Part 2

At this port much damage was done by the gales in the early part of the year. The beach which formerly protected the pilot station buildings has been greatly encroached upon by the sea, and at one time fears were entertained for the safety of the dwelling-houses. Happily, however, the only damage done was the destruction of the boatshed and the loss of a few stores. The Custom-house and telegraph station, which adjoin the pilot station, are being removed to a new site; and I think it advisable that the pilot station should also be removed, as, with a renewal of last year's weather, the buildings may be lost altogether. The destruction to buoys and beacons was very great, and the approaches to the Herbert River have altered very much. All damage to buoys and beacons has been made good, and the channels, which retain their former depths, re-marked.

SNAGGING PUNT.

Snagging has been carried on during the year in the Johnstone, Seymour, Herbert, and Nind Rivers. The results, however, were not satisfactory, it being difficult to control the operations of the men. A local trust has been appointed to carry out the work, and better results may be anticipated.

MOURILYAN HARBOUR.

The trade to this port is now confined to the visit of a small steamer twice a week. The necessary beacons and lights are maintained by the Department.

JOHNSTONE RIVER.

Has, like mostly all the other ports, suffered from the effects of gales and floods. The amount of damage was, however, comparatively trifling, and confined to the blowing down of a few inexpensive beacons. The approach to the river has altered its direction, and the leading lights and beacons on Flying Fish Point have been moved to indicate the course in, which is now N. W. by W. 3/4 W., while formerly it was W. 3/4 N. The houses at the pilot station and the pilot cutter are in good order.

CAIRNS.

The new cutting into Cairns harbour was completed last year, giving a depth of 13 feet at low water, spring tides, and leading lights and beacons have been established to render the cutting easily navigable by night as well as by day. The dredged channel has stood remarkably well; only a slight silting up has been recently reported near the third pile. This spot, however--upon inquiry--appears never to have been dredged. A new staff for the outer leading light has been erected, and the buoys and beacons are fully maintained. The largest coasting steamers now enter and leave the port in safety. The beacons in the Barron and Mulgrave Rivers are attended to by the staff at Cairns, and are at present in their proper positions.

My predecessor suggested that a lightship should be placed near the Fairway Buoy to mark the entrance to the dredged cutting, and as a guide for vessels visiting the port, as well as to exhibit the necessary tidal signals. A light-vessel or--what would be cheaper--a small fixed pile-light on the Trotter-Lindberg principle--would certainly be a great advantage. The pilot boat, dwelling-houses, boatshed, and all property of the Department is well looked after.

LOW ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE.

The lighthouse and buildings on this island are kept in a very orderly way, and apparently no outlay will be necessary for some time. The Harbour Master at Port Douglas visits the station once a month.

PORT DOUGLAS.

The buoys and beacons are in good order, but the lighthouse requires a new balcony and door. The buoys and beacons at the Daintree and Mossman Rivers are maintained by the staff at Port Douglas, but the trade at the present time is very limited.

COOKTOWN.

During the past year the swinging basin has been dredged, which considerably increases the anchorage accommodation at this port. The pilot vessel "Governor Cairns" has been recently repaired and remetalled, and consequently will require no further outlay for some time. She is principally employed in attending to the beacons in the Inner Route to Torres Straits, and conveying stores to the lighthouses at Archer Point and Rocky Islet. The harbour plant, buildings, buoys, beacons, and the lighthouse and signal station on Grassy Hill are well cared for, and in good order. Two new buoys were supplied last year.

LIGHTSHIPS.

The new relieving light-vessel is now stationed at Channel Rock, and, as she was provided with a new and complete equipment, no outlay will be necessary for her maintenance for some time.

The Claremont Island lightship had a thorough overhaul two years ago. She is kept in excellent order, and requires no outlay. The Piper Island lightship will be the next vessel to be relieved. The metal on her bottom is becoming thin, and the caulking in her topsides defective. After a careful examination I consider she may remain another year or eighteen months at her station. The repairs necessary in the meantime are unimportant.

BEACONS, INNER ROUTE.

These are now in an efficient state, the heavy weather of the pant year having occasioned considerable damage, two expensive beacons having to be renewed altogether.

THURSDAY ISLAND.

