THE MAKING OF A GREAT SEAPORT

Evening Post, Volume CXIX, Issue 33, 8 February 1935, Page 21 (Supplement)

THE MAKING OF A GREAT SEAPORT

NEW Zealand is richly blessed with natural harbours, and it appears that from the earliest periods of European colonisation New Zealanders have been distinctly "harhour conscious." So much so that great sums of money^have been spent on artificial as well as natural harbours. Some of these man-made havens for ships have been so costly that they have^ become a liability rather than an asset, and in some instances—Qpunake, for example— all that remains of the projects is a burden of debt. With the increasing efficiency of land transport it would appear that the shipping activities of the Dominion will become more and more centralised, and the greater the tendency in that direction the greater will be the importance of the Port'of'Wellington, which ■was aptly referred to by the Duke of Gloucester as "one of the vital links of the Empire in peace and war, a haven for shipping of all classes and flags, and a hospitable resting-place for seamen of every country." The waters of Port- Nicholson, with- its elaborate facilities, form one of the great harbours of the world. The chronicles of this noble gateway to New Zealand's capital city cover but a short span in history, but they constitute, a romantic :record of adventure, enterprise, andTForesight, parallel-

ing the phenomenal progress of a British Dominion -whose exports per capita in volume, if not at present in price, are the largest in the world.' „ For more than twenty-years after the first settlers landed in 1840 there were really no deep v water wharves, and it was not until the construction of the Queen's "Wharf in the sixties that ocean-going vessels were able to come alongside. __ In the meantime there were a number of private wharves or jetties running out from different points along the beach, and these were used; by coastal ships and lighters from larger vessels. These wharves were swept away by the various reclamation schemes, which ... pushed Wellington's, shore Jine far out into the > ;{; deeper .waters, of, the,inner harbour.; 'y^'-'f QUEEN'S WHARF '■ STARTED. •.;■■';■ Although the question of building a deep- • water wharf was considered in 1852 by the ;:Legislative Council of the province of New t ; Munster,;o£ which Wellington was the ; seat-of, .government, the. town had to wait ten.years :; Jfpr the completion of the project. In 186]. the! 'Provincial, Council decided on the site-for the wharf, and, passed an Act authoris-; /ing.the-Superintendent, of the province to go pfoJ^?d With theJwork of construction." By, : -tMs^timeJandhad been reclaimedtowards what ; ■ lis now; Panama; Street.: Tenders were called on i |i;October;-21j, ,186i,;f or the construction of a 35jft wide^toextend SOOft from the sea /•■ww;;lp:.a-;crpss-head/sb'ft wide, making a,total ;-length; 550 ft At;3ooft from the sea-wall : extend on bothsides, 35ft wide and. :'7sft long. Four tenders were received,/.and ; ;that;of McLaggan and Thompson' (£15,420) ;^a^^accepted." The "contractors had decided-to: ; 9b^ain the tnnber for /the piles (heart timber) from the Wairarapa, but the roads were imp ass- \, ableas the result of floods, and the timber was obtained from Foxton. It is noteworthy that ■ the casket presented to the Duke and Duchess of York on the occasion of their visit to Wel- : lington on March 7, 1927, was made from a piece of an original pile which, having been ■sheathed, was splendidly preserved. The first ; pile of the wharf was driven on April 27, 1862. -. Since 1863 the wharf has been altered, extended, and- enlarged on no fewer than thirteen . occasions, the last job being the reconstruction of the approach to the tees in reinforced con- ; crete in 11924-25. The inner tee of the original qvharf is now embodied.in the breastwork ex- • .tending on each side of the wharf after pass- : ing jthrough the gates. The woodwork of the approach was removed in 1889. The :; present Harbour Board offices were erected in f 1892 on feclaiined land. : ; /The';first!important extension was commenced .;in:,;lß6s,; :just:seventy; years ago, and contem- {^??& OP? with the establishment of the "EvennS's?O3t'"; The-plans provided for an exten- , 'siori?of; the- wharf; by 200 ft, with a further orpss-head ,^3oof 1: long and 50ft wide. This, it was: estiniated, would give a depth of 26ft at i lowr^tide; Provision was also made for a five- ■ ton stea^i. crane. The work was completed in Jiane, 1867. The cross-head; is. now part of ; the:; present outer tee, and was widened and lengdiened greatly in 1885 and lengthened again ; : in 1894^.bringing it into its. present shape. The peculiar part, about the work in 1865 was that ;it was in iron, the only example in the whole ■of the Harbour Board's works. MAIL STEAMERS. Provision had now been made for steamers large enough to carry a regular mail service between Ne.w. Zealand and G-jeat Britain^ T.h§

