THAMES HARBOUR.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXV, Issue 4696, 9 May 1924, Page 1

THAMES HARBOUR.

e MONTHLY BOARD MEETING. The regular meeting of the Thames Harbrnir Board was held on Tuesday evening last, when there were present : Messrs R, Coulter (chairman), D. G. McMillan, A. A. Wagstaff, J. V'Dauby E, N. Miller, S. Hetherington, D. Donaldson,, S. Laughlin, and the secretary. OFFER OF FINANCE: A Wellington firm of financial brokers wrote offering to place the board's 1:60,000. loan on favourable terms to be advanced by instalments and secured by debentures in the usual Vny. AUTOMATIC LIGHTS. Coriy-Wright and Salmon, Auckland. wrote notifying that two Chance Bros', automatic lights, complete wit!) gas accumulators, had been shipped. In reply to the board’s letter they intimated that an expert could be sent to Thames' to erect the lights, fo: which the charge would be £2 per dav. It was decided to secure the expert's services. FOREMAN'S REPORT. '1 lie foreman reported on tlie work done in maintaining the wharves during the month. At Turua a large snag was removed from under the landing stage, broken waling was repaired. and a new lifebuoy installed ■to replace the one stolen. The stru- - hire to house the new beacon at the mouth of the'Thames RiVer has been erected. THE ENGINEER. The report of the committee appointed to deal with the engineer i resignation was dealt with in comm'ttee. On resuming in onen meeting it was decided to adopt the report, which recommended that Mr E. F. Adams be offered the position from Muy 1. 1924, at a salary of £soo' pnr annum ; also that an assistant engineer be appointed when considered necessary by the board, and that a schedule of duties be drawn up by the chairman and secretary after conferring with Mr Adams. It was also decided to assure Mr Adams of the unanimous support of the members in pushing ahead with the harbour improvement scheme. ACCOUNTS. Accounts totalling £441 t>s 3d were pilssed for payment. CHAIRMANSHIP. Mr Coulter moved that a special meeting of the board be held on May 20 for the purpose of appointing : ch-.irman. In his opinion the chairman should be appointed in time fo v him to get a grip of affairs before thregular meeting. - This was objected to by Mr Dauby on the score of needless, expense, but tinaliy he supported the motion with the other members. COLLECTION OF WHARFAGE. As instructed .by the Icard at i previous meeting Mr Donaldson reported, having interviewed the manager of the Northern Steamship Co. in respect to the amount of commission paid to the company for 'collecting the wharfage and taxes on goodanded on the board’s wharves. The matter had arisen at the previous meeting, when the board had been discussing a proposal to ask the company to make a contribution towards the salary of a permanent wharfinger at Turua. Mr Donaldson reported at great length, and it appeared that the company was not getting a very large amount ; also that it would be a very difficult matter to collect the charges if the system was changed. It was an ca«v matter for the company to add the few pence wharfage, etc., to the freight accounts and collect it from ihe shippers, whereas it would be extremely difficult for a wharfinger to collect the money from the persons receiving the goods. The amount collected would not justify the appointment of a permanent officer, Mo had approached the manager of the company in regard to getting a. reduction in the rate of commission, but could not get a definite reply as it was a Question of policy that would have a far-reaching effect, and so would, therefore, haye to come before thi board of directors. He was assured of a definite reply after the directors’ meeting. Members expressed regret at the vague report available, as the matter of the steps to be taken at Turua had been held up for a considerable time. It was decided to hold over the matter until the next meeting.