The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1877.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 1895, 26 November 1877, Page 3

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1877.

A cohhespondent signing hiraselt " Timaru " writes a long letter to the Dunedin Star, of the 20th inst., with reference to the breakwater here. Some of his remarks are pertinent enough, while others are nonsensical m the extreme. The most iraportaut parts of the letter are as follow : — The position of this embryonic Breakwater may bo described as follows:— The people of Timaru want a Breakwater, and have £100,000 m hand towards its erection. Several years since, under the direction of tho late Mr Balfour, just £1000 worth of concrete was thrown into tho sea by way of experiment. The experiment was not worth the money. Some of the blocks still remain on the beach, others are broken up and washed away. Then Sir John Coodo gave a design for a Breakwater, estimated to cost some £450.000 j but this was a larger amount of money thau the Timaru people, who are moderately wise m their generation, could expect to obtnin, and bo, after some hesitation and consultation, they determined to adopt a less expensive mode of procedure, and advertised for designs, some of which thoy hopod would come within their joint means and expectations. They did so, aud m reply to their advertisement fourteen competitors appeared m the field. From these, fourteen designs, two were selected by the Harbor Board and sent to the Engineer-in-Chief for him to determine which ho considered most suitable ; aud while- the questiou is being determined by him, the Harbor Board are employed ordoring machinery and other preliminary business. I think this is a fair nnd impartial narrative of the . facts of tho case, and will be so held bjr all ( those who are at all conversant with tho subject. The following considerations arise almost spontaneously : — 1. If tho Timaru Harbor Board were ou&bled to select two designs from fourteen, why could thoy not also decido between the two ? The action of tho Board is so absurd that it requires no further comment to make its fatuity appnrent. 2. Is the Engineer-in-Chief a sufficiently competent authority to whom obedience should t>e yielded ? The people of Napier can au•awer this question, as far as they are concerned, pretty fairly ; as it appears his harbor .scheme there has only made the fierce and •dangerous channel more fierce and dangerous .still. The people of Greymouth also have ideas about the abilities of Mr Carruthers, both (is a land and as a marine engineer. The gentleman also made some prophecies about the breakwater at Oamaru wuich have notber n fulfilled. I have no wish, to underrate tho !

ability of our Colonial Engineer — but marine engineering is a speciality — and of this speciality Mr Curmthera Iris not hitheito shown that he h a muster. 3. If Sir John C'oide's plan were costly, though eou'ml unrl practicable, it may bo asked, why not strain a point and adopt it, if a Breakwater be necessary at Timaru ? The answer is plnin. Experience has demonstrated since the design wa3 given, that tke data collected, on which it was founded, were erroneous, and tho interval has also shown that Sir John Coode's Jersey Breakwater Scheme was not a success. 4. Have we any Colonial experience of our own on which to Btand, it may be asked, instead of going so far away and running the chance of losing our money as well as being ignorant!/ advised ? 5. Wo have learned that large blocks of concrete can be deposited m layers, which will withstand tho fiercest gale. Wo have been taught that Sir John Coode's theory of the travelling shingle is not what it was represented to be — that it does not go on for ever, but that tho drift which the S.E. wind brings north the N.E. wind returns to its place again, and that a very slight impediment prevents its travelling at all. We have learnt that we need no largo outlay or costly experiments, but that the same means which has been bo efficacious at Oamaru would aIBO suit its northern neighbor. In the first place, we must deny that the £1000 spent on Mr Balfour's experiment was productive of no pood whatever. It proved most conclusively that, at that time nt anyrate, a vast quantity of shirgle was travelling northwards at a rapid rate, for within three months of its construction it was almost covered up Further effects caused by its construction were observed m the scouring away of the bench material to the northward, causpd by the waves curling round the end of Ihe works. Another error the writer of the letter makes, and oae which the Otngo papers have ulso fallen into from time to time, is that Sir John Coode's proposed Breakwater was to cost some £450,000. The estimate that gentleman gave was £240,000 ; or, if increased accommodation m the way of adding a jetty, &c, should be found necessary m future years, an additional £79,000 would be required to be spent. We may also mention here that we understand that neither of the two competitive plans lately selected by the Timaru Harbor Board embraces a cost of more than £000,000 at the very outside. " Timaru's " next remarks with reference to the Harbor Board being able to select two plans out of fourteen and yet not decide between these two, are certainly common-sense enough. We ourselves would much rather have seen the whole ot the plans laid before the Government Commission, composed as it is of practical engineers, than only two of them. Possibly, however, this course may yet be pursued. In the next paragraph, the writer of the letter once more bases his remarks on wrong premises, for he seems to think that Mr Carruthers, and he alone, is to decide on the merits of the different plans. Were such the case, our prosppcts of ever obtaining a Breakwater at Timaru would be very small indeed, for he has already expressed views on the work which leave us no room to doubt what his decision would be. For some reason or other Mr Carruthers has an unmistakeable " down " on this port, and has done all m his power, if not to directly injure it, to prevent any assistance or encouragement being given. The engineers who compose the Commission now sitting at Timaru, are, however, gentlemen who can consider the Breakwater project from an independent and unbiassed point of view; and we are quite content to leave the matter m their hands. Had the late Government been m power at the time the Commission was appointed we feel quite certain Mr Carruthers would not only have been on it himself, but would have chosen his own colleagues as well. Continuing our criticism of " Timaru's " letter, we should like very much to know on what authority he states that, "Since Sir John Coode's design was given, experience has demonstrated that the data collected, and on which it was founded, were erroneous" ? The only one point of Sir J. Coode's report, on which there could be any doubt, is that of the quantity of travelling shingle; but if this were less than he calculated, all the better lor his scheme. No one doubts now-a-days that there is loss material on the beach than there used to be, but this does not falsify any of Sir John Coode's data. Again, " Timaru's " statement that " the drift which the south-east wind brings north, the north-east wind returns to its place again," has not the slightest foundation on fact, for it is contrary to all that experience, knowledge, and careful examination and observation have taught us. In conclusion, we may express it as our opinion that had " Timaru " written his letter with any honest desire of benefiting this port, he would have addressed it to a local paper, not to an outside one. By his pursuing the course he has done, he lays himself open to the charge of being a wolf m sheep's clothing — apparently m favor of a Breakwater here, but m reality giving it a stab m the dark. It looks as if he were afraid of having the noble fabric of facts which he has put together shattered to atoms by the honest criticism of those who are fully competent to contradict his almost every statement. If such were not the case, why did he seek the aid of a newspaper which everyone m Timaru knows is hostile, as, indeed, are all the Otago ones, to a Breakwater here ?