Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1905.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 10448, 29 August 1905, Page 2

Poverty Bay Herald PUBLISHED EVERY EVENING. GISBORNE, TUESDAY, AUGUST 29, 1905.

THE RIVER CHANNEL. Members of the Harbor Board do not appear to take suggestions for improvement m very good part. They seem quite content to muddle along m the old way, pinning all their faith on the recommendation of an engineer who has not seen the port for a number of years, and has therefore had no opportunity to study the recent conditions. Apparently the Board is going to be quite content with the refusal of the Wellington Harbor Board to lend Mr Ferguson, and will make no further effort to secure the advice of an engineer. Meantime even its own officials are to be rebuked for making suggestions. The reproof that followed tho reading of the harbormaster's report yesterday was, to our mind, quite uncalled for. Tliat officer Mas reporting upon a special circumstance, th© grounding of a large vessel on a bank opposite the wharf for a couple of days, and m offering an explanation for the mishap lie pointed to the necessity for the removal ot the sharp turn which- the channel takes at the stockyard, and showed the difficulty that presents itself hi bringing m lengthy vessels -at this point. The matter was one quite within the province of the harbormaster to report upon. He is charged with the responsibility of navigating the channel, and if m the course of the performance of tins service he finds obstacles to safe navigation, surely it is lii. duty to bring the matter before the Board? The sharpness of the turn at the stockyard has frequently been a matter of complaint from shipmasters, and now that a larger class of vessel is visiting the port the trouble is accentuated. In the case of the lima it led to the vessel being sent aground by the current, necessitating delay and the expense of lightering. There ie also the dangerj particularly m the case of a steamer, of tlie vessel bumping into boats moored at the Kaiti wharf. ' Removal of the stockyard, Avhich is neither of use nor ornament, appears to be a veiy sensible suggestion for relieving the difficulty, for by this means the channel would be straightened, and the current having a straight sweep Avould be less likely to allow the accumulation of silt below the wharves, as is the case at present. The harbormaster's recommendations proceed, cd further, and advised that the wharf be extended from the point that would be cut off at the stockyard to the entrance to the slip. This also we take to be a matter well within the scope of duty of tine master of the port. He is required to find accommodation for the vessels needing it — their number increasing every year — and it is his place, if anybody's,- to make recommendations as to the most convenient sites for the moorage of vessels and handling of cargo. The extension of the wharf towards tlie groyne and utilisation of the space between it and the railway has always appeared to be a sensible and necessary project. Th© Board cannot put off much longer the extension of its wharves. Willi the busy season ahead there aTe bound to be blockages m berthage. Even to-morrow, with two Newcastle barquentines m port, two visiting steamers, several schooners, and the ordinary lighterage work to be done, the -wharf accommodation is expected to be fully taxed, and we venture to predict that the ensuing summer will see frequent troubles through lack of moorage room. The Board must be progressive, and provide for shipping requirements, and m preference to the extension of the wharves on Kaiti all the available 1 space on the western side of the river should be utilised, thus, for the convenience of everybody, concentrating the traffic as much as possible. When the Board ; comes to examine the proposed berthage -at the groyne on Thursday, we hope it will see the advisability at the same time of continuing the wharf from the stockyard. Finally, it may be- added that if the Board requires its servants to faithfully and zealously perform their duties m the public interest, it should encourage them to make recommendations, and not treat them to a douche of cold sarcasm when they do so.