o( Ministerial patronage is incomprehensible. I'ury liidc better id ita objection to those, who «ro i ture-ti ii in shipping, for that looks like an objection hiau.mnf wh-jkn vrt anything about harbour iwoik. Tlji! only comprehensible lecommeidationof the Committee im that contractors should, not hold places on the Board. "That is the severest of three most unvnupliinei.tary references to the existing Board. Now if the Committee really knew anything about what they were doing, they.-would know that this reference to contractors riot having a Beat on the Board,was unnecessary, for tha simple reason that the Act under which they were constituted expressly provided that any such person would be liable to pay a heavy penalty. It would pflssibly be'--interesting to know the names.of "the gentlemen who* sat upon this Committee. They were — "Mr Thomas Brown (of Brown, Ewing, and Co), Mr Robert Wilson, Mr George Bell (editor of the Star), and Mr G. L. Denhiston (representative of Neill and Co., Limited). He would now read them an extract from the Star, owned, and reputed to be edited, by one of this Committee. Speaking of the resolutions, it said :-~

Had such a proposal emanated from Ministers there would have been without doubt a grievous howl from tho Opposition and Uieir' organs as to centralisation and interfering with the liberties of tho people. 'For. Innately, however, it comes from tho embodied intelligence of the commerce aud tradoof Dunedin;

A great many years ago there were three celebrated men in England .who .wrote to the Czar of Russia, and who began their epistle thus: " \Vs'the people bf'England.'!.., Those gentlemen were known in, history ~'as the "three tailors of Tooley street." After hearing what he h»d read from the Star, they roust :fain believe that they had in their midst at the present moment the "three tailors of :Tooley street." The whole affair was so eminently ridiculous that he thought the proper way was to deal with the resolutions as Mr Ramsay suggested. ■ ' ' .' : "" ;' The motion was agreed to unanimously WORKS COMMITTEE'S REPORT.

The following report was read:— ' Your Committee have to report upon remits v follow:— ■

Connecting-Jetty street Wharf with Bailway-sta-tion.—The tender of James Casey, being lowest (£3l :0s), has been accepted. Two tenders were informal, no deposit being enclosed.

As instructed, the inspector of works has reported on sevoral matters connected with the service! Ist, The Board having dispensed with to a iariie extent the day.lab wr mode of carrying on works and adopted the contract system, the inspector ia o( opinion that a clerk of works>, under present circumstances, unueccssari-; 'the Committee has therefore given .that officer one-month's notice. 2nd. The inspector "ia hi-, report, pointed out .the necessity of raising the wall at.Kavensboutne and of njakirjgup jjßpiio the half tide wall, and that provision: should be mads lor those works being carried oub before the contract for tiie Stuart street wall and half tide wall extension (which involves the banding over of the Logan's Point quarry) was accepted The ,Committee concurriuV. instruct d tbo inspector to amend the spedification by making provision for the works being carried out at schedule rates if, inquired by the 'engineer. • Brd. The inspector reports that the master of the Vulcan finds th it the Victoria Channel has not been cut, as was understood by the .Baard, to tbo width of iolt, hut at some pla.es only to 60ft, and that therefore the Vulcan can only work one ladder, on the 10/t width, reducing the daily quantity to be disposed of. The towage, also being shortened by: discharging at tha Rave»>bourne derricks, two tug-t>tcanierß wore found to be i-ufficient; and the Balclutha and lona being th* most suitable, boats to keep in commission, the iron Ago has been laid up and the crew> discharged." Tho Committee recommend that the engineer be aeked on hid return to furnish an explanation as. to the width of channel being only 60ft as reported hy tha inspector. . .-.■■■• Captain Thomson's KcMunatibn.—The" Committee recommend as - follows :—That' Captain Thomson's resignation as harbourmaster be accepted with regret, and that applications for a successor be advertised for a period of three months, t&iary to be at tbo rate of £400 per annum. That Captain Tnomsm be requested to. hold office till Us successor is appointed, »nd, if considered necessary, to remain in the service of the Board forthroe months thereafter, to assist the new harbourmaster with hia advice in getting his department in thorough working order The Commit. tee further recommend the Board to place on record i its application cf the long and faithful service Captain Thomson has rendered the province in his capacity as harbourmaster, and that.as a slight recognition of those services Hhe' Board grant him a retiring allowance of £300 upon his final retirement from tha Bervice. —The Committee recognise the desirability of some reorganisation of the pilot service, but iccommend that i-uch be deferred until the appointment of the new harbourmaster, and that at the snmo time it should be considered how far the pilot service can be made to work in with the management of the towing service; and further, that until then the service! of Captain Sinclair and the engineer and mate bo retained in their present capacities, and that Engineer , now in the service of the Board, be emp'oyed when necessary as extra engineer to the tug-boats.

