HARBOR BOARD.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 January 1921, Page 2

HARBOR BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. The New Plymouth Harbor Board met yesterday. Present: Messrs. Newton King (chairman), E. Maxwell, J. S. Connett, C. H. Burgess, C. E. McGuinness, J. McCluggage, C. E. Bellringer, D. J. Hughes, and C. A. Wilkinson. Opportunity was taken by the chairman to welcome back Mr. Bellringer, after an absence of some months on a trip in Europe and America. Mr. Bellringer resumes the position of treasurer, the duties of which hjive been carried out in the meantime by Mr. Connett. HARBOR MASTER’S REPORT. The report of the harbormaster (Captain Waller) for the five-weekly period ending 15th inst., stated that twentyone vessels had entered the port, the aggregate tonnage of 29,417 tons. Imports iimounted to 5836 tons and exports to 2531 tons, a total of 8367. The British India Company’s T.S.S. Wangaratta arrived on the 13th inst. from Wellington to load frozen meat, and was berthed at low water. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The resident engineer (Mr. Baxter Lowson) reported:— In submitting my first monthly report to the board I venture to add the following notes as to the difficulties attending the execution and maintenance of the board’s works. I do so somewhat hesitatingly as most or all of the following observations have been brought before your notice ere now, and as moreover, I am in some doubt as to whether the finances of the board will enable it to go on with the works in hand.

Labor and Housing.—Probably chief among the problems with which we are faced is that of labor, .involving the questions of wages and housing accommodation. To obtain and retain the services of good workmen, it is essential not only that their rate of pay be sufficiently high to compare favorably with the wages given by other public bodies, but that the comforts and benefits of a home life be theirs as well. Owing to the work offered in the service of the board being of a somewhat permanent nature, the wages of its workmen, provided housing accommodation could be arranged, would never have to be made so attractively high as to compete with outside employers or to adversely affect the costs of the works in any undue manner, while the class of laborer employed should be of a very fair, order. Until the board takes decisive action in the erection of workers’ dwellings, however, there will always be difficulty in retaining a sufficient force of men to execute the work in an economical and satisfactory manner; while, should the board decide to push ahead at all rapidly with the harbor development scheme, its officers will find it an almost impossible task to find men to carry through the work at a reasonable cost, and certainly not with tjie celerity that could be desired. One cannot help dwelling on the subject as the’ housing requirements, for our workmen are so urgent and are behjg emphasised with so monotonous a regularity under the present conditions of working. Stone.—l have before me the report of our quarries manager, Mr. Lomas, reminding me of the fact that the stone in the fishing rock quarry is well nigh exhausted, and suggesting working the Paritutu quarry from the old excavation, laying a cable tramway to bring down the stone to the breakwater level near the old blockhouse site, and thereafter using locomotive haulage to the breakwater. The stone brought down by firing a chamber in the old tunnel let into the hill, would, he believes, give us about 40,000 tons of good material for immediate use.

Stone, as you may be procured from three sources—Mt. Egmont, Moturoa, or Paritutu. The Mt. Egmont quarry probably possesses the advantage over our own quarries in that we in a manner should be free from labor troubles and that we should be able to procure the proper sizes of stone in correct quantities without having to dispose of the usual quarry rubbish. It is not improbable, moreover, from what I can gather, that the Mt. Egmont stone is superior to that found in either of our two local quarry sites. Theoretically, all this looks rather well, but present indications lead one to believe that the cost of the former stone when landed at the breakwater will be greater than that procured from local sources, the cost beings still further increased by the transference of the stone from the railway waggons to our own skips. Moreover, the difficulties and expense incurred in regulating our working force to meet the counteracting effects of bad weather and good railway delivery, and vice versa. With probable demurrage charges in the former case, and unforeseen contingencies in both cases, they can certainly not, despite their facility of adjustment in theory, be classed as economical factors in the development of the port. Besides, it must be remembered that this quarry is not yet opened, and the question naturally arises as to where we are to procure our stone in the interval between the exhaustion of our supply from the fishing lock quarry and the commencement of the supply from Mt. Egmont Considering the Moturoa Island quarry, we find as against the plentiful supply of probably good stone, difficulties in the disposal of the output with our existing plant. Owing to the long span and heavy loading, an aerial tramway does not seem adaptable to tliis particular case, while the scarcity and cost of timber and piling places threstle work out of the question in the meantime. The use of barges would mean a small protective wall being constructed between Moturoa and the adjacent small islands, in addition to a small loading jetty. The cost of this shelter would be small, but its effect would not be so great, we believe, as to permit of the loading of barges in’ rough weather with the regularity afforded by the shelter of the breakwater, thereby entailing loss of time ainl additional cost of operations. Nevertheless, the value of this quarry must not be under-estimated; as stated above, the board’s present plant is unable to deal efficiently with the output. The third quarry, that at Paritutu, remains to be considered. Economy and ease in working, regularity and simplicity in the disposal of its output, and freedom from interruption by any force other than those met with in an Inland quarry, give this source of supply first place among local sites; while the surmised low cost of operating it gives it precedence over any quarry not in the immediate vicinity of the harbor. The cost of preparing the bed for the cableway trackwork is by no means a serious item, and the construction of the cableway itself is a comparatively simple proposition. Moreover, the existing excavation to the quarry face, with the already partly constructed railroad embankments

