AUCKLAND ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 856, 30 June 1910, Page 6

AUCKLAND ITEMS.

THE HARBOUR BOARD

'A' DECREASE IN INCOME. (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.! Auckland, June 29. The income of the Auckland Harbour Board showed a decrease during the year lUOil as compared with the preceding twelve mouths, the difference being a matter of £10,406. Wharfage on imports suffered the heaviest decrease, the amount being =£0058, while thero was less revenue by wav of interest on fixed deposit to the extent of .£IO2O, the balance being made, up in smaller amounts on various items. In 1909 rents produced .£i7,l(S3, wharfage on imports accounted for-.£34,338, and refunds .EI69S.

PROPERTY VALUES. As n good' deal of city and suburban as well as country property is changing hands at the present time, and the figures paid seem high in proportion to the rates ruling some time ago, tho "Auckland Star" interviewed several agents to ascertain their opinions as to tho stability of the present market. Some gentlemen, while being of opinion that the present values of property are sound, still expressed a fear that the operations of land syndicates buying up estates and forcing them ou the market would teud to weaken the position. Messrs. Vaile and Sons replied: "Auckland has a great future, and in our opinion within a quarter of a century there will be a population of a quarter of a million in Greater Auckland. There is absolutely no sign of any det-liue iu the value of' land in tho city and suburbs, and in our experience country properties are holding their own. very well iu the matter of price. The recent sale of the D.S.C. proportv for .£79,000 by our firm, and Yates's Buildings for .£28,500, is sufficient answer as to the values in Queen Street. In Wellesley Street, too, the values are evidently going up, as a section there has just been sold for .£SOOO, with, of course, some buildings upon it. Then Karaugahape Road property is also holding its value remarkably well. The section on which the Masonic Hall is situated, which is 33ft. by 70ft., and no back entrance, has just been sold for ,£4250, aud the building is only an old wooden hall that was purchased by tho Masons for £8 per toot, and tho price ■ was considered excessive at that time." Mr. T. B. Clay said: ";\s showing tho enormous increaso in tho value of suburban land, I may mention that, acting in conjunction with M'Guiro and Co., of Hamilton, I have just negotiated tho sale ''of tho well-known property, Willoughby Farm, situated on the slope of Mount Albert. It contains about 83 acres of beautiful volcanic land, and sold at a price approaching .£14,000. Tho property has been iu possession of the vendor's family for the "last (10 years, and was purchased bv them for about .£2 per acre."

EQUIPMENT OF THE PORT. There has just beeu commenced on tho Railway Wharf a work which will add substantially to the equipment of Auckland as a port for oversea shipping, namely, the" erection of twelve electric cranes. Tho material for six cranes has arrived from England, and by the time these are fitted up tho remainiug consignments will havo come to hand. Mr. Ben. Nice, who has come out from England to superintend the work, states .that the whole of tho cranes should bo

•'.vyorking order iu about twelve months' 'tinV> "This method of dealing with cargo has come into vogue greatly during the past eight years," remarked Mr. Nice, "and in fact thero are few large English ports without olectrical cranes. They aro valuable for their safety, their speediness, and their cleanliness." The top of tho structural framework is 50ft. above the wharf, while projecting ~o a still higher altitude is a huge jib with a revolving bed plate which slews rc'uud at any angle desired. This can bo worked at a "minimum radius of 10ft. Gin., or at a maximum radius of 44ft. 9!in. The whole apparatus will bo electrically controlled by current secure from the city supply, and each crane can be handled with ease by one man operating a series of switches at the top of the structural work from which position a full view of a ships hold is obtainable. Each crane is capable of lifting five tons on a singlo rope, and operations can be commenced or suspended within a second.