MONTHLY MEETING.

Colonist, Volume XLIX, Issue 11877, 6 March 1907, Page 2

MONTHLY MEETING.

The monthly meeting of member the took plao6, all m ambers, except Mr Trask, who was indisposed, being present. Minutes were read and confirmed. FINANCE. The bank pass book showed the following balances: — Credit general account, £1533 17s 3d; credit loan account, £3856 16s Bd. Total, £5309 13s lid. The amount received from pilotage for the month of February was £373 8s 3d, as against £255 19s 3d for the same'month last year, the total siDce the Ist of April, 1906, being £2629 17s lid, as against £2513 15s lOd for, similar period last year, the monthly average being £239 Is 9d, as against £228 10s 6d. Accounts were passed for payment as follows: — Loan account, £441 0s 5d : general account, £96 39s 4d. CORRESPONDENCE. Letters were received and read as nnder: From the Minster for Railways in reference to tne extension of; the Nelson|wharf and'stating that he found thttthe appropriations chargeable to the Public Works Fund had amounted to £570,000 i and the amount authorised by Parliament to be spent on additions to open lines had been £312,000. He therefore^had no alternative but|Jto postpone many urgent and important works, including the addition to the Nelson wharf, but he hoped to make arrangements which would permit of that portion of the wharf improvement work at Nelson fronting the old Albion wharf being undertaken during the next financial year. Mr McKenzie said Parliament had passed £5000 for expenditure on open lines in Nelson, and he would like to know what had become of that amount? Mr Hanby said they had the assurances of *' the late Mr Pitt and Mr Ronayne that the works would be proceeded with at once, and he thought they should protest against the delay. The Chairman said that the requirements of Nelson l»ad been driven into the Department, and said it was distinctly understood by Mr Trask and himself ,with the officers in Wellington, that the £5000 was for the purpose of commencing the extension of the wharf. It has also been pointed out to the Department that the Government were losing money! by delaying tho work of wharf extenßion. From the Secretary of the Marine Departmentstatiag that the principal keeper at Nelson Lighthouse had in*

