CORRESPONDENCE.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 July 1921, Page 7

CORRESPONDENCE.

HARBOR IMPROVEMENTS. (To the Editor.) Sir, —I would ask you to kindly print I this—my second and very probably my I last letter on the above subject. Well, as I to being estimable, if you mean it in the I way generally applied, I thank you. As Ito being misguided on the question of ' safety for shipping at the Breakwater, I 1 may say to you that the number of people • with a like misguided mentality is increasi ing rapidly, and I venture to say, Sir, i that you will become one of them in the . near future. I am pleased you acknowledge that the wall mentioned by me would deflect the sand and break the force of the sea, but that it would at the same time destroy the root of the breakwater itself, and you pass on to say that the area between the present breakwater I and the wall between the two islands would ' be V-shaped and that the sea would enter the mouth of the V and undermine the ! the apex and that it would undermine the ■ foot of the structure. I venture to tell you that you are mistaken in the above assertion, as it conforms more to a right angle. If the wall is started at the proper point, the vertical line would represent the wall and the base—though perhaps ) slightly abbreviated —representing the i beach. We “misguided” people contend j that your estimate of the cost of the ■ “barrier” is a bit thoughtless, but if you are correct, what is your estimate of the j ultimate cost of the outer walls, taking it !at 3050 feet and an average depth of 40ft?. The Mikotahi-Moturoa wall would i only be 1450 feet, using the Lion rock as I part of the structure, and the depth (aver- ' age) of 12 feet. My contention for this work is, as you may know, in the interest | of the port, which I hope to see made : secure for shipping. The extension of the ; breakwater is an equally important work ' —when done. There are many points in ? our recent leading article on the above subject that 1 could join issue with you ; upon but “tempus omnia revelat,” more ‘ especially in our method of harbor work. !—I am, etc., D. K. MORRISON. i New Plymouth, July 25, 1921. [Our correspondent does not improve Ibis case in this his second letter, for the reason that it is fundamentally an unsound one. If it were conceded that the seas, confined by the breakwater on the one side and a wall between Mikotahi and Moturoa, suggested by Mr. Morrison and his friends, sweeping in would not affect the root of the breakwater—as Mr. Blair Mason contends they would-—there still re-' 'mains the fact that the area thus partially , enclosed would be too shallow to use for : harbor purposes, and that in order to se- ' cure deep water without dredging a breaki water would have to be constructed from j Moturoa Island into the open sea. To pro- ; ceed with, such a scheme would entail sacrificing the present harbor facilities, and t the deep berth, that has been dredged at 'very great cost; in fact, writing off prae- : tally all that has already been done. The Jidea is preposterous. The present scheme provides for utilising all the work that has • been done, the break wafer, creating a ; big area of land, and using the side of j the present breakwater for berthage. Let us concentrate on this practicable scheme, and complete it without further delay. To i indulge in the consideration oi theories regarding the building of outer harbors at this eleventh hour seems to us to be a waste of time and energy.—Ed.] PEDESTRIANS ON HIGHWAYS. (To the Editor.) Sir,—l would like to take up a little of your valuable space with a few words of warning to those pedestrians who will insist upon using the highway rather than the safe footpath. I am sure if the lady who walked along the tar-sealed road opposite the racecourse one evening last week only knew how nearly she escaped being run over she would brave the little mud on the newly formed footpath of Avenue Road. It happened about 6.30 p.m., as I was driving homo from Mew Plymouth, travelling between 15 and 20 miles per hour. To pass an approaching car I dimmed my lights as did the other driver. The night being dark, the road black, and the windscreen cloudy—there being a fine rain—our “dims” were practically useless. However, at the instant of passing, upon switching on lights a momentary glance showed the lady in question not six feet in front. By a miracle I managed to swerve the car, so clearing the lady by inches and averting disaster.—l am, etc., „ H. R. MARSH. Egmont Village.