HARBOR BOARD.

Evening Star, Issue 3960, 3 November 1875, Page 3

HARBOR BOARD.

At the Board's meeting yesterday, the following business was transacted, in addition to what appear, d in our yesterday's issue : Mr IT. Guthhib, on behalf of the lightermen, brought under the Board's notice the necessity for shed accommodation being provided on the wharves. The Board's solicitor was instructed to take the necessary proceedings against a number of persons who had refused to' pay bi-rth.iire dues. In the case of Messrs Houghton and •' 'o., who had refused to pay dues amounting to about Ll4O on the cargo of the ship Maria Trinidad, on the ground that the cargo had been landed at a wharf, the Solicitor was instructed to take proceedings. The cargo had been hi tided on private ground; but it appeared tie word "whaif" implied any place within the limits of a port where cargo was landed. This had been decided by Mr Justice Bach mo ad some years ago. It was state! that the ship Maria Trinidad had gon?, to &ea without bert age dues bein=r paid, and that no one here could be sued their recovery. The Works Committee reported having had under consideration a memo, from the Chief Harbor Master as to repairs required at Portobello -letty, and found that it and two or three other jetties were originally erected by special subscriptions subsidised by the Provincial Government. Hitherto the Government has been in the habit of executing small repass. The committee are of opinion that as the dues are levied at these jetties their repair, in t lie meantime, is a work devolving on the settlers who hive the free use of them, wherefore they suggested that the Road Board for the district take charge of these jetties in the meantime, and the Boartl grant them any facilities r< quired for levying a scale of dues that the eettlera agree to. The following letter was read and ordered to stand over for consideration to a future day: Dunedin, 2nd JT ivcniher, 1875. To the Chairman of the Ocago Harbor iioard. Sir, —I have the honor to brins? before yeur notice my invention for founding walls under "water, &c, and forward for your perusal copy of speeffication of patent, together with sketch ]>lun, which may further explain the nature and object of the apparatus ; hoping that yon may be enabled to judge whether it would not be better (knowimr the comparative cjst) to build a solid and dura l lo wall in the harbor v. ovks of Duneeliu than to continue the present temporary timber structure. The expense of constructing colfer-dnms in the ordinary way would, I believe, amount to about L 45 or Lsu per lineal yard, and this fact has ovideutly had sufficient weight with the .>r of the present design and his successors to indu 'o thora to recommend the construction of a tim! r wharf. This difficulty would, however, be overcome by means of my pontoon, with which, I am onfideut, a substantial wall of cement concrete con! 1 be built at a smaller cost, and much quicker thai the work ruw in progress. The cost of such a pontoon, 100 r.i leiK'ih, would, I am assured, not bo more than L3,i>i)o. in addition to the usual advantage due to quay walls over timber wharves. I may mention one that I think would be of speuitd iin|-nri.:ineo, : nil lliiit is th'j comparative facility ot"ei -.-d to the tiu.il ebb and flow, and getting rid of si wau'e, the la tier more ewecially if the main sewer was carried e-.wn iuside the wall, discharging at a point on the eut-r line of the works, and where it would meet the tidal current, as lids already been suggested to you by one of the engineers who reported on the hart.or in 187-1. John XAriER. The remainder of Mr Napier's ]> iter contrasted the Engineer's est of the deep-water wharr —L 75 per lineal yaid- with his own estimate of the cost of a concrete wall made according to his sug:-estinu. If the latter were adopted, a saving of IS per lineal y ;rd could be effected. On the subject of dredging, the Inspector of Woiks reported : The New Era has been engaged oil' Eat i ray street wharf cutting the channel to as great width as the present beacons for marking the channel will allow, and to a uniform depth of nine J' ot at low water. Having had hard sand to con*end with principally for the past four months, the 1 ': has been more than the usual amount of wear upon the working parts of the machinery, rendering necessary some repairs to the bucket gear, the cost of which will be chargeable t>; est mouth's accounts. The side dredge has been workiug alongside «.■[ the new portion of Kattnvy strvet wharf, when.- the New Era could'not reach. Although she hj; s encountered many pieces of timber, and other obstructions she has given a fair month's work. Tin dredgings have been deposit el at the back of tiie training wall, and towards Pelichet Bay, within the area marked for reclamation. As tho New Ei-:i advances in the ehaunel the ground becomes softer, she will consequently lift a greater quantity, in which case it will be necessary, in order to keep both dredges going, to have additional punts— i tie present number (fourteen) being insufficient now. I would therefore respectfully ask that throe new punts be constructed. Tho cost would be, as stated in the margin, about one hundred pounds each. It was unanimously resolved—" That the thanks of this Board be tendered to the Hocretavy, for the vt-ry satisfactoiy result cf his mission to Wellington, whereby the < >ta. o Harbor Board Empowering Act bus now be ome law, and the whole Harbor Estate, of over 400 acres, has now become legally the p: operty of the Board/'