The Globe. MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 1876.

Globe, Volume VI, Issue 677, 21 August 1876, Page 2

The Globe. MONDAY, AUGUST 21, 1876.

Dredging Lyttelton Harbor has been successfully commenced; every day it is calculated about 1500 tons of mud are carried away by the hopper barges, and deposited at Camp Bay, and without doubt before many months have passed steamers instead of Ijing hopelessly stuck in the mud for hours, as is now too frequently the case, will be able to be berthed at any of the wharves along the breastwork at any time of tide. The deepening of the basin within the sheltering arms of the breakwater will bo an immense benefit to the port, but many doubt the wisdom of depositing the mud in Camp Bay. It is argued, and with much show of reason, that it is likely to be drifted again up the harbor by the flood tide, and thus render the work as difficult as the cleansing of the Augean stables. Some engineers state, however, that the mud is so heavy that it will stop in the bay where it is at present deposited; but even supposing it does do so, and not become a nuisance, it will be of no possible benefit to any human being, and this the most ardent advocates for depositing it in Camp Bay must allow. The question then arises, cannot this mud, which is raised at such an immense expense, and is at present either a terrible nuisance, or at the best useless, be utilised ? Many answer in the affirmative. We have been informed that the mud, which is of extreme tenaey, is similar to the mixture of clays and stone used in the manufacture of the finest porcelain, and would be invaluable were such an industry established amongst us. But supposing it to be of no utility in this way, but simply filthy and polluted by the sewerage of the town, there is ona use to which it can be and is applied in hundreds of instances, both in Bw Zealand and other ports of the world, and that is by reclaiming land from the sea. In reporting the first successful work done by the dredge, we stated that Lyttelton possessed the finest dredging plant in the Southern Hemisphere, and this has been quoted by half the papers in the colony, and is an undoubted fact; but, unfortunately, the hopper barges, though admirably adapted to carry mud out to sea and leave it there, could never deposit it in shallow water, as they have a considerable draught when loaded, and besides this, the doors must have an additional play of several feet before the mud can be dropped out. We see, however, by a report that appeared in these columns

that it is supposed that the hopper barges Heathcot9 and Sumner will not be able to keep the dredge at work, and that in consequence Mr Thornton, the Provincial Engineer, has been requested to draw out plans and specifications for additional vessels to carry away the mud. Why not then let these be made extremely shallow, and adapted for the reclamation of land ? In Sydney and Port Chalmers the Bame thing has been, and is being done, thousands of acres of otherwise perfectly useless land being yearly reclaimed. One would think that in a place like Lyttelton, where the extreme scarcity of level land renders it of great value, some effort would be made to add to the quantity, but very little is said on the subject. The thousands of acres that lie between Quail Island and the Head of the Bay are now utterly useless; during the greater part of each tide they are one vast shining sheet of mud, and even at high tide only a few inches of water cover the greater part of the land so that it is useless for navigation as well as for everything else as it at present exists. "We hear much of draining Lake Ellesmere, to do which the giant force of the Pacific waves along many miles of drifting sand will have to be successfully resisted, and yet here we have a lake of mud close at home which would be of almost incalculable value in years to come, the reclamation of which could without doubt be successfully accomplished. There is nothing to prevent piles being driven, and a sea wall made, similar to those at Sydney and Port Chalmers, and thus an immense public estate rescued from the jaws of the sea. There is nothing whatever to prevent the harbor being dredged to a considerable depth along such an artificial breastwork, so that vessels could lay alongside and discharge. If this could only be accomplished, the double benefit of deepening the harbor and reclaiming the land would render the introduction of the dredging apparatus the greatest benefit ever conferred on the "gate of the province."

As will be seen in another part of our columns Mr D. Dimond had a narrow escape this morning at Lyttelton. We have repeatedly called attention to the extreme danger incurred by those who have to cross the narrow gauge line, as it is totally unprotected, and in many places it is impossible to see either up or down the line for any distance, as the sheds block out the view. No doubt the long timber the cart was loaded with alone saved Mr Dimond's life. Are the railway authorities going to wait till some one is killed before they take any precautions ?