Some dißCUßsion took place regaiding the proposed payment of retiring allowance to Captain Thomson. AH the members expressed themselves in favour of recognising the long and valuable services of Captain . Thomson, but some members thought the allowanoa should be paid in another way—viz., such aa giving him leave of absence on" full pay. " JJo change, however, was made in the recommendation. ; ■ '.'_ ~ .■, '.

The Chairman said; in comnoction with Captain Thomson's resignation, that he saw that gentleman had been censured in the Press with regard to making- a recommendation in reference to the pilots, Borne people thinking that when Captain Thomson resigned himself he should not have said anything about others. Captain Thomson was not deserving of the slightest blame. Captain Thomson told hip (the Chairman) his mind, (and asked ,hi» advice as to how he should act. ' He told Captain Thomson that, holding the opinions he expressed in regard to himself and the pilots, it was his undoubted duty to make the Board acquainted with those opinions... Captain Thomson was in great tribulation about mentioning others, and had only done so on his (the Chairman's) advice. ' Mr Ramsay thought that anyone who read the evidence in the Monarch case must.come to the conclusion that Captain,Thomson!!was amply justified in what he said as to the pilot service. It was in aB unsatisfactory a position as it possibly could be. -- : - Mr Bitrt said it was apparent from the eVidence in the Monarch case that1 the pilot service was in a disorganised state ; but whom could they blame for that, except the officer who had had charge of toat service? The evidence given before the Court, which had gone all over the Colony, was simply disgraceful, and showed they were not carrying on the pilot service as they ought. If the harbourmaster s services were to be taken into consideration, the whole of his services, must ba taken into consideration.'>; . '''■"','..* Mr Ross thought they could scarcelyblime the head of the department'for the state* of the pilot ..service., wHa; believed; Captain -Thbmeoa had never heeitated-tb dohia duty, Men Who

wont into the witness-box and stated that they hesitated in the proper performance of their duty because they were afraid of what the public would say about them, were unfit for the position, of .pilot, where so much depended upon acting promptly, decisively, and cautiously. ..;..' The Chairman said, with regard to the evidence given by the pilots, that, apart from its ■ relation to the accident—which he had all along believed to_ be a pure accident, that could not ; be helped—it indicated several thiugs of a most 1 unsatisfactory character, not so much as Bhowiug disorganisation of the pilot service, but as showing what he thought was almost a malicious desire on the part of ono pilot to injure all and sundry. Whoff the question of .;'., reorganisation came up, in three months' time, ..' he,thought the evidence given should weigh very materially with the Board. ' Mr Ross thought the suggestions of the "harbourmaster as to. reorganisation should be ' .' gone on with at once. ';■, MrGuTHRiE said it should be remembered *• byjthoße who blamed Captain Thomson for the ,: disorganisation of the pilot servise that he had : "u6''poiver_ to discharge the pilots. If they ' wanted him to be responsible entirely, then , the'pilots should be put under his charge, with ''power to discharge them if he thought proper. ■ ' Mr Ross thought that if Captain Thomson had had that power years ago this accident would not have happened. ' t : Mr Bdrns thought he remembered reading in the evidence thai one of the pilots said he hesitated to leave the Monarch at anchor on of the aspersions that were cast upon them by the Board. He would like to know if there was any ground for that statement with regard to the Board. If so, of course it put the thing in a, different light, if not, then the man who had given such evidence should be there no longer. ' < ~.; The report of the Committee was adopted.

