TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2347, 23 April 1892, Page 3

TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

l_«That 50 copies of the specifications of the proposed new dredge be procured, and copies be sent to the members, and a copy be sent to Mr Cook, inspecting engineer for the Union S.S. Company, and that he be requested to examine the drawings and specifications, and report upon its adaptability or otherwise for the work intended, at his earliest convenience," Mr Gibson said that the shingle had extended 530 feet, between April 1886 and January 1891, and during the last year it went out 150 feet. With regard to turning the kant it was done because the people wanted to give shelter to the shipping, although Mr O'Connor wanted to go out straight to give the harbor a longer life before being troubled with the shingle, and to make a large -Jiiu/bor. In 1890 the members of the Board had the same thing on their mind, but they took no action, as they preferred leaving the matter to the new board. They had since then expert opinion and he felt safer in following that than outside opinion. Messrs Tripp and Twoiney were all, very well in their respective positions, but they wore not

authorities on engineering, and he certainly would accept the advice of the engineers before theirs. The whole agitation originated in Timaru, as could be seen by the fact that the same speakers were to be found at all the meetings, but there was nothing new in all they said. There was nothing for the majority to do except go on or resign and refuse to stand for relection. If the majority was ready to do this he would willingly, go with them; but if they wished to go on he would urge on them to remain firm, and trust to the verdict of the future to set them right. He was ready to resign if his constituents desired, but he would remain loyal to those who had so far worked with him, until he was assured that it was the wish of the ratepayers whose opinion was worth having that he should resign. Mr Morris, in seconding the motion, said he would not resign. The question was before the electors when they returned him, and he promised to use his own judgment. If Mr Marchant's reports were inaccurate or false he ought not be retained by the board one day longer. He believed Mr Marchant's_ reports, and was grieved to hear it said they were incorrect. He wished to compliment Mr Evans on his modesty in saying he would take the opinions of Messrs Hill and Stumbles as soon as that of the engineers. Mr Flatman said the best thing they could do was to resign. The majority on the board was in a woeful minority in the country, and he challenged them now to resign. Public opinion did not appear to be worth one iota with the majority, but it was everything when they wanted to be elected and" they wanted votes. He had presented a petition signed by 230 ratepayers, and it was entirely ignored. He challenged them now to resign. Mr Manchester said the remarks about public opinion did not apply to his district, as he was sure he was positively supported by a majority of the ratepayers in his district. He spoke at some length, and said he would be glad to be assured that the expense of shifting the shingle could have been avoided. He supported the motion. Mr Evans said he could not support the motion. As regards the assertion that the ratepayers had been gulled, he could assure the board that, much as Mr Teschemaker despised them, some of them knew as much as some members of the board did. It was only a few meetings ago that Mr Manchester said he knew nothing about harbor matters, and had to trust to the servants of the board. He knew as many farmers in the south as either Mr Teschemaker or Mr Manchester, and he would say they were against shifting shingle. A great deal had been made of the Seadown beach, but at the Temuka meeting a farmer who had been 14 years living there asserted that no perceptible change had taken place. Some respect ought to be paid to the opinions of the ratepayers. They were the servants of the ratepayers —(No, no !) —but some of them assumed the position of being the masters of the ratepayers. They did not give credit to the farmers for knowing anything, but he could assure them the farmers read the papers and had a good knowledge of what was going on, and the feeling in the country was unanimously opposed to shingle-shifting. As regards engineers, ho would show how inconsistent they were. In 1881 Mr O'Connor reported as follows :—" Feeling convinced, therefore, that shingle must in the course of time overlap the works —(Uproarious laughter from the majority, as if they were glad to find the shingle overlapping the works. Mr Evans tried to make himself heard, but the laughter continued as he said, •' Hold on, hold on; I shall have the laugh on my side by-and-by." Mr Flatman had previously been similarly treated, but had the laugh on his side, too. After some time Mr Evans proceeded)—we are compelled to come to the conclusion that a harbor at Timaru oil the present design cannot ultimately be successful, and believe that the benefits of ihe work at present constructed and contemplated can only be experienced for a few years. Any system of dredging without a large tidal basin to aid it would, we believe, be a failure." So Mr O'Connor was not in favor shifting shingle then, and was only converted recently. Mr Blackett, who was a marine engineer, reported to the Government that the whole work would have to be blown up. Before the last 400 ft. of the straight were constructed Mr O'Connor said:—"An accumulation of 214,000 cubic yards of shingle having thus taken place in the 27 months from November, 1878, to January, 1881 (inclusive), the result would follow that, presuming the rate of accumulation were the same throughout, it would take 12 years from January, 1881, to reach end of present work, and 5J years more to reach point 400 ft. further out. Assuming, then, that the useful effects of the structure commenced in January, 1881, it would be, on this basis of calculation, about 12 years from this date before it would begin to be interfered with, if stopped at the present endiug; or 17 J years before it would begin to be interfered with if carried on to a point 400 ft. further out, then, again, that it would take the shingle six years in the firat case, and Oi years in the second case, after it reached the end of the work before it rendered it inoperative, we should have jhe life of structure ending at present point," say, IS years, and for the life of structure ending 400 ft, fuither out, say, 24 years.'* T !i at was Mr O'Connor's opinion then that it Fould take 24 years. Mr Evans next reau a long extract from a report of Messrs O'Connor and A. D. Austin in 1887, in which they strongly objected to the kant, and insisted on the mole being taken straight out. But their advice was not adhered to, Sir John Coode's advice was not adhered to, and no engineer's advice was adhered to until the prpsent time — now nothing must be done except what the engineers advise. How had the change come about ? There was a great cry raised about the Seadown beach, but what did Mr Goodall say in reply to Mr Blackett's report to blow tlio breakwater up? " TIII3 assertion might have carried weight were it not that the facts ' therein recorded' are not exactly as Mr Lowe has represented them to b.e, and the statement that, 'before any breakwater was erected, the sea beach was covered with a coating of shingle of such a breadth, depth, and quantity as to act as a protection to the softer parts of which ! the beach on which it lay was cqinpqsed,' ! is not borne out by the observations of all the old residents of Timaru, who, in

