OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD

Otago Daily Times, Issue 6812, 14 December 1883, Page 2

OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD

The ordinary meeting of the Board was lieM yesterday. Present: The Chairman, and Messrs Ritchie, Elder, Reid, A. Thomson, Barnes, J. Roberts, J. B. Thomson, John Hialop, Wales, Oargill, and Captain Scott, R.N. HARUOURMASTEII'ti ItEPOET. The Harbourmaster reported for November as follows: — On October 23 sounding 3 were taken on the bar, the depth at low water n ducal to zero being 19ft, and 2£ ft at hiffh water; and again on Bth inst., with tho same result. For tho last flvo weeks thero has been considerable swell, setting in trom tho eastward, .which has caused the tor to Fhoal about 18ip. Sited tho soundings taken on November 8, only oao load of lCOOtona has botn dredged at the bar since October 27. In accordance with instructions, Coxswain Milne has been appointed a licensed pilot at a salary of £200 per annum, and Thomas Grows, boatswain, pnftnotcd to coxswain at a salary of £i2O per annum, 'he lisrht-vesoel in cross channel, Lower Harbour, has ' been taken to Fort Chalinerj to have hei bottom cleaned and otherwise overhauled, tbe lijjh'er Hope taking her place until the work Is completed. The three black-and-red beacons in Lower Harbour are much in want of repair, the crocs railings and diagonal piecej bein? wormed *nd decayed. Re Wharfaje Accommodation at Dunedin, — The lineal measurement of the whole what/age amounts to 3359!t. Jetty street Wharf (1175 ft) U only available for vessels of light draught, the depth-being Sit at low water, and no shed accommodation'; at present .It is only suitable for coal and timber vessels. The back of tho wharf is reclaimed for a little over onethi'd n! i'B length, the remaining portion being nacle-9 for cargo purposes. The Crosi Wharf (630 ft) has fair fched accommodation, with about 13ft at low water. The Ratlrny street Wharf (158 if;) hag for SOOftat the lower end a depth of about 17ltat low water The dred^in^ thera has co loosened the [.lies that they are held in position chiefly by the upper structure of the wharf. The remaining portion has an average depih of lilt to 12ft at low water, and the thed accommodation is insufficient. To give tho l'l-quireil, accommodation it will be necessary . either to build the proj o ed new wharf and sheds, or dredge out the whole of tho space between Jetty and Rattray street wharves to a depth of 17ft at low water, (hen widen the wharves, so that the outer row of piles be. driven in deep water, putting sheds on Jetty street Wharf, and increased BbeJ accoramodation'at Hattray street Wharf. It ihould be borne in mind that dredging between the wharves is absolutely necraary to allow of vessels btlDg swung even if the wharves remain as they are. • Shipping returns fortho month: -Arrivals: Foreign vessels, 8, of 6484 tons; intercolonial do, 8, of 5695 tons ; costing do, 64, of 9204 tons. Departures: 1 vessel of 11:0 tons; 7 do, of 80C9 tons; 61, of 17,245 tons. WHARF ACCOMMODATION AT DtTNEDIff. Oa the subject of wharf accommodation,. Deputy-harbourmaster Stevens reported as under:— Agreeably to your instructions to report on wharf accommodation at Dunedin, I beg res. ectfully to state that tho present accommodation is not sufficient for the proper working of the shipping that comes to Dunedin. Since the opening of the Victoria Channel we have had a larger class of sailing vessels; also a greater merly. 1 have often five steamers up at once, and they take up the greater part of Rattray street Wharf, and having only one deep-water berth. If It Is occupied by a sailing ves?ol I have no berth for a big steamer. The Cr.-SJ Wharf is used fr.r intercolonial, Mauritius, and American vessels, and for lighters occasionally. The accommodation at Jetty street Wtlatf is limited, and can only be used for vessols cf light draught A long report on the same subject was received from the engineer. Captain Scott urged that about 300 ft or 400 ft of wharfage and one large ahed would be sufficient to meet pressing requirements. Mr Barnes moved, and Mr Hislop seconded —"That tho tender of Findlay and Co. bo accepted, and the work proceeded with without delay." The mover and Mr Reid contended that the only economical way of obtaining the needed accommodation wa3 to accept the tender in its entirety if the large steamers were to come up to town. - Mr Reid said that be had not, like Mr Roberts, any doubt about the money being available. Neither was he desirous of seeing • the whole of the steamers' basin dredged out. He wanted to see the wharves at Port Chalmers rendered available for tho shipping of all classas, but he also wanted to see additional wharf accommodation, that was 80 pressing, obtained at Dunedin. Mr J. B. Thomson also supported the acceptance of the tender. This wbarf was absolutely indispensable, and should be proceeded with without delay. The Board, in his opinion, were to blame for dilly-dallying with this matter. ■ ' • Mr A. Thomson moved that the matter be referred to a committee consisting of Messrs Ritchie, Roberts, Elder, Cargill, and Captain Scott. ■ ' ! Mr Ritchie opposed tho motion, alleging that the new members of tho Board had not had sufficient information before them to warrant them in accepting thi3 tender. . After considerable discussion it waß resolved, on Mr Cargill's motion, to defer consideration until Friday, the 21st iust., at 2 p.m. INCREASE OP THE T>UES. The Committee appointed to consider the finances of the Board brought up the following report: — The Committee have had before tham