THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1874.

Grey River Argus, Volume XIV, Issue 1707, 23 January 1874, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY. FRIDAY, JANUARY 23, 1874.

It cannot be too often nor too strongly impressed upon the inhabitants of the Grey District that upon the construction of harbor works for the purpose of mating the port accessible to large vessels the future prosperity of this part of the Colony very greatly depends. And nothing should be left undone that can be done to secure. this object. All-important as our gold-fields are at the present time, the period will come when we shall have to rely upon other resources, and when coal instead of gold will be the distinguishing export of this district. To all •appearance our;; mineral wealthi in' this respect is, beyond. all calculation. Of- the existence of fields of cdaL of the very best within a few; miles of i the port there is no' doubt -whatever. The seams already discovered and proved show that tliis 'district alone could supply not only the whole of the New Zealand demand, but enter favorably into competition with New. South iWales in the foreign trade. But everything depends upon making the Grey: a' good port. *>All our coal-fields, bur railway, and every other adjunct will :be of comparatively no value .unless the port can be entered by large vessels 1 .; There .is no ''practical difficulty in the matter. -The conditions of the River Grey present- no greater difficulties than, have been successfully overcome in numbers of cases: : li: would be' easy to point out many ports : .in • the ■ old country which at no distant period were closed to 'shipping, but. are now frequented by vessels of a thousand tons burthen. A remarkable example was not along ago afforded, in South Wales. The firm of Brogden aud Sons had acquired the lease of aii extensive area, of coal and iron country, the successful development of which required a shipping port as near as possible to the workings. Nature had riot provided, one— there was only, a small stream of not half the volume of the Grey, which, at its mouth, was usually blocked by a heavy bar thrown up by the full owbop dfjihe Atlantic. But the firm were clbtormhiecl io inoln, -c por^ -Tho rNVOTjlittle a^'it ■ -was, ; afforded: a nucleus, and after the expenditure of ; about £100,000 they (J dredged the bar, threw up break-waters,-and formed docks, which afforded facilities for ships of 1000 tons burthen .to load i : /To make; the Grey navigable for large ships will of course cost a considerable sum. of money, but we; may .'at once dismiss the: idea that it cannot be done. There, are peculiar circumstances with respect td : this river which are largely in its favor. "It is perhaps the onljrriver on :the' Coast that is ; under absolute control within a short distance of the sea, and it is the only one .where the materials for •improving it (are handy and extensive. The only difficulty is how to do it — what: plan shall be adopted ? ; Since the late Mr Balfour was here there has been no engineer who has any practical knowledge of harbor works. From the Engineer-in-Chief downwards there, is not one whose opinions are fortified by experience in regard to matters of this kind. Each has got. his theory, but very few persons indeed can be found to agree as to which is the most effective plan. It requires someone who has been accustomed to river and harbor works to indicate the step's that shduld be taken, and it so happens that there is now in Auckland the ablest man in this branch of engineering in the Colonies, Mr.Moriarty, the Marine Engineer-in-chief of New South Wales. This gentleman has been specially sent for by the Harbor Board of Auckland, to fix the site of a graving dock and other port improvements, and has just completed his task, evidently to the complete satisfaction of everyone. Mr Moriarty wasj some years ago,. engaged by the Victorian Government in' regard to harbor works at ■Port. Belfast. .. After the Government had fooled away ; about LIOO,OOO in works devised by engineers inexperienced iv this special branch of the profession, they ■vtetie advised to consult Mr Moriarty. They did : so, placed the works, in his hands, and the result was that at an;outlay of LI 0,000 he did what the Government engineers had not been able to effect after spending ten times the m iney. We think it highly desirable *that if possible MrMoriarty's services should be obtained, if only for the'purpoae of examining the river, and reporting upon its capacity for improvement. This is not a mere local question,, it> is one of Colonial importance, and we trust that the Committee appointed byi the •'late public meeting will include amongst their other suggestions a recommendation . that Mr Moriarty be engaged to inspect the port and river What is, the value of fifty or a hundred pounds, compared with that of obtaining.a professional . opinion from one who has made marine engineering his special study.