:.:::, HARBOURMASTER'S REPORT. i The following report was read: —

■■■> Harbourmaster's Ofllco, Duneuin, luth May, ISS3. : Sir,—l have the honour to furnish the ruunthly report on this department an follows :— 1. The maximum depth ol water during the minth in the channel across the bar was 24ftat high water, and the niiuiiuuui dupih 22.t at the same slate if iho tide. The ship Northern Monarch, from Calcutta, entered dr.iwi.ig 20ft- The b». Feußtauton is now loaded, and ouiy drawing liOjlt, and proceeds to uea . tula afternoon>

- 2. Since tho Board entered into possession ol the tag-steamers they hayo been faHy employed. The Koputai, with Captain Sinclair in ch.rge, made a Eiick and successful trip to the BluQ Haibaur with « barque Kdwin Fox in tow, and on her return wed the ship Invercargill from that harbour to sea. 'Th'e'tdwiug service bein^ under tne direction of tho Harbour Board is what i have lung dctireJ to see, and ' will, Tain sure, prova a valuable arrangement iu.thu shipping intercuts generally, as well as uu acquisition tj the pilot service. ■

, 3. The mooring buoys that broke adrift in Port Cnaliuers Bay iiavu been properly tecured again in ': their places. The diving-dress is getting worn out, -' aud us it will be i.ecessai> to send the order to England fur a new one, 1 wuuld recommend that two dresses be procured whin about it. • ' ■!. Ad tcitpljonii; communication with Cape Saun- ._ ders is about established, it appears to me that the Marine Department should bo requested to insiruct; ttiu lighthouse-Keepers to communicate to the Haibour Board offi.e, Dunedin, iufurmation of tailing vessels passing-the Cape bound to this port, audio i establish a system of signals at the lighthou&e in order : , that message^ may be conveyed do and from tho , vessels if ntcunsary. ■ : " • The shipiuajtor will consider it a great boon to be ' able when ofi Cape Saunders io tend a message for the ' services of a pilot or ateam-tug. ' RETURN O? VESSELS. .. ■'.:■ ■■:"■■ Vesiels v Vessels In. ions. Out. (.Tons. Foreign .. 3 2,226 2 1,389 Intercolonial,. 15 12.57S 11 9,324 • Coasting .. 65' 12,201 08. 13,u03 Totals .. 83 . 26,700 81 23,728 ' : ■ :," THB Bid DBEDGE. -''•'•Mr' Bum' moved, and it was agreed to — J "That; a return; should be obtained from the ■ master of dredge JNo. 222 showing the number 'of hours worked daily, and the period of the ' day or night, since the alteration of working hours." . , ■ The ■ Chairman said he was not at all satisfied with what that dredge was doing.— (Several Members: " Hear, hear.") At liext meeting he thought the Works Committee

would be prepared to recommend some sweep-

ing alterations with regard to it. ': Mr Koss, in moving lor a full return of the ■::wbrk done by dredge J\6. 222, and the expense Jt since it first started on the bar, said he thought ' lithey had not been getting half as much work ''out of the. dredge as they ought. He found 'that1 on the bar at Carlingford, an exposed

place;on the coast of Ireland, a dredge made '-by the samefirm worked in 35ft of water aud in a 2Jft swell—a thing which their dredge 'never did. That dredge brought up boulders .in' the buckets weighing three tone, and although the accumulation on the bar was hard clay, the dredge averaged 1000 tons per day. The coat of their-dredge was at the rate of ■ £t)000 a year, which was one-half more than ~' itought to be, considering the amount of work done.

,'• .Motion agreed to. . : TEKDEH3 FOX THE STUART STBEET WALL AND

'• .; ■ '.HALF-TIDE WALL. "No tendera were received for these works.— After discussion, it was resolved to again advertise for tenders.

, FINANCE COMMITTEE'S REPORT. The following report was adopted:—

Yo if Committee has to report cm remits as foilCWoi

• -j. Mr W. Tompkini' letterrc berthige charge for Jh.'bt<-rei — Kesoned to express regret thai they cannot recjinnieiM reduction ot bertha^e rates.

2. Jltircra Datyety and Co 'sleticrre Philomene case. — Recommend that a reply be sent that tho decision of Ui.. Ke:idcnt Uagistruio in the Mot/ey case having heen appealed against, the Board's liability has not ytt been dte'ded.

