TIMARU HARBOUR BOARD.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 3625, 24 August 1901, Page 4

TIMARU HARBOUR BOARD.

The monthly meeting of the Timaru Harbour Board was held yesterday. Present : Messrs W. Evans (chairman), Fraser, Macintosh, Manchester, Lyall, Pringle, Tumbtnl, Goodwin, Thew, and Skinner.

CHAIRMAN'S SI AILMENT. The chairmaa stated that the receipts for the month was £3454 16s 3d—wharfage £1348 16s 2d, ships" dues £11(8 5s 3d, harbour rate £937 14s lOd. The harbour rate had not been paid by the Levels County Council and the Timaru Borough Council. (The cheque for the Timaru Borough came in during the meeting.) Since last meeting the vessel -with piles and timber had been near Timaru, and by a storm was driven up to Auckland, -where she was now under repair. The agents expected her to arrive here in about a month. Fortunately they had borrowed twelve piles from Westport, and with these thev could tarry on for two or three weeks. They could get on with the timber on hand until the vessel arrived. Some piles and caps were shut out of the vessel and were coming by steamer. Since last meeting there had been a good deal of bad weather. A certain amount of damage had been done to the outside kant. But thev had now got a permanent line I to the breakwater, and instead of lifting stone after stone, as previously, the stone was now taken direct down, and they would shortly be able to fill in the damage. It would take a good deal of stone, no doubt about that. But at all events the harbour was safe; they could depend upon that. The. chairman enumerated some oi the items of business to come bsfore the Board. The 90 tons of rails ordered fron: Home had not yet arrived, and the latest correspondence on the subject stated tha: they were not yet rolled; a cable had, however, just come: •'Rails Gothic;cram. within three weeks. Mr Turnbull said the Gothic was to leave London on Thursday (the previous day). WAIMATE BOROUGH.

A letter was read from the solicitors, Messrs Perry, Perry, and Kinnerney, covering copies of the Waimate petition and a draft of a counter-petition. The Waimate petition was stated to be full of misstatements, which should be exposed, and refuted, and it was with this aim that the counter-petition had been drafted. They advised that it be printed in order that a copy might be sent to each member of the Legislature after it had been presented. The Waimate petition and the Board s counter petition was read by the chairman. The reasons advanced in the former against the inclusion of the borough of Waimate in the harbour district are, brieflv, as follows:—(1) That when the boundaries of the harbour district were first defined in the "Gazette," No. 95, of 1879, the borough of Waimate was expressly excluded. (2) That the boundaries include about 400 square miles more on the south than on the north side of Timaru. The exclusion of Waimate was deliberately acquiesced in by the Harbour Board and the ratepayers of the district at the time, and the Harbour Board on July 13th, 1882, passed a resolution recommending that the boundaries as defined be adhered to, and consequently the original- boundaries were set out afresh in the schedule to the Timaru Harbour Board Act, 1882. (3) That heavy liabilities, with no provision for sinking fund, have been incurred by the Board, in which the ratepayers of Waimate have had neither voice no vote, and they protest against the injustice of being made liable now. (4) In the opinion of the petitioners the prospects of making and maintaining the harbour are extremely doubtful, as up to the present about half a million has been spent, including works now in hand, in addition -to which £SOOO to £6OOO a year has been raised by rates, without any provision for repayment of loans, and at present the results are most unsatisfactory. (5) That it would be unjust to snbmit the borough of Waimate to the uncertainties of arbitration on a matter definitely settled by statute and with the consent of the Harbour Board. (6) That most of the imports for Waimate arrive via Oamaru; and if a differential rate were made for landing goods for Waimate, all goods would come via Oamaru. (7) The rate collectable from the borough would only benefit ratepayers of the rest of the district,, individually, to an infinitesimal degree— fa the proportion that the valuations bear to each other—£79,B9s to £6,498,728. (8) That the persons who should rightly bear the burden of the liabilities of the Board are those who authorised the incurring of them, and the construction of the harbour works in their present form. If the ratepayers of Waimate receive any benefit from the works, this could have been foreseen from* the first, but there are numbers of other persons, who also benefit —consumers, mortgagees, dealers and others. (9) The allegation in the Bill thatnihe immunity of the borough of Waimate is unfair, is contrary to the foregoing facts. The Waimate ratepayers originally objected to being included in, the district, and were expressly and deliberately excluded, and this exclusion was afterwards confirmed at the instance of

