The Oamaru Mail. TUESDAY, SEPT. 28, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 28 September 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail. TUESDAY, SEPT. 28, 1880.

At a meeting held on the 23rd July last, the Oamaru Harbor Board decided what should be the description of the north wall designed to more effectually enclose the harbor. On this .occasion there w.-io eight members present, and the only gentleman that expressed disj,prova lof the .choice then made from 31 r. M'Gregor's four schpines was Mr. Duncan, who said that lie had very littlo faith in a rubble wall such as that proposed. We can understand Mr. Duncan's dubiousness, for he expressed nothing mora. At the first blusb, to construct a rubble wall would appear to be a risky experiment-—;t tempting of Providence, in fact. Those of us who have not studied the art of harbor construction, and who are laboring under the additional disadvantage of being unprovided with data by which to judge of the merits or demerits of certain systems, are wise to exercise caution when so much is at stake. As against Mr. Duncan's unfavorable opinion—only nsgfttively expressed —we have the testimony of Mr. Hassell that " the wall at Cable Bav, Cape of Good Hope, is formed of rubble, and stands the heavy seas remarkably v/oli that of Mr. Gibbs, who said that " the •*.>]} at Lvttelton is formed in the manner suggested, and is at times severely tested >" and that of Mr. Forrester, who said that " if the nibble wall is constructed as Mr. M'Gregor proposes, it will be much stronger than tko.f: at Xyttelton. With such facts before it, aiul j.i> the absence of not a tittle of evidence to thfe contrary, the Harbor Board acted wisely in adopting Mr. M'Gregor's jSo. 4 scheme! This provides that a wall, 24ft. wide on the top, £in.d sloped at each side at an angle of 1 to 1, shall be constructed entirely of ' side, being pro iec teU- y remarket, in his report, after enumerating; the alternative schemes, that the success of the rubble wall fcntk.ely depends upon the nature of the stone thai uyn be procured from the Capo quarries. He was induced to make this remark because the produce of the quarries had not, >;p to the time he wrote, been of a suitable nature for the outer side of a rabble Viiii. Tlje Engineer then—with caution charactei-i.si.ip of t}m Scot—adds a saving clause. He says :—'■* A ;:=;!Ooth vertical wall would present very littlo resistance to the action of the waves running along obliquely; but a sloping surface composed of rubble pitching, however well laid, would present considerable resistance, and, L'JTLESS THE STOXE3 WERE

LARGE AN'D ARRANGED, a Certain amount of damage would pccur after

eyevy heavy storm,and consequently ihe annual expense for repairs would probably amount to in ore than the capital value of the difference in first cost be-

tween designs Nos. 3 [which provides for a concrete outer facing] and 4. Here, whilst he counsels caution, he says distinctly that, provided the blocks are large and laid with care, th,o ilaniage to be apprehended in the case of smaller blocks carelessly laid would not occur; and, he further adds, as if anticipating that the fourth scheme—that adopted by the Board—was of such a nature and so economical that it would for a certainty commend itself if judged by the light of calm G.oit sideration and common sense—" If it is decided to adopt anil parry out design 270. 4 because it is the cheapest, it will be necessary to carry on at the same time a portion at least of the proposed reclamation and protective walling in front of the beach." But, somewhat

like the editor of our local contempo-

rary, the enginec-r esteems a smooth exterior, and, whilst he Wfjtfw approvingly of constructing the mole entirely of nibble, he cannot help harking back to the more sightly and more permanent structure with an outer concrete facing. " Were it not for the difference hi cost/'" says the engineer, " I should certainly j<e.co.romend design No. 2, with the vertical concrete fusing seawards, .... and, when the Board has decided to proceed with the ! work, I will suggest that alternative I tenders be invited for designs 2Sos. 3

