LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16571, 2 November 1921, Page 7

LYTTELTON HARBOUR BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. The Lyttelton Harbour Board met to-day; present—Messrs J. Storry (chairman), H. B. Sorensen, W. «T. Walter, W. K. Macalpine, T. A. Blackley, R. Macartney. H. T. Armstrong 1 , F. Horrell and 8. K. Sleigh. The chairman stated that during the month the following ordinary receipts had been paid into the Harbour Fund Account ‘Wharfage, £3073 19s 3d; pilotage. £lOl2 lls 9d; port charges, £746 7s 9d; berthage. £410: towage, warps, fenders and electric light. £212 7s 3d; dock and slip, £l6O 14s; storage and cold storage, £1202 3s Id; harbour improvement rate, £1039 8s 9d; sundry receipts, £ll4 3s 8d; and outlying jetties, £11; a total of £7982 15s Bd, as compared with £8844 14s 8d for the corresponding period of last year. The engineer reported that between September 30 and October 6 the dredge Canterbury was engaged at the outer channel whence she removed 13,691 tons, which was pumped into the reclamation. The Canterbury left for Oamaru on October 7 at ll a.m.. and reached that port at 10.30 a.m. on the following day (Saturday). She commenced dredging on October 10, and \ip to October 27 had removed 67,340 tons, principally from the inner harbour, as the weather had been rough most of the month of October. The cutting points of the drag had beei'x damaged slightly by some obstruction in the channel at. Oamaru, but the damage was not sufficient to interfere with her work. The grab dredge Dewhaka was acting for the tug, which was under survey and overhaul until October 22, since when she had lifted 1680 tone from No. 3 E., No. 3 W„ No. 4 E., No. 4 W., and the cat#© jetty. Lyttelton had undergone her annual survey and overhaul, and was in good order throughout. Piles had been driven and caps laid for 200 ft of No. 5 jetty. Floor beams had been laid for 150 ft and lower decking for 120 ft. The Railway Department had made good progress with the erection of the shelter over the railway platform on No. 2 jetty. The engineer also reported that throughout October there had been no shipping delays worth reporting. •A cablegram was received from the Wellman, Smith and Owen Engineering Corporation, Ltd., offering to supply two three-ton cranes similar to the five-ton cranes now on order. The cablegram was considered in committee, and it was decided to take no action. The Blackball Coal Co. and Forbes. Ltd., of Lyttelton, wrote, asking the board to remit a portion of it 9 charges against the s.s. Broxton. These charges, it was stated, had been accepted as a preferential claim to be paid in full, whlla the claims of the petitioners, for actual outlay on goods supplied, w'ere only payable on a reduced basis, as the proceeds from the sale of the ship were not sufficient to meet the claims. In committee, it was decided that tho berthage charges from the time the vessel ceased to discharge cargo until the time when she was again in commission, should be reduced by 60 per cent, subject to the approval of the board’s solicitor. It was resolved to incorporate this decision in the board’s by-laws for future action.