HARBOR BOARD RESOLUTION
(To the Editor of the Times).
Sir,—He that prepares a pit for another must not shut his own eyes. The above is very applicable to tho resolution passed at the last meeting of the Harbor Board by the chairman and members present, some of whom would loud others to believe that they wore practical seamen and engineers, and probably have an ambition to become part of our present Marine Department and control it as they do our splcudidly constructed harbor.
Does it not appear erratic to anyone possessed of common sense that they should ask why the Gladys went ashore, having neglecced to ascertain or ask for an inquiry in other cases, especially of steamers, the Taupo having run ashore in the same place as tho Gladys.
It was stated that no witnesses were examined at the inquiry held by the Collector. Witnesses wero examined, and had they taken the trouble to inquire from the proper person they would have found such was tho ease. From tho evidence given there, tho Marine Department is far more capable of judging as to any further proceedings than a mixed community composed of lawyers, publicans, sheepfarmers, and cabinet makers put into a position to administer affairs which are foroign to them.
How often do we hear of accidents, collisions, and vessels going ashore in sheltered harbors, and no mention of any damage to their reputation '? There is one thing which will damage and put a blot upon our open roadstead, and that is the claim as against the Gladys for T3OOO. Commenting upon the resolution carried by the Harbor Board censuring the Marine Department, further criticism is unnecessary to expose their inability to see the cause of a ship going on shore. Had they studied the Harbormaster’s report carefully with a tittle of seamanship, they would have discovered that in two sentences of the report it gives an adequato reason for tho Gladys meeting with tho mishap in the Poverty Bay roadstead.—l am, etc., An Old Salt.
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Bibliographic details
Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 827, 27 February 1903, Page 2
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337HARBOR BOARD RESOLUTION Gisborne Times, Volume IX, Issue 827, 27 February 1903, Page 2
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