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Hokitika Guardian, 17 February 1920, Page 2

- The suggestion giudp recently in tiiis 1 column that something should be done to improve Cass Square and it - more of a play ground and u popular t rendezvous than it is has found favoi 1 with several of our citizens who feel the would like to act in consort with {he authorities in brightening up the . j grounds and making them take on « more cared for appearance. One of the visitors here on '(intorelay iast retnai ked t.Ji.at the hot water .provided for the picnic parties was invariably turnkey while the surroundings npdor -yhicli the water was boiled was not as attractive as they might be —the lad} - put the matter a little more pointed than that as a. matter of fact. Certainly the conditions under which the visitors are .catered for on Cass Square are primitive i.udeed, and ns the toun reaps something of a harvest from the large picnic parties coining this way, it is big)) time something hotter was done. We are „ure if the Reserves Committee of the 'Council convened n meeting of citizens to help with the reorganisation of the Square grounds, there would he a ready response. It would he “up" t () the various sporting bodies which fhe grounds to co-operate. Th <‘ town band plight help also. Tim hand does not appear publicly as often as it might, nor as often .as ii was wont when raising funds for its new instruments. If the hand co-opt rnted in the movement suggested, a band stand on Cass Square might be the outcome, and the municipal authorities would he justified in subsidising the hand for a series of open air concerts during the ' year. The ’grounds converted to full public use could he made very attractive, and the idea is worth considering of taking in the unused part of ' I Tirittnn Street to bo devoted specially ' to n children’s playground where the ' young folk could enjoy themselves under ideal conditions. Really there is j much to do to make Cass Square, the j valuable asset it should be to the town j mud if that transformation wore, brought J about it would be more popular than ever with visiting picnic parties which j are such welcome friendly invasions. ■ < Some valuable and interesting expen- r

ments have recently been carried out on the raising of a ship, the s.s. Main, which was sunk by gunfire from a German submarine in Luce Bay in the South of 'Scotland during the war. The salvage operations were carried out by the Ardrossan Salvage Co., Glasgow, who undertook to test some flexible pontoons, designed, patented and manu. factored by Vickers, Ltd., Barrow-in-Furness. The pontoons are made of special canvas and cables and weigh when completed only one ton, yet when inflated with air submerged in water, are capable of lifting 100 tons. On the trials, two of these 100-ton pontoons were used and fixed to the stern post of the ship and inflated by means of an air compressor on a small tug. The vessel was slowly raised and beached ready for pumping out on the 19th Deer. The amount of rough handling which these canvas pontoons withstood was remarkable. One great advantage of canvas pontoons is that when not in use they can lx? packed into a very small compass and stored in the hold of •a salvage ship and need only be brought out when actually required. The ordinary barges or lighters used for ship lifting are very expensive both in initial cost and during use. They have to be towed to the scene of operations, and if any bad weather occurs they are in great danger of damage. Very often salvage operations are necessary in order to recover the wrecked salvage gear. From the information gained during these tests, the designers are now confident that pontoons of 200 and 300 tons lifting capacity can be made in the same manner. By the use of this device, it will he possible to raise practically any vessel that a diver can reach and be able to fix such things as shackles, etc., which is a compare, tively easy matter, and this eliminates the slow and costly process formerly used.