HARBOR BOARD.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11111, 28 October 1907, Page 5

HARBOR BOARD.

The monthly meeting of the Gisborne Harbor Board was held this afternoon, when there were present : Messrs J* Townley (chairman), Hepburn, F. Harris, Sievwright, and Whinray. The secretary submitted a plan of the shelter shed for passengers proposed to be erected on the space of land between the Harbor office and the Gisborne Sheepfarmers' office. Tlie building showed two rooms, one for gentlemen and another for ladies, measuring 9ft x 16ft and 7ft x 16ft respectively. The plan, however, should have showed both rooms opening from off the street, instead of one behind the other. PROPOSED TIMBER TRADE. Mr W. L. Rees, on behalf of the East Coast Timber and ■- \ Trading Company, wrote applying for a lease of a piece of land between the groyne and the railway station, and facing both tlie (groyne and the protective work on the Waikanae, to contain from half-an-acre to an acre. It was possible tliat tho timber company would commence the. export of timber to New South Wales m a steady and substantial manner, and as the same boats wliich took away timber would bring back coal, tho site proposed was eminently suitable. He was informed that estimates had been already submitted to the Board, showing tlie probable cost of deepening and strengthening the Waikanae breastwork, co as to provide accommodation for ships that can enter the river. As the commencement of a timber industry would be a public as well as private benefit, lie trusted that the Board would pay favorable attention to the request. OVERSEER'S REPORT., The Overseer, Mr D. A. McLeod, reported he had inspected the breast work nr front of Mr Simson's property at the Point, and found that it was of sufficient strength to retain any spoil that may be used for filling m. Re question of encroachment, the overseer referred the Board to a former report made m March last, the breastwork having been constructed on the line. proposed by Mr Devery. A start was made on the Bth inst with the suction dredge above the brewery on the Taruheru river, but with the result that quite three-fourths of the time was taken up m clearing the pipe which was repeatedly choked- with small drift wood. After persevering with it for four days and finding that the drif t tiipber did not diminish; but rather increased as they advanced down stream. Consulting with Mr Hodge it was decided that it would only be a waste of, time to continue working there any longer. On Monday, 14th inst.,' the dredge was shifted to the Roebuck road bridge, where, after' fixing'vjbn all the delivery pipes to convey the spoil to the town side of the river, a start was made on the 16th. The dredge was employed cutting away the papa Tiarik ori the north-east side of the channel so as to give the barges a straight run through the bridge. The dredge was doing good work at this spot, shifting an average of about 100 yards per day. It was expected to have this work finished to Nelson Bros.' satisfaction by the 29th inst., and the dredge would be placed on tjie slip on the 31st. This work, the- overseer added, was considered to be l of more "importance to Nelson Bros, than even the. deepening of the channel- at the brewery. He had received every assistance; from Nelson' Bros, he added, .both m •replacing parts of the gear that^needed renewing and assisting with" their oil ; launch, whilst Mr Hodge had also visited them each, day, enabftng the work to go on smoothly. All the main piles of the Kaiti. breastwork would be driven by the end^'of the week 'and the wall would be ready' to receive spoil when the suction dredge is taken off the slip. The first shipment of 31,500 ft of kauri timber for the Kaiti wharf from Peacock and Co. was to hand and was of very excellent quality, being m every way up to specification. Tlie rushes on the Board's property near the flag station had been cut and carted oil to the beach and should have a beneficent effect m stopping the westerly sand drift. - Mr McLeod advised that sonae asphalting was required to be done m No. 3 shed. He also applied for instructions re installation of water supply on both wharves. The John Townley this month had taken 44 loads of spoil to sea, whilst the small dredge had lifted 455 yards of rock and 215 yards of silt, all of which has been deposited at the back, of tho breakwater viaduct. Eleven days this month were taken up m repairs to the small dredge, and the small swing, crane on the viaduct. Blasting punts (Nos. 1 and 3) have been working oetween the mouth of the river and the lower end of the town wharf. The T'uatea was taken on the slip on the 20th and launched on the 25th. The quantity of stone and gravel removed from the Kaiti beach during the month, other than that used for the Esplanade road near the freezing works, was 100 loads. The Overseer's previous report referred to stated that the breast-! work proposed to bo erected by Mr DeveTy was an encroachment at one end of 40ft and 15ft on the other. The Harbormaster, Capt. dimming, reported : — Steamers : Arrivals during the month 32. departures 32; sailing vessels : Arrivals 1.3, departures 12. The flooring m No. 3 shed* on new wharf required ! repairing as soon as possible, ancl the roadway near the shed was also m a bad state for want of metal. This shed required enlarging by adding a lean-to along the side, as the Squall and Toroa find it too small for their cargoes at times. This was the best wharf tor these ships as it was handy to tie up at and for leaving from, besides leaving the rest of the wharf clear for lighters. Soundings m the channel taken on the 25th inst were : — End of breakwater 14ft 6in, sixth bollard froni end 7ft 3in, Snark's landing 7ft 3in. big crane Bl't n, Waikanae oft 6in, along new wharf 7ft 3in, town wharf 6ft to Bft, lower end of Kaiti wharfvßft; The dredgemaster, Capt. Solvander, reported that the John Townley had been constantly employed dredging along the town and Kaiti wharves. The amount of spoil taken out Was 200 yards from the slip, 4200 yards from various places between town and Kaiti wharf. Everything on hand was working satisfactory. CORRESPONDENCE. Mr Flemming, hon. secretary of the Gisborne Rowing Club, wrote asking that the sand pump might be allowed to deepen the Taruheru river at the left span of the Roebuck road bridge and m front of the club's shed. Rowing had been greatly inconvienced during the past two or three seasons owing to the river silting up and they generally had to carry their boats some distance through soft mud before they could float them. The new bridge at present has completely stopped up the racing course, as only one boat can pass through at a time. Mr lan S. Simson, writing m respect of his "application for the use of the suction dredge which was dealt with last meeting, and which is referred to m the overseer's report, he found that he was encroaching on the Board property, but to what extent it would be difficult to say unless a new survey was made. Mr Stephenson Smith's survey of the present high water- mark did not, he contended, give a correct definition of the true and original boundaries. Mr Simson suggeste ■ that he should be allowed to make use cf that land belonging to the Boa'd, and charged a peppercorn rent for same, so that the Board could at any time on* tain its right, a matter to be determined by a proper survey of the river. He was he added, m lino with both ends of his boundary with that of his neighbors. The secretary reported having received two accounts from the owner of i 1 **.- Hazel Craig, which was run into by tho John Townley on September 24th and of which the Board accepted no responsibility. One account was from Evans, Nield and Co .for £1 ss, and another from Niven and Co. for ±;4 5s 3d. AMENDING THE BY-LAWS. I The matter of amending the by-laws as recommended by the Finance Com- 1 mittee, but which* was allowed. to stand over from last meeting, was brought up. The Committee advised that by-law 20 be amended by altering clause 4, page 10, to read as follows: "Harbor master's fees — For steamers of 120 tons register and upwards to roadstead only Id per ton register on arrival, but the owner, master or agent of such vessel, shall notj be called upon to pay more than 6d per ton register m any half year. For steamers of 120 tons register and upwards entering the Turanganui river, Id per ton' register on arrival. Storage m cargo

