TIMARU HARBOR BOARD ELECTION.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2463, 11 February 1893, Page 2

TIMARU HARBOR BOARD ELECTION.

MU THEW AT PEEL FOREST. Mr R, Thew, the candidate opposed to Mr Talbot for a seat on the Tiinaru Harbour Board, addressed a fair number of ratepayers at the Scotsburu School on Thursday evening. Mr G. L. Dennistoun took the chair, and briefly introduced Mr Thew. At the outset Mr Thew spoke of his illness on Saturday evening, which prevented him from making any kind of reply to Mr Talbot. At his meeting Mr Talbot spoke of having questioned the harbour master on the practicability of Mr Thew’s idea, which he said in the meeting was to extend the breakwater in a northerly direction. Mr Thew objected, and said his idea was to extend the breakwater in an easterly direction, and Mr Talbot corrected himself before the meeting. Mr Thew on Thursday evening was free of his illness, and more able to debate, and thought it unfair that the impression should have gone forth that the harbour master had condemned his idea, whereas if Mr Talbot had mentioned “ easterly direction ” it might have been different. He challenged Mr Talbot, y/iio tviis present, tq say wither l]o

mentioned “ northerly direction ” to the h-arbour master, and Mr Talbot replied he did. Mr Thew then apologised for the absence of Mr C. G. Tripp, who, ’£ could have been present, would have taken the chair. Mr Tripp had taken great interest in harbour matters, and was a man that would turn to the right at once if it was shown to him that he was in the wrong. Mr Tripp had expressed himself entirely in accordance with his (Mr Thew’s) views on the shingle question. Mr Thew objected to Mr Talbot’s statement that the mole could not be extended without a loan, and without first getting a Royal Commission. This was simply ridiculous. They were going to spend £IB,OOO or more on a new plant, but he could show them how to extend the mole without a loan. The engineers reported that to prevent the shingle overlapping the works by extending the mole would involve a length being added each year, equivalent to the probable growth of the Shingle bank, say 125 feet. This, at the low price of £BO per foot, based on last contract, but allowing for rise in price of cement, would cost £IO,OOO. As against 1 this, there would possibly be a credit from value of land reclaimed, but it was ! very difficult to say what it would amount ' to. If the triangle of accumulation preserves its present shape, the area of . accumulation, between Rock Island and breakwater, due to each 125 feet of accumulation along the breakwater, i would be about three acres. Of this, in ' view of the shape of the land, fully 1 acre would be required for streets, leaving ! 2 acres available for sale or lease. This, | if worth, say £2,500 per acre, would be ! value for £5,000. According to this Mr 1 Thew maintained that there was no need to borrow a single penny for the work. He would propose to extend the breakwater 160 feet at Mr Stumbles’s estimate of £55 per foot, and this would cost £8,250. According to the engineers’ • 125 feet at a straight line would be 3 1 acres. Taking this on the scale of 6 inches to the foot for half a mile 3 to the breakwater and they would 3 have 9 acres of land reclaimed, and three years more life to the breakwater. The . cost of dredging and removing shingle for one year would be £3,971. Of this . amount, £1,985 was chargeable to shingle-shifting alone, and the remainder 3 to dredging inside the harbour. Probably the extension would not be necessary for f two years. He would place this £1,985 in the bank, as an extension fund, and 3 the interest accruing for 12 months to go t on at compound interest, and for £1,985 at the end of two years they would have a capital of over £4,000. Then taking , the engineers’ value of reclaimed land f £2,500 per acre for the sale of 2 acres out of the nine reclaimed they would b realise £5,000 and the account would 3 stand thus :—Debit—extension of break--1 water, £8,250 ; credit—moneys accruing at bank, £4,000; for sale of land, £5,000 ; ’ total, £9,000 ; credit balance, £750. Mr ’ Thew asserted that if a company was formed and he was appointed a director, he could run the concern on a good paying principle, without coat to the ratepayers. If he were elected, he should be a very radical member on the board. ; Speaking of the currents he said the way they run made it impossible for the . shingle to stop. There were certain currents which any schoolboy knew were all over the world, and which ran in one direction and could not be stopped. The shingle had to be taken across the breakwater, and he held that the machinery they had committed the ratepayers to would not do the work. He considered that members of the board should be practical men, so that they could consult with the engineers on harbor matters and not have to accept everything without dissent. Mr Talbot himself had admitted that he knew nothing about harbor matters,and entirely trusted to the engineers. It was exactly the same on their local boards ; if they had not practical men to see to things money would be spent unnecessarily. He could ride round the country at the present time and for miles see money spent foolishly through not having practical men on the board. They might sneer at practical men, but he held that they should be on all boards.—(Applause). The great question was the shingle shifting and if elected, he would oppose it to the utmost of his powers. He was sorry to oppose Mr Talbot, for he was sure that no man in South Canterbury had given more of his time to the Harbour Board, but he had j evidently been led by hia party. He hoped the day was not far distant when party polititics would be entirely swept out of Hew Zealand. He reminded them that there was one thing far more serious than the shingle question, and that was, that in years to come, say 15 or 20, Caroline Bay would be. silted up with sand. He did not agree with the engineers on this matter, and, to the contrary, said that the shingle coming in from the north was brought in by the shore currents from Patiti Point and was ground into sand on the face of the breakwater and the more space they left on the breakwater the more space was given for the sand to run round to Caroline Pay. On one side of the breakwater they coiw "° out ht Uw water, and would not get many yards before reaching deep water, while at Caroline Bay they could go out hundreds and hundreds of feet before getting into a middle depth. Besides this he assorted tjrat tjjp silt wjijS finding its way through the Dreakwatep into the harbor, and they had as a consequence to put random blocks dqwq every year. He was tohl that if the shingle got to the end of the breakwater it would block the whole place. He was not an engineer, but a common man, but kp assured them that such a thing would never take place. He would nut oppose Mr Talbot or anyone else if they had finished their breakwater, bpt they had not done so, and instead of doing tjii& they had committed the ratepayers to an expenditure winch would last a life time, , r i was np* right, and lie hoped every ratepayer in the Mount Peel District would protest against the removal of shingle from the south siijp gf t|xe breakwater. (Hear, hear.)