the Waimate County Council and by the Harbour Board, and was further confirmed by Act of Parliament. To make the Waimate ratepayers partners in undertakings they have had no part in initiating, and from which by agreement they have been excluded, would not only be unjust, but a violation of the fundamental principles of justice, and retrospective legislation of the worst kind. The counter-petiticn refers to the Bill before the House, to provide - for the in-

elusion of Waimate in the harbour district, "should such inclusion be found to be just and equitable," and states Waimate was eluded when the boundaries of t Le distrkr were defined, and has since continued to be excluded, thougn within the territorial liiniis of the district, and the business men and residents have benefited by the port of Timaru without contributing anything towards the rates levied on the harbour district for the payment of charges incurred for the construction of the harbour works. As such immunity is unfair to the ratepayers of- the harbour district, it is expedient that inquiry should be made and a remedy provided for any injustice that may be found to exist. The petition presented to the House from Waimate is alleged to be incorrect and misleading in its statements. (1) In stating that the boundaries of the harbour district- were first fixed by Proclamation in 1879, and the inclusion of the borough of Waimate was then objected to, and it was intentionally excluded." These allegations are an example of the unreliable nature of the statements in the petition, as that Proclamation refers only to the constitution of the Borough of Waimate. The first proclamation of the boundaries of the district was made in 1882. The statement that the boundaries extend ten miles further southward than northward of the breakwater is equally misleading. A tracing accompanying this petition shows that the portion of the district north of the breakwater greatly exceeds the portion to the south. Waimate was excluded "as the result of communication by the Mayor of Waimate to the hon. member for the district, in which the Mayor stated that it was not desired to have the borough rated for or represented on the Timaru Harbour Board." This communication was in reply to a letter written to the Mayor by the hon. member. The statements that the exclusion of Waimate was deliberately acquiesced in by the Harbour Board and the ratepayers of the harbour district, and was at the instance or recommendation of the Waimate County Council, are totally incorrect and misleading. The fact was that when the Board's resolution was passed in July, 1882, Waimate had been excluded without the assent of either the Harbour Board or the Waimate County Council. The Proclamation had been gazetted, and the discussion to which the resolution was the outcome had reference to the exclusion of the Wai-

hao and Hakateramea ridings. The resolution of the County Council, so far from supporting or recommending the exclusion of the borough, was a protest against tl.e further attempt to exclude those riding;. The whole object of the resolution wr.s to support the inclusion of those ridings, and not the exclusion of Waimate. Notwithstanding this protest and resolution, the ridings were excluded by the Timaru Harbour Board's Act of 1882, and included in the Oamaru harbour district in November 1882. (The minutes of the Harbour Board are set out.) The Waimate Council have always supported an equitable adjustment of the boundaries of the harbour district A resolution of Council of June 19th last is quoted. It is manifestly unfair that the borough of Waimate, while enjoying the advantages of the harbour works, should have complete immunity from rates, while ratepayers north and south of the borough have to pay more than their share in consequence. bo far from voluntarily consenting to its exclusion the Board would have insisted on the inclusion of Waimate in 1882, but for the Waimate residents threatening a block vote against the harbour loan, alleging that their interest was with the Oamaru district, from which also they obtained exclusion. The Board did not assent to the exclusion nor did it pass any resolution on the subject. The statements in the petition as to the amount of money already raised and spent are recklessly inaccurate. A number of details on this point are given; and it is stated that "the saving to the harbour district since

