HARBOUR BOARD.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 76, 6 May 1914, Page 5

HARBOUR BOARD.

TO-DAY'S MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, held this morning, was attended by Messrs R. Moore (chairman), F. Horrell, J. Storry, M. J. Miller, J. Little, C. Allison, J. R. Webb, J. J. Dougall, T. D. Boag, A. Kaye, and Dr Thacker.

CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT

The chairman 'a" monthly report stated that the following sums had been paid into the harbour fund account since the last ordinary meeting: —Wharfage, £5935 7/-; pilotage and port charges, £2553 14/1 j towage, storage, etc., £1225 7/2; total, £9714 8/3. The ordinary cash receipts during the four months ended April 30, 1914, amounted to £28,938 5/7, or an increase of £6220 10/7, over the corresponding period of last year. The bank book showed the Harbour Fund to be in credit £909 11/5, and in addition they had £2185 B/3 standing to the credit of the Special Renewal Fund Account, making a total of £3094 14/8 available to provide for payment of the unpaid accounts amounting to. £958 8/3, which were passed for payment to-day. During the past month 231 vessels, comprising 16 oversea and 216 . coastal and intercolonial vessels, entered the port of Lyttelton, with an aggregate net tonnage of 212,218 tons, as against 235 vessels, aggregating 208,296 tons, during the corresponding month of last year. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The board's engineer reported that the month's work of the dredge Canterbury amounted to 103,740 tons, of which 89,180 tons were removed from the outer channel and 14,560 tons from inside the moles. The whole quantity was pumped over the western breakwater into the reclamation area. The dredge Tewhaka had lifted 6720 tons, which was deposited in the reclamation area. The reclamation bank now- extended 1579 feet from the western breakwater. A small concrete parapet wall, which now extends 198 feet, was being constructed on that part of the reclamation mole which is most subject to damage from the seas. A new pile driving frame had been constructed for use in the work of rebuilding and extending the outer arm of the Gladstone Pier. The work of driving the new piles would be commenced without delay. The mooring chains of the buoys were considerably worn for a few feet above mud level owing. to chafing with rise and fall of tide. Pieces of new chain had been shackled across the weak parts by the board's diver. During the month the tug was docked for her periodic cleaning and painting. During the month the officers of the Harbour Department, and also of" the dredges, satisfactorily passed the eye-sight test, and certificates to that effect had been issued.

FINANCIAL,

The Finance Committee reported that having examined the monthly accounts, amounting to £6475 13/2, it recommended that they be passed for payment, and that cheques for the unpaid accounts amounting to £958 8/3, be drawn on the Harbour Fund Account. The committee' had no recommendation to make in respect of the Heathcote County Council's letter offering £IOO, 4£ per cent, at £97 10/-, plus interest from February 1, 1914. The committee recommended that the loan on mortgage of £3470 on the security of freehold lands at Lyndhurst be renewed for a term of years at 5$ per cent, per annum. It was also recommended that the chairman's action in remitting the sum of £3OOO, balance of interest on the board's 6 per cent, loan, by a 30 d/s draft on April 17, 1914, be confirmed. —The report was adopted. MISCELLANEOUS. The engineer was authorised to obtain a powerful up-to-date acetylene searchlight for the tug Lyttelton. The Harbour Improvement Committee reported that having considered the of permitting the billiards table jand library belonging to the Lyttelton JStevedores' Union being replaced in the Coronation Hall, it could not recommend the board to grant the request. It was decided that the usual allowance of £2OO per annum be voted to the The whole board was constituted a Harbour Improvement Committee. The fiTinanee Committee will consist of 'Messrs Dougall, Moore, Horrell, Kaye, gtorry, Friedlander, Miller, and Allison. ( Other committees were also appointed. HEAVY CRANE WANTED.