the statement prepared by the secretary ai tn the heads under which the present dues arc raised, which is attached hereto. They find that tho total levied on imports by railway and jetties for this port will be £1919, and on wool imported £1275; and a raising of tho former by 60 per cent., and of the latter to 9d pur tale, will give au increased revenue of about £5000. It ia true that probably some part of the increase will be lost, owing to a diversion of part of the tonnage to the railway; but it is impossible to arrive as a reliable estimate of the amount. The Committee are unanimous in the opinion that the dues en imports shou'd be increased tJ the full extsnt of the powers of tho Board, and th se on wool to 9d per bale. Even this will .net-provide the - reijuirctrrevenus, nuc me committee recommend tbats further incrcaso. ba postponed until an tflort is made, during next sc3«on of Piriiirooat, to obtain a repeal of the differential rates between Port Chalmers and Dunedin, which in their opinion are in every way unfair, and seem to serve no purpose but to enhance the revenue of the railway at the expense of the Harbour Bcanl and commerce of Otago. The amount lost by tfcc differential rate (Is instead of 2») for the year 188? would be over £3000. Trie following is the Secretary's memo, referred to ii. the last report. The return is of dues collected fr.im Jani.aty 1 to November -20,1553, inclusive; and from January 1 to December 31,1852 :— ISS3. 1532. Gocds lmded at railway whaiveß, • I urt Chalmers .. .. £3,038 £3.518 Goods fefcded per lighters at Bunedin 1,609 2 040 „ „ at Dunedin .. ... 1,740 1,351 Timber hnrled at Dunedin.. .. 1,012 1,435 Eertha 3 8atDunedia .. . .. 431 397 Exports—Genoral .. .. 3,890 3.2C0 „ Wool .... .. 1,:77 2,259 £12,020 £14,200 On the motion of Mr Ritchie the report w:is adopted, the bye-law giving effect to the alteration to be passed at a special meeting to be held nnxt week. engineer's bepokt. Tho following report from the Engineer was adopted:— ■ . The operations of dredging and discharging have been, considerably retarded by the nnusua ly stormy wcafci.er which has prevailed, rendering the output of wofk very email as compared with ordinary lesults. Tin Vulcan is still in the ordinary channel, but wi.l bo realy to loave its present pesition so soon as the dock can bo got for her accommodation during an nvcrlw.l. Dredge 222 has been the whole of Nu\ ember, with the excep'ion of only one day, dicdiiir.g at tho Port Chalmers wharves. There was only tint one d:iy favourable for bar Wi rk, and then she lifttd and discharged at sea 1030 toes of sand. It is now fully cix wcok3 since she had any continuous work on fho tur, and I am watching an opportunity of calm weather to have some soundings taken, so that we ca'i asetrtain exactly what amount of miking up has occurred during that continuance of bad weather. While on this subjocfc I do=ire to b jug under your notice tho /act tint, before any permanent works for the bar improvement can be gone on with, the eanction of the Govornor-in-Council will he required, and the gctlinc of this will necessarily require some time, acd the submission of drawi.igs and specific*'ions. I woul I therefore request authoiity for the preparation of these 1 have found it necessary to make strong representations to the contrae cr at Logan's Point on account of tho unsatisfactory manner in which ho wa- carrj ing on tho work. Better progress is new being made." Tho fjripation of Jetty street, and and a!3> the strengthening of Jetty ttrect Wharf, are now completed. The following works should be taken in hand at one?, and authority for the same i 3 now requested:— (1) Wharf cianca to be painted. (2) New Era and sido dredge to be docked, cleaned, and painted when the Vulcan and steamers are also being done, and the crews of these available for the work. (3) Ccntmcts to bo prepared fowprovision of drainage to the reclamation area at Havenrbouroe, the natural watercomses being locked up by the Board's deposits. (4) Tho remodelling of the marking of tbeyictrria Channel, so that seme of the- present piles be drawn and clusters of piles put at longer distances apart. (5) Tenders to be called for the Board's cartage in Dunedin. SITE FOB BATHS. The Board's former resolution with respect to offering a site in St. Andrew street for sale at a nominal upset, with a view to its purchase by the Corporation for baths, was confirmed. ALLOCATION OP THE £200,000 LOAN. On the motion of Mr Wales it was rosolved — " That a committee consisting of Messrs Cargill, Roberts, Elder, Reid, ■ the Chairman, and the mover, be appointed to inquire into and report upon the proportion of expenditure of the £200,000 loan in the Lower and Upper Harbours, and the amount that is still available for the improvement of the Lower Harbour, and to report generally thereon at the regular meeting of the Board to be held on the 27th inst." captain Thomson's retirement. It was unanimously resolved, on the motion of Me J. B. Thomson, seconded by Mr Cabgill—"That this Board puts on record its high appreciation of Captain William Thomson's faithful and efficient services as Chief Harbourmaster of the Port of Otago during a term of 25 years on his now voluntarily retiring from tho service on account of his advancing j-eara. That a copy of this resolution be forwarded to Captain Thomson, with tho Board's best wishes for his future welfare, comfort, and happiness.", The mover and seconder and the Chairman, in supporting the motion, spoke in high terms of Captain Thomson's good qualities and services to the Board.

The Board then adjourned.