" 3. Sales uf Ltase of Sections— Recommend that the va uutions of £i 75 an i £1 ;5 agreed to b> Messrs Cook ou behalf of tbe present hol.iers be accepted, ana a Buitial adveriinemtnl be put iv at their expense. In ■ the event of lo tale, the Board not to bj in any way ; Kfpoi/tibit: or liable for payment of the afort»uid or any valuation. Subdivision ot sections, as proposed, to be postponed till engineer returns. ;: .i. Accounts amuuntiug to £751 Is have been examinej, and are recommended for payment. . • ~ ' •'■ inspector's report. The following report was received from the Inspector:— In' absence of tbe engineer, I have the honour to report the progress nude ou tho teveral works in . hand during tho past month as follows: - •■-:,. ■ LOWEB. lURBOUR. Dredging.-Duririg the month of April dredge 222 lilted from the basins at Port Chalujers 9:29 cubic yards uf material, on au expenditure) of £34t>4sld, being equal to Bjd per cubic yard for dredging and 'depositing at sea On Monday aud Tuetday tho , dredge was at work on the bjr, but had to return to iPort jesteway ou account of being too 'rough for dredging. Sue wdl be kept dreding on the bar, be it | , late or early, every chance that presents itself for gettiDg work done.

Victoria Channel.—The Vulcan has been at work in the Victoria Channel, and lifted Z2,955 cubic yards on 'an expenditure of £243 3s 3d, being equal to:'jd per cubic yard for the month's work. '.. Dredging,—The New Era was at work in the : steamer?' ba:in, Dv edin, till laid up ut tbe erid of Apiil, and for the month lifted 12,209 cubic yards on an expenditure of £Jfl:) 7s lOd, being equal tuSJd per .cubicyura. The tide dredge during 11 days of April .lifted 1232 cubic yards from tbe punt channel in tbe new duck on on expenditure of £62 Cb sd, being equal ,to HJd per cubic yard, which includes haulage, of punts by hind to the derrick. The Prieatman uurisg three days of April lifted 170 cubic yards of stone and mud from" the wharves on an expenditure of £21056 d, which includes the cost of dismantling and laying

lip. ; Towage.—The Iron Age tendered tho Vulcan, and towed into Blanket Bay 9693 cubic yards ou an expenditure of £135 11s lOd, being equal to 3jjd per 'cubic yard. The BaJciutha also tendered the vulcan, and towed Into Blanket hay 10,054 cubic yaids on an expenditure of £li 70a lud, being equal to 2JJ per cubic yard. The Reynolds alau tendeied tbeVuUau .during part of tbe month, as also the Naw tn. and work on the half-tide wall, and toned 635tf cubic yards on an expenditure of £72 4d 9d, being tqual to 2i<l per cubic yard. The fona tendered the Nc* fra during the month,and towed t,derrkksNo. Sand 409(3 cubic yards on on expenditure of £136 I2j lOd, being equal to 3jd per cubic yard. Derik-kd.-AC derrick No. 1, Ravensbourne, 420 cubic yards were landed on an expenditure of ill Hi

'3d, being equal to ti^d per cubic yard. At derrick Ho 2,; Kuvensbourne, &37 cubic yards were lauded ou an expenditure of £9 10s, being equal to Id per cubic yard; At derrick So. 3, Pehcnet, Bay, 6217 cubic yards were landed on an expenditure of £84 3s fid, ,bei»g equal to 3Jd per cubic yard. At derrick No 4, Stuart ttreet, 5640 cubic yards were landed on an expenditure of £81 8s Id, being equal to 3Jd per cubic jard. From uide-dl-chaigiuc punts there was deposited in bays during April 25,331) cubic 3'aida on an expenditure of £132145, beiug equal to Ha per cubic yard. ~..■, 'Iho accumulation of sand at derricks Nos. 1 and 2, Ravensbourne, let b} contract for spreading down, will be finished about Saturday first. Tenders for a contract for continuation ot the halttide wall, walling at Stuart street, and making up of walling at Ravensbourne, and uubsiuenco of half tide wall are duo to : day. The reclamation contract beyond Jetty street is being gone on with. Work at Maitland street is finished. Providing railway accoos to Jetty street Wharf is being gone on with, and the contract for formation and metalling of Jetty ttreet is finished. The landing Btage for fishermen, at new wharf, Stuart street, is finished.- • Plant.—During the month ol April tho works in the Upper Harbour have been reduced, and the (ollowiDg plant laid up—viz., the Priestman dredge, side dredge, and New Era; and boats Reynolds and Iron Ago. Tho Lillie Deuham was also withdrawn. All slde ; dincharging puuts are laid up, and all drtdgingu that will in future be lifted by the Vulcan from the channel and steamers' basin will be put into reclamation by. derricks and cranes at Stuart etreot, Pellchet Buy, and Kaventbourne