TIMARU HARBOUR BOARD.

Timaru Herald, Volume CVII, Issue 16477, 23 February 1918, Page 9

TIMARU HARBOUR BOARD.

'" ■■ ' : MONTHLY MEETING. I " ;' ! .The, monthly, meeting of .the Timaru Harbour Board was neld yesterday, Present—Messrs F. J. Rolleston (chairmain), J. S. Rutherford, C. E. Stiokmgs, D. C -Turnbull, T. D. Young, J. Bitohener, J. M. H. Tripp and J. McKeown. CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT. The chairman said that the new Harbourmaster (Captain McDougall) had taken up his duties at Timaru on February 2, and a-special report would be read from him. A good deal of frozen meat had been shipped from the port during the month, one steamer taking 89,201 carcases from Pukeuri, Smithfield, and Fairfield, while the other took 64,266 carcases from Smifchfield and Pareora. These two shipments represented about half the frozen meat carried over in the works- from last season. It might be interesting to note the difference between the Board's old and new charges on ships.. On ,a big steamer recently here, the* Board had gained £99 as a result of their new charges. The eommitrtlee set up. to go into .the erection of oargo sheds on the. wharf had met, and were now ; awaiting} a reply from the General Manager New Zealand Railways to representations made. The debit balance aft the previous meetano; was £3369 13s Id, and. after r-ayincr tho accounts that day it would be £3364 17s 2d. The receipts for the month amounted to £1570 7s 9d. the chief items being ships' dues £645 13s lid, rents £l2O, wharfage £595 10s. The accounts tr> b» passed that day totan.'d £1564 5* Bd. This sum included about £IOOO for timber for wharf repairs.. In or&ter to meet thi.« pn-vment it had Keen arranged that £2OOO of the £BOOO which the Bonrd had nt call with th«. Boron eh Coun"il should ho repaid. It would suit the Council to do thi<;. and it would sive the Board the difference between the interest the Council paid them and th~ interest +ih<»v had to pay to the Bank on overdraft. THE ANNUAL REPORT.

The chairman suggested a curtailment of the Boards annual report witu a view to economy, and he want into details to show how £2O could- be saved m this way. ' Tho 'suggestions were adopted, and tho tender of the ''Timaru Herald" for printing the report was accepted.

CORRESPONDENCE. A letter was received from Mr J. C. King, "Landsborougli," asking the Board to repair the boundary : fence between his land and the Board's quarries, in terms of their,lease with uim.—-Tho work is being attended to. In reply to an inquiry the Lyotelton Harbour Boarjl advised that tliey did not provide any appliances for the handling of benzine. cargoes. This was in the hands of the Railway Department. Mr Turnbull said- he quite approved of the action of the chairman in deciding nob to allow "the Board's crane to to used for unloading a benzine- cargo at, Timaru. It was too risky, and if anything happened the Board would bo responsible. If ships with benzine cargoes brought thoir own' unloading appliances there would be mo objection to that. It was decided to reply to E. A. Crawford. and Co. (who had previously written on the subject) to this effect. Tho Canterbury Frozen S?-?at Company wrote in reply to a letter from the Board explaining that meat had not beom shipped from their Fairfield works because the whole of their space at Timaru had been taken up by meat from the Pareora works, 'ihe Company had only undertaken to give a reasonable proportion of its output from Fairfield to Timaru, but until the war was over and more satisfactory train arrangements ware in existence it seemed as though the meat output from Timaru would have to be confined to meat from the Pareora works. Tho chairman said it was satisfactory to know that a large quantity of meat from Fairfield had been shipped at Timaru since the previous meeting of the Board. ; The Railway Department wrote ask- | ing for a refund of wharfage charges on a oargo of oversea wheat landed at Timaru lor the Government. The chairman said that the amountinvolved was £143, and an important principle was involved. The regulations bearing on the matter said that Government cargoes were free of such charges, "but not if they were intended for sale for commercial purpopses." This wheat was sold by the Government to millers for commercial purposes, and it seemed to him only fair that the charge should be paid to tho Board. Mr Young said the Government certainly should pay. The wheat was undoubtedly for commercial purposes. It was <3ecided to ascertain what tho Otago and Lyttelton Beards have done under similar circumstances. The secretary reported on inquiries he had made with a view to get'tiii"? more butter and cheese shipped •through Timafn. It was decided that theno inquiries . should l|c further prosecuted.

HARBOURMASTER- S REPORT, The Harbourmaster reported that the. arrivals during the month ct J*™"* wore 26 steam and 1 soiling vessel with an aggregate of 21,342 tons, aaul tho departures were the same. The Harbourmaster also reported on detail requirements, and his suggestions were adopted. RESIDENT ENGINEER'S REPORT. The resident engineer reported that nino pairs of walings and three pairs of braces had been fixed on No. 1 wharf. New davits-were also fixed for the harbourmaster's boat. About half-way along the face of this wharf one of tns fender piles was eatau through, and as it would bo necessary to drive a new pile, he would Lave this done as soon as the berth was clear. He. hao. examined tho boundary fences at the quarry and found that considerable repairs were., nlecessary. The last repairs were made about eight years ago. About 90 posts, 6 strainers and 20 stays were required. Some of the old timber from No. 1 wharf was being cut up for the posts. The. repairs on the ground were now in hand: Maintenance repairs had beeitt done 1© the Hayes and Eraser Street sidings and some shingle put on the approaches to No. 2 and 3 wharves. The. "Pilot" had been slipped on No. 2 slipwav. The site for the new cool stores at the fish wharf had bsen" marked out, and the contractor had made, a start with the erection of the building. On "No. 350" he had had a complete examination made of the engines, boilers, and winches, and with the exception of one or two slight rustpatches tho whole was in good condition. He proposed putting the Taniwba'on No. 2 slip for the annual overhaul at the end of this month, and she -would then be available for lifting ths mooring buoys for cleaning, painting etc.. and would also be ready for anv emergency work that might be needed. (The cost of slipping should be moderate. With regard to the project for obtaining oysters locally he had arranged with those interested for temporary room at low' water level underneath the ballast wharf, until the industry had been fairly tested. ••■ Members agreed that it was' very satisfactory to know that the. dredee would not require to go into flock this vear, as this meant a saving of at least £2OOO. ACCOTTNTS. Accounts amounting to f.1565 were passed for payment and the Board rose.