The timber portion of the jetty was finished last year, and the T end is now being slowly proceeded with, the velocity of the tide rendering the performance of the work very difficult. When complete it will be a great convenience to large steamers, not exceeding 22 feet draught of water, which will be able to lie alongside. The buoys and beacons are well maintained, but there are at present no leading lights for guiding vessels into the port at night-time. This want is often a source of great detention and loss to vessels visiting the port, and many complaints have been made in consequence. Arrangements can easily be made to provide leading lights; and as their maintenance would not require any addition to the present staff, the outlay would be very moderate. The lighthouse and signal station at Goode Island are in a very efficient state, but the tramway for getting oil and stores from the beach (some 1,100 feet in length) is quite past repair, and requires renewal. It is proposed to put iron instead of wooden rails, as being more economical in the end.

At the pilot station everything is in order, no outlay for repairs being necessary. The pilot cutter "Lizzie Jardine" has been relieved by the cutter "Eileen," recently repaired at Cooktown.

PROUDFOOT SHOAL LIGHTSHIP.

When I visited this vessel I found that the heavy weather experienced during the last north-west monsoon had caused her to ride heavily, and that her decks forward had, as a consequence, strained a little. The necessary repairs are being effected by one of the crew, who is a practical shipwright. I propose in future to keep a carpenter in lieu of a seaman on each light-vessel.

NORMANTON.

The dredged cuttings at the mouth of the Norman were completed on 20th September, 1890, when the necessary beacons and leading lights were erected, and all the works of the Department were in good order until the 24th February last, when the Gulf of Carpentaria was visited by a gale of great violence, accompanied by unusually high seas. Vessels anchored at the Norman Bar dragged considerably, although riding with both anchors down. The damage to the harbour works was very great. All the beacons at the mouths of the Norman and Albert Rivers were displaced, some being destroyed altogether. The lightship parted her cable, and was carried about 900 feet above ordinary high-water mark on the Bynoe beach, and two of the Department's boats were smashed. The dredged cuttings into the Norman River have stood very well, considering the gales and floods experienced during the year, for, except at one place near the second black buoy in the outer cutting, hardly any change is perceptible. At the place indicated, however, the channel for about 400 feet has silted up some 18 inches. Since the weather has become settled no further alteration has taken place. The buoys and beacons have been restored to a state of efficiency, but the lightship is still on shore. As she does not appear to have received much damage, a contract has been let for floating and taking her to Karumba.

After the "Vigilant" returned to Normanton from Thursday Island, where she had been relieving the "Albatross," she required a number of repairs which were executed, and she is now in fair condition.

GENERAL.

The trade to several of the ports having considerably diminished, I have as vacancies occurred, been able to recommend reductions in the staff by 13 officers and men, which will effect an annual saving of L1,932, without in any way impairing the efficiency of the Department.

Having visited all the lighthouses on the Queensland coast, I find the sites upon which the structures are erected have been selected with great care and judgment, and the illuminating apparatus of the most modern description (excepting Cape Moreton, which, however, shows an excellent light), and supplied principally by the eminent lighthouse engineers, Messrs. Chance Bros., of Birmingham.

Additional 1st or 2nd order lights are not necessary at present, but in the Inner Route and Torres Strait much time is lost by the mail and other large steamers through having to anchor at night. Steam vessels are fast superseding sailing vessels, and their number passing along this coast increases every month, which will soon render additional lights necessary.

Pintsch's gas for beacons, buoys, and light-vessels is being adopted to a great extent in Europe, Asia, America, and the Suez Canal. In the colony of Victoria Pintsch's gas buoys are also in use. It possesses great advantages, owing to the cheapness of first cost and to the fact that no outlay is necessary for lightkeepers, as the light burns from six weeks to two months without attention. This system of lighting is admirably adapted for use in the Inner Route and for the shifting channels at the entrance to Moreton Bay. Several lightships with their crews have been recently dispensed with in France, and gas buoys substituted.

Another cheap and very effective light, the "Trotter Lindberg," is being introduced into the lighting system of Europe. This light is produced by burning paraffin or lythene oil in a specially designed apparatus. With the latter the light burns 14 days, and with the former 7 days without attention. A special feature of the apparatus is that an intermittent light is produced by the automatic action of a screen, which is made to revolve by the ascent of the heated air produced by the light. To mark the outer end of a cutting or narrow channel, the Trotter-Lindberg light might be utilised instead of a lightship. A lantern, with optical apparatus complete, costs about L100 to L125 in London.

SUNKEN WRECKS.