and including 1883 on exports alone, re- ; sultiDg from the construction of the harbour, was up to 31st December, 1898, at least £883,597, or three times the whole cost of the harbour works with the harbour rate included. And the assets at the close of the last financial year exceeded the liabilities bv £104,761. In comparison with the benefits received the impost of the rates is trifling. The harbour works . have been constructed according to de- ; signs approved by Commissions of inde- i pendent and eminent engineers. They have t been successful, and there is not the least reason to suppose that a harbour will not , always be maintained at Timaru. There is no foundation for the statement that damage to the'harbour works to the extent of £BOOO was done in 24 hours a few weeks before the petition was drawn up. Damage in the past has easily been _ paid for out of revenue, and with the . protecting rubble wall now in course of j construction there is not likely to be any I substantial damage in the future. It is i stated that during the last three years | 6026 tons of goods have been, landed at Ti- i maru consigned to Waimate. Waimateis growing.and its trade increasing, but its inclusion in the harbour district is sought, not on account of its financial importance, but as a matter of common fairness to other ratepayers in the harbour district. The ratepayers of Waimate have no ground for complaining that they had no voice in respect of raising the loans or constructthe harbour works. They deliberately excluded themselves, with the object of [avoiding payment of rates of which they ; 'ongnt to bear a fair share for the benefits in which they participate. By this means j ithey have for about 20 years obtained complete immunity from contributing anything, and there is consequently all the more reason why they should pay a fair share now. Their protests against inclusion are entirely beside the question, as the Bill does not provide for anything of the kind, but merely for a mode of determining the point whether or not it is right and fair under, all the. circumstances that there should be inclusion or differential rating. There is no question of retrospective legislation or the violation of any principle of justice. The Board, as representing the . ratepayers, merely seeks a means of obtaining a proper decision as to whether the claims of the borough of Waimate to exclusion have any foundation in justice. The proposed Commission can and will do what is right and fair, and the strenuous opposition which is being applied by ratepayers of Waimate to the fair and moderate proposals in this measure, affords the strongest argument against the justice of their cause. The Hon. W. Hall-Jones wrote on the sth inst. that he had received a copy of the Board's BilL It had been stated in Wellington that the Bill had not been considered and approved by the Board. He presumed that this was incorrect, and if so he asked that a copy of -the Board's resolution approving the Bill be sent to him. Mr Manchester said there was an error in the tounter-petitioh in one of the alleged corrections, regarding dates of proclamations, and the chairman sent for Mr Kinnerney to explain the matter. Mr Manchester claimed that a proclamation of 1879 provided for the exclusion of the Borough. Mr Kinnerney said it was a proclamation defining the Borough of Waimate, had nothing to do with the Harbour district. Mr Manchester said he did not admit having made a mistake: However, he was not going to argue the matter. It was a petition from the Waimate Borough, and he was not there as holder of a brief for the Borough; was not member for the Borough. Mr Young said the Board ought to contradict the statements in the Waimate petition regarding the doubtful condition of the harbour. There could not be the least doubt of the success of the harbour. The statement that £BOOO damage had been done in one storm was quite untrue. Mr Manchester said the chairman made the statement, and also the clerk, and he had a letter from the clerk verifying it. The chairman said it was incorrect. The damage that had cost £BOOO to repair had been done in all the years before the repairs were done, and Messrs Fraser, jToimg, and Mack tosh concurred. An animated discussion took place on the subject. Mr Manchester said there was no damage done until the shkgle went round. The repairs cost £BOOO, and were all destroyed in one storm; the secretary's letter confirmed the chairman's statement to that effect. Mr Macintosh turned up the office copy of the secretary's letter to Mr Manchester,, and read the opening statement: "The repairs in 1899 cost £BOOO. This might have been saved if" the present extension work had been started sooner." Mr Manchester remarked: " Then it was not saved," and laughter -practically closed the discussion. It was resolved on-the motion of Messrs Macintosh and Fraser, Mr Manchester dissenting : " That the" petition prepared by the Board's solicitors be circulated in the Waimate district, and that canvassers, be employed to take the same round for- signature, and that copies of the petition be printed and supplied to the members of the House, and that two members of the Board go to Wellmgton in connection with the matter." It was decided that the chairman should go as one of the representatives, and that Mr Tennent be the other if his health permits ; failing Mr Tencent. Mr Macintosh to accompanv the chairman. CORRESPONDENCE. Among the correspondence was the following : From Messrs Baxter Bros., offering 2000 fairly good sleepers at 2s 6d in trucks at G-reymouth.—Received. Mr T. Pavitt, Greymouth, on July 24th, advised the shipment of 432 sleepers. Tozer and Co., the Board's London agents, writing on June 29th, stated that the company to whom they offered the order for 90 tons of steel rails had no rolls suitable, and 90 tons was a small order for a special rolling. They would inquire of other firms, and of the suppliers of the Railway Department. The cranes ordered in April they hoped to ship by the end of Ji:!y, as also the order for forty pairs of truck wheels and sets of springs. Messrs Perry, Perry, and Kinnerney, the Board's solicitors, advised thi>t with regard to the proposed t onti act for the con-