and i, and the final decision arrived at ; when the contractor opens up the quarry on a large sealje." Here he ' again intimates that the merit of tjie fourth alternative depends upon the character of the material available, fiince the engineer's report was written, it has been discovered that material can be obtained which will enable the contractors to carry out the ppginper's wishes to the letter. One would have thought that this circumstance would have been hailed with satisfaction on all sides. It is possible, according to the best engineering opinion available in the Colony, to hem in the harbor efifcetnally and substantially at the compnivi.'iyely inconsiderable cost of LI 2,000, whilst the cost of the wall with a concrete faeingwould beL35,055. I Yet the North Otago Times endeavors to stir up public opinion against the action of the Board in adopting a plan which possesses the virtue of being only one-third an costly and quite as useful as the more expensive No. 3 pkm which our contemporary favors. ''At tfj.o p roper time," savs our eont temporary, wo endeavored to create a public opinion,on ,tlie subject, but those 3vhP;3re nw.actiye were then apathetic

in regard to the matter." Nobody but the writer in our contemporary sees ( any activity. The public, -are better satisfied now than ever they were that the Board has acted wisely. Perhaps they hold the view that the cheap engineering opinions of our contemporary are not so valuable as those of the Board's Engineer, procured at considerable expense, and given, we think, in a disinterested manner highly creditable to that officer, seeing that, as he receives a percentage on the Board's expenditure, he would have put more money into his own pocket had he recommended one of the more expensive plans. A second time, on September 22nd last, our contemporary essayed to " create a public : opinion," but there is not yet visible the least indication of the revolution evidently anticipated by our contemporary, as the result of its very clever reasoning. In its article of the 22nd inst. our contemporary shows evidences of disappointment at the barrenness of its agitation. It sees that the public still repose confidence in the engineer, and that they are determined, the objections of our contemporary notwithstanding, not to interfere with the prosecution of the work on the principle recommended by the engineer and adopted by the Board. We scarcely know which to admire most in our contemtemporary—the ability which it has displayed in its disquisitions on harbor construction, or its "wisdom in b&Y&g discontinued tliem and with resignation accepted the inevitable. Will not the public feel, as Ave do, from the deepest recesses of our hearts, compassionate regard and' sympathy for our contemporary 03 tliey read its lachrymose last expressions on the subject:—

For ourselves, having reviewed the whole niatter, we must say that we still think it would bp best to construct a wall faced with concrete on the seaward si4e ; but \ye are not prepared .to keep upa dogmatic opposition to the rubble wall. Provided blocks of sufficient magnitude can be obtained, and provided the work is well done, and can be comj.-liitcd. without being effected by violent seas, there is littio doubt that time will oo'ns didate the rubble and give it consistency. In other words, our contemporary says to the public, "We have piped and ye have not danced"—we have expended our mental energies in laying before you the wisest course to adopt, and you Jjjive not exhibited the smallest evidence o£ sympathy. Our opinions were, of -course, not based upon a knowledge of the subject—but they were the best we had to offer—and, as it is possible that we were in error, although. we still think that tiiOL-o is a slight probability that we were not—we will' leave the public and the Board at the tueroy of an engineer, who,although he has studied the art of engineering, possesses the disadvantage of not being the editor of the North Otago Times." Then the cGiielusifln js somewhat consoling. " There is little doubt that time will consolidate the rubble and give it consistency.'' Capital ! So it may—just na timp have the same salutary effect upon ' pur contemporary. • But there are other reasons why the nibble important of which is that if the Board were to expend the amount at its disposal in making a concreted north wall it would have nothing left with which to cany on gpeyivtions, To borrov more would be out of the question, for what security eould bp offered, to say no thing of the additional handicap that would have to be placed uj>on shipping, to the detriment of the port, if the expensiveness of the port were thus Although wefeelthatthe services rendered by out oontpuiporary in this matter were entitled to some recognition, we take leave to express .-ill ppinion. thnt the Board is quite (japalilp of watch ing thp interests of the public, and that they are scarcely likely to fail in doing so, seeing that in the successful issue of the harbor works they have so much at stake.