A TRIP HOME

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 80, 2 October 1933, Page 10

A TRIP HOME

MR. MARCHBANKS BACK

VAST NEW HARBOUR SCHEMES

WORK AT SOUTHAMPTON

Mr. James Marchbanks, formerly general manager, Wellington Harbour Board, has returned to Wellington, via Auckland, which he reached by the I Kemucra on Friday last. | Speaking to a "Post" reporter today, Mr. Marchbanks said that his visit to the Old Country had been most enjoyable, aud most interesting, particularly his visit to Southampton, where is being carried out the greatest; dock and harbour development in England for very many years. England and Scotland, where ho spent a good deal of his time, he found swelteringly hot, from about the cud of April till the end of August. MiI.' Marchbanks said that he made a special trip down to Southampton to sec the new harbour work planned to give greater facilities for tho handling pf tho great- transatlantic and other large passenger boats. Tho work, he said, is now well advanced, but still there is a great deal to be done. A heavy monolithic wall has been built for about a mile and a half in continuation of the former line, enclosing about 400 acres. The monoliths, with steel bases, forming cutting edges, drive down through the gravel banks on which they are formed by their own weight aided by heavy cast-iron canti-1 logo, the material from the interior being removed by grabs. Considerable difficulty was experienced in. some lengths of the walls in sinking tho monoliths to proper depth. The front' of tho wall so formed, continued Mr. Marchbanks, had been dredged to a depth of forty-five feet below low water, to accommodate the largest boats afloat, and the material so, dredged was pumped ashore to form a' reclamation somewhat like the Thorndon reelamatipn, but on a very much larger scale. Two fine sheds, measuring about 850 by 120 feet, had already been built and the. facilities being installed provided for the rapid handling of liners. Previously the great German liners Bremen and Europa had had to lie in the stream at Southampton, but during the time of his visit the arrangements were made for the first -ljerthihg of those great ships alongside. LARGEST GRAVING DOCK IN WORLD. Tho new graving dock at Southampton, he continued, was recently opened, and is the largest in the world. It was designed to accommodate the great Cunard liner now under construction on tho Clyde, but now held up on account' of the difficulties faced by all shipping companies. Whether the construction was to bo put under *way again Mr. Marchbanks said ho could not learn with any degree of certainty, for opinions upon tho point were conflicting. "Tho whole of this great harbour development will run into about twelve .million pounds," said Mr. Marchbanks, "and that figure may give a better idea of the great magnitude of the scheme. The graving dock alone is said to have cost about two million pounds. The work 'is not a Government work, but is owned by the Southern Baihvay Cmpany, though a great deal of the money was found by the Government at a low rato of interest for a number of years. The whole scheme is on a huge scale, tho biggest thing in harbour development for many years." ' STEEL TRADE SLACK. "Very little work was going on in London," said Mr. .Marchbanks, "but I was informed that the; arrivals of shipping wero not materially fower. In Glasgow trade was very slack, and many ships were laid up. This applies practically to all ports. So far as I coitld sec, trade in London seemed to bo good, and the traffic heavier than ever. "In the steel trade things seemed to tyi very bad. Glasgow seemed to l>e particularly affected.) In many of the steel works they were Tunning short, with a small number of furnaces in operation, and ' tho shipbuilding trade seemed to be not nearly as good as it should be. Some contracts have been let for warships there,.which will have the effect of making things brighter, and somo contracts have been let for commercial shipping as well. BUILDING ACTIVITY. , "All over England there seemed to be tremendous building activity. Somo of the houses are being built by the local authorities, and a great many are being financed by building societies, which- seemed to get assistance from the Government. In most cases . the building societies advance the money at about 1 per cent, above what they pay for it, and tho value of tho house was'repaid by tho men for whdm the house was built iv 20 years, by weekly rentals, without deposit. At the end of that time tho house belongs to the man for whom it was built. The life of the houses is said to Tse about 40 years, some of them being built in brick, and others in rough-cast. A great deal seemed to be going on to remove slum areas. RAIL AND ROAD. j "There was a tremendous heavy rail traffic all over England. Hundreds and hundreds of extra trains are being run all through the holiday season, most of them keeping wonderfully well up to 'time. For instance, the Boyal Scot, from London to Glasgow, took 7 hours 45 minutes for a run of 425 miles. Goods services are fully maintained as well, but tho railways are suffering pretty badly from motor competition on the-roads. The motors arc carrying the higher classes;, of freights, I and owing to slackness iii the heavy grades in iron, <sg&\, etc., and other rough materials, tli'e railway slackness is greater than it would normally be." There seemed to bo ample.money in London for all reasonable or legitimate requirements at low .rates. "We camo through Panama, and while there I had th« opportunity, of seeing the gates on ono of. the locks at Mira Fibres being repaired, after twenty years of: service. It was in truly wonderful condition, though the system of construction was planned for long service." . GLASGOW'S PUBLIC ASSISTANCE. Commenting upon: the general position of relief in tho Old Country, Mr. Marchbanks cited somo astonishing figures for the City of Glasgow. Of the total expenditure of £8,343,365, "public assistance" accounted for over 30 per cent., £2,520,238 for the current year, a sum greater than that allocated for education, by approximately one million pounds, and nearly threefold tho umount provided for.public health, five times the vote for roads, streets, and bridges. Parks, gallories, and libraries represented a trifle over 4 per cent., £338,000, and the voto for housing and city improvements was set down at £272,000, or 3.26 per cent, of tho total expenditure. The vote for public assistance in Glasgow alone this year is almost exactly £500,000 more than that for last year.