MINISTER FOR MARINE ON TOUR.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2015, 24 March 1914, Page 6

MINISTER FOR MARINE ON TOUR.

AT AOHANGA & AKITIO.

HARBOUR PROBLEM SOLVED.

A WHARF PROMISED. . (By .Teleirraph.—Special Reporter.] Pongaroa, March .23. Two hamdred and fifty thousand acres of land with a carrying capacity averag- . ing a, sheep and a half to 1110 aero will be served by a harbour at Akitio. This fact aiul many otliera.besides were put ■before the Hon. F. M. B. Fisher, Minister of Marine, who visited tho -.landings at Aohanga. and Akitio, distant 19 miles and 21 miles respectively from .■" ,Vongaroa. ■ • I ••, A yVisit to Aohanga. ■ First Mr. Fisher. visited Aolianga. which is the placo where a. number or PvOngaroa settlors aro anxious to. persuado Mr. Fisher to a\:thorise theconstnicfcion'of a , harbour. The site is at tho mouth of -the' Pongaroa River. 'About a. quarter of a. mile out from tho mouth is a shifting sandbar, negotiable, at different parts on different days by surf boats, bnt never by steamers of however light draught. The mouth of tlio river- is blocked by a big 'rock, •which Would' have to be blasted away to ■.mako the river navigable, but inside the narrow mouth is a basin of some depth. In this a few of the Pongaroa people seo tho beginnings , of a harbour for coastal vessels. When the. Minister visited tho place the break of surf-.was heavy on the bar, l and the whole boulderstrewii beach, with rocks hereand there, was beaten by a fairly heavy surf. Al- . ' though the wind was light from tbo south-cast, it would have been impossible on the day to load cargo on that '. lieach. Further, .there was no evidence of any cargo having been shipped or 'landed at tho place for many months, and there aro* no sheds or other facilities ou the spot.. There was evidence; furnished mostly by Captain Pederson, of Messrs. Richardson and Company, that the beach'at Aohanga is always i difficult and very often impossible.

! ■... . The Scene at Akitio. .' ■ : At Akitio there aro sheds for the storage of wool and cargo, and there was inward cargo' awaiting- delivery to the consignees, and also outward cargo awaiting shipment. Tho steamer Ripple •arrived while the Minister was on tho spot, and although sho could not wait to tako in or'dischargo cargo owing to an appointment'" at . Castlepoint, the master sent out a surf boat, and the Minister was given. a practical demonstration of how cargo could be handled. Tho landing is about half a mile south of tho mouth of the Akitio River, sheltered by a reef from all weather except the easterly and winds. The south-easterly is felt more or less, but the' southerly' not at, all, and in the district tho prevailing winds are from the west and'north-west. These latter ■ ivinds blow off shore, and the Sea is then calm, and the anchorage would be perfectly safe for the biggest.; ocean liner. There is a wharf, partly in ruiu, but still standing, which, was erected by a timber company ten years ago, and the wharf was not built of ironbark, but » simply of any sort of • timber readily available. 1 - -The fact that'this wharf has ■stayed'so long is put forth s>s..proof that a wharf will stand tlie weather there. They now ask that a low wharf, Say ,fivß! feet'above high waror level, : ,should.bo ruin'out far enough to permit of small coasters berthing alongside to tako .in "or discharge cargo. It happens that .the foreshore belongs -to Mr. Frank -Armstrong, of 'Akitio Station, and he also owns the store and the appliancos in it. There is an up-to-date, dumping plant, and tho' shed has space for 400 dumped bales. The material is landed, however, to double the size of : tho shed. Nothing whatsoever has been done at. tho landing by the Government, yet the placo serves a very large area of country, and will shortly, upon the completion of bridges, serve a much bigger area--towards , . Weber and. Titrco Point . districts. , - «M 1 the AohaJiga produce came to Akitio la's.t year, and the 'Aohanga clip was shipped Jrom Aohanj£a last season, but it was July before it could be taken off, and this-year it was sent to Akitio. Tlie facilities there are more "or less primitive as , compared with those offering in a big port, but the Popple, which .now calls every week, can load 500 bales of wool-in one day. Akitio and Aohanga are six or seven tniles distant by road,- and the road runs over two rather big ' hills. Whatever is done at Aohanga, the wool from Akitio and district, and also all tho. wool which will come from the north side of the Akitio River, as soon as the bridge is finished, will never go-past Akitio. The contract for this bridgo is expected to I)u completed in two months.

Freezing Works at Akltio. At present settlers in the district are .debarred by the distance of the drive necessary to - roach the rail from participating in the fat-lamb trade. They fire compelled to keep the sheep o,ver for nnothor year, and then very few of them do much freezing. The depreciation on the road and train journey to the seaboard is too great. ■ The effect of the establishment of Works on tho coast at Akitio would be prodigious. Tho road drive would 1)b reduced to an inconsidnrablo one for many settlers, and would be reduced by more than half to those around and bejcond Pongaroa and . southwards and Westwards of the Akitio River. The country is rich and wholesome, and the and cattle are of tho very best in the island. These would bo an ample supply to keep the works runnine, for much stock that would come to Akitio does not now go to any other freezer. The landing is snug atnd safe then that naturally existing at Tokoniaru Bay. whore freezing works are established. Bic steamers with cold storage- could lie nff and take alioard tlie meat with safety and moderoto expedition.