kept'their ships up to man-o'-war standard, not the least of^ their novelties being the firing of guns on their arrival and departure. .However, the ships were not suited to long voyages and broke down.. They were withdrawn before the contract: expired. The mails were then transhipped at Honolulu. Mails were carried by the Australian and American Steamship Company from 1874 to 1875, but the service was not satisfactory to the New Zealand Government and soon ceased. The San Francisco mail service was carried on from 1876 to 1886 by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, and after that by the Oceanic Steamship Company in conjunction with the Union Steam Ship Company. Since 1909 the service, has been regularly main-tained-by the, Union Company. By-1876 the Chamber of Commerce was asking for further and immediate extensions of wharf facilities. It was pointed out that the increase of trade to the port was fulfilling that which had been Ipng felt, and Wellington was the natural centre of communication for. : both islands. There ■ were also protests from the chamber against: administrative r.eg ulations, which, it was alleged, were calculat ed to cripple business

The management of the wharf was a job that the Provincial Council began to find troublesome in 1868, and three years later the Council, though still retaining control of the harbour generally, sold its interest in the wharf to the City Council, for £31,000, an additional £25,000 being paid for reclaimed land taken over with the wharf. The-City Council took

Panama boats were running at this time—mails over its management in 1876, appointing a being railed across the isthmus—and steam -special committee of management communication with the other parts of the „, „ r colony was being actively carried on by the .< HARBOUR BOARD CONTROVERSY. vessels of the New Zealand Steam Shipping The formation of an independent board to Company and others. A regular mail service administer control of the harbour had long was also borne between New Zealand and Aus- been an ideal of the Chamber of Commerce tralia by, the Panama, New Zealand, and Royal and at one stage it voiced the opinion that Mail Company. With the disappearance of probably the best solution of this question might this company the American mail service was be found in giving to the municipal corporataken up by the Australian Steam Navigation tion the powers of a harbour board to°-ether Company, which employed the City of Mcl- with suitable endowments. A year later"howbourne, and the, Wonga Wonga to run from ever, the chamber seems to have changed its Sydney to.San Francisco, calling at Welling- .view', and/after pointing to the fact that the ton en route. Their career was short,-for the charges in Auckland and Dunedin, where harsteamers were too small for the long journey hour boards were operating, were lower than across the Pacific. in Wellington, expressed the opinion that a in 18/0 there followed the Califomian, New separate authority should be set up. A long Zealand;, and Australian Steam Packet Line, drawn-out controversy followed, with the City whose ships, the Nebraska, Nevada, and Dakota, Council championing its right to control the were perhaps the most interesting vessels that port. There were'several deputations to the had Yished_New Zealand since the days of Tas- Government, and frequent conferences between man and Cook. They were wooden paddle the contending interests. In. June, * 1379 a steamers, built for sendee during the Ame.ri- v strong deputation in favour of a harbour bpard can Civil War, their fearful and wonderful waited on Sir George Grey, the then Prime beam engines never ceasing to he a source Minister, and he replied that Wellington must of astonishment to New Zealanders. Their become an emporium: of progress, and this more captains had been in the American Navy, and speedily than most people thought. Large jium-

hers of'people were corning here, arid the place would soon become a. great commercial, depot. ■ It was therefore the duty of the Government to build up institutions for the government of. a great city such as Wellington would be in a few years. There niust be some; body responsible for the management of the harbour. Of that he was perfectly; confident. <;The passage of the Bill was held up by the defeat of the Grey Government; but the Hall Government, which followed, gave facilities to the measure, and the^Act came into:force as from January 1, 1880.' It provided for a board, of ten members, three of whom were appointed by the Governor, one elected by the Chamber of Commerce, the Mayor of Wellington ex officio, one by the Hutt County Council, one by the county councils of Wairarapa, and one by the shipping and mercantile interests. The first election was

