The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday Morning. Tuesday, July 30, 1889. LITTLE GRAINS OF SAND.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 331, 30 July 1889, Page 2

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

Tuesday, July 30, 1889. LITTLE GRAINS OF SAND.

P-o just and fear not; Let nil tha biklr thott aim'ai at be thy donntry’a, I’hy God's, and truth's.

The members of the Harbor Board meet to-night, when the principal subject to be considered will no doubt be the proposed training wall at the mouth of the river. One peculiar feature will be that while it is contended that the Board , must blindly follow the Engineer’s advice in tinkering works of this kind, the Engineer has admitted his own weakness, or the weakness of the first plan, by consenting to substitute for it a more expensive one. It is further contended that the training wall in the position proposed is not a deviation from the original scheme, but if this rank nonsense really emanates from those in authority, then anyone with the smallest grain of common sense will be able to estimate how far that authority is to be relied on in the future. If it is merely guesswork or ignorant assertion on the part of the inspired organ, it may have an effect—if it is noticed at all—the reverse of what was intended.

It is rather amusing to hear the conflicting arguments that are given in favor of the proposed training wall, the arguments all being intended to lead to one conviction, but each one being completely at variance with the other. The first is that the wall will act as a scour. Yet one has only got to take a walk along the river bank at low tide and see the picturesque little sand beds in the centre of the river, and though there is the lame “scour,” and no “ back wash ” from the surf, these romantic islets look as healthy as ever. Acute Engineers may tell us that there would be an altogether different effect a few hundred yards down the river, and that the current would actually carry the sand where it would be harmless; but practical men, especially when they have to pay dearly for the experiment, are very dubious in accepting such assertions as beyond the region of doubt; and even if it were admitted, most people would allow that the tidal inflow would have nearly as much effect in the opposite direction. The next argument is that the wall will act aS a sand trap, and that all the Band which has to be contended with is that which covers the papa rock to the westward of the river. The Engineer even yet, it appears, will not admit that his assertions that all the sand came from the eastward were most misleading, and he consoles those who will not take the trouble to watch the course of events for themselves with the half truth that the sand which is now giving trouble is that which has been cleared off the rocks. It is unnecessary here to renew the contention that there is a large accumulation of silt from the Waipaoa river, for all one has to do at the present time is just to look across from the end of the viaduct, and gee how, where a short time ago the sandbank was perfectly smooth, the water has now eaten into it and made it quite steep. That was one of the main points made by those who objected to the site in the first instance, They said that when the pier got out so far as to obstruct the course of nature the sea would be canted on to the beach, then swirl round and sweep the sand into the water near the pier. Can anyone deny that such has been the effect? If the training wall went out far enough it would be an effective sand trap for some time, according to circumstances, but the wall proposed does not even go as far as the present position of the sandspit. Again, we are told that the wall is intended neither to act as a “ scour" or a sand-trap: that is a new line of argument which effectually disposes of the first two points. The assumption is that the wall, if consructed only as far as low water mark, will divert the course which the waves now take, and prevent them from surging along the joint of the Waikanae beach and then nto the river, bringing the sand with gem; What sand there ig already in

the river will wash out and never be replaced. If the Engineer admits this to be the object then he may as well at once give in that things have taken a shape which proves that his views were wrong in the first place. Even now, though, ho asserts that the sand which is giving trouble has nearly exhausted itself, and maintains that when that process is completed there will be no further trouble. In any case the idea of diverting the force of the waves has the prospect of failure stamped upon it, for the same effect—perhaps in a lesser degree—would soon be produced in the river. It does not much matter in what way the subject is looked at, there is no ’ ignoring the fact that the evil prophecies of those who were opposed to the breakwater site have now every appearance of fulfilment, and the evidence has become so plain that Mr Thomson has been forced to admit that he is in trouble ; but he persists that it is only a shifting bed of sand, the supply of which is now nearly exhausted. Indeed, Mr Thomson, as may be judged by what has appeared in the inspired print, is prepared to enter upon this river-tinkering business with a much lighter heart than those who have got to pay for it. The work has now reached a stage when it is not safe to snub practical men, whose experience makes them ven' good judges, by terming them “amateur engineers,” and the sooner those tactics cease the better it will be for all parties. We are afraid that the stoppage of dredging at the end of the pier has had more to do with the altered circumstances than those employed on the work would care to admit. One has only got to look at the difference which is being made by the large quantities of sand now taken off the Kaiti beach, and imagine what would be the effect of so much being continually taken from the westward side. It is, too, a remarkable thing that while the banking up is taking place on the Waikanae side, the depositing of sand on the Kaiti side appears to have almost ceased. Is this not the result of the extension of the pier ? However, if the Board does decide to go on with the construction of the training wall, we assume that the plans will have to be submitted to the Marine Department, and when they have passed through that ordeal, the outcome may be a considerable addition to our stock of wisdom. If the pier is intended to be simply an extension of the river, of course all further argument on the subject is useless. The Board has to decide really whether the Engineer will now be allowed to depart from his own scheme: Would that departure be a safe and efficient one ? Would it be better to go on into deeper water, in the hope that the present danger will disappear ? Or will it better to abandon the work even now ?

In conclusion we would be obliged if anyone can give us information to prove that lengthening the mouth of a river has ever achieved the object sought.