Mr Talbot, with the permission of Mr Thew, assumed the position of critic. He came there because lie meant, if possible, to win his election, and he knew they would think less of him if he did not do his best to do so. It was absurd to say that there were party politics amongst the board, and it was not worth while to raise such a question. Hp again urged that they had got the very best advice on the harbor question, and said, “ How dare we ignore it 1 ” Mr Thew had looked over some reports and found that the board could spend wjiai money they liked without a commission. He pointed out that Mr Thew had not read the Act that stated that they had not the power to make any alterations without the sanction of a Royal Commission, Harbors were of something more tha« 1 , interest, they coaco.- Uie colony* wa whole, and it would not bo right if money was spent foolishly, for it would be an injury to the whole colony and us as colont-tV* Mr Thew could plan what ho liked, bm! whether they haa muds or „ ut jt ’ j , not be earned out without a Oouuui»bw U '

With regard to the reclaimation, he pointed out that one acre at least, would be required for streets, etc., and asked who they considered would be likely to buy the land in any case. Timaru was not in his opinion destined to be a great city, although it was a good agricultural town. But who could say that, if they were even able to sell, they would get £2,500 per acre for the land reclaimed I The land might be worth it, but would it bo saleable I He said also that in the past the railway had taken a considerable part of the reclaimation, and unless the Government specially endowed harbour boards with it how could they rely upon, it as their own. He assured them also that Mr O’Connor had said that no reliance could be placed in any length of breakwater constructed there. Concerning the currents he showed that it would take a current 'going at the rate of 7 or 8 miles an hour to move a pebble, and there was no such currant at Timaru. The currants there sometimes got to about 1 or miles an hour but, not nearly strong strong enough to move shingle. The Rangitata would give them an idea of the current required to remove shingle. Mr Thew had an idea which he thought he could carry out, but if he went in and faced the criticism of the other members of the Board he would perhaps have a good deal of the romance taken out of his plan. There were plenty of men on the board with ideas, but not o/en Mr Stumbles would dare to ask the board to adopt his views unless the very best advice was got that they were sound in principle. Mr Talbot again referred to the expenditure on the new plant, and again reminded the ratepayers that the shingle had now only 250 ft more to travel to the end of the breakwater, and impressed upon them the fact that it would have been disastrous had they made plans for the extension of the mole and then found they could not get a Commission, and meanwhile the shingle had reached the end of the breakwater.

Mr Thew, replying to the question of currents, went as far back as 1862, and said he had, with the captain of a vessel, taken soundings from Patiti Point to the Arowhenua river and five miles out. There was a ground current in deep water, and also a shore current, and the ground current, as the shingle came north, carried it along with it. He firmly believed that a diver could not stand on his feet on the ground if he was dropped outside the end of the breakwater. The current there was rather more than 31 miles an hour. He then gave a description of what a current log is, and questioned whether the engineers knew what such a thing was. It was a piece of wood 4x4, or 0 x 6, with a lump of lead fixed in it. These logs were put over Patiti Point and not a single log came back to Timaru, but many were found on the Ninety Mile Beach. Others, again, that got the shore current were found at Washdyko Lagoon. He had found close on 20 logs there. He then explained how the shingle, if caught on an anchor, or block, formed an eddy and outside of the eddy would be a bar of sand. This eddy formed what they now called the range, and this range would be done away with altogether the further they extended the breakwater. If he were elected, he would not push his ideas one iota on the board, or engineers, but if any plans came before him he would give his opinion on them. Mr Dennistoun asked how a ground current of 3 J or 4 miles an hour could remove shingle when it took one 6 or 8 miles an hour to do it.

