THE MOTHER RIVER.

Waikato Times, Volume 112, Issue 18805, 29 November 1932, Page 4

THE MOTHER RIVER.

THAMES SIDE JOTTINGS

ROMANCE OF LONDON’S PORT.

THE OLD AND THE NEW.

The following are extract?- from the October number of The P.'L.A. (Port of London Authority) Magazine. A "Pennyworth” Cargo. London recently received a consignment of new flour brought direct from the port of Churchill, on the shores of Hudson Bay, brought in the steamer Pennyworth. “She came from Churchill, after .carrying out the first cargo ever landed at the new Hudson Bay seaport—a small miscellaneous cargo of liquorice-all-sorts, chocolate, ‘undies,' cheese and chicory, spades and shovels, barbed wire, woollens and gloves, cutlery and crockery, glassware, and the inevitable and übiquitous ‘Scotch.’” Walking AcroiTs the River. The anniversaries page includes this item:— “Ilolinshed. the Chronicler, writing of the year 1114. records that ‘ln this year about the 15th day of October, the sea decreased and shrank from the old accustomed watermark? and coasts of the land here in this realm. The Thames was so low for the space of a day and a night, that horses, men and children passed over it betwixt London Bridge and the Tower, and also under the bridge, the water hot reaching above their knees.” London's Coastwise Traffic. “London is . linked with over fifty United Kingdom ports by regular steamship services: others are served ns traffic offers.- Coastal service vessels which used the Port of London last year aggregated 15,101,829 net register tons. The Port of London Authority have from time to time incurred considerable expenditure on accommodation for coasting vessels, notably at the London and St. Katharine Hocks, which are adjacent to the commercial ■ centre -of the city and readily accessible from all parts of London.” They Had Their "Chaoos.” A curious old official notice issued by the East and West India Docks Company in 1886 reads as follows: — "The. Annual Excursion of Messengers will take place on Saturday, the 29th instant (the day appointed for keeping the Queen’s Birthday). The Messengers and the Members of the Brunswick Drum and Fife Band will parade at the Fenchurch Street Warehouse Yard, at 7.15 a.m. precisely,, and after inspection will march to the London Bridge Station of the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway; and proceed to Box Hill by the 8 o'clock train. Messengers will parade in Tunics. Chacos, Belts and Leggings, and must bring their (Treat Coats to parade. Pouches will not be worn.” Sport by the Canal-Side. A writer describes an expedition along the banks of the Grand Union Canal. He says:— “Beyond Acton Lane one comes to a shed marked ‘Rowing Boats for Hire,’ and for several miles farther I encountered quite a number of homely oarsmen and oarswomen; by no means the type seen at Putney, Barnes, or Mortlake, but rather such as sha'me not to display to the world the fact that braces may be no bar to rowing, and indeed may stretch rhythmically over a sound and faithful heart! “Between Alperton and Sudbury the canal skirts a golf course and goes forward between sports grounds and wooded, low hills. Anglers seem to regard both banks with favour and the waters vield fair bags of small roach. In the roughland and fields rather farther on pieknickcrs, angler's, bathers, and even campers, fairly jostle one another in summer, though the doctrines inculcated by the Anti-Litter League have not- penetrated out here.”

Expanding London. \fr A. G. Linney, writing- about; a journey along the Grand Union Canal between Paddington and Brentford. says:— “And running alongside "or near by these open fields, often following the line of the new arterial roads of postwar construction, have grown up new factories and workshops. The cornins of these modern buildings has led not only to sports grounds for .their work-people, but has caused the erection of thousands of bungalows and dwelling-houses beyond what was suburban London ten years ago. This factor, in turn, has made London's Underground spread forth its tentacles even through what was still fields for grazing purposes. Xnne of London’s several canals save the Grand I nlon lias been a consideration with the designers of London’s outmost suburbs, but the facilities for waterborne tralllc by the Grand Union Canal certainly have been a factor weighing with a number of Arms which have constructed works to the north and to the west of the capdal.”

Contrasts at West India Docks,

Reference is made to the demolition of "The Clock Gate” at West India Dock, and attention is drawn to the solid old buildings erected when this dock was made more than a century ago. ••Indeed, the West India Do :ks as they are to-day present an a'mast unique combination of ancieiP and modern. There arc these nhnters to architecture of the days of King George 111., while the steps previously referred ta have provided a capacious entrance lock, cuttings, and other features which are post-War King George V period. Ironshod pillars made to minimise damage from the bowsprit? of sailing-ships contrast with electric runabouts ot; the quays or twentieth century impounding plant. Man’s modern servant, electricity, yields light within warehouses of which the windows were designed rather to resist attack than to allow sunshine to enter.” The Port’s New Skyspan. Describing the carrying of the conductor cables across the River for the new 500-foot tower? on Halfway Reach, the Editor says:—“The span between the towers is 3060 feet; It will give -a sag of 170 feet .and at high water on the tideway there is a space of 250 feet clear. If the P.L.A. floating crane London Mammoth with its jib vertical were to be passing below, there would be a clearance of more than 30 feet.“Beneath the first main horizontal bracing of either tower it would be almost possible to place Bush House; and the tower tops are 120 feet above the level of the cross on St. Paul’s Cathedral. “All vessels coming up to London will now sail beneath thi? sevenfold span supported by ‘eiffelised’ towers which are to be painted red and white in sections so as to be more clearly -defined for aircraft.” Safety Net For Sousers. The' origin of the curious term “sheoak net" i? explained by Captain A. W. Pearse. He says:— “In the days of the windjammers, in the ‘seventies, there was a very potent drink to be had at Sandridge and Williamstown, in Melbourne, called ‘She'oak beer.’ This was said to be made from the bark of the sheoak (tree). One. or two glasses would knock ‘Poor Jack’ over, with the result that a large number of drunken men were drowned when going aboard their ships late at night. To minimise this an Act was passed making every ship hang a net under her gangway before anyone was allowed aboard or ashore. This Act is still in force at all ports; even tlie large passenger ships have-to place .it under their gangways. This net has always been called a ‘sheoak net.’ “Many years ago the plermaster at Sandridge. now Port Melbourne, had a fine Newfoundland dog which followed every drunken sailor down the pier to his ship. If they managed to get safely aboard the dog returned; if the man. fell into the sheoak net he would howl till the man was rescued. Tiie dog never followed a sober sailor.”