OTAGO HARBOR BOARD.

Evening Star, Issue 4168, 6 July 1876, Page 3

OTAGO HARBOR BOARD.

The fortnightly meeting of the Harbor Board was held this afternoon; present the Deputy-Superintendent (in the chair), Messrs Davie, M'Kinnon, and M'Neil.

The Secretary (Mr GilUes) laid on the table the following conununigation, which had been received, sinoe last meeting :

Port Chalmers, July 3,1876. Sir,—l notice that the Wellington 'Aldus' has made a most malicious statement to the etfect that the steamer City of San Francisco, on her last voyage to this port, touched on the outer bar when coming in. and on the inner bar when &oin» out i also that I eapreased somo anxiety about the inner bar. Now, in order that suoh dishonest scheming to injure the character of the port of DiiDediu may sot pass unnoticed, I do myself the honor to • eport, for the information of the Board, the following facts :

Ist. The mail steamer City of San Fraueißoo °l os s i H e °^ T b ii Vl b 9« n d into this hovboi- <j« the 21st mt. on the last three-quarter no d drawing 20ft Sin, and did not as mueh as "smell" tho greund, nor by the action of the prapeUei- was the sand biirrdd dp. 'i'he lead wnskept carefully going and the least depth of wator obtained when crossing was gsft. Also the sea was very«niooth.

BQd. On the 28th ult. bound out (at night), drawing 21ft G'll, fine steered UVc a brat rc-uad. the elbmoutbe inner tor; shis, iu itself, is evidence to a seaman that the veagel had a great deal of water to spare, Riiil I iiiaj- here t' 41 there was Vgjt't of water on tho iuner bar that ir*ght. 3rd. TI;? only auxiety I ox;ire<ssel about the inner bar was before I preyed ILO s'eeriugqualities on the day of her arrival, bul i.-aviiig done so outside of the harbor and Snuk>£ *)i;i ausiyerod he- helm quickly I bad no anxiety, aiid at ouoe ordered the Bteani t)ig (j-wgy t: fit iwinc to ussist in sfeeriwg. Then again, whan j.GijnA Q»U' 7 ha?? no anxbty, otherwise I would, i.ofc have ordered the vessel to bo takou to sea at mgh', ami that without the assistance 6* a tug. Iu conclusion, I may mention that T was on board of the steamer wheu sho was goiu:j out, that Mr Pilot Kelly had charge of the vessel when entering and Mr fciiot Putoii concur with ine in my aforementioned ktatementß. I ™ w also sny that if the vessel had touched as stated by tho 'Argus' I would hnv« hastened to report tho same, and Capluiii Y.'a'dcll would have had hih voice to bo heard iu the matter when in Duncdin. x i'lu3, honwe*, j |,Jj.y v vm (jhh> masters do not like the nuiielu consequent! upan'a coasting voynge to which tbey nre strangers, and possibly nifty cxi'.!2i" 56 iiiiich Cf the information said to have been received by the 'Argue' r£ the imaginary giouudingof the City of San Francisco at qta«o Heads, and which appears to be a sweet inorsjl to'th4t "v,aper t*i nourish in its envy at Otago's success, and a desire to falsify a great matter in which the whole Colony is concerned, viz., the capabilities of the Port of Dunedin, I have, &c, "WW:H¥ Tnjoysoi*, Harbor Wastei'. Mr M'Kinnon : If she had struck as alleged in coming into Port, Cant. Waddell while here would have kicked up a frightful row about it. I waa on board tf e ship immediately afte* coming \n. \ \i&m\ nothing about it.

The Chairman : It is impossible she could have totiched with that depth of water.

Mr M 'Neil took exception to the words "sweet mor.:el," as applied to the paper, holding that they were rather strong. Mr M'Kinxon said that the whole of the statements were correct, and the report ought to be allowed to staud. It was resolved to forward the letter to his Honor the Superintendent at Wellington, to be brought before the Government and the Select Committee appointed to consider the San Francisco mail service. The engineer of the launch Vire complained that he had been dismissed from the harbor service on the ground that he had been guilty of overloading the valve, which was not true.

Mr M'Kinnon explained that the man had no v/ish to re-enter the harbor service. He only wanted to get clear of the charge. It was resolved to take the evidence of Mr Stephens, Inspector of Works, on the matter.

The following letter from the Board's Engineer was read : Harbor Engineer's) Office, mu /,, • ~ Dunedin, July 6. The Chairman Otngo Harbor Board,— Sir,—l have the honor to lay before the Board the following recommeniiatious regarding additional wharfage accommodation, and would respectfully urge the desirability of the works there enumerated being authorised, with a view to drawings being prepared and contracts entered into for their execi - tion:—

Ist. Extension of wharf from termination of Contract No. 1, now completed, to the south-east comer of import dock, being In length I,oooft. 2nd. Extension of wharf form in? south side of steamer's basiu, with additional five chains fronting 12ft channel—in total length 2.000 ft. ° 3rd. Additional row of piliuir, with bracing and decking, to cro3s wharf, and extension to Southern Wharf.

The two former to be undertaken by contract, and the third by day labor. The necessity for No. 1 rocosimendatiou being given effect to will, I trust, be recognised, when it is explained that the incline staging for leclauiatiou purposes must be connected to the wharf and can only be economically placed at the termination of the extension. Unless, theiefore, this proposal is carried out before th.- biuv, s authorised are ready for use, reelamati..u uumoi be gone into. By agreeing to No. 2 prop »s»>, the channel lately deepened abreast Raitrsy street wharf will be guaranteed against its silting up by the action of the s .u-h-wosteily and ■ aster'y bicezes upon the soft mud composing the bed of the upper part of the harbor. Moreover, the erection of this wharf will complete the steamers' basin; the dredging of a channel alongside can then be proceeded with, and the material arising therefrom conveniently and economically deposited direct from the shoots behind the wharf. The total extent of new wharfage proposed is 3,000 ft, and cstimat ed cost L3t>,ooi>. The cost of the addition to cross wharf will not exeec*! LI.B'JO. By accepting No. 2 proposal the maintenance of the two Jetty street jetties, involving a, considerable annual expenditure, will be saved.—l am, kc., D. L SuirsoN, Engineer. Some members of the Board were of opinion that the proposed wharf extension was not necessary for present shipping accommodation.

It was eventually resolved- "That plans aud specifications for additional wharf accommodation, as per plans, be prepared, aud tenders called for on condition that the work extend over four years, but with power for the Board to complete it sooner if necessary."