THE RIVER CHANNEL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 11250, 15 April 1908, Page 5

THE RIVER CHANNEL.

The unsatisfactory, state of the river channel and, the depth of the ■ water j along the town wharves has, during the past few days, been the subject of much complaint oil, the part of local shipping people. The ; tendering of the steamers in the Bay and the working of several vessels at the wharf -has "been more or less inconvenienced. For instance, tho collier Regulus, with a- full load. of coal from Westport, was on her arrival on Monday unable to enter the river, although* her draught was almost the same as on the occasion of a previous visit. When the steamier yesterday did made tbe inner port, after being lightered of a portion of her cargo, it was found impossible to moor her alongside the wharf through the insufficiency of •water. As , a consequence of all this the steamer has been delayed a day longer on her trip than it should have occupied. Incidents such as this must bo extremely juinoying and discouraging to shipping authorities., who are- deserving of every encouragement in the improvement of the class of vessels engaged in tho local trade and the placing of the passenger service on a more regular basis. With the imposition of increased dues and charges it is only natural' that shipping people should expect .a change from the old order of tliingSj when incidents such as this were of much more common occurrence. The trade of the port has gone ahead with leaps and bounds, but facilities for river improvement on the other hand have not been ' augmented to any great extent, rather the contrary, in view of the important undertaking of the construction of an outer harbor. Outer harbor or no outer harbor the river must be kept navigable for the next five or six years at least, and rather than curtailing river improvement operations the Board should certainly devise more effective means to accommodate the fortunately increasing traffic to the port. The "ditch," as the river has been contemptuously termed, must be kept open, and this can only be adequately done by effective dredging with modern appliances. The whole blame of the shallowness cf the river channel cannot be laid on the Board, since the tides have been exceptionally poor lately, and a shortage of the customary rise in tide by two feet operates seriously. The recent flood in the river undoubtedly caused the lodgment of much silt along the line of wharves, and the advisability of adopting the policy of employing two shifts of men and working the present dredge continuously is one that might, in such instances, be reasonably considered by the Board. The inconvenience this week has, perhaps, been intensified by the constant occupation of the line of wlnirves by several vessels, and to dredge the berths would mean the cessation of unloading operations. The subject certainly deserves the serious consideration of the Board to see that the best use is being made of tbe appliances they possess, and if these are not competent to deal with the work to have something better provided,