The engineer reported that the new Jboilers for the dredge Canterbury would jeach weigh 40 tons, and there were no {appliances in Lyttelton capable of lifting them from a vessel's hold or putting them into the dredge. The cost of eontetructing temporary appliances fo'rj these boilers would be so eon-' fciderable that it might be' cheaper to leencl the dredge to another port rather than do the work here. It was therefore fan appropriate time for considering the (question. He considered that a heavy lift crane for Lyttelton should be capable of lifting a weight of 50 tons out iof the largest vessel likely to visit the port, and had accordingly sketched down the outline of a derrick crane capable of lifting that weight out of the hold of a. vessel of 70ft beam, and depositing it into a railway truck or on to a punt at the end of No. 7 jetty. The crane was arrauged to stand on reinforced concrete piers so that trucks could pass under the back bed legs. The arrangement would not interfere with the ordinary work of the wharf. The crane would ultimately be driven electrically when the Lake Coleridge current became available. Meanwhile it would have to be worked by an oil engine. He was not able to estimate the cost of the crane closely without a detail drawing, as it was of special construction, but he thought the cost wuuld be about £4OOO in England, duty and freight about £1:!00, and foundations £2200, or about £7400 in all. Such a crane could be erected on No. 7 jetty at the outer end, or on an extension of No. 4 jetty, or on the Gladstone pier. From enquiries he had made in Wellington last week, it appeared .that the 20-ton crane on the outer end of the railway wharf was used frequently as it was found very inconvenient to move the vessel to the 35-ton crane on the breastwork. The same objection would apply here, so that he preferred the location on No. 7 jetty, or on an extension to No. 4 jetty. Mr G. Scott objected to the expenditure necessary on the crane, which, with sinking-fund, interest, etc., would amount to from £4OO to £SOO per year. He thought it would be better for the dredge to go to Port Chalmers or some other port to have the work done. He would be pleased to see the crane in the port if f there was any work for it to do. The

matter was referred to the Harbour Improvement Committee. AFTERNOON SESSION. At this stage the meeting adjourned until the afternoon. On resumption a letter was received from the New Brighton Borough Council directing attention to the dangerous state of the landing on the river Avon at New Brighton, and stating that several new deck planks are required to make it safe for passengers. It was .decided that if the Borough Council does not take the landing over, it be closed in the meantime.

A telegram was received from the Minister of Marine (the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher), asking the board to appoint delegates to meet him re Sumner matters. It was decided that the chairman and Mr Dougall wait upon the Minister. Thev will report to the board later. It was reported that the board had been cited to appear before the Arbitration Court in connection with the carpenters ' dispute. The board applied for exemption on the grounds that it is not a trading concern, and exemption was granted. A letter was received from Mr H. Field, urging the board to erect a small jetty on the east side of Port Levy, and enclosing a copy of a letter from the Canterbury Rowing Association thereon. The matter was referred to the Harbour Improvement Committee. The town clerk of Lyttelton wrote asking if the board- could arrange to stack piles on the West Lyttelton reclamation ground in such a way as to avoid encroaching on the hockey ground during the winter months. The matter was referred to the engineer. The Lyttelton Borough Council thanked the board for the improvements effected at Diamond Harbour jetty, and stated that the Council was considering the matter of providing a more suitable boat for the ferry service; and it would be advisable to defer carrying out any alterations to the jetty until a permanent ferry boat is decided upon. The matter was referred to the Harbour Improvement Committee. A letter was received from the manager of the Union Steam Ship Company, stating that as the Maori was leaving No. 2 jetty on March 25 last the Cygnet backed out from No. 3 wharf, and that a collision was narrowly averted only by the Maori going full speed astern. It was asked that the ferry steamers be given preference in leaving the wharves. The harbour-master brought down a report dealing with the incident. The matter was referred to the Harbour Improvement Committee. The British and Foreign Sailors' Society applied for a further grant of £SO in aid of the Seamen's Institute at Lyttelton. The request was granted. The hon. secretary of the Lyttelton District Boy Scouts approached the board with the object of obtaining a suitable boat for the Sea Scout Troop. The matter was referred to the Harbour Improvements Committee. Captain A. M'Dougall, marine superintendent of the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company, wrote with respect to alleged damage to the bilge keel of the Corinthie whilst lying at No. 7 west. Soundings alongside the jetty and examination by the board's diver failed to locate any obstacle that could have done the damage. The engineer said that the Corinthie had arrived at London with her bilge keel injured, and both Wellington and Lyttelton harbours were accused of doing the damage. Wellington repudiated the charge, and it was passed on to-Lyttelton. Soundings had shown, however, that the Corinthie could not have been damaged at Lyttelton. Captain M 'Dougall's letter" was really an acknowledgment of the board's repudiation of the charge.—The letter was received. '

The chairman's action in accepting the tender of Messrs Harman end Hoskings of £26 16/8, for the purchase of grain store sweepings and unclaimed stock, as recommended by the board's warehouseman, was endorsed. Mr Dougall moved, on behalf o_f Mr Allison: "That a return be prepared showing the effective berthage and actual wharfage space j>rovided in Lyttelton Harbour, and the space occupied day by day during the year 1913; showing the number of vessels in port, the total berthage occupied, and the percentage of actual and effective berthage occupied; the return to be in the form supplied for the year 1908." The motion was carried, subject to the secretary being given latitude as to the form in which he shall.bring down his report. (Proceeding.)