Disfigure several of our rivers, and are not only a source of danger to navigation, but are liable to cause deposits which may hereafter render dredging necessary. I have endeavoured--without success--to find owners for the vessels referred to. Ownership has evidently been transferred from one to another with the intention of evading the responsibility of raising or removing the wrecks. Some legislation is needed on this subject. The steamer "Settler" was removed from the river bank at Bulimba in February last, the lowest tender for the work being L100.

WRECKS AND CASUALTIES.

A tabulated statement is attached hereto, giving particulars of the wrecks and casualties to shipping on our coast for the year ending 30th June last. Happily no loss of life has been the result. Nor have the crews suffered much hardship, being in most cases rescued by means of their own boats.

WATER POLICE.

Good work has been done by the Town Water Police, all their vigilance being required to prevent breaches of the Port Regulations.

UNIVERSAL SYSTEM, BUOYS AND BEACONS.

The system as recommended by the International Maritime Conference at Washington, the Life-saving Appliances Act, the new Load Line Act, and the Report of the Bulkhead Committee are having the special attention of the Marine Board, and will be dealt with as soon as possible.

TREE-PLANTING ON ISLANDS AND REEFS.

The pilot vessels at Broadsound, Mackay, Townsville, and Cooktown have been frequently utilised during the last twelve months in conveying cocoanut and other trees, to the various islands and reefs adjacent to our coast, where they have been planted, and the lightkeepers in the neighbourhood have been instructed to protect the young plants as far as possible. Tree culture, especially the cocoanut--for which the coral islands form congenial homes--is important, not only commercially, but as contributing to the safety of navigation, the existence of trees rendering the outlying islands and reefs more conspicuous, and are more serviceable than beacons. As an article of food, the cocoanuts would prove invaluable to shipwrecked crews. Those planted on some of the islands are thriving well, especially some 200 young plants on the Lizard Islands. The trees that have been planted recently require protection in some way, or they will disappear, as did the fully-matured trees which existed some years ago on the Frankland Islands.

FISHERIES.

The revenue derived from the Oyster Fisheries has increased in a substantial manner during the past year. This is owing to the large number of banks which have been licensed in Rodd's Harbour, and also the successful sale of dredge sections in Moreton Bay. Banks at the Flinders Group, Princess Charlotte Bay, have also been licensed, the oysters being sent to Normanton and Burketown. On my recent Northern trip I visited Flinders Group, and saw indications of what may develop into a large industry, not only in connection with edible oysters, but with pearl oysters, several samples of which were shown to me. The quantity and value of oysters exported from Brisbane and Maryborough up to 30th June last were as per following table, viz.:--

BRISBANE.

Year No. of Bags. Value. L 1870 4,523 1,644 1871 5,127 1,625 1872 4,060 1,427 1873 3,036 768 1874 3,912 1,704 1875 5,349 2,622 1876 6,648 2,792 1877 2,736 1,639 1878 1,790 1,227 1879 3,793 2,729 1880 5,293 3,475 1881 7,559 6,153 1882 9,953 9,074 1883 8,878 7,342 1884 8,256 8,475 1885 8,076 8,094 1886 7,512 8,533 1887 7,167 8,240 1888 6,191 7,616 1899 6,791 13,368 1890 12,906 15,981 1891[A] 8,719 11,381

[Footnote A: six months]

MARYBOROUGH.

Year No. of Bags. Value. L 1887 1,692 1,967 1888 1,990 3,326 1889 1,914 3,677 1890 3,257 6,580 1891[A] 1,869 3,542

[Footnote A: six months]

The revenue received on account of Oyster Fisheries for the year ending 30th June, 1981, was as follows:--

Brisbane ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...L4,360 17 9 Maryborough ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 875 10 0 Gladstone ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 400 0 0 Rockhampton ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 2 0 0 Thursday Island (Flinders Group) ... ... 7 0 0 --------------- Total L5,645 7 9

The number of men and boats employed in connection with the oyster industry in Moreton Bay are--men 82, boats 36; and the number of banks worked are 241.

Licenses for catching fish at this port have been issued as follows for the current year:--Europeans, 99 men and 46 boats; Chinese, 32 men and 16 boats.

Attached hereto is the Inspector's Report on the Oyster and other Fisheries in the Maryborough district.

I have, &c, T. M. ALMOND, Portmaster and Chairman Marine Board.

CASUALTIES TO VESSELS on the QUEENSLAND COAST for the year ended 30th June, 1891.