CORRESPONDENCE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 2842, 21 October 1898, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

MR NAPIER BELL'S REPORT. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMARU HERALD. Sir,— l regret that Mr Tennent considered it hia duty to rush into print. 'In cases even involving himself the usual way is to refer the matter to his Board. I understand now that Mr Tennent holds a sort of deputy-engineer's position, and he considered himself entitled to take up the cudgels for the profession. His flippant letter has not extinguished, nor is it likely to extinguish me, and ha must take what others get who go into print. I did not intend my letter to ridicule Mr Bell. Had that bepn my object his report gave me ample material to do so without going m a round-about way. Had I been m Mr Bell's place and been invited by the Board to advise them on harbour matters I would have said to the Board that Mr Maxwell was their engineer and that out of professional etiquette m his absence 1 could not m fairness to myself do so and go m the face of Mr Maxwell's often repealed reports. Instead of doing what most men would have done, he hands into the Board a report which would puzzle a Philadelphia lawyer to know what he really does advise the Board to do, except to do nothing until his friend, Mr Maxwell, comes out ; a fine state of things m the crisis which surrounded the Board at that time. Mr Tennent says that Mr Bell made no visit to the beach after his report was written. I will accept his correction, although the infoi'matiou X have would lead me to

fancy his memory is defective on this point. However, I will take his version. Then the report is thus "going the round of the town that Mr N. Bell, 0.X., after prepenting his special report to the Board and undergoing the farce of cross-examination of its contents, had previously examined the beach north and Boutn of the harbour." From enquiries I find that Mr Tennent accompanied Mr Bell, I should suppose m the capacity of deputy-engineer. They drove along the beach north of the Washdyke Lagoon over hard blue clay and sand quite free from shingle- It U also stated that they examined the north part of Caroline Bay, and found rough porous atone quite different from common beach shingle. Mr Bell (history does not say Mr Teunent was with him) to satisfy himself wont and examined the beach south of the harbour, but could find no stone such as he found m Caroline Bay. Now will Mr Tenuent deny that they drove over hard blue clay with san.l and free from shingle as above described? Will he deny that Mr Bell found the stone as described, and will he deny that Mr Bell could not find the same kind of stone south as he did north of the harbour, and finally will Mr Tennent deny that from his (Mr Bell's) examination of the beaches as described, his conclusion was that there was not the slightest evidence to show that any shingle had ever parsed from the south of the harbour to the north of Caroline Bay? I would not have troubled you to print, nor the public to read this, had it not been for the persistent attempts of a tribe of scribblers writing evidently with the object of showing their own importance, and r regret, to think for the pure purpose of opposing those who are guided by their eyesight. My object m writing is to show that even the Harbour Board's own elected engineer has now satisfied himself that there is not the slightest appearance that ever any shingle has drifted from the south of the harbour to the north beach, where we have been assured by no end of letters and speeches that it was lying m thousands of tons on the whale back, etc., etc., and yet when the locality was examined by Mr Bell and Mr Tennent, they found only a blue clay beach and sand. I' am, etc.,