'their evidence, taken by the Harbor Board, state that this beach has been | frequently denuded of shingle, and also, that in spito of the supposed protection the clothing of shingle gives to the beach, yet the degradation of the beach lias always been going on, and the cliffs have been wearing away ever since anyone has observed them, and certainly before the breakwater was begun/' Mr Goodall was not afraid of any serious consequences to the beach then, but he and Mr O'Connor changed their views to suit the circumstances. The report of the engineer showed that the toe of the shingle had gone out a great distance, . but that only indicated that shifting it would not do. They could not shift it at tl.o toe, and the shingle would not come back just to oblige them, so there was nothing for it but to go further out. If public opinion were respected they would do nothing at all until absolutely required. There was a great slur thrown on those who were opposed to shifting shingle. They were called three-penny ratepayers, and all that sort of tiling. That could not be said of him. He paid as much rates as all the other members of the board put together, and he thought it very wrong not to accede to the wishes of the ratepayers. Mr J. Hill objected to referring the plans of their engineer to anyone else. They had already spent £3OOO on expert advice, and he objected to have any more of the board's money spent that way. They had £12,000 not long ago, and now it was frittered away until they had only £9OOO left. Why had not their engineer given them details so that they could see how he was able to cut down the cost from what the commission recommended to his present estimate. It was no good to have an engineer if they had to consult others at every hand's-turn. They ought to take their own engineer's recommendations, and not go to any further expense. They would next have to accept tenders, and a man would be sent home. The chairman : No. Mr Hill: But it was done in the case of the Mana, and a nice mess was made of it. They had paid £250 to a man at Home to look after her, only to find that even her davits were no good, as well as several other parts of her. The chairman said tenders would be called for in the colony. Mr Hill objected to all their money being frittered away in commissions. Wellman was brought from Dunedin without the board being consulted, and so on. With respect to the silting question Mr Hill compared the soundings of 1889 with the soundings of 1892 as they appeared in the official sounding hook, and showed that in some places the depth of water was now one foot more than in 1889. Where, therefore, did the silting come in 1 As regards the Taniwha she was 42 days at the buoys, which was not her legitimate work, and she was also at the wreck and shifting shingle, and only 73 days dredging at her legitimate work. How could she dredge the harbor if only kept one-fourth of her time at it ? Let her be kept dredging, and she was thoroughly competent to do the work, but if taken away to other work she could not be expected to do it. As regards the shingle being 880 feet out, it was remarkable that the toe had gone out 150 feet during the last 12 months, while the visible shingle had only gone out 50 feet. Was that consistent ? Was it likely the shingle had run out 150 feet where they could not see it, while it went out only 50 feet where they could see it 1 Very probably the engineer was deceived by a sand bank outside, but if he had come further in he would find another toe. He knew that in rough weather sand banks were formed outside, but in fine weather they were washed in. He had long experience of the beach, and he knew this was the case, but he could not believe that the shingle went out 150 feet at the bottom of the sea, while it only went out 50 feet on the top. The chairman asked Mr Marchant whether Mr Hill's conjecture might be right. Mr Marchant said he had sounded up the slope from where he met the first shingle, and that Mr Hill was wrong. In 1890 the shingle was out 600 feet, and now it was out 880 feet, making 280 feet in two years. If they did not believe it let them call Balsom. Here an altercation took place between the chairman and Mr Hill. The chairman told Mr Hill he was favored in getting such liberty of speeches, and Mr Hill denied it was a favor but a right, and if the chairman knew his duty he would not have talked so. Ultimately Mr Hill wound up by disavowing all knowledge of the petitions. He had never seen them, and had nothing to do with getting up public meetings. Mr Wilson expressed surprise at Mr Hill's objection to getting outside opinion as to the suitability of the proposed new dredge. Mr Talbot also felt surprised at Mr Hill's objection, considering ho was always throwing doubts cm the engineer. Mr Stumbles also wished to throw doubts on the engineer. At Temuka he said that though the engineer reported that 14,000 tons of shingle had been shifted there was only 10,000 tons shifted- What he complained of was misleading the public in this way. As for Mr Flatman's question "Why was not a dredge thought of before ?" the matter had simply developed itself. Messrs Stumbles and Hill fyad great weight with the country, because they were looked on as practical men, and thus undue weight was given to their utterances ; but they were misleading the public. For his own part he would be willing to resign, but had not been asked to do so. The petitions and the resolutions at public meetings did not ask them to resign; they only asked them to do nqthiiig, but he held the request was unreasonable, and tliat consequently tUoy could not agree to it. It was unreasonable to ask them not to do anything until after the next election. They had consulted the best opinion opinion and found they could not wait a minute longer. They must go on or resign, and he wa.s ja«pared to resign if tllo majority decided to do so. Mr Stumbles said to his certain knowledge there was not over 10,000 yards of shingle removed. He had said so in Temuka because he believed it true. Mr TeKchemaker said this wa3 no time to resign when the public mind v. as excited. The large ratepayers were in their favour, and these were the men to be considered. , Tho largest ratepayers had told him to