struction of an oil-engine launch, a valid contract cannot be made witHout calling for public tenders, and the proposed contractors should be advised that this is necessary to comply with the Harbours Act. Miss Avison, secretary to the Sailors' Rest Committee, asked the Board to be good enough to make their annual donation to the Best, the usefulness of which is attester by the average attendance of eight per night. Mr J. McDonald, signalman at the Mam South Road railway crossing,, applied for an increase of pay, as the trains now run early and late.—Received. Mr Macandrew, District Engineer, on the 7th inst. advised that the preparation of new girders for the subway is in hand, but having to send to Australia for some of the material, some delay will take place before the girders are ready for erection. The District Traffic Manager wrote on the 17th inst. that, he was advised by the stationmaster at Timaru that occasionally sailing vessels are moved from the wharf to make room for steamers, and as shippers had loaded up trucks for the ships, the removal causes serious delay to the trucks waiting the vessel's return to the wharf. To obviate this as much as possible, he asked that the stationmaster be given timely notice, say 24 hours, of the removal of a vessel from the wharf under such circumstances. A case in point was the Alma, hauled off on July 2nd, causing '• a considerable number of trucks to be de- ■■ tained under load for over two days.

Mr F. Saunders applied for the use of a piece of land along the tramway, for a stone dressing yard.—Received. The Town Clerk, Timaru, wrote drawing attention to the fact that the cemetery road bridge had been raised without previous notice to the Council, and requesting that the approaches be improved and made passable.—The approaches to be attended to. Captain (Bevan, master of the CoroUa, wrote complaining of being delayed in the roadstead on arrival, and of being kept waiting for a berth, though one was vacant, being kept for a steamer.—Referred to by the Standing Committee. A second letter, received that morning, from Tozer and Co., reported progress re rails, crane, and other commissions in hand. The delivery of the crane would be delayed, perhaps three weeks, by the casting for the bedplate turning out badly. —With regard to the rails, the chairman reported that he had inquired of the Railway Department and the Wellington and Manawatu Railway Company for rails. The former had none; to spare; the latter had some coming out', and would assist the Board if possible. Meantime he had heard that there are some rails available at Oamaru, and he had inquired whether 30 tons to go on with can be got there. HARBOURMASTER. Captain Clarkson reported the arrival of 22 steam and 4 sailing vessels, aggregating 35,410 tons, during July. During the first part of the month there was a succession of heavy seas, with bad weather The usual soundings had been taken and recorded.* He asked for 16 new white pine fenders. The fenders to be ordered. The soundings book showed, on the line between the ends of the breakwater and north mole, 14ft, 20ft, 21ft, 22ft, at successive points one chain apart, starting from the end of the breakwater. STANDING COMMITTEE. The Standing Committee reported the receipt of four tenders for the oE launch required by the Board, and recommended the acceptance of that of W. A. Ryan and Co., at £7OO, delivered. In reply to the complaint of the master of the- Corolla, of detention in the roadstead, the committee explained that when the vessel arrived the tug was absent in dock at Port Chalmers. The CoroUa was only about three weeks at Timaru. The Committee recommended that the same donation as last year (£5) be given to the Sailors' Rest. The Board should reply to the letter of the Traffic Manager complaining of the delay of trucks, that the Board will assist as far as possible to obviate the cause of complaint. Accounts amounting to £2614 18s had been inspected and passed for payment. The report was adopted. FOREMAN'S REPORT. Mr Bradley, foreman of works, reported for the period 26th July to August 22nd. At the western end of the new quarry, opposite Palliser and Jones' old quarry) he had had 10 chains of stone laid bare. The face here averages 21ft to 27ft. Besides this, he had 13 chains partly formed and a considerably amount of stripping done at the eastern end. Two shots had fired with good results, and two other tunnels were partly driven. At the eastern end, besides completing the formation of the line, a through siding has been formed for storage of trucks, and a backshunt 21 chains from the middle of the quarry. The whole of the formation from O'Connor's to the new quarry is completed, a.distance of 52 chains, and rails have been laid and ballasted to 20 chains; and the remainder will be gone on with as soon as possible. At O'Connor's quarry the stripping is completed, and the 15-ton crane is in a good position for, and is doing, satisfactory work. Three shots have been fired in this quarry since last report, with good results; and a fourth drive is being put in, which will be fired in a few days. The 20-ton and Priestman cranes are doing good work, and a drive is being put in Prouse's quarry to keep the latter going till it is advisable to move it to the new quarry. The new main line from the bridge to the smith's shop (14 chains) is now complete. This work included a heavy cutting 3j chains long, 26ft deep, and 15ft wide. •• The line is being ballasted, and the connection with the present line would be completed that day. The line from the bridge to the top of the long cutting has been lifted, packed, and reballasted, and is now in first-class working order; and the gang was now working along towards the beach. The cemetery been altered to allow larger stones being brought down. The height is now 12ft Bin, and from top rf stone truck Bft 2in. The railway subway is only lift high. Third class stone has been used to protect the tramline along the beach. This was found necessiry, and should protect the line from further encroachment of the sea.' A loop line 19 chains long has been formed to cormect the tramline with the breakwater, to allow engine and trucks to be taken direct from the quarry to the breakwater, and stone tipped where necessary. This will be a great saving of time. Two more -bays of staging, 50ft, have been completed, making a total completed of 350 ft. The amount of stone tipped to 21st inst. was 29,067 tons—l4l2 to breakwater (227 tons tipped direct), 26,305 in mole, and 1350 along tramline. Since last meeting, 21 working days, 5463 tons had been brought down, an average of 260 tons per day. Messrs Grandi and Co. have four trucks about completed. These will be a great help in getting more stone down daily. As the stone for the breakwater is now brought down direct, and as this should cope with any requirement, the Samson crane will not be required now. Mr Bradley therefore asked the Board's permission to have this crane put in the western end of the new quarry, where good work could be done, the present treble gear being altered to single gear in order to gain speed. If this crane were taken to the quarry, it would free 15 chains of rails from the breakwater. The chairman said he had been twice to quarry, and Mr Bradley had made great improvements, and was going on splendidly. As to the big crane, it was not wanted on the breakwater, and it j might save buying another crane to shift i it to the quany, the only expense being ' taking it to pie:es and putting it together again.

