DOCK AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS AT CARDIFF.

Evening Star, Issue 3414, 30 January 1874, Page 2

DOCK AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS AT CARDIFF.

{From the Argus, January Few ports in Qrefyt Britain afferd a; more striking illustration of the close ‘ connection between dock and harbor imprdvemehts and ,the. extension of commerce than that ,of 'Cardiff, now tbp ,;comtner|)ial metropolis? of South Wales. Within the memory of him* dreda and rthousauda n<>w,Uving Cardiff was it tie more than an obscure' n«bihg village •m the Welsh coast", aud thh trading to that port were very insignificant both iu number and in, size. But the town itself was thought of sufficient importance: last year to have , been selected ’by / tlie Associated chambers of Commerce ©threat Britaiu for their autumnal meeting; and a description, of its dock and harbor improvements, has been deemed worthy of a prominent pl*cs intheif journal. A condensed account of tins .may tie useful to thegentlemen now having'the dock and-,harbor improvements at the port of Melbourne under consideration. Jiud that is all we shall attempt.,, The fir.t impetus to that transmitting and persistent energy which , has, wde Cardiff what it now is, ; appeara to been givfh in 1798 by the construction of a navigable canal, with many windings and looks to oon» nect it with the rich-mineral district of which Merthyr Tydvil-'is the centre, but which- did not long sa isty the aspirations of the 5 late Marquis of Bute. He soon «aw ~that better dock and harbor accommodation was required to meet the growing whiffs of this district, of which he was the principal owner,’and lie therefore took, tbe advioe ofMr Telford; *ir William Cubitt, Captainßeaufort, and othbr eminent engineers, as to the way in which it should b* : provided. After' mdiih cartful consideration, the Cardiff S<de of the chosen forthis purpose, iajuff a canal waa cut from the river toit, about two miles from the mouth of the stream., ; That was .the first of the present Bystem of dobs* at Cardiff, and it was opened- on the' 9th of October. 1839, : under the name of the Bute West Rock. T It cost 1350.000, and the area of the dock and ; basin is 20 acres and.a-half. In 1841, the Taff Vale R ail way • for, canneoti-pg M erthffi ; Tydvil with Cardiff was opened, and shortly afterwards the company pH)moted / the cbd«' struction of the Penarth • Oook, on ftfie opposite side bf . the Cardiff Bar, and- an agreement was made in 1816 , whereby the whole --of, the western siiie’of Bute West :Dock yvas appropriated,to the use of the Taff ! Railway Company. The late Marquis .of‘ jßute died in I 48, but not .before other and.' larger ones had been projected In 1851 the trustees for the present marquis decided on 'the construction of-a new dock tq ; the eastward of their existihg ohferi/ knbwn as Che .'Bute, East Dock, and this was opened in 1855 by the Marchioness .of Bujbo- ! The area, ql the dock and basin is 45 acres, and , the cae* commodation more than doable that afforded by the Bute West Dock. It cost the trustees, ly arrangement with the' South Wale* , Railway Company (now incbrpbrated With the Grekt WeSctju) L2OO 900. ; For the c6nvenience of the coasting trade and the boats Which traded with Bristol, a tiual harbor had been previoaßly opeqed . i(t a cost: of L40)000> • trustees, finding this accommodation insufficient, and still acting up to what they believed to be the wishes of the late Marquis of Bute, as' expressed in his will, devised a scheme in-1864 for the construction of three extensive docks ou the foreshore knoy»n as the Cardiff Flats, at a spot popularly called the East Mud, at an estimated expense of L 1,200.000. But as the present Marquis of Bute was then under age; the House of lords did net think it right to sanction such an expenditure, and' they rejected ‘ the Bill brought in forthatpnrpose. Nothingdiuntcd the trustees brought in another Bill in’ 1866 for the construction of a sea basin, leadinc to a dock subsequentiy to be made, and for this : wtm °A t *! ned % sanction of Parliament h j“ r ork f** progress, v the' South Basin,as itiscalled, thefesultof & determination at which- the .trustees' hadarnvedrn_lß64, the present MaVquis attained his msjoiityv ami has since unmistakably shown that he ..shares jhe. V>wß of his late father as to the development of the ca'pafajli* tie? ; and resources of Cardiff, and the Vhole of the surrounding district. The low Water’pier, conamenhed id 1867, and which seisms to fornl P ar * f r Utl s®? s [ n , sck *me, Was finish^ lu ioooy and Lord Buto.B comiiig sgo seized uj>on as an auspicipjas opportunity for the opening pf the new work. Everything. l f» w going ,ou how just as it olid before. A* . k fiad of .the thefirst that was formed, .a graving dockl.ak been con.' ttruejed 220ffc in length. At the heqd of the hast Dock, the second, another hasbeen. constructed 400 ft in length. : At the outside i entrance .to the docks a third has been com . structed 250 ft in length, and a patent slip' is in course, pf construction; the head of the new or £outh Basin there.is a cravine dock 600 ft in length, and other improvements are being made. All the great lines of railway are now in communication withj.ardiff, and goods of any descripliou cauhk loaded from vessels in the Mocks, or from -varehouaes adjacent junto railwaywaggons, aud ? Man* thf^\ eeds ’ orany: other the great towns m England, they bku &o

be put on board vessels, and sent without •■transhipment to Glasgow, Greenock, Belt fast, and Cork, or to any part of the coast of France. In addition to this; a magnificent ; line of Atlantic steamers has been established at Cardiff, and goods and passengers can now be conveyed to New York and other American ports direct from the Bute Docks. ' ’ . An i what has been the result of all this expenditure ? Why, according to the census of 1831, the population of Cardiff amounted to 6,187--' Since then it has gone on increasing in something like geometrical progression, until at the present date it has reached ?P w *ds ‘.f 70,000. Again, in 1839, when the West Bute ■ Dock was opetied, the gate tonnage of vessels trading t6 the port of Cardiff was 6,022. ine years afterwards—namely, in 1848-the tonnage amounted to 436,171, thus showing an in--1 crease in less than ten years of 'seventy-fold. But in 1870 the registered tonnage ‘was 1,618,733, or* more than three' times as much as in 1848, and the business of the port is, barring the temporary effects of the periodical fluctuations of trade, •progressing in at least an equal ratio. In 1871; the aggregate tonnage was 2,207,713,-and in 1872, 2,527,038. The leading articles of commerce are iron, coal, and patent fuel. “In 1839 the amount of iroa shipped at the port of Cardiff was 1,200 tons, and of coal 4;662 tons. 1 In 1848 -the shipments of iron had advanced to 70,805 : tons, and those of coal to 615,111 tons. In 1870 the Weight of iron loaded at Cardiff amounted t0<315,649t0n5, And that; of coal and patent fuel, which had in the meantime become anarticleof export, to 2,177,518 tons Its amount of coal exported in 1871 was ■ 2,979,843 tons, and in 1872* 3.537,246 tons.” Owing td the long-continued strike' in South ."Wales last year, the commerce of Cardiff was 'doubt. greatly interfered with. But its progress is no longer: altogether dependent oniite,,external commerce, “it has eoormous copper works, waggon works, v, paint w#>rks, chemical works, patent fuclworks. and brick works, with the most improved machinery. Every interval of a; few months, moreover,, add* to the industrial population ol the town.” ....