held in the following February, and on the 20th of that mpnth the first meeting of the newly-constituted board was held. The board engaged two rooms from the New Zealand Shipping Company at a rental of £50 per annum, and it began its administrative career by taking over from the Government the Railway Wharf, built in 1879, and the adjacent breastwork of Waterloo Quay. On October 1, 1881, the board acquired the Queen's Wharf and bonded warehouse, the hulk Omega, and air the existing plant, for which it paid the sum of £64,000,: of which £25,000 was paid in three months, and the balance of £39,000 on February 28, 1907. The board thereupon became the sole administrator of the affairs of the port, undertaking the duties also of wharfinger. Under an amending Act of 1901' the number of members was increased from 10 to 11, the additional member being elected to represent the Manawatu district as far north as the Rangitikei River. The representation of the Wairarapa was also extended. There was -another adjustment in 1910, when the number of members was increased, to 14. The special representation of the City Council and the Chamber of _ Commerce was abolished, arid the membership nominated by the Government reduced

frbm three to one. The franchise was also liberalised.

ties by assets. Indeed, the board was mulcted of one endowment when the Featherston reclamation, where the Government Printing Office now stands, was taken for that purpose; and though pleasant things were said by successive Ministers admitting that some recompense was due, and an endowment block in the Mangatainoka district was talked of, nothing has ever been done. -The board has, in fact, bought or made what land serves the purpose of endowments, and has been given none that are substantially remunerative. The reclamations, however, are valued at over £500,000. That portion of the foreshore' between high and low water is vested in the board, and is valued at only £500. This strip of territory is probably the board's most valuable asset,'as everything that can be claimed on the seaward side becomes the board's property. The total storage accommodation is 11,098,600 cubic feet, and in its plant and equipment the Wellington Harbour Board far outstrips the other boards of the Dominion. In March, 1932, the Jubilee floating dock arrived in the port after a record tow, and in April of that year the dock, which has a capacity of 17,000 ton's, successfully lifted the Ruahine, which has a dead weight of 11,200 tons. It was an eventful

day for the port. The equipment also includes an 80-ton floating crane, and. a 35 : ton; fixed hydraulic crane at Jervois Quay, having alongside it 24 feet at low water, and similar cranes of 20 tons and 10 tons at the Railway and Queen's wharves. There are well over 100 other cranes of different types, hydraulic .■wool presses, and a battalion of tractors and trailers. The board has also an ocean-going steam tug (rescue class) fitted with modern fire-fighting or salvage appliances.

The history of the Harbour Board is one of efficient and far-sighted administration, and its policy has been carried out by men of marked ability. The aim of successive boards has been to be just ahead of the requirements of the trade of the port, and its finances have been prudently guarded. When the board was first constituted, it was practically penniless, and had to seek assistance before it could pay some £20 owing to the returning officer of the first election. Yet in fifty years it has managed to accumulate assets valued at £3,067,527, though it; has expended, doubtless to the benefit of the city in many ways, something like £11,000,000. Although the board does not enjoy any substantial endowments, as most other ; boards do, there has been a steady overhauling of liabili-

The loan liabilities of the board and accounts due total approximately £1,260,275, and this amount is offset by sinking funds aggregating £642,088. The excess of assets over liabilities is £1,165,164, and the board's financial policy is one of-steady debt liquidation. Not only in its financial policy is the board looking ahead. The berthing plan, which was

issued. in January 1934, provides for the construction of five new wharves. Two of them will jut out from Fryatt Quay to the, east of the Pipitea Wharf, and the other three will be between the Taranaki. Street Wharf and the Clyde Quay Wharf. Provision has thus been made for berthage accommodation for many years to come; The board has also foreshadowed development of air transport, and plans are in handfor the construction of a seaplane base in Evans Bay at the site of the Patent Slip, ;■ THE BOARD'S ' CHAIRMEN. The first chairman of the board, Mr. W. H. Levin, occupied that position for two years. ,^His successor was Mr. W, H. Jackson, another member

