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HARBOUR MASTER'S REPORT ON PROBABLE NECESSITY OF DREDGING.
The problem of providing berthing accommodation in the Harbour for the ever-increasing tonnage frequenting the Port is one that is getting more difficult each year, and though there may not be any very pressing necessity just at present, there can, I think, be no reasonable doubt that, with the constant advance in number, size, and draught, as well of Ships-of-War as of the Mercantile Marine, and of Foreign as well as British Shipping, the water space which, up to the present time, has sufficed, will, before many years, be found quite inadequate.
The first note of warning has been sounded; owing to the increase in number and size of His Majesty's Ships on the China Station, as well as of the Ships-of-War of Foreign nations, and to the reclamation to the shore of deep water by the extension of the Naval Yard, the "Man-of-War anchorage", which was originally set apart for the accommodation of all Ships-of-War, British as well as Foreign, has recently been found at times insufficient for even our own ships, and the excess has had to be accommodated elsewhere, and thus while Foreign Ships-of-War are still, as formerly, berthed when practicable in the special anchorage, this, as has been pointed out by the Naval Authorities, is frequently found impracticable, and their berths are assigned to them by the Harbour Master, a course also sometimes rendered necessary in the case of British Ships-of-War.
From the following table, it will be seen that the size of the steamers visiting the Port has increased very largely during the last 20 years.
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