leading from it would reduce considably the cost of opening the quarry and laying the haulage tracks between it and the upper end of the cableway. Before making preparations to work the quarry, however, it would be advisable to excavate a mine chamber at the end or extension of the present tunnel, and by bringing down that mass of stone over the existing excavation to the quarry face, settle definitely whether or not the stone is of a satisfactory character and its supply indefinite. Should this final test prove favorable to the proposal I cannot but recommend that this quarry be used as the source of supply for the stone at present required - lor the advancement of the harbor development works. One sympathises with those to whom Paritutu has been a cherished landmark as* sociated with pleasant memories of bygone days, but while admitting that all such natural objects are of great local interest, and should, if possible, be left untouched except probably in the development of their natural beauty, it seems unreasonable to urge their retention to the disadvantage of the harbor and to the penalising of the rating area.

Moturoaj Wall.—This work, necessary in the reduction of the maintenance costs of the fairway, could be proceeded with in conjunction with the extension of the breakwater, as when the foundations of the latter had been laid, the smaller stone from the quarry. would be disposed of by dumping it j the Moturoa wall site while the larger stone was -being used for the protecting apron of the breakwater extension. With the Paritutu quarry in full swing it should not be so very long before this urgent work would be begun and the sand drift partly checked. Wharf Approach.—The present approach to the wharf by no means affords model transport facilities, and as its widening by reclamation forms part of the harbor development scheme, I would recommend that this ■work be gone on with in the event of opening Paritutu quarry. Not being of primary importance, this reclamation could b(j_attended to on days when it was impossible to work the Thomas King and yet work the quarry and would also form a convenient dump for the rubbish and surplus output from Paritutu. The completion of the widening would permit of the railway tracks being shifted clear of our own haulage lines to the breakwater, thereby effecting for us a complete freedom from interruption by railway traffic. Dredging.—As you well know, the dredge Paritutu, despite the able handling of her master, is unable to cope efficiently with both the maintenance of the present dredged areas and the excavation of fresh and heavy ground. A new dredge may be considered a necessity, but in the meantime various experiments with cheaper appliances will be tried in an endeavor to increase the output of rock dredgings. One probable improvement is that of utilising a water jet to clear out the sand and debris from between the boulders, thus forming suitable crevices in which to place the charges and obtain the maximum results from the explosives. With the view of testing this idea, a hose was led from the Tangye pump aboard the Paritutu to the diver below in/ the cutting. The results were excellent, suitable crevices being speedily and easily formed to the desired depths. This being the case, it seems quite feasible at present to conduct our submarine- blasting on • more scientific and systematic lines i than has been the case heretofore. I i suggest that a pontoon might be constructed by our own workmen, of a ; size to carry proper blasting appliances and diver’s outfit, and that we place on it a water pump, the compressor intended for the rock drills at Moturoa, and an oil engine to drive the pump and the compressor (only one of these would be used at a time). A suitable oil engine we already possess, while I believe tve could get locally, a water pump to meet our requirements, at a very moderate figure.

Berthage.—As has been pointed out previousy by your engineers, the existing wharf is in very poor condition, and despite the comparatively large sums already spent in repairs, a very great deal still remains to be done to bring lit to .anything approaching a satisfactory state. The diagonals and walings require almost excessive renewal, while such is the condition of the stringers that I propose removing the decking, as circumstances permit, to thoroughly overhaul and renew them whqre necessary, in order to ensure complete immunity from danger to the railway rolling stock using the wharf. It must be remembered that this work is greatly hampered by tides and shipping, apart altogether from the inadequate supplies of timber coming to hand, so that the repairs to the wharf is unfortunately a rather slow job. I trust that in the event of proceeding with the harbor development scheme you will meet my requirements in the above matters in such a manner as to afford your officers every opportunity of effecting real economy and the production of satisfactory results in the board’s works. This brief report may give you some idea of the conditions prevailing at present, and I am indebted to my gfaff for the assistance given me in procuring the data necessary even to bring these few facts before you. Little has been mentioned, however, which is not a pressing need towards the attainment of our objective, and it is to be hoped that, in the interests of the port and of Taranaki in general, the realisation of the ■coniing importance of this .sea port against ite present handicaps in the way of shelter, berthage, and a deep waiter swinging basin will only serve to strengthen the resolve to place our harbor in its rightful place as the deep sea port of the West OOast of the North Island, WORKMEN’S COTTAGES. In connection with the recent offer made by C. F. Shaw, of Dunedin, to build standardised workmen’s cottages at a price in the vicinity of £5OO, a further communication was received from the firm suggesting that the board give an order for one cottage, which could be regarded as a sample order, on the basis of previous quotations. The idea would not mean a large outlay and would give the board an opportunity of investigating the method of construction. The chairman said that at present the board had no money to spare for the building of cottages, GENERAL, Permission was granted to the New Plymouth Chautauqua Committee to use the board’s sections in Ariki Street, in connection with the forthcoming visit of the 1921 Chautauqua.