THE PORT OF GISBORNE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2371, 11 December 1908, Page 6

THE PORT OF GISBORNE.

THE PART PLAYED BY SHIPPING I N"TH IS DISTRICT.

despite the lack of outer HARBOR GISBORNE PI AS ONE OF MOST PROGRESSIVE PORTS IN DOMINION."

(By Our Special Reporter.)

Tim melancholy Avail of a siren unci the hoarse, rattling of cabtes through the hawse-holes, at the avoicl of command, “Let go your auclioi, a ? e sounds that are becoming quite familiar to resident's of Gisborne nocvadays as denoting the arrival of one of the many leviathan ships that throughout the season visit this port at very short intervals. Upon arrival communication is at once established wibu the «hore bv means of one of tne smart launches ut present in commission m the bay, and in an incredibly shore time the whole machinery of loading and storing our principal exports is put in motion, and it is rarely more than a couple of clays until the ..arrest vessel that drops .anchor in the bay has completed her loading and made ready for sailing. . In this connection it is interesting to note that, in spite of the many disabilities under which the port labors for lack of a suitable harbor, a vessel can be loaded in faster time than is the case in the larger ports such as Auckland, Wellington; Dunedin, etc. This may appear to ho rather an exaggerated statement', but the explanation is simple, and once given the fact is readily understood. ” In the larger ports tho ships make fast and proceed to load from the wharf, whereas in this port, as the vessels lay ut anchor in the bay, the lighters are enabled to come alongside on either hand and both sides can be Avorked simultaneously, thus effecting a considerable saving of time, notwithstanding the- superiority of the appliances for loading that are in use in the larger ports. As has been remarked the loading ■and despatch of these largo vessels is a matter of almost daily occurrence during the season, but it must 1,0 remembered that it was only as late as 1903 that the last of the. old “wind jammers,” called here to load for Homo ports taking avool and mutton. At the present day avo have the most modern vessels,yiip to 12000 tons, calling here, Avhich is an indisputable indication of the rapid advancement of the port in recent years. The total exhorts last year in comparison with the year 1902 shoAV an increase of over 6000 tons, and the imports, an increase of 36,000 tons. To most readers statistics are notoriously uninteresting matter, but in some cases at least they are most convincing, and a comparative return of the increase in trade .at the principal ports of the Dominion, from 189 S to 1907 inclusive, shows that Gisborne is second highest on the list. During that period the trade of Timaru increased by 138 per cent., Gisborne 132 per cent., Wellington 106 per cent., while Napier, Auckland, Invercargill, Lyttelton and Dunedin follow in that order with an increase of from 93 per cent doAvn to 50 per cent. The principal exports are, naturally, avool, the freezing works products, .and butter, but there is an ever increasing trade in sheep, principally Avith tho northern ports, and close on 18,000 Avere shipped from this port during the first six months of the year. Grass seed, maize, and Parley also figure prominently in the export list, and among the smaller items are chaff, potatoes, honey, fruit, soap and ■bricks. The import list includes almost everything imaginable with the exception of wool and mutton, although a certain amount of the former nominally comes into the port

from the East Coast bays. There are many articles on tho Cist hoAvever. such as timber, bricks, house blocks, fruit, etc., the quantities of which could be greatly reduced by a systematic method of production locally. There Avill always be a certain amount of timber coining in here, but aa hen one considers that over 3a million feet Avere imported during the first six months of the present year, and reflects on the vast forests of excellent building timber _ within fifty miles of the port, it ay ill be readily seen that the district has been sadly lacking in enterprise. If predictions are fulfilled it av ill not be very Jong now until supplies from our back country are available, and it is claimed by those who are connected Avith the tramway scheme that when tho project is in full swing not only Avill there be an ample supply, at a considerably reduced cost, for local requirements, but there will also bo a surplus for export if desired. In district so .eminently adapted for fruitgrowing as Poverty Bay it is surely something in the nature of a reproach that it was found necessary during the first six ’months of the present year to import over 200 tons of fruit of different varieties. As Avith timber, it Avill always be necessary to import certain fruits, but amongst the of asses coming in this year are to be found consignments of apples, pears, plums, peaches, etc., all of which—Avere there a systematic method of fruitgrowing —could be produced in sufficient quantities in the district to at least supply local needs. At present, however, orehardists are content with groAving a little of this, and a little of that kind of fruit, avith the result that the unfortunate consumer is compelled, in many cases, to do Avithout Avliat is practically a necessity, or as an alternative to purchase the imported •article at an exorbitant price. The absurdity of being compelled to import posts and house-blocks Avill be at once apparent, and in this connection, the quality of the importations may bo gauged by tho overheard exclamation' of 8, recent arrival to the town, AA'ho remarked, .upon seeing these two items being unloaded from a Napier steamer, “Well, I heard all about your timber before I came here, hut I did mot think yon had to import your firewood.” Again, the importation of bricks has assumed rather large proportions, 315,000 being brought to the port between January and June of this year, and this in spite of the fact that excellent material for the manufacture of these articles is to ho found all over the district.

