SOUTHLAND’S HARBOUR

Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 1, 31 March 1893, Page 7

SOUTHLAND’S HARBOUR

THE BLUFF.

A complete account of Bluff Har--1)0ur and of the islands adjacent thereto, 'would unfold a very interestingl chapter in the history of the colony, taking the reader hack to the good old days when it formed a favourite rendezvous for -whalers and traders of various kinds, and -when the presence of the Maories contributed a picturesque element to the life of the primitive community. as the story of the pioneer stage of settlement may be, however, it must on this occasion give place to something more modern, for our concern is with the career of the Bluff as a port —with its advance from a comparatively insignificant to a leading position among the harbours of the colony. Up to the year IS7G the harbour had been worked as a Government institution, the late Captain Thomas Thomson being, as harbour master, the ruling spirit in the administx-ation of its affairs. In the year stated, the desirableness of vesting it in a hoard was mooted, and on the Sth of May, IS7G, a public meeting was held in the exchange hall (aiterwax-ds absorbed in the Theatre Royal). The then Mayor of Invercargill (Mr J. W. Mitchell) px'esided, and a resolution in favour of forming a hoard, and of obtaining a i 1 endowment to x-aise funds fox' harbour works, was passed, the following committee being tippointed to give effect to the wishes of the meeting : His W ox-ship the May ox*, the President of the Chamber of Commerce, Sir J. Richardson, Hr Menzies, the members for I nvercax-gil 1. Matanra, and Wallace, and Mussx s MciSTab, J. Halglicsh, J. T. Martin, W. McPherson, J. R. Cuthbertson, T. M. Macdonald, P. W. Wade. J. Hax-vey, Matthews, J. Turnbull, J. E. Hannah, J. Stock, R. Tapper, J. Hare, and P. McKellar. The Board was constituted in due course, and met for the tix-st time oxi the 18th of Jaxuxaxy, 1577, the place of meeting being the Resident Magistrate's Courthouse, Invercargill. Mr J. W. Mitchell was elected cliaix-nian. His successors in office have been Messrs J. R. Cutlihertson, T. Pratt, D. Smyth, J. Tlxxiihull, J. (L "Ward. A. Cross, "VV . Craig, A. Baldey, and W. S. Waterston. Mr Ward, 4 ,who, like Mr Mitchell, has filled several terms, is now chairman once more, with Mr Craig as deputy. The harbour Inis been fox- some years in chax-ge of Capt. Hox-man McDonald, who has given great satisfaction adne to the Board and the public, and his second in command is Capt. Lovett. Mr William Sharp lias done good service as engineer-, and Hie secretarial work has since 1 t-Bf) been most efficiently discharged by Mr J. E. h ox. On the summit of the bill from which fixe port takes its name, Capt. J. McDonald keeps watch, and wax-d as .signalman. He has given the Board tweutv-nine years of faithful service in various capacities, including those of pilot and acting harhourmasi or. The assistant pilot, Mr W. Cilmrd. is also a verv old servant of the Board. When tlie Board took charge in 1877, they had, as the Americans s.-.y,

a “big contract” to face. The wharfage accommodation was inadequate, there was no tug and no water supply, but there was a positive danger to navigation in the shape of what was known as the mid-channel rock —the port, in fjxct, lacked almost every feature calculated to attract shipping. Since then a great change has been effected. Securing an endowment of 000 acres, a loan of £do,ooo was obtained, repay slide in fifty years, and. towards which a sinking fund of nearly £II,OOO has already accumulated. Thus furnished with the sinews of war, the Board instituted a- progressive policy of improvement. The members, especially in the earlier stages of the work, did not always see eye to eye, and many a tougli battle was fought before the party of reform carried the day. About nine years ago, after a great deal of discussion, the tug Awarna was bought, and has since done splendid service, not only in her own particular department, but as a mail and passenger boat between the Bluff and Stewart Island, winch is vearlv coining more and more into favour as a holiday resort. In addition to providing a tug service the Board carried out extensions of the wharf, established an admirable watersupply system available Loth to the ratepayers and the shipping-, engaged in systematic dredging to secure deep water berths, robbed the mid-channel rock of its power to harm, and effected various other improvements likely to enhance the usefulness ef the port, which bids fair to more than vindicate the reputation as a prophet of the late Sir John Coode, the eminent marine engineer, whose report on the harbour, made in 1879, contained the followingpassage : —“ The geographical position of Bluff Harbour (when taken in connection with the area and depth of water in the estuary) is certainly such as to justify the prediction that it is destined to become, at any rate, one of chief southern harbours of Hew Zealand.”

Along - with the carrying - out of the works indicated the Board has recognised the wisdom of making - shippiug - charges as low as possible compatible with prudence, and not longago introduced a ten per cent reduction, so that in this respect the Bluff compares very favourably with other ports in the Colony. Space will not permit of an elaborate presentation of figures relative to the progress made since the appointment of tho Board. Suffice it to say that the revenue has risen from £633(5 16s Id in 1878 to £13.661 13s 9d in. 1893, while the wharfage accommodation, represented by 1308 feet in 1878, n.-,w totals 3100 feet, and includes a handsome approach for passengers. Tho Board, keenly alive to future shippingpossibilities, arc energetically prosecuting the work of dredging, while electric lighting, additional wharfage space, and other improvements, with yet further reductions in charges, aio moot ed. The Board lately bought the tug Titan, v Inch is now being converted into a, coal hulk. She was built at (Ih’sg'ow m 1.866 lor J. Deane, slnpImihier, (Melbourne, and in 1873 was sold for £6IOO to a- New Zealand firm and used in the West Coast trade for somc vears. Tho Titan was ultimately houghthy the Timaru Harbour Board, anil hv them sold to the Blu.lT 1: a rhuur Board for £273. The Biuff

and Foveaux Straits Oystering Company own a .smart little vessel in the steamer Despatch, so that with the tag A warn a the harbour is well equipped in respect to steam service. The photo-zinco view given above is the ■work of Mr Frost, of Dn.xied.in, who worked from photographs taken by Mr F. A. Coxhead. It represents the Bluff on one of its quiet days, as distinguished from those on which the steamers of the Union and A and FT. Z. Companies are in port, together with some of the big cargo carriers of the Now Zealand, Tyser, and other lines, all busily engaged in receiving from long rows of vans and trucks the wool, grain, frozen meat, and other' commodities that form the loading items in onr exports. To this list the Southland Frozen Moat Company's works contribute hugely, and those of the Hon. J. G. Ward at Ocean Beach—declared by competent authorities to be the largest and most complete in the Colony—also materially swell the annual output. The prosperity of the port has re-acted on the borough, and improvement is the order of the day. Local business people have kept well abreast of increasing requirements, and are able to meet all demands either in the mercantile or hotel-keeping line. In short, " taking one consideration with another-,” as the policemen say in the opera, the outlook for Southland's port appeal's to be of the brightest. Thanks to tiro utilisation of natural advantages by those in command, sire Las overcome the prejudice that once existed against her in certain quarters, and will share in the advantages of tire “ good time ” assuredly coming for the district as a whole.