19 FEET OH THE BAR.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXVI, Issue 13341, 1 April 1911, Page 5

19 FEET OH THE BAR.

—LATEST SOUNDINGS. ‘' " II When, a few days ago, a leas! depth of 18ft on the bar was reported, Mr C. H. H (worth, the il.nlioiir iioaid’s engineer, piedicted that, owing to the stage tu which the harbour works have reached, very rapid improvement might be expected, and he looked to see a uniform depth of 20ft across the whole of the bar channel within two or three weeks. That Mr lloworth’s expectations were more than justified is proved by the fact that the pilot. Captain Mclntyre, on .sounding the bar this morning, found a least depth of 19ft. This was in one place i only, and on either side of this spot tha bottom fell away into deeper water. By the way, it has hitherto been customary to sound the bar with a wooden sounding pole, of course marked off, in feet and inches. Some few weeks ago a new pole had to be obtained, the old one having become too short. To-day, however, it was found altogether too hard work to sound with the pole, as its buoyancy was so much affected by the increased depth that it took some effort to hold it down. In future a properly marked sounding line and plummet will be used. The splendid result so far obtained will be heard of with pleasure by everybody, even by those critics who were beginning to be impatient, and declaring that it ought to have been obtained before. It goes to prove that, but for the unavoidable delays which were beyond the control of the Harbour Board, the expected results on the bar would probably have been accomplished before now.