Many fetor ies. both humorous and with a. tragic element, are told of the early days, and the trouble that used to be experienced in negotiating the river. As recently as ten years ago laill vessels with TOO tons of cargo had to be lightered in the bay before thev could come alongside the wharf, and

vessels 'leaving the port Avith the same ■amount of cargo had to undergo a similar experience. Prior to this, and before the days of the lighters, the small schooners on coining in were eomeplled to send most of their cargo (generally consisting of timber) ashore on rafts from the bay. It usually drifted up soineAvliere on tho Waikanae beach" from Avherc it Avould be carted to its destination. It avas a somewhat ticklish operation endeavoring to sail up tho river at times, and one of the many anecdotes of the period is Avortli 'recording. It is said that there used to be an old gentleman I’iving soineAvliere in the vicinity of the wharf, Avho kept a large quantity of white ducks. These birds were naturally nearly .ahvays in the water, near the snot where the freezing works noAV stands. A shin Avould be coming up the river, ii'ith a man stationed' in the. bow, taking soundings AA'ith a long pole. Suddenly from the lookout would come the av a ruing cry of-“clucks ahead,” and this would invariably bo followed by an order from the skipper to “’bout ship.” “Are they SAvimming or walking’ would be' the skipper’s next query, and if the lookout Avas able to assure him that they Avcrc swimming it was considered safe to go .ahead, but if not, the anchor aims dropped until deeper water Avas cam i liable. Like many mariner’s yarns this is slightly on the “tall” side, but despite those who publicly declare that tlie river is no better thin it Avas 15 or 26 years ago, it cannot but be realised that great improvements have been imailc, .and at tlie present time steamers of 580 tons burden can come, alongside the wharf avith 500 tons of cargo and draiving 11 fc-et of Avater. The Union Company’s Squall, draAVing 9ft and over, is constantly coming in iand going out Avithout mishap, and other vessels, driAving 6ft and over, can now come in independent of tides. A still further indication of the improvement in the channel is to be found in the fact that the iamount of iiiAA-ard and outAA'ard cargo lightered in the bay during last year, onlv exceeded that landed at and shipped from the Avharf by some 6.060 tons, and close on 38,000 tons of cargo aa'us first handled at the Avharf during that period. In the olden days vessels used to go up the river much further than they do jioav ; as far as Messrs Common, Shelton and Co.’s Avharf near tho Whatiupoko bridge, and to tho o?d landing stage, the "piles of Avhich may still be seen just outside tho Trafalgar Rotunda, while it is also on record that the s.s. Fanny, a vessel of 55 tons, used to make trips as far as Messrs Nelson Bro.’s Avorks at Taruheru. StiV there arc at present shipmasters in the bav aa-lio Avould undertake the task of_ taking vessels of similar draught to these places iioaa- at high tide, so that there can be little or no -deterioration, but on the contrary, considerable improvement in the state of the river. Port charges still remain high and the conveniences for loading and discharging are not of the most modern description. A shipmaster avlio trades, on the Coast regularly recently complained that vrhi'.e he can go into Auckland every second day if he likes for a sum of £2 yearly. yet every time he comes to this port it costs him at least 255. With - a rapidly gi’OAving trade, AA'harf extension and accommodation have not advanced in the same proportion. and space is, at times, severely taxed for occasionally as many as three steamers and four or five scows or schooners may be discharging cargo simultaneously. The question of the outer harbor is arousing great interest in shipping circles, and Avhile the majority appear to strongly favor the immediate commencement of the work, a few others are inclined to think that any outlay at- the present time should be in the direction of procuring a bucketdredge, and the appliances for the improvement of the river. With these, it is claimed that 20fb of Avater can be obtained at all' times and that this will be sufficient to meet' tlie requirements of the port for many years to come. Even •allowing _ that the Outer Harbor is an accomplished fact in. say. six or seven years, the river Avilil, of course, be in use in the meantime, and it is practically certain that, e\ r en AA-hen the big homegoing A r essels are coming into the Outer Harbor and tying up alongside the wharves, the present entrance by means of the river channel 'will bo used to a considerable extent by all scows, schooners, and other vessels of lighter draught, Avhich Avill still be coming to the port.