The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday Morning. Tuesday, July 23, 1889. SCATTERING CASH.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 328, 23 July 1889, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday Morning.

Tuesday, July 23, 1889. SCATTERING CASH.

Be just and fear not; Let all the ends thou aim’st at be thy country’s, Thy God’s, and truth’s.

We are astonished at the readiness with which many of the members of the Harbor Board seem to fall in with the idea of a little engineering scheme that is proposed, the construction of a groin. But that is not all ; a /i.ioo work is not considered sufficiently expensive to be in keeping with our extravagant notions, and the plans have been referred back so that a more expensive work can be devised. Surely the members of the Board cannot consider what they are rushing into, for we are inclined to use much stronger terms about it than were uttered by Mr Townley. It is not even an engineering experiment. It is nothing else, or will be nothing else if allowed, than a bit of engineering tinkering. The proposal brings us face to face with a probability which we hardly like to shape into words, for the outlook is such a serious one, but we hope that the ratepayers will rouse themselves to a sense of their responsibility and the interest they have at stake, and have none of this tinkering until at least they are assured of what the work itself is likely to turn out.

One does not require to be a certificated engineer to judge of the ridiculousness of the scheme proposed, and the reasons given in proof of its necessity are equally absurd, The avowed object of the proposed groin is to create a scour, and keep back the aecumulation of sand brought down during strong westerly winds. Now, as to the scouring properties of the groin. The tidal rise and fall averages from four feet six inches to about five feet in spring tides, and the width between the breakwater and the groin is proposed to be about 300 feet. Does the Engineer mean to assert that the tidal rise and fall will ensure a scour which will even in the smallest degree benefit the new channel ? We have more faith in Jyir Thomson’s ability than to believe that he himself can entertain an opinion so manifestly absurd, Then as to the second point—preventing th? western spit from encroaching. We admit that to a certain extent this may be of use ; but to be of any practical benefit the groin must be carried out beyond the breakwater pier. If not, the sand will gradually bank up behind the pier, and be carried past the end of the work, bp lifted by the tide, and finally deposited in mid-channel. The Engineer appears also to build his hopes upon the probability of floods greatly assisting the scouring and keeping the channel clear, but what has been the experience ? Upon authority which we value oven more highly than that of Mr I

Thomson, we can safely say that during floods (which occur at very rare intervals) the relief afforded is practically worthless. The bar is perhaps cleared out for a few days, but it again becomes banked up to its original level immediately the flood waters subside, and in fact it becomes much worse, owing to the alluvial deposits which have been brought down and left inside the bar. Mr Thomson’s original plan provided that the groin should go out from Grey Street, and all along we have been told that the spit would go down immediately the pier had gone a little further out, but anyone who has the gift of eyesight may go and see for himself how matters really do stand. How is it, we should like to know, that at the very spot where the Union Company’s steamers Maitai and Australia came alongside, on Sunday the launch Snark, drawing a little over three feet of water, grounded ? We can arrive at no other explanation than that the Engineer has not been sufficiently explicit in his reports. Indeed, all the explanations that can be put on paper cannot outweigh the practical evidence that is given by such results. There is, indeed, too much reason to believe that the truth is the Engineer himself is seriously mistaken in his theories, and if the highly valued reputation which has been flaunted in our faces is really worth so much, we say that Mr Thomson should not be allowed to escape his responsibility by any tinkering at the mouth of the river until things have advanced so far that there will be no money left to put on the main work, which would be a sufficient plea to exonerate the Engineer from all blame. The original plan proposed that the groin should begin at an angle from Grey Street. How does that agree with the proposal now made ? The truth, appears clear, in spite of any assertion Mr Thomson may make to the contrary, that a dredge will be needed. The money might almost as well be thrown away as invested in a work like that proposed. At any rate before doing so, the members should clearly understand what prospect lies before them, and not trust blindly to the advice given by the Engineer, until they have fairly tested the value of his previous opinions, If the pier cannot be taken into deep water, as we have been led to expect, and there made of practical use, the only hope is a good dredge. Frittering away the money on temporary river improvements may stave off the evil day, but at what a cost ? If Mr Thomson has arrived at the conclusion that the work is not going to be the success upon which he staked his reputation, the sooner we know it the better, and then it will be possible to consider what are the best steps to take. It will be a flagrant scandal if this tinkering with river improvements is allowed to proceed without check, and we call upon the ratepayers to look into this matter before their money is thrown into the sea in this way. If there is an unpleasant truth yet to be made known, the ratepayers should not be kept in the dark, for the worst must be combatted, and we are now in a better position to do so than we will be when the proposed tinkering is done with.