of the original board, who had , one term only. The third chairman was. Mr. ,E. Pearce, who held office from 1883 to 1886, and again in 1892. Mr. Pearce was a member of the board for over 16 years. Mr. John Duthie preside*} over the board in 1887 and 18<38, and in the two following years the chairman was Mr. H. Rose, whose'membership of the board extended from 1880 to 1898. Then came Mr. W. Booth, another member for 18 years, and Mr. J. H. Cock, both of whom presided for one year only. Mr. John Jack was chairman in 1893 and 1894, and in the two succeeding years the office was held by Mr. T. J. W. Gale. . Mr. F. H. Fraser was also chairman for two years, and his total length of service on the board extended from 1892 to 1910. He was followed by Mr. J. Hutcheson, who held office in/1399 and 1900, when he was succeeded ly Mr. H. (now Sir Harold) Beancharap, vho occupied the .position for almost three years, and who was a member of the board for 13 years. A single term was enjoyed by Mr.,N. Resd, and his successor was Mr.- W. Cable,/who retained the position for two years. He was a member

of die board from 1898 to 1906 and from 1913. to 1921. In 1906 and 1907 : Mr. T. ; K. Macdonald was the chairman, arid the follbWing two years Mr. T. M. (now Sir Thdmasj WiHord held the office. Sir- Thomas- sat 'Gat the*board for almost 11 years. The record term was that of Mr. Robert Fletcher, who was chairman from 1910 to 1914. Mr. Fletcher had servefebver 12 years on the board when he Jdie^niy 1918. He was then M.P. for Wellington Central; ':From 1915 to 1918 the position of chairman was held by Mr. C. E. Daniell, who was aVmetnber of the board for over 20 years. His succjisspr Avi3 Mr. J. G. Harkness, who also filledthei position for four years and served 21 r years! on'Jtjio board. Mr. G. Mitchell was the chair man-: in 1923 and 1924, and in; the following'two years Mr. M. Cohen, who was 21 years on the board-, held office: In 1927 and 1928 Mr. J. G. Cobbe was rewarded for his long service, wtichi extended from 1911 to his retirement in 1929;! In 1928 he became a member of Cabinet andVineiv dentally Minister of Marine. He: still hdfds that portfolio. He was followed as;■chairman by Mr. J. W. McEwan, who was, a.member- q£ the board for 25 years, the record ;s6vfar; jjMf. : McEwan was the chairman in-.^e jubilee^year, 1930, and he was followed by ,'Mrv'C.'■ -Jsß. Norwood, who held office for two: y^are: - Mr. Norwoods-term on the board is appro aching*! 7 years. Mr. C. M. Turrell, who vacated the chair in May of last year, has been 15 years oh the board, _ and the present chairman, Mr. ■;■s,% R. Barrer, has nearly 12 years to his credit .;■. r\! : CHIEF ■; One of the most remarkable servants 6f ibe board was Mr. W. Ferguson, whowas engineier and secretary to the board from 1884 to 1908, and also treasurer from 1885. From 1908' to 1913 he was consulting engineer,:. and during Ms period of office the foundations of the:port were well and truly laid. His successor, Mr. J. Marchbanks, who retired in 1932, also filled the position of general manager from; 1923. During his term the Thorndori reclamation !-iyas begun and completed, and the Pipitea Wharf was. constructed. Other works undertaken wfcre the Miramar wall and reclamation, the cutting through the Miramar hill, the Miramar Wharf, the Burnham Wharf and reclamation, and the oil berth at Point Howard. The last big job' he supervised was the construction of the moor-* ing wharf for the Floating Dock. Mr. Ferguson was succeeded as secretary by Mr. H. E. Nicholls, who retired in 1924. Mr. A. G. Barriett is' the present secretary and he is also chief executive officer. Mr. Barnett was assistant secretary and treasurer from 1911 to 1924, and he was succeeded in this office by its present holder, Mr. D. J. Gibbs. The present engineer, Mr. E. D. Cachemaille, has been a member of the board's engineering staff since 1908. Notable service to the board has also been rendered by Mr. A. V. Hale-Monro; who has been wharfinger arid traffic manager since 1906. Another notable holder of this office was Mr. W. Prince, who served as wharfinger from' 1885 to 1905. There have, been four harbour-masters, Captain J. Holliday held thcposirion from 1881 to 1898, and he was "succeeded by Captain H. "Henry (1898-1915).; Captain J.E. Dawson was the harbour-master from 1915 to 1931, and he has been followed by Captain J. Spence, who is the present holder of the office. Mr. J. E. Gamble was , the accountant and cashier from 1908, succeeding Mr. H, E. Nicholls, and on his retirement in 1932, Mr. A. W. O. Travers, took over this position. The Wellington Harbour Board's administrative officers have built up a high tradition of service, which is being worthily up« held, v: :