LIGHTHOUSE ON TERAWHITI.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 507, 14 May 1909, Page 6

LIGHTHOUSE ON TERAWHITI.

0 •_ HON. J. A. MILLAR SAYS IT IS NOT NEEDED. x ; &T TELEGRAPH—PRESS ASSOCIATION.) . „ „ , Chrlstchurcb, May 13. The Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister for Mar-, ine, referred in the. course of an interview yesterday to'- press criticisms of his refusal to erect a lighthouse on Terawhiti. A reporter drew the Minister's attention to the published opinions of a number of wellknown sea captains, and Mr. Millar replied that these opinions, which urged the necessity for'a light on the Point, did'not alter his opinion in the slightest. : "No matter wha.fc these. shipmasters say, l am convinced that there is no necessity for the light," said Mr. Millar. "There are quite as many shipmasters in the trade whoso. opinions are that a light at Terawhiti is not a necessity. I have their opinions, which havo also been ' given in the Wellington press. The whole of the evidence in connection' with the Penguin disaster 'was before tho assessors in the inquiry and subsequent appeal, and no recommendation was mode rn favour of an extra light. The most effective means of dealing with a place like Terawhiti by means of submarine fog signals, and if owners of ships like to fit up the necessary appliances I would be quite prepared to arrange for one to be put down at Terawhiti. In foggy weather the signals havo been heard up to a distanc© of 16 miles. The appliances. are not expensive,- being simply the placing of tanks in the fore part of a ship, from which wires are attached to telephones on the bridge. All that an officer oiv the bridge has to do is to hold the telephone to his ear occasionally until he heare the sound of the bell. Another great advantage of tho system is that only the bell on the side on which the danger lies is sounded, and if you wish to bring a ship right on to it you bring her up until the bell rings in:both telephones. This, to my mind, would be far more effective, for the purpose of _ avoiding danger on those points whero ships have to come round pretty close than would be the provision- of another light. I havo travelled up and down the Strait as often as most men, and I havo been all round these coasts when there were far fewer lights than there are to-day. For years I was doing nothing else than travelling through Cook Strait, bo I am not talking without experienoe." /