HARBOUR BOARD.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, Issue 18084, 2 June 1923, Page 13

HARBOUR BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING.

Tho monthly meeting of the limaru Harbour Board was .held yesterday, i’resent — Messrs D. C. Turnbull, 1. B. Garrick, I°. V. Lysaght, J. b. Rutherford, A. It. Guild, W. 1. ltitchio, J. P. Murphy, H. B. &. Johnstone, J. Kennedy. W. Hayman, it. It. Icaac, and J. Bitchener, M.P. THE CHAIRMANSHIP. Mr Turnbull said he had thought that lie had been elected chairman of the Board at the previous meeting, when the secretary had' declared that the voting was live for him and four against. He found on reading the “Herald” next morning, however, that the voting had been even five for himself and five for Mr Hayman. He had immediately written to Mr Hayman, stating that under the circumstances he would relinquish the chairmanship, and either call a special meeting to have the matter settled, or leave it over tilt the next ordinary meeting. 'Mr Hayman had suggested that he (thjp speaker) should carry on till the next ordinary meeting. Mr Haymgn said he would not care to take the chairmanship under the circumstances, hut would prefer that Mr Turnbull should carry on. Perhaps at some future time he would.take tho chairmanship, if it was desired that he should do so. Had Mr Turnbull sought to retain tho chairmanship ho (the speaker) would have pitted his strength against him, but he had written him a very nice letter and had acted the part of a gentleman, and under tho circumstances ho would prefer to see Mr Turnbull retain the chairmanship.

After discussion it was unanimously j decided that Mr Turnbull should rc- > tain the chairmanship, Mr Isaac re- ; marking that they should not blame j the secretary for the little error that | had been made, as they all had eyes, j and were just as much responsible for ! it as he was. i CHAIRMAN'S STATEMENT. I Mr Turnbull then took the chair, and | made an important statement (which is 1 reported in another column), j Mr Turnbull added that members ; v. mild he pleased to learn that Mr C. X. Orbell had now sufficiently rccovor- [ eel from his indisposition as to be able , in leave tho hospital for his home. | The financial statement was *satisi factory, the month closing with a cres* dit balance of £539. ’ There were no. ; big items either in the receipts or the ; expenditure. | CORRESPONDENCE. i The Master of the s.s. .Waikouaiti, j wrote, in reply to a Jeter sent, expressing tlic opinion that a fog signal at the end of the eastern extension would bo very useful: As an alternative he suggested a whistling buoy half a mile from tho entrance to. the harbour. ' Tho Board has written to the Marino Department asking permission to ; move the electric siren which is used | ! for announcing “knock-off” and “turn- | ing-to” time, to the end of the eastern ! extension, where it could be used as a : signal for ships in foggy weather. No i reply lias yet been received from tho j Department. I TENDERS. i | Eight tenders for sixteen cast iron , bollards were received, and that of ' Wallace and Cooper, at £I2S, was ac- ! (opted. The highest tender was £193. Tho chairman said it was satisfactory ; to find that a local firm had put in tho lowest tender. HARBOUR MASTER’S REPORT. The Harbour Master reported that the port had been visited by a fair number of vessels during the month, iicl promised to finish up 25,000 tons ahead of the corresponding period last i year. | RESIDENT .ENGINEER'S REPORT. j The Resident Engineer reported that | since the previous meeting there had I been a persistent range in thei harbour | for several days, duo to the easterly j direction of the seas. The shipping suf- ; fered some, inconvoniemco and tho j dredge was delayed for three days. Tho ; weather was generally unsuitable for i work in the outside channel, and thei | dredging operations had been confined to tho inside, on a cut about 60 feet 1 from, and parallel to tho outer portion of tho Novell Mole, where 20,000 tons

! of spoil had been dredged and dumped ; at sea. At the quarry some clearing | had been done, and fencing completed, f Kor the purpose of keeping the land ! clear of gorse, etc., an area of a littlei j more than two acres had been planted I with 1900 pinus insignus trees, spaced j about seven feet apart. j THE ESTIMATES. j Estimates for 1923 were submitted as * follows: — | : Revenue. —Credit balance on Janu- | ary 1, 1923, £2519, wharfage £13,000, j ships’ dues £14,500, rents £2363, superj animation, subscriptions, etc., £705, ' Hayes and Eraser Street sidings (ronj tabs) £302, Harbour Improvement ! rate £3OOO, sundry receipts £550, bar- ! hour rate (£18,750,000 at £d in the £) J £9765; a total of £46,703. Expenditure.— Dredging £10,646, dredge “Tanhvha” £BS, repairs, renewals and maintenance of No. 1,2 and 3 wharves, £990, capstans No. 2 wha-ri, £IB6O, current and maintenance of capstans, No. I, 2, and 3 wharves £3lO, bollards £195, Hayes and Eraser Street sidings £SBO, improvements to electric lights £25, siren—cost and maintenance, £56, repair's to end of North Mole £IBO. repairs to Eastern Extension mole £l5O. extension of No. 3 wharf £2600, tramline, cranes, fencing, quarry and clearing, etc. £l4O, contingencies £453, Harbour Master s department £3500. ' salaries (secretary s and engineer’s departments) £I2OO, general- expenses £6OO, Hayes and Eraser Street sidings (working agreement) £387 10s, commission payable to Railway Department for collecting - wharfages £325, superannuation contributions £1390. accident insurance £l5O, interest on loans £16,645, sinking fund £3329. On these figures, said the chairman, there would be a surplus of £9Jo iUs at the end of the year. SHELVED. Mr Isaac suggested that a special meeting of the Hoard should be hold to consider in detail the suggestions made by the chairman. He complained that ho had been trying to get the Board to more for the past four years, imt had never been able to get it to | investigate anything. He had been Eromised an inquiry on one occasion, ut in the end liis suggestions had been shelved. He wonderod whether the suggestions made by Mr Turnbull that morning would meet a similar fate. The engineer and harbourmaster were called in, and members discussed with them, in an informal way, various aspects of harbour improvement, including the depth of water, shoaling, etc. It was decided that the matter should be further discussed at next meeting of the Board. , GENERAL.

It was decided to allow Messrs Harris and Nicholls, wool scourers, Washdyke, a rebato of Is per bale on. all scoured wool re-shipped by them since Eohrnary 17. This had not been given before an account of an oversight on the part of the firm named. It was decided to h%vc tho brick wall on the south side

.Board’s houses at Eversley, oiled. Mr Guild drew attention to the charge made bj r the .borough Council toi- cur re ns for the electric capstans on. the wharf, and said he thought the Council should he again approached for a reduction iu the charge. He moved to tins effect. Air Isaac said the charge was cert;uuly unreasonable. Mr Guild's motion was seconded by Mr Johnstone, and carried unanimously. 1 ACCOUNTS.

Accounts, amounting to £615 15s 9,d, were jiassed ior, payment.