The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1884.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3887, 4 January 1884, Page 2

The Daily Telegraph. FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 1884.

In another column we publish Mr Weber's letter, in which, in adhering to the exploded fallacy of the Tuki Tuki being the source of the travelling shingle, he states we must have misunderstood Mr Goodall's observations. Unfortunately for Mr Weber's theory we did not misunderstand Mr Goodall in an}' way; and, moreover, thcro aro many in Napier whose intimate knowledge of the Kidnapper country and cliffs enables them to confirm Mr Good.-ill's statements Mr Goodall is hardly likely to say llnu there is sufficient shingle at a certain pi ie to account for all that, we have on tho beach if he had not satisfied himself that such was actually the case. Mr Weber's letter goes to show that its writer is not acquainted with (he Kidnappers ; that having walked, perhaps, half a mile above the Clifton station ho jumped to the conclusion that the lino of cliffs was all of the same formation, and has accordingly l:iid it down as an incontrovertible geological fact. We have known other geologists in this colony cquallj- as positive and equally as wrong in their conclusions. Mr Weber will entertain no theory, nor will he accept any statement as a fact that disturbs his preconceived opinion on the shingle question. And it is so refreshing in rending his letter to come across those wonderfully clever authorities he is never weary of quoting — Sir John Coodc and Mr Carrnthers. These two gentlemen know, or did know, as much about Hawke's Bay, if all we heard was true, as it pleased Mr Weber to acquaint them with. We cannot but think that under the circumstances of their visits here it is almost an insult to tho understanding of the residents that either of their names should bo mentioned in connection with tho subject. A hurried visit on a wet day, a glass of sherry in one of the Spit stores, a gallop through tho rain to the Grunge, a little bill for £1000, information entirely supplied by Mr Weber—that was Sir John Coodc's opportunity of becoming a judge of what wo want here ! He knows probably less about this bay than Sir John Hawkshaw or Mr Abernethy, and goodness knows that is little enough. Mr Carrnthers had very few better opportunities of learning anything about our port than had Sir John Co'ode, whoso title, by-tho-bye, no more impresses us than does his harbor at St. Helier's. If Mr Weber thinks that the names of his " host of eminent engineers in the colony " carry any weight with us he is very much mistaken. If those eminent men had had sufficient knowledge of this bay to differ from every conclusion arrived at by Mr Weber that gentleman would have consoled himself by calling his opponents eminent fools. Thoy agreed with him, however, because they did not know better, and were not going to the trouble of finding out. Hence they arc eminent engineers ! This is what tho Timaru Herald says of some of them: —"Now, we know a good deal about Mr Blackett. He is, if our memory does not deceive us, the gentleman who once upon a time proposed, or suggested, or recommended the blowing up of the Timaru breakwater, because Mr Goodall persisted in carrying it on in a solid form seawards, against tho opinions of himself, of Sir John Coodc, Mr Carruthers, and other engineers of more or less note. This was some few years ago, and the breakwater has gradually been wending its way seawards ever since in defianco of outside engineers, of the travelling shingle, and of the most serious obstructionist of all, King Neptune, backed up by the South Pacific Ocean. 'But what about Mr Weber?' W. hear some one of our readers asking— ' Who is he ?' Well, Mr Weber is a firstrate fellow so long as he sticks to the making of roads and bridges. He has designed and carried out many a work in Hawke's Bay and other parts of tho North Island, but wo take the liberty of questioning his knowledge of marine works such as tho construction of a breakwater at Port Ahuriri. He is a great authority on gradients aud curves, but we feel convinced that Mr John Goodall, M.1.C.E., would walk round him and his friend Mr Blackett in the construction of harbor works in a place like Napier. Of course we aro quite open to correction if we arc wrong. We only speak and judge of Messieurs Goodall, Blackett, and Weber by their works, which we know not a little about."