MR. FISHER'S DECISION. A WHARF AT £15,000. Tho Hon. F. M. B. Fisher addressed a public meeting at Pongaroa this evening. Although it wasM'aining steadily and the roads were very muddy indeed, there were about 150 people present, some of them coming from 20 miles distance. The Minister was givei; a most friendly r_eception, and he was frequently applauded. Mr.' R. B. Robertson, county chairman, presided. Mr. Fisher made an important statement .about the proposed -harbour scheme and what ho was willing to offer on behalf of the Government. There had been reports made in tho past for the Marine Department upon schemes at Aohanga and Akitio. When he had given instructions that Mr. Louch should come up,-a great dealof uproar and commotion had been raised. Chambers of Commerce had passed hur<ricd resolutions without thinking of them, and he had thought that tho best thing that ho could do -was to come up with tho best engineer in New Zealand and look into the job on the spot. That was the reason for his presences in tho district! With Mr. Holmes they had been down and visited Aohanga and Akitio, and ho believed they had sean both places under favourable conor under, such'condition's ns to enable , one to- form- a sound judgment. There wero no politics in tho question. Onq of the two points was in. Pahiatua, aid one was in Masterton,

and the members far both of theseelcctorates supported the Government party. Hβ hoped that the scheme ho was about to outline, which would be his final decision, would bo supported by everyone in thp countryside, and that they would not start civil war about it. If they were going to carry through any schemo to do good they must not fight about it amongst themselves. Aohanga Considered Impossible. The result of his visit had been that they regarded Aohanga as practically impossible. Something might bo done with it if enough money were avail-, ablo, but. the Government had not enough money to spend to ,make such a port there as tho advocates of the Aohanga schemo hoped for. Mr. Holmes had advised that tho Akitio River was also impossible. Whatever work was dono would have to be dono at tho present landing or tho beach where tho old wharf at present stood. The proposal he had to make, and he had discussed it with some of the leading peoplo of the district who had all looked upon it favourably, was that the Government should mako under the shelter of the reef a wharf which might bo anything up to 900 feet in length. One of tho great drawbacks of 'the present system was that they had to pay 6s. per ton for Stirling imd a 'wharf vould do away with surfing. Alongside this wharf they would be ablo to bring a vessel like the Hippie to discharge or load cargo. Also, there were the usual facilities for~a big liner' to lie off and receive cargo. Mr. Armstrong, of Akitio Station, owned the beach and landing sheds. Me had offered to vest tTie whole of his property at tho landing in the Marino Department if .the Department would go on with tho wharf. (Applause.)

Freezing Works Neoessary. That was a very generous r ffer, and a veny good start, and the cost of the work would not bo less than £15,000, but ho would make- it a condition if the Government guaranteed to carry out tho work, that the settlers in the •district should get the capital together which they could easily do, and which seme of the settlers assured him they wero quite willing to do, for tho establishment of a 'freezing w.orks at Akitio. This would enable 'the Tesidents' of the district to get their fat stock away without tho long Toad and railways journeys necessary now. Ho presumed they could put tho work up for £60,000, and there should be enough sheep in the district to keep tlie works running if they were started.

One of the effects of tho building of a freezing works would be to.cuise the district to bo more closely settled, and there was plenty of room- for this. There had been more people here and the district would produce double what it was at present producing. He thought it a fair proposal 'that the Government, while offering to undertake the' important work of opening a permanent port for the district, .should ask the settlers to put \i\> freezing works, wliich would be of immense benefit to them all.. (Applause.) . , ■

, If they would 1 take up liis proposal he'would do all in his power to see that tlie scheme to build a wharf was parried to a successful conclusion. Freezing works uould inevitably fce therp some day, and it was fair for tho Government to ask that the.local enterprise should be'kept with the Government enterprise. He hoped there would be no further squabbling about whether Akifcio or Aohanga should bo tlie port. Tile plain English of it was that. Aohanga wag absolutely hopeless, and it was no use wasting breath about it, and in three months the Estimates would be under consideration, and in that time the settlers should make up their; mind < s. The works, he understood. wouH'.tako two'years "to erect, and the Government would have tint time in which to carrv out the work of building the wharf. He honed that thn visit of the engineer and himself would do the district no harm. (Applause.) Mr. Sykes and , Mr. Escott, mombers fed- Mastertoi and Pahiatun. respectively both snoke in terms of strong approval of Mr. Fisher's scheme, and at the call of the chairman tho audience gave three cheers for tho Minister.