The Evening Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1879.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 891, 22 February 1879, Page 2

The Evening Mail. WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1879.

TtWKH out of number we have been called wpon= to chronicle the delay occasioned in loading and unloading vessels at_ tin* breakwater through the want, of railway trucks. Repeatedly has the attention of the Department been called to the matter, and as repeatedly have promises been made that improvements shoutd t>e effected, and facilities in this respect given for Bht>speedy transaction ot uw shipping business of the port. Hut still things remain- as bad as- ever, and in the face of the bu<*y season of thu year being close- at hand, again enmes the cry from the breakwater that vessels are detained in port, for days without being able to- discharge their cargoes owing t»> the scarcity of railway rtuefcs. That "this U i;-> idle assertion the following tetter, read at yesterdays meeting of the Harbor Heard fully proves :, Oamara, "»tti Feb... IS7l>-

Secretary, *>amarit Harbor Heard. Sic,—E would respectfully draw your attention to the present system of work carried ntf at the Breakwater, for want of trucks.

I came in hen-- on, Wednesday morning, L'Otfv itlt., ami could have been discharged the same day, as I could have got a berth at the Normanby Wharf. *>uty there were no trucks to be had. Conscptentty. ■the steamer earae in *>» Tht:rs«t»y, I could get nothing done until Monday, when I hauled alongside ami discharged four trucks of railway iron, and then was stopped ail the rest of that day for want of trudcA To-day, the .*>th inst., I went alotiside again, and tip to- 1 o'etoek have not put 11' lx of cargo, ashore, all for want of trucks.

Sir, f appeal to- yv.rr and the rest of the Hoard to know whether this is anything tike proper treatment. I came here with £"(> tons cargo t have been here eiu'ht day?, and have not got the fourth part of my cargo discharged. "Hoping you wilt be aide to do something toward.* getting more trucks, and so help your humble servant out of fiis dfttculty. —Yours obediently. .loECN: i'v't-'EB.-'oN. Schooner Isabella Anderson. There ran be no gainsaying the facts eontaiiivHi. ii.v this letter, and we have every reason to bufieve that the ease of the Isabella Andersou is only one in mwy. NW, not only does this state of affairs tend to damage the reputation of the port; it is a matter of great moment do-shippers, white every day's det-iy in the loading or unloading of vessels means the toss of many pounds to their owners : and with th>? strong eompetition and eorise*ptent ntod«»Ei*6# eharges for freigltt. sttuli delays are vexatious ami ruinous. We almost begin to despair of any improvement being effected, for the scores of nnfultitted promises made that more tnteks should bo provided for the Breakwater line almost lead us to the (sonetusioti that. th*> continuous neglect of the shipping interest* of the port of Oamara is the result ot a desire to damage the port as much; as poswibui in order t» divert Cratriu to- the through lines of railway, and if those in authority wish to remove this impteasant impression it wilt be necessary for them to remove the evil. Within the oust month or so- we have been informed by telegraph that large nwmoera of tracks are being turned oirtfregafarty in the railway workshops at Christ«hureh,and if the department were realty in earnest in its professed desire Jo afford facilities for property carrying on the shipping business of Oamaei-p surely some of these truuks could have been placed on the Breakwater line. The reverse, however, appears to i be the case. Some of those we had last | year have disappeared, the few waggons ; t;h;it are ivvait.\-l'le bei-ng tun-1 timtuUy diverted t'rucu the Breakwater to some other line. It is high time that the Harbor Board- took some decisive- action on the subject, and firmly insisted that a sufficient number of trucks to carry on the growing business of the port should be kept on the line. T'ntil such a course is ! adopted we fear that complaints such as I that (looted above will be ever-recurring.