TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 3514, 10 July 1884, Page 2

TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

The Board met to-day. Present— Messrs W. Moody (Chairman), M. Jonas, J. H. Sutter, K. F. Gray, J. Talbot, J. Wilson. SPECIAL MEETING. A special meeting was held for the purpose of altering tbe rate for coal wharfage. It was moved by Mr Talbot seconded by Mr Wilson, and carried—- “ That the by-law No. 5 be altered, and the wharfage increased from Is 6d to 2s per ton on coal. ' ORDINARY MEETING COEBESPONDENCE Correspondence was read From Guthrie and Larnach’s Company advising the shipment of 400 tons of cement per ship Wairoa for Timaro, from London, which was made before the terms of the new specifications as to time of delivery were known. The Company asked tbat the Board would waive the strict letter of the contract, and accept delivery of the Wairoa’s shipment and of a cargo by the W. H. Watson which left London in June.

The Chairman read a letter in reply, which he bad authorised the Secretary to write, declining.to accept shipments except at tbe times specified. The Board approved the action of the Chairman on tbe ground that it was undesirable to accumulate an extensive stock of cement.

From Messrs McEwan and Co, enclosing account for chain cable and other materials.

From the N.Z, Marine Department, re burners and glasses for the lighthouse, and enclosingjaccount for the same. From the same enclosing a Gazette notice to Mariners ro the position of tho wreckage of the ship Duke of Sutherland, [This notice appeared in our columns a few days ago.j

HAEBOE MASTER’S BBPOET. Captain Webster’s report stated that daring the month 24 vessels o£ tonnage 6094 had arrived, and 22 of tonnage 5625 had sailed ; that these had all been worked at the wharf; that the weather had been unsettled, and the wear of hawsers considerable, owing to occa sional heavy ranges ; that soundings taken during the month showed the depth of water to remain the same ; that the Priestman dredge was in working order; and that a chain cable had been duly received from London. LANDING SERVICE REPOET. The Manager of the Landing Service (Mr S, Graham) reported that during the month 1974 tons had been landed and shipped; that the earnings for the month had been;—gross £340 3s 2d, nett £133 Os sd. He asked the Board to publicly notify that the rate for landing coal was 3s 6d per ton as per pit certificate; also that they would fix the following rates for ballast, viz., landing ballast, 4s per ton ; depositing do. in reclamation pocket, 3s; shipping and transhipping ballast, 4s. engineer's eepoet. “ I have the honor to report on the progress of the Harbor works daring the last month as follows ; “ Breakwater Contract No. s—The progress on this work has been moderate. A delay was caused by the breakingdown of the new crane when fairly started to work, the necessary repairs have been effected, and the work on the breakwater has been resumed. A big sea set in on Sunday last, which displaced the crane road, and disturbed some of the foundation blocks in front. The diver is at present investigating the extent of the injury. The length of finished work is now 94 feet 6 inches, of not finished work 44 feet 6 inches, making a total of 139 feet of this concontract. The completion of the new block yard is much retarded by want of timber.

“ Wharf Contract, No. 6 Extension— This contract is progressing favorably, although there is a great difficulty in placing the piles on the fallen blocks that are in the way. Fifty feet of pile work is completed, and the super* structure will be proceeded with immediately,

“New Crane—This crane had a breakdown, by the axle of one of its roller wheels breaking. This has been repaired, and it is at work again, I would recommend the payment to the contractors of the third instalment of £450, subject to the contractors agreeing to notify the deficient speed, and add 5 tons more to the balance weight, which appears to me to be below the mark. The crane has not been named yet, would the Board do so ? “ Cement—The amount of cement in hand is 3700 casks. “Dredging—Dredging operations were begun on Monday last, but have been discontinued on account of all the berthage being occupied by shipping. Work will be resumed as soon as there is room. “ Screw Moorings Tenders were called for fixing two screw moorings, they arc receivable to-day.’’ THE DEEDGE. In reference to the dredge, Mr Goodall said ho always intended working it at night,but the engineer being new to that class of engine, he had waited until he should become more practised. Night work would now be begun forthwith. He had had four large kerosene lamps specially prepared for the work, and be did not purpose using the electric light, as it would necessitate an additional engine being obtained. TENDERS, Messrs Jones and Philp were the only tenderers for fixing the screw moorings in the harbor. Their tender was for £l4O.

Tbe Board accepted the tender, CHAEGES. Mr Talbot proposed, Mr Wilson seconded, and it was carried—“ That the Minister for Public Works be written to, pointing out that the charges for haulage on the Breakwater at present made by the Railway authorities are excessive, and much higher than those charged at Oamaro, and that he be respectfully asked to have the charges revised," Mr Sutter moved, Mr K. F. Gray seconded, and it was carried—“ That a Committee to consist of tbe Chairman, Messrs Suiter, Acton, and Gray, be ap pointed to consider the whole tariff of charges made by the Board, and report at next meeting.’’ THE FOBESHOBE QUESTION. Mr Talbot called attention to certain statements made by Mr Turnbull at a recent political meeting, to the effect that the Board had lost its foreshore through its own negligence, and said he should like some explanation of the matter. He thought it was due to the Board and the public to have the matter explained fully.

The Chairman stated the facts of the case which were, in brief, as follows: The Government, when granting the old Board the foreshore north of the Breakwater, reserved to themselves power to resume possession of any portion within six months, and this they subsequently declared their intention of doing. The Board then held a specis l meeting, which was attended by the t*- ‘ Minister for Public Works (Mr and an understanding was con*' e to which the Board was to rece ; ‘ ' n _ of 8* of foreshore. Everything was carried out on th* diatinct £ nder * standing. A Bill w as introduce d by Government, but the Board gofc information or p ans or t rac ; n g ß j n con . nection t _J l 6 rf jW ith (though promised them by M r Oliver), The Bill finally passed, ar id jt waß tij en found, on survey that Gc jVernmen j. jj ad t a ij en one acreone rood t and left the Board about two acr .es. In reply to the Board’s letter o' Remonstrance, a long communication Was received from the Public Works Department, of which the following is an extract: —

*• The Minister trusts bis arrangement will be satisfactory to the Board, bat he will be ready to consider any other proposal which would provide sufficient land for the double line of railway, and for ensuring the safety of the embankment. He regrets that the very limited time available between the completion of the plans and the date at which it was necessary that the Bill should be brought before the General Assembly, prevented a plan being laid before the Board. The one prepared was, however, shown to the member for the district before the Act was passed.” The Board were highly indignant at the loss of this valuable area, for which they blamed the member for Timaru. Subsequently, at their request, Messrs Sutter, Postlethwaite, and Turnbull bad | interviewed the Minister repeatedly, and ] tried to obtain some concession. All they got, however, was the insertion of the following section (34) in the “ Special Powers and Contracts Act" :—“ (Government) may grant in fee to the Timaru Harbor Board, the land lying between two points at 105 miles 20 chains and 105 miles 45 chains respectively, which points are referred to in the schedule to the aforesaid Act, on the seaward side of a lino not loss than 20 foot distant from the centre line of the line of railway, as indicated on the plan referred to in the said Act."

The matter was discussed, and the

opinion was expressed that a further concession might be obtained from Government. The matter then dropped. ACCOUNTS.

Accounts were passed for payment as follows:—Landing Service Account, £207, general account, £2535 Os 2d. The Board then rose.