THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE KAIPARA ADVERTISER & WAITEMATA CHRONICLE." HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY, April 13, 1916 A MAN IN A BOAT.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 13 April 1916, Page 2

THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED "THE KAIPARA ADVERTISER & WAITEMATA CHRONICLE." HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY, April 13, 1916 A MAN IN A BOAT.

GETS HIS SHAFT AND PROPELLLER SMASHED.

WHO CONTROLS THE

RIVER ?

WHAT should be everybody's business in this 'live ly' township, appears to be nobody's business. Instance the management of the Helensville Eiver, when, the other day, a poor man's motor boat runs over a submerged reclamation opposite the railway station and breaks shaft and propellor at a damaged cost of about £12. Now, whose fault is this ? One will immediately ask. And that is what the unfortunate owner of the boat (Mr Duraka) has been trying to find out since the accident. It appears that a quantity of silt brought up by the dredge of late has been deposited inside a pile-driven area opposite the Helensville Railway Station ; upon whose authority we are unable to say, and that at about half-tide or high-water there is nothing to mark the' dangerous spot either with high piles or by railing-off. When applied to for some satisfaction or other, the Harbour Master at Te Kopuru referred the launch-owner to the Railway Department here, on the grounds that he had nothing to do with it, and when the Eailway Department was applied to, the man was referred back to someone else, as they knew nothing of the matter, and so the aggrieved party has now to refer the accident to the Minister for Marine, who is bound to give satisfaction. But this is a wretched state of affairs when a navigable river is blooked and an accident occurs, and no one will take on the responsibility of reclaiming a site. In the absence of a Harbour Board, we should think that the looal Town Board had some controlling power over the navigation and improvements of the river, but, so far, this appears to be nobody's business either. However, the subject wants some ECHO daylight let into it.