THE TIMARU BREAKWATER.

South Canterbury Times, Volume XV, Issue 2067, 7 November 1879, Page 2

THE TIMARU BREAKWATER.

CELEBEATION BANQUET. The banquet and presentation ceremony, to commemorate the completion of the first contract of the Timaru breakwater took place to-day. The day from noon had been proclaimed a public holiday, and at that hour the Timaru Rocket Brigade fired a noontide gun. Proceedings proper, however, did not commence till one o’clock, when the Rocket Brigade assembled on LeCren’s Terace, fired un futdcjoie of eight guns, and following this marched down to the mole. On this a large crowd had previously assembled, several ladies being present. Here upon one of the concrete blocks His Worship the Mayor, surrounded by Messrs Jonas, Stumbles, Allan, Lane, and several others, made the presentation of a piece of plate to Mr G. Stumbles, and a handsome ornamented clock to Mr Robert Allen.

His Worship the Mayor said he had been called upon to make a presentation on behalf of the public of Timaru to Messrs Allan and Stumbles on' the occasion of the completion of the first contract of the Timaru breakwater. The fact of the building of the 300 ft mole wa,s a sufficient guarantee of the energy of the contractors. Those gentlemen had been long residents in Timaru, and the works they had undertaken had always rendered every satisfaction. He then presented to Mr Robert Allen a clock (made by Mr Young) bearing the following inscription on a silver plate, via.:—

“ Presented to Eobert Allan, of Allen and Stumbles, contractors, by the public of Timaru, to commemorate the completion of the first contract of the Timaru Breakwater, 7th Nov., 1879.”

He also presented to Mr George Stumbles a silver salver, bearing a similar inscription. Three cheers were given for those gentlemen. __Mr Allan said he felt highly flattered by the presentation which had just been made. He hoped it would stop ia his family for generations to come. As long as he lived he would always remember the people of Timaru (continued cheering). Mr Stumbles said he would much rather prefer making a concrete block than standing for one minute in a position to that he then occupied. He felt highly flattered by the honor conferred on him as a member of the firm of Messrs Allan and Stumbles. He believed he could conscientiously say that extensive as had been their con-*l tracts in some of the works the firm had' undertaken, had they failed to give satisfaction; and with none of the engineers under which he had been engaged had he in any single instance disagreed with them. He had read certain remarks in the local press affecting himself and Mr Goodall, and he might say they met his disapproval in their entirety. Because there might be a similarity in plans he did not think suck paarkg wc yratjaatsd. Wkat

he believed in was the man whose plan j was accepted getting the full praise for his work (hear, hear). Notwithstanding the jealousy of Dunedin and Christchurch, they had got a Breakwater. He said jealousy, because from personal experience he could say that they were jealous. When he started the breakwater, persons in Christchurch had said, “ Why, Stumbles, you are only throwing your money in the sea. It is certain to be a failure.” At that time it was well known the firm had a stake of £4'.'K)o on the work. His reply to the remark he had given them was, “ I’ll die by it then,” and at the same time he said, in twelve months he would have a vessel alongside the mole. To a Dunedin man he had said Tiraaru would in five years be able to bring a vessel of 25ft draught of water alongside the breakwater, whereas Dunedin could not bring a vessel of hardly fire feet draught into port. Timaru would, to come, be tbe greatest port in the South Island, as it would be a grain outlet for Soutli Canterbury. He wished to again thank them for what they had presented to him. Three cheers were given for the wives and families of the recipients of the presentation. The baud, which had been playing on tho mole, then proceeded to the railway goods-shed, where the banquet was held. The room was very tastefully decorated with evergreens and bunting, and the arrangeraants by the caterer, Mr Witt, gave every satisfaction. The banquet was presided over by His Worship the Mayor, supported by Messrs Allan and Stumbles on the right and left respectively, Messrs Archer and Jonas in the vice chairs.

Due justice having been done to the viands, the toast list was proceeded with. The Chairman read excuses for absence from Messrs Wakefield M.H.R., Conyers, and Judge Ward. The toasts of “ The Queen ” and “ His Excellency the Governor,” were drunk. Mr Archer proposed “The Army, Navy, and Volunteers,” and, having spoken in eulogistic terms of these forces —the backbone of the British Constitution —coupled the toast with the names of Messrs Hammersley, and Woollcombe. The toast was briefly responded to. “Trade and Commerce” was proposed by Mr Chisholm That gentleman, in so doing, referred to the late stagnancy of trade in New Zealand. He believed if the Breakwater was completed, Timaru would reach a point in the commercial ranks never pre' viously dreamed of, and the port would compete favorably with any other in New Zealand. He had to couple the toast with the name of one who was justly termed the “ Father of Timaru,” one of the oldest residents in Timaru, viz.. Captain Cain. Captain Cain, in responding, remarked upon the advance Timaru had made. He had been here since 1857. In that year there were only four residents in it and labor was very scarce (laughter). Mr Belfield. proposed “ The Timaru Harbot Board” coupled with the name of Mr P. Archer.

Mr Archer in reply said that the Board had for a long time had to contend against the scoffing of outsiders. Dunedin and Christchurch had laughed and said they were mad and that the blocks they had laid down would be dredged up in Lyttelton Harbor in years to come. They had said “ You are contending against Nature,” but notwithstanding this they had succeeded. Why the very power which they had been said to be contending against had assisted them. There could be no doubt of the success of Timaru’s breakwater now, and he hoped if any of the heretics he had mentioned were present they would do him the honor to drink with him on the occasion of the scales dropping from their eyes (laughter). He himself should only be too happy to assist in such a thanksgiving service. The toast of “ The Engineer to the Harbor Board,” was entrusted to Mr Lane, who, in proposing the same, said that for 15 or 16 years, during which time he had been a Timaru resident, they had been agitating for the breakwater, the local public being determined to get one either by private enterprise or a Government grant. There had been great difficulties, in the road of the successful formation of a breakwater one of these being the travelling shingle. This had been surmounted solely by the never failing energy of the Engineer to the Board. It might be said there were several contractors who could form a breakwater but without the brains of an engineer these would be nowhere. He begged to couple the toast with the name of Mr Goodall, The toast was drank, with three cheers, and one for Mrs Goodall.

Mr Goodall, in responding, returned thanks on behalf of Mrs Goodall and himself and said when he looked aronnd him, he could scarcely believe he was in Timaru, considering the aspect it presented two years ago. The subject of travelling shingle had been a subject of great annoyance to coastal engineers all over the world. In England three meetings of the Engineers’ Institute had been devoted to the consideration of the question of breakwaters to contend against this difficulty, and the institute had decided that the attempt to surmount this bar to breakwaters was useless. The French engineers, however, had never despaired, and had eventually shown their English friends the road in the matter, and when so doing, had said, in reply to the question of the shingle reaching the termination of the breakwater, that what they required was one for the present generation, and let those {*who came behind look after themselves. : This, however, would not do here, what they meant to do was to prevent such a possibility. By calculations he had arrived at the estimate that £IOOO per annum would cover all expenditure in this direction, and even if it cost them £IO,OOO a year they would not consider it alongside of the advancement of Timaru in the commercial status. (Cheering).

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