CAMOUFLAGE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXVI, Issue 17394, 3 October 1918, Page 3

CAMOUFLAGE.

(To the Editor.) Sir, —I notice that, the chairman of the Harbour Board has once more come to the rescue, in an attempt to bolster up the disgustingly haphazard policy of harbour improvement, which has been the subject of so much adverse comment. , His explanation, suported by the report of the Harbourmaster, may go down with some, although he evidently builds a good deal more on the alleged lack of modern appliances for the satisfactory discharge of coal at the gasworks wharf than the inside "bar." One would expect the captain of the "Inga" to have made comment upon this matter; he however draws attention to the lack of water in the channel as the subject of his grievance. There must be something wrong 1 somewhere. The conditions prevailing in 1913 should not be used as a set-oft' against the conditions now existing. Efficiency being sounded from every quarter, and, when shipping is so scarce, the shipping companies through their masters have every right to express themselves in tones of warning. There is is too much of the notion "Est, este!" abroad amonr Wanganui's public men, and especially the Harbour Board,, that as things are so they should remain. As a matter of fact the present source of impediment to navigation in the vicinity of Mitchell's old works is a sample of the Harbour Board's Patchwork policy. !n the days of poor water upon the bar there was at the Landguard Hiujf a deep water anchorage, where upon occasion, vessels loaded wita timber swung at anchor pending oonlKions which would enable them tc cress the bar. Then came the dredging of the flats, and the spoil was pun.<ptd over the training \\l.Us with :-o ettempt to hold it there. The result was that the current which Tc'Ji in the vagrant chanr.^l, and Avbich still runs there, as any can s;-e for themselves, carried out the best part of the spoil into just the very spot which is the cause of the 'lnga's" complaint. No, the explanation will not go down; try again, .Mr Bignell. This game of bluff does not >ay, as has been exemplified to a remarkable degree in the South Spit erosion. How Mr Williams was laughed to scorn when he pointed out the danger; but it isn't the first time Mr Williams has "won in" on the remainder of the Board, and I aver it will not be the last. It must have made the good folk of AVanganui open their eyes when they saw the s.s. Ngatoro (after being lightened, of course) berthed at the town wharves, and I know many have since expressed the opinion that the river channel up to town should be possible for vessels of her type to work at any time. But the Harbour Board refuses to consider proceeding with the harbour at Castlecliff or to improve the estuary. It is quite contont to know that the "Kaione" is lying tied up at Port Glasgow rusting and eating up interest upon a larger sum than one likes to think of_ It is time the Board took the ratepayers slightly into their confidence in this matter, as there is an element of mystery surrounding the "Kaione," and rumour is abroad of an "arrangement' which is not to the advantage of the Port of Wanganui. But the most striking thing of all is the embargo now placed upon the meat liners visiting our roadstead. People of Wanganui, do you realise what