Mr Fraser thought it,would be an awkward crane for the quarry. ~ The chairman said Mr Bradley said' it would do twice as much wort as any other crane. " " .■■.': . r

Mr Pringle did not tMnk'" they.;, were ; getting stone dowa so .fast', as .they, could. The blasts we:c not,, p.. <[i\ :vi 'e=pugi,,.."a,nd the cranes Lad to do iniioj .pailing_q.f , stone out of the face.' At' the. average work reported each crane, was only doing 8j ;0»-s a day. ' . ... • ;i .., . ...-. ..-.:■ Messrs Young and Macintosh endorsed the chairman's remarks, on the good -work done at the quarry. Mr Thew said it was a question whether they were getting value for their money. He asked how much of the loan money had been spent, and Mr Pringle supported the question. The chairman said he could nob answer } the question at once, and a great deal of the work was preliminary work. Mr Macintosh said he had been at the quarry frequently, and he.spoke highly of the work being done. The foreman deserved every credit. Members should go out and see for themselves, and not come to the meeting to cavil at things they had not seen. Mr Pringle said he had been to the quarry, and spoke of what he had seen. • Mr Macintosh said the great mistake was made by the contractors in opening up a small face of rock. Mr Skinner said the cranes were not doing amiss. The engineer estimated that they would be able to do 500 tons a day with five cranes; that was 100 tons each, and they were doing not far short of that. DREDGE REPAIRS. Mr Hendry, engineer of the s.s. Timaru, submitted a report on the work done on the vessel in dock at Port Charmers. ■ As it was the annual inspection everything was opened up about the engines and boilers. Some small repairs were effected about the boilers, furnaces, funnel case, engines, winches. The tail shafts were drawn and the propellers taken off,-the bracket bushes being badly worn. Had these made good again. A complete set pf new chains was fitted for the hopper doors, the old ones being too much, worn to be depended on. The timber work of the doors it very much worm-eaten., and it may have to be renewed at next docking. The necessary elm timber is in stock. The pump was opened up and" found in good order, but the section of suction pipe from the ship's side to: the pump was getting much worn on the bottom, so he had it lined with manganese I ...steel bars on the bottom. This is. ~ I hard steel,^-and; the, bars, :can be Stewed 1 without disturbing the pipe. The rudder was inspected and passed for another year. He left the suction pipe, which has been ' in use nearly since the • dredge arrived, to be repaired, as the lower part is worn extremely thin,., some parts, being little i .more than one-sixteenth of an inch thick. He also left the runner last in use to be ; repaired. The dredge is working very , well, but where they are working is a perfect quarry of stones and lumps of coni crete.