sheds— That by-law 73, page 17, be amended by substituting 48 hours m lieu of 24 hours. Overtime weighbridge : That the weighbridge keeper be allowed Is per hour For overtime." ln accordance with notice of motion Mr Lysnar moved "That the Board amend the by-laws as follows : — "That bye-law 20 be amended by altering the 4th clause of page 10 to read as follows — For steamers of 120 tons register and upwards, to roadstead only, Id per ton on arrival, but that the owner, masSter or agent of such vessel shall not be called upon to pay more than 6d per ton refister m any half year. For steamers of 20 tons register and upwards entering the Turanganui river Id per ton on arrival. That bye-law 73 (cargo storage m sheds) be amended by substituting 48 hours m lieu of 24 hours. That bye-law 79 (ship cargo) be amended' to read as follows. — Up to 40 tons gross register £3 for 5 days and 10s per day after the fifth day. Over 40 tons gross register £4 for 5 days and 10s per days after the fifth day. And that 25th November, 1907, be a special meeting to confirm this resolution. The petition of local importers and carriers asking that the time for the removal of goods be extended to 16 working hours, instead of 8 as at present, was also considered. THE SLIP. Mr J. W. Preston, local branch manager U.S.S. Coy., wrote bringing under the notice of the Board the delay and inconvenience to which they were subjectedon Monday last m the slipping of the steamer Tuatea. The slip was officially engaged through the office on 16th inst., several days m advance^ and they were notified that everything would be all right. Arrangements were accordingly made to put the vessel on with the early tide on Monday morning last. She left the wharf shortly after 3 asm. and was at the slip on the top of high water, but owing to the neglect of the Board's officers, the cradle would not go far enough down on account of the silted sand, etc. As a result of this mismanagement, the vessel was unable to go on until the evening and m addition to the extra labor and expense, the delay was very vexatious and annoying. Subsequent events, however proved that they were very much put m this calculation, as the dredge' was engaged all day clearing the approaches, while the Tuatea had to lie on the hard rocks on the other side of the river. This condition of affairs was very unsatisfactory and m addition to the expense to shipowners was not calculated to benefit the reputation of the port. The writer asked that the necessary steps be taken to obviate a recurrence and suggested that the control of the slip should be m the hands of the harbormaster instead of as at present. The overseer or foreman, he added, apE eared to have, the jurisdiction and the arbormaster was m the anomalous position of being subservient and apparently afraid of taking the control of the slipping. This, he thought the Board would consider was not a satisfactory condition of affairs- Both officials were necessary, the overseer to arrange the details, but the harbormaster to direct and have the control. , While going on the slip on Monday evening the Tuatea caught and hung on to an old post which should have been removed. This caused delay and inconvenience to those on the Tuatea, until the obstruction could be located. The Company was not making any claim for the delay and expense incurred as a result of the negligence, but sincerely trusted that a recurrence would be obviated and the anomalous position indicated rectified.