HARBOR BOARD.

Gisborne Times, Volume XVII, Issue 1364, 27 January 1905, Page 2

HARBOR BOARD.

Tho monthly mooting of tho Harbor t Board was held last ovening, when 'ollowing mombors wore present: —Messrs Townloy (chairman), Hepburn, Cooper, - Mutsbewson, and Whinray. h

THE JOHN TOWNLEY. _ V Messrs Anderson, Limited, of Cbrist-jiil church, wrote stating thnt they jciieved that ibo brass condenser tubar ' plates would last longer and would bo in ~J| 3 very way preferable to tho cast iron ones ); supplied, except in tho matter of cost. Alttej details of the work wore gone into caievjgs fully at the time they undertook the construction of tho John Townley.. They , could accept no liability in the construe- h .ion of tho ljraes platc-s. Tbe Chairman said that tbe Board u.stcjf not had an estimate of the cost of tbs brass condenser tube plates from Messrs : 5 Anderson and Co. . It was decided to call for tenders for the | material in question, tenders to bo in next meeting. , -E

TOLAGO BAY BRIDGE. The Cook County Council aEked for a remittance of wharfage on material fos£| tho Tolaga Bay bridge. 1 _ <aL Mr Whinray-swoDgly supported a rijp| mittanco of wharfage, if it could be dog by tho Board. The Chairman : That is tho point to.! decided. ' Mr Whinray moved that the wharfagt bo remitted. . te Mr Jlatthewson, in seconding^ 1- Jt .motion, said that seeing the was.in tho interests of the public it ehonld:-;. certainly be granted. It was pleasing to-‘ see that the local bodies of the were going in for the construction of iron bridges, and they Ehould be encouraged as far as was practicable. Tbe Chairman did not think the Boards ead the powor to grant the concession. II a bale of wool come on the wharf it was

übject to wharfage. Mr Mattbewßon: I am not going to pate that question, but we must oousidS .he advancement of the district. The Chairman : We cannot play fast and loose with a set of bye-laws. _ Mr Whinray : But there are exceptions! circumstances. If we as a public body can set an example showing that there is reciprocity between ourselves and others, we shall no doubt meet with our reward. I The motion remitting the wharfage wa! carried by throe to two, Messrs Matthewson, Whinray and Cooper supporting it~iMr Matthowson: It is purely as of grace, and must not be taken as a precedent, Tho Chairman : It is not an act of grace at all. ' , •

ENCOURAGING LOCAL INDUSTRIES. Several letters were received from Harbor Boards in the Colony, speaking In terms of the highest praise of colonial cement,and on tfcemotion of MrMatt-hew-eon it was decided in future to order it for the use of the Board. WHARFAGE. Captain Nicholas, of the schooner Awanui, wrote complaining of the port obarges, which were in excess of those Napier and Auckland. If tho charge* were insisted upon he would have to raise freights. ■ _ Tho Harbor Master stated,that Captain Nicholas had been charged for the. numbs? of days be was at the wharf. The Secratary said that some vessels discharged quicker than others, and in the ; past concessions had been allowed. TO: Harbor Master was, however, quite within his rights, viz., making the charges rs' ferred to. Mr Whinray thought they could not E6l aside the regulations, The beats were only charged for the time they used tb< wharves. The Harbor Master said that he had nc power to alter the bye-laws, and he conic only charge the vessels for the days SheJ were working. Mr Hepburn heartily supported tht action of tho Harbor Master,whose duty ii was to see that tho vessels were discharge}; as soon as possiblo. Mr Matthowson : They are not chargsc if they are wind-bound or are lying of from the wharf? The Harbormaster : No. Tho Board regretted that they eodlc not see their way to reduce th 6 charts, BATHING FACILITIES. '' Mr F. Stafford wrote asking the Board to dredge the Taruheru river at Carnarv3£ street, so as to give facilities for bathing. Mr Whinray: It is a very unsanitarj place. I am not surprised at ouch s request being made. It is high time w< had bathing houses on the Waikanat beach. If what was asked for could bf done at a email cost he would support it. Mr Matthewson: You cannot expeol the Harbor Board to do it. Mr Whinray : The Harbor Board should make representations in She matter. ' r ■ . The Overseer said the Board had not tbe facilities to do the work asked for. Mr Matthewson : You are right. There is plenty more important work to be done.

Mr Hepburn: If the John Townley i could go through the bridges I should say have it done at once, but we have not the means of doing it. On the motion. of the Chairmanifce question was referred to the Public Works Committee, to report at the next meeting, 1 TUAHINE POINT LIGHT; The Board dLsoussed at some length the [ question of acquiring an acre or half-Scre of land at Tuahine Point for the purpose of a lighthouse. The Chairman suggested to Mr Cooper, the owner of the land, that he make the Board a present of the site and call it Cooper's lighthouse. Cr Cooper was not too liberally disposed. He stated that he could not give anything to a Board that was not liberal them* selves. P The Chairman : I assure you that a goat could not live' on it. It is of no use to sheep. Mr Whinray: The light would be jof great assistance to sheep on a dark night. (Laughter). 1 Mr Cooper: If you want an aore of it you will havo to pay .£-10 for it, and take your right of way from the beach. Mr Whinray : I should like to go see the place. Mr Cooper : I am not going to give you a right-of-way. The Chairman suggested they should give Mr Cooper £2O for an acre, button the motion being put Mr Cooper dissented, and it was agreed to visit the locality. i WHABF LIGHTING. It was decided to have an extra ligfat erected on the new shed at the wharf. LEADING LIGHTS. On the motion of Mr Cooper, it was agreed to increase the payment to £fie caretaker of the leading lights from £1 IQg to £3 per month. REPORTS. Reports from the Harbormaster, Overseer, and Drodgcrmxster were read and udopted. Roferring to tbo Overseer’s report, Mr Hepburn said that ho observed no mention of the result of tbo trial of stuff discharged by the dredge as to whether it had comeSashore.

The Overseer said that some of the bricks discharged by tbe dredge had oomo ashore both on tho Kaiti and Waikaua'beaches, principally tho latter. Mr Matthewson did not think the tor of considerable importance. It was' 6 "* well known that tbo general drift on the east coast was to tho northward. This was an ascertained physical fact. Mr Hepburn said that Mr Napier BelikT idea in putting the groyne 50 feet beyond the breakwater was that the drift would be carrying tho groyne out boyond iSrs/’-brisakwater would bo carried past. r 'J “ Tho Overseer sai£' v r y\t ho was satisfied that the floatiDg drift was northwards, but tho undercurrent might be drift. After further discussion the Chairman said that tho Ovorseer would shortly have h?, something to place before tho meeting, and the subject was allowed to drop.