stick to his colors, and lie certainly would not resign. Mr Gibson, in reply, said he did not wish to defy public opinion, but he did not believe the majority of the ratepayers were opposed to them. If asked to resign he would do so. Mr Flatman proposed, and Mr Hill seconded as an amendment.—" That the plans, specifications, and conditions of combined plant for dredging, shingle removal, and towage, be not considered at this meeting, considering the fact that the ratepayers are unanimously against any removal of shingle, or purchase of plant at the present time." The board then adjourned. ARRIVAL OF THE SAN FRANCISCO MAIL. Auckland, April 22. Arrived —Monowai from San Francisco, with the English mail. Passengers for New Zealand —Mesdames Claxton and two children, and Philips, Misses Brownwell, Ecv. Claxton, Messrs Philips, Perking, and Hubble, and fourteen in the steerage. GENERAL SUMMARY. Shortly after the arrest of Edward Holden, formerly quartermaster in the Royal Engineers, on a charge of attempting to obtain secrets regarding the British defence of Gibraltar, it was discovered that he had sold France full particulars of the plans of all the defences of Malta. The Rev Henry Powell, of Bayswater, committed suicide on March 20th at Padbury Vicarage, near Buckingham. No reason is known. On the 21st Arthur Goring Thomas, a well known writer of operas, threw himself below a train on the Metropolitan railway, London, and was crushed to pieces. An experienced Scotch whaler, Captain Gray, of Peterhead, has obtained funds, chiefly subscribed in Scotland, to equip two vessels for Antarctic exploration. Dr Nordenskjold, son of the well-known explorer is the scientist of the exploration. Besides exploration the enterprise a financial side. It will cost to equip the vessels £24,000. but it is hoped £45,000 will be realised from oil and whalebone. The Scotch market was closed against cattle, sheep, and pigs on March 9th, in consequence of the prevalence of foot and mouth-disease. A number of cattle and swine were slaughtered at Paisley by order of the authorities. Some 1,250,000 members of various English industrial organisations, and thousands of other persons, have petitioned Parliament to settle the Behring Sea and all other disputes between Great Britain and United States by arbitration.