Mr Thew replied that Mr Balfour said that not only shingle but boulders were travelling with this current at a considerable rate.

Mr Talbot said it returned to the beach, where it sometimes travelled at the rate of 5000 feet a day. In reply to a question Mr Thew said that the current logs with lead in them weighed 10 or 121 b and when thrown over sank to the ground current. Mr Talbot asked,if Mr Thew could not get his ideas carried out would he then follow the engineers 'I . _ _ Mr Thew said ho was quite certain a majority will be returned opposed to the shingle shifting. He still held that if the members of the board had been practical men the shingle question would never have come up. Mr Dennistoun asked if he inferred that the members on the board had not gone into the matter and considered it, and Mr Thew replied that their own words were that they were not practical men.

Mr Dennistoun said he considered Mr Talbot as practical a man as Mr Thew, according to his judgments on public matters as he had seen them in the newspapers”. Mr Thew said that Mr Talbot had acted according to his convictions, but no one could deny that there had been a party feeling on the board. Mr Dennistoun said he was sorry to know that was so. Mr Evans had started a party feeling. Mr Thew said he could not lose sight of the fact that Mr Talbot leaned to his party, and Mr Talbot asked why Mr Thew thought he had not formed a just conclusion.

Mr Thew replied, for the reason that Mr Talbot had pledged himself to a party, and would not desert that party. If he (Mf Thew) were on a board and considered he was doing right, he would vote figainst his own brother. Mr Talbot said he would always be guided by the majority. Mr Thew then challenged Mr Talbot V)’ich turning round after saying he would yote fur delay before ordering the new plant. Mr Talbot said it was when he found that the board had committed themselves that he turned, lie uud Mr Gibson had pqth agreed ta delay the acceptance of the tender. Mr Thew said the board were not committed when the majority gave their vote. Mr Talbot said they were committed.

Mr McKay thought even if committed, it would hy to lose a few oil the tender than to pqroiult the country to about £30,000. hlr Thew said that lie had been asked by ratepayers to come forward and contest the Mount Peel seat, and it was the tirat time Mr Talbot had been opposed. Aa far as he was personally concerned he did not (jare whether he did or did not get in, ;«>'! he only stood to decide whether the shingle should be shifted. If Mr Talbot would turn and oppose shinglo shifting, he (Mr Thew), would at once retire in his favor, Mr Dennistuun asked how it was Mr Tripp agreed entirely with Mr ,n ’ views on the matter. ir ’ j now’s a most for*"' - 110 so he was

man, because Mr Tripp had asked him, in fact pressed him (Mr Doimistoun) to stand against Mr Thow on tho harbor question. He, however, refused, because ho considered Mr Talbot a very good man. In reply to Mr Thaw he said it was 10 days since Mr Tripp spoke to him on tho matter. Mr Thow said lie had seen Mr Tripp an Wednesday night last and he said tha t lie entirely agreed with Mr Thow’s views

and was only sorry he could not be present at the meeting. Mr Thew said that many a wise man changes his mind but a fooJ never changes. Mr McKay said that if Mr Thew did not stand for them they could have got plenty of good reliable Timaru men to do so. Mr Talbot asked if Mr Thew, if elected, would try to get the present contract cancelled ?

Mr Thew said decidedly no, as the board had now committed itself.

Mr Talbot said it was only a little more now than before.

Mr McKay pointed out that the contractor had the money in his pocket. Mr Thew said the new plant would find plenty of work in removing sand, and they would have it on hand in case the ratepayers turned round and wanted the shingle shifted. Mr Talbot said then if the ratepayers turned round Mr Thew would go with them.

Mr Thew said the ordering of the new plant was extraordinary work, and in doing it the board had exceeded their duties. Speaking of the plant, he was reminded that it was a twin-screw boat, and he was very sure that it could not give the aid a paddle-tug would if a vessel were in distress.

Mr McKay proposed a vote of thanks to, and confidence in, Mr Thew as their future member. Mr Thew said lie did not want a vote of confidence, but wished to leave that to the ballot-box. Mr Sowerby seconded the motion, which was carried without dissent, and the meeting terminated.