THE EMPIRE'S GATE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2579, 29 September 1915, Page 13

THE EMPIRE'S GATE

ACTIVITIES OF THE PORT OF : LONDON AUTHORITY.. (Special to tho-"Westmiiistcr Gazette.") During tlie unbroken growth of Brit-,;', ish commercial power. tno Thames ha'ssteadily, and surely' become the main gateway of. the Empire's, trade, whilst; London has developed into the clearing- i houso of the whole world., In 1905), after many .years' of unsatisfactory'' divided control;'the Port of London' Authority certain exceptions —appointed the singlo and supreme au-;; tliority l'or the imanagement and devel-' • opinent of the port. 'The sole aim of • tliat' body since its incorporation has ■: been to maintain London as the pre-, mier port and chief market of the v : world; and it "will be readily admitted ; that such a" task is by. no means a. *. light one. But with an annual revenue ' of between tlireo and four millions ;'• sterling, and'.'armed... with, extensive : financial powers,, the members,, under: the able chairmanship, of Lord Devon-'' port, have been able to work wonders ■ during the brief period they have held -, .control. Yesterday, tho General Pur-';. poses .Committee of the Authority made' :• a. tour of inspection of tho-new -works J which are in the course of progress; lii-< ■ eluded, in the company were: . Lord-!' Devonport., (Chairman), ; Mr. J. Gl .: Broodbauk (chairman Docks and Ware-' houses Committee), Mr. W. Varco-Wil-;; liams (chairman River Committee), Mr. l ; C. F. Torry, Mr. J. Duthie, and Mr..: C R. Kirkpatrick (chief engineer). Ajv small party of journalists was also in-! yited to accompany_,.t!io committee upoil|;' its 'extremely interesting'{tour. • ! ' A Colossal Undertaking. Amongst the;, many impressive thirigifc I seen yesterday- perhaps the one which!- i sttuck the imagination most was the, : visit to the Royal Albert Dock Exten-' •- sionf (South), which is now; in process.:, of construction.. The total cost.is csti-': mated at no less/than £2,238,000. Thenew dock, which is immediately south'« of the existing Royal Albert Dock, andclose to. North Woolwich, is in the hands l ,of the world-famed firm of Pearson, and* the extension consists of the formation!; of an enormous entrance lock, 800 ft*.',:. in length, 100 ft. in width, with a depth.';'? of- 45ft., and .with slight modificationwin bo able to>provide accommodation.'; for a boat of the size of the Aquitama'.v. The dock itself is 4500 ft... long, from.: 500 ft. to 700 ft. wide, and ;38ft. deep, ' capable upon completion of providing'; berthing forlfifteen vessels of the largest type.. Already the lock entrance is . well advanced, although neither the," bridges nor gates aro yet in position,'..' all the excavation work is practically 1 .; finished, tho south wall has been .built, v the north wall half comploted, and' the-• dry dock is in. progress. It is interesting. .to . note ..that'tin: 'the! .course- 01..' tlio_ basin, wliero; the 'steam'' navvies are still busy scooping, up the earth, many buried trees have been, uprooted, which geologists state to be over-4000 years old, and which show; evidence of .having been swept down from higher reaches of the river. The -. new' dock will add a further addition - of sixty-five acres.

Improvements at Tilbury. The main dock at Tilbury is being exrtended .and enlarged at a cost ::of £362,000. and wjll afford three berths for boats of the Ceramic type, whilst three miles of new .quay are being contemplated. ,lt is estimated that in six: months the former task will have been ; completed. Work 011 a new tiver cargo ; jetty is also in. a...very advanced stage.-y, '.The: provision . 'of a.' floating -vpassenger; .' landing-stage—after; the .manner of the;-:; famous Prince's ''stage -afc: Liverpool—is" .- receiving consideration from -'the Port:- ', of London Authority, and. the:. Railway.' It is, proposed to be mad© ; ::' 1700 ft. long by 80ft. wide.; Nine new sheds have been erected at Surrey,-, West India, and Tilbury Docks for tin),'; relief of congestion, and three more afcj-; Victoria Dock and MilUvall Dock ato ■ to be put in hand immediately. £130,000,':;: will in- all be spent for. these Cold Storage tor Meat.

At the north-east corner of the Albert; J; Dock a great cold-storage for meat is. v; in: course of construction. The iotal <• storage 1 capacity will be sufficient for-:' 250,001) carcasses of mutton, and, if the v. cold sorting floor be added, for a total-' of 500,000 carcasses. The quays are:'-,' being equipped with crano convenors, which will elevate and convey tho meatfrom tlie hold of the vessel on to; the cold sorting floor, whence it will be distributed by means of band conveyors. Eight internal electric lifts for distribut-.- : , ing the meat between the various floors, and twelve -external lifts for dealing'»>: witir deliveries by road, rail, or barge#'* are being installed. Upon the coniphv/ tion of this work the Port of LondonAuthority will /possess accommodation' for about 1,350,000 carcasses. - Naturally war conditions have interrupted and hampered much of tho work in hand. But it is anticipated that <. withdrawal of labour will not tend to; extend further during the forthcomings months.- The Port of London feels that it is perfonning ,a national sservice, inasmuch as it is essential to-:-, tho success of, the operations of the;,, campaign—especially in regard to trans-.-., port of food and munitions for tli« ■ troops —that the great port of London should be sufficiently, equipped. Gonse-: > quontly, all materials and machinery.;": .needed for dock and warehouse exten-, sions may justly be placed in the cater:, gory of war work, a -position, which thei:.: ; Government- is sure to recognise and':. " admit. -Again, thero arc the days after; the cessation of hostilities to.be con-;, sidered, in which. tho maintenance of - the supremacy of- the Imperial Port, will be of vital importance to the whole Empire; and it is impossible not to recall the memorable words of Pitt upon. / the occasion of the opening of London's, first ship-and-cargo dock in 1800, tlx?, nation being t-liem in the throes of tho-':, Napoleonic wars: "Peace with security,, and honour; war with. unanimity and - vigour."