The Board took a short adjournment for lunch, and resumed at 2.10 p.m. RESIDENT ENGINEER.

The chairman asked whether the Board would go through the applications for the ,post of resident engineer, or ; >appoint a committee to. go through them, as there were a great number of applicants, about thirty. Mr Fraser would postpone the matter

for various reasons. If the secretary regained his health and returned, they inight go on without an engineer. If ne did not, they might appoint one man to be engineer and. secretary. -Mr Thew disapproved of this suggestion. They wanted some one at the head of affairs, and the ratepayers wished it. Post--1 ponement would be unfair to the applicants. They should refer the, applications to the Standing Committee for examination, and report to a special meeting. : Mr Young concurred. The .Board decided that they wanted an engineer. ,:They had important works in hand, and : they had other important works to undertake as soon as they could, in improving the wharfage accommodation. He did not approve. of combining the offices of engineer and secretary. . : Mr Pringle expressed the same opinion, ind agreed with Mr..Thew's, proposal. ■ Mr Lyall had no doubt that an was necessary. He moved that a committee of the chairman and Messrs Macintosh, Young and Turnbull be appointed to consider, the applications, and report the most suitable to a special meeting that day week. The chairman made a statement (in committee) regarding the finances, the state, of which affected his opinion on the question. ' Mr Thew said they must have some one to take charge. ■; The chairman, said he would be glad of an engineer to take the ; responsibility off his shoulders; but they had a first-rate man in Mr Bradley, and Mr; Dobson was willing to act as supervisor. • Mr Macintosh would vote for an engineer if they could go on with the north mole wharf at once, but they could not do that.

Mr Young said they should look forward to doing it soon, and they should have plans and everything ready. An amendment was moved by Messrs Macintosh and Fraser that the question of appointing an engineer be held over till next Board day. Mr Manchester, who seconded the original motion, argued that the absence pf an engineer threw an undue amount of responsibility upon the chairman The ratepayers did not ask the Board to take the responsibility of acting as "engineers. Mr Pringle said the Board had no right to take the responsibility of doing without an engineer to look after things. Mr Skinner .said he nrust vote for the «iotion, as he had voted for applications being called for. Mr Turnbull said he proposed that they should be called for, but he had changed his mind, on seeing what had been done at the quarry, without an engineer, and there was a chance of an opportunity being given to appoint an engineer and secretary combined. Mr Thew believed that an engineer would save his salary, and suggested that the debentures would sell better if they had an engineer. Mr Goodwin thought Mr Bradley was a very competent man, able to overlook the whole work in hand. He quoted the Mackenzie County Council as having a combined clerk and engineer. Mr Manchester said that £4OO was a cheap way of avoiding the responsibility of acting as engineers, and of being bl.imed by the ratepayers for mistakes. Mr Young said the need for an engineer was seen in this, that at the last meeting the Board ordered the sheet-piling of the main wharf, and it had not been looked at.

The amendment was put and lost by six to five, and the original motion was carried, the time of meeting being altered to that day fortnight. Tenders received for timber supplies were referred to the same committee to compare and report upon. Also the question of raising the interest on debentures to the limit allowed by the Act. Mr Macintosh urged that something should be done in, the direction of getting increased wharf accommodation. Accounts were passed for payment, and the Board rose at 3 p.m.