THE HARBOR.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 15874, 13 July 1922, Page 9

THE HARBOR.

. (To. the Editor of the Herald.) Sir, —Why are we so belittling the

affairs of Gisborne by petty arguments? , If after going carefully into all details this latest harbor and river scheme i.s feasible,.at a quicker and cheaper rate, why Jiot adopt it? Some say it will increase'the rates? Surely, will it not pay the ratepayer to have t-he town unlocked? Why is Gisborne such a dear place? Because of tho heavy freights on account of the service of tho tender and tho difficult landing. Rates will not go up to the same proportion as freights . will come down, which in its turn will bring down the cost of living in this town and cost of all the necessary t commodities. If on the other hand the scheme falls short of tho expected facilities, then turn it down, but not be- ■ cause* one certain man hasjput it forward , who has .strong party sides. Pay him the reasonable fee as you would pay any . cngineVr who put forward the idea. He should be sufficiently public-spirited himself to name a very moderate fee, as we presume he thought out and worked and , planned this scheme for the benefit of his own town, and not for augmenting hia personal coffers. Don't haggle over .. an individual and thus spit© the town. Weigh the matter well in a public spirit . for the advancement of Gisiborne and all its interests. Above all, don't forget the I poor Gisborne travellers—men, women and children tossing to and'fro"at all j hours of tho.day and night, of which : I have' been one many times. —Yours, ' 'A POOR. PASSENGER." j (To the Editor of the Herald.) j Sii'j—Assuming the Reynolds scheme of river diversion is carried out, what will be the effect on tho Waikanae " beach in the vicinity of the bathing ■ pavilion? Is it reasonable to believe that a large quantity of river silt will be deposited on the beach' between Grey ' street and the groyne? If so, goodbye to Gisborne's pleasure resort: All the money spent on beach improvement will be wasted, and instead of a. sandy beach there will bo mud flats. It is just as well to face the trouble before a poll is taken. Judging by the mud flats in tho rivers and harbor at low ' tide, it is. safe to assume the same ' eifect will take place on the beach.—l ■' am, etc., PRO PATRIA. ' ,

(To tho Editor of the Herald.!

Sir, —When one notices people rushing to'plead not guilty to the soft impeachment of bciiigj or associated with "Flicker Buoy," it goes 'to show that if.my angle of trajectory had a slight deflection my shot went home. The truth often hurts, but facts are indisputable, and if "Flicker Buoy" achieved no other object he set up a. line of correspondence which has >becn ably backed up by others. I am sure, sir, it is very gratifying to see so many interested in the means of access and egress of our front door. Every decent citizen who values his home likes to see the front portion of his abode pleasing, not only to his own eyes but to those who are compelled to pass by. Generally speaking, the appearance of a, home is syanbolic of the person living there. You hear the incessant cry "beautify youf town," but few who give that cry stop to think that the traveller who sees the beauty, and cleanliness of your town invariably has to come in through your front'door or harbor. Here the parochial self asserts itself and settles down to things mundane, and. forgets about the frent door. Of those valuable contributors to your valuable paper, two at least, Captain Oummings and Mr. H. Whyte, understand the principle of keeping the front portion of the house in order, i.e., immediate harbor relief. That -is the question that transcends for the present all outer harbor schemes, be they gratis or money-tagged. We want something beyond ridicule, while our' board of mediaeval legislators argue and smoke thousands of pounds <away on a scheme, or in other words,they want you to keep your eyes on heaven while the Board's' hand is in your pocket. Those gentlemen mentioned above are deserving of the people's plaudits for .the fearless manner in which both are advocating immediate relief through the repairing ,and extension of the groyne. Captain Cumming's letters actually defy engineering theoretical knowledge, for he adduces 34 years; of practical knowledge, .part of .which he was master of the old frezing .hulk Prince of Wales, which ho eventually took to Wellington, and. the* remainder as harbormaster. If there is < anyone capable and competent to-set up a standard work on the trend sand ,set of currents in Poverty Bay, that one is dptain humming, and he is advising the Board to do what ;is perfectly right, repair and extend the groyne, • set ,up an agitation at the entrance, and thereby eliminate that sand bank which the- . Townley is'eating up good nmney in a futile attempt to remove. If thc.groyno was patched Tip temporarily ami the Maui docked and brought back, sho could easily dig herself into smooth water in 24 working hours and give us a'navigable channel in-six-weeks; then while the groyno is being extended the Maui can easily cope with the situation. For the edification of those new members of the: Board who were not in a position to obtain first-hand knowledge of the Maui's seaworthiness, let me say she is fully powered and capable of gping anywhere. She came from the Clyde with all her dredging gear in position, arid on one occasion when at anchor along with several other vessels under Young Nicks Head, she was the only one to leave her anchorage and steam across with a south-east gale and come to;her berth. If occasion demands she can be kept continually dredging, utilising the punts and John Townley, as she did once before, to take the spoil to the dumping ground. Of course, the doors will have to be re-installed, in the Townley's -hopper, and her safety-razor .erected as a monument of intellectual greatness or otherwise. In the past the Board had to pay out about £4O per .week towing expenses for tho punts. Now they have a powerful tow boat .in the Takitimu, which, amount can be saved when the'''Maui is brought back. Those groynes, monuments of engineer-