"orrjaed the Department]* "that the Harbormaster bad directed'the'shipping companies at Nelson to. refer to him for all information they may re quire regarding the tides. The. Dei partment aslced if it <vafl the wfsh of the Board that this should boons' After discussion, the letter was^re 1f erred to the Harbormaster forth is report . macaFFrom the Laborers'. Union,"'cTting the Board in the dispute between the laborers and the employers. Mr Barrowman reported" that the demands, if granted, would very materially alter the conditions of tho work. If the demands became law . much of the men's tirrie wou'lif rifrv?. be paid at 2s per hour instead of Is 3d, as at present, and the wages of their laborers would amount to 14s per day. It was rosolvod on the motion of Mr Han by that in tho event of the matter coining before the Arbitration Court, the Board be represented af the sitting. , The branch manager of the U.'S^SJiCompany "wrote asking for refund of pilotage, £G 4s l<id, collected on the "Poberua, " which did not enter the port, lie pointed out that the steamer arrived in the bay for the purpose of towing the " Dilpussund" to Wellington, and through some misunderstanding the captain caino within the three mile limit with the . result that the duea were collected. After discussion, it was resolved that the Board regretted that they could not refund the money It was pointed out that this would mean a loss to the Board of £12 9s Bd. CHAIRMAN RSPOfif The Chairman raporfced the terms upon which he bad secured the second tug, the "Togo, "and his action was approved, the arrangements made being considered highly satisfactory. , . i THE ENGINEER'S RE^OR* Mr JJari'owuiad (Engitieer-i^ Charge) reported that the worjc held, progressed at .the. averse rajte during the mdritbj but sitor.my weather Jiad/, to some extent, counter- balanced übd advantage gained by the extra tug. The Togo had bßen at work regularly, so far as the weather permitted, since February] 18, and the advanf tage gained at certain periods of the tide was very considerable. The ad- ■ vantage was noticed particularly wheutbere was a strong flood tide< the work then being nearly doubled. However,, when the tide lulled) and the Gdrddn was able to get aboil; more freely, the ad vain tage of: the* second tide was" not so marked. Theifq had been a total output of 15, .7/0 tons of material for 121 hours of actual dredging. A second horse had been put on the reclamation work, so as to overtake the increasing length of haulage. He had not been able to overtake the laying of the beams of the gridiron, but he had still some filling and levelilng to do before the timber could be laid. THE DREDGEMASTERS' REPORT? Mr McKtarg (the Dredgedia-ftef) reported that he had ffiteen days' dredging during fch> njon'thj add 15,479 • tons of material had b^n^, removed from the channel. On the 16th< the tug boat "Togo" arrived from Wellington, and started on the 18th. From that ti me to the end of the month he had only 41 hours' dredging during which 6646 tons of material had been removed. A series of N.W gales and heavy swells, and an accident to the condenser tubes bad curtailed the dredging time during the most favoraole period of the tides. ,He considered the output since the arrival of ithe.Togo work very satis'faacitory, considering that the new r hands had to be acquainted with the tides and the general routine of the works. They had been exceedingly fortunate in * securing such a serviceable tug boat, andfhe considered that, with good weather, rapid strides would be made towards completing the cut through the Boulder Bank. He found the hull and machinery of tho Togo in good order with the exception of tho sludge hole doors in the boiler. These he would have rejointed at the first opportunity. The machinery of the dredge wns in good order and working well. HARBORMASTERS' REPORT Captain Coliins (Harbormaster) reported that there. had been a slight increase in the trade of the port as compared with the corresponding month of last year. . The outside soundings showed a slight decrease upon tho^e taken last tripntti. The reports were adopted; ENGINEER'S SPECIAL REPORT Mr Barrowman reported on tLe r&asou for hot using the pump and pipes in connection with tha dredging. He reported that — "In the first place, as the work, proceeded of cutting through the Boulder Bank and the force of the tidal currents were met, we found the punts of the pipeline lacked stability for the work required of them, and turned turtle several times', and ori more' than nne occasion they greatly en- . dangored the safety of the dredge; in oae case particularly tho dredge was saved by the breaking of tho pipes close alongside. It was therefore not by mere speculation, but by tho hard facts of experience, that . they found it impossible to work the pump and pipes after the tide began to flow outwards through the cut. There are, however, no grounds for regretting the casting off of the pump and pipes, as in our .case, where shingle is the material being dredged, particularly when it has to be deposited some distance from the dredge. Very frequently tho dredging had to be stopped to enable the pump and pipes to free themselves. And the work of dredging was seriously curtailed by these frequent stoppages lam aware the suction pump and pipes are popularly believed to be a cheap method of delivering dredgings: bu L I have no hesitation in saying' that we are putting through'no more stuff by the buckets when using the pump and pipes than we are doing at present. It is true that with only one tug the dredge has often to wait on the punts, but not more frequently or longer than when the pipes were in use, as the buckets had to wait on the pump clearing itself. Besides, the enormous extra power required to drive the pump, actually consuming just double te amount of coal, as well as doubling the cost of repairs and general upkeep. No doubt in the mudbank inside the harbor the ci/r cumstances would be different, as the pump is peculiarly adapted for sand and mud In our case, however, more than ninety per cent of the work of cutting through the inner ; bank was beyond the reach of the length of our pipe and punts Besides there was considerable tidal currents that made it doubtful whether the pipe-punts could work in it And for these reasons, apart from the cost of connecting and disconnecting the pipes and punts, we did not put them in use for the few days' dredging when the pipea might have reached from the dredge to the shore. Another adequate reason why we are not now able to use the pump and pipes is, because there is absolutely no rom between the dredge and the wall to permit of the flotation punts to w rk ; that is while we are taking out the bench on the wall side of the channel. We have several times mentioned that the plant is ill adapted for the work it baa to perform, as, for example, the stern of the dredge i.a like a square bluff box. ani when the tide is flowing out the stream strikes her with such force as to press tho Btern down from G to 10 inches in ordinary tide