140
Engineering and Ship Building Works, Shanghai, for the
construction of 2 hopper barges, at a cost of $48,437.50
each, should be accepted. As, however, the Director of
Public Works reported on the 5th. February, 1907, that
refuse could not be disposed of by hopper barges of the
type it was proposed to acquire, enquiries were made as to
the type of hopper barge in use in New York, and with the
help of information obtained by the Consul-General for the
United States of America, the Harbour Master submitted a
revised plan of the proposed craft, drawings of which I
enclose, the estimated cost of each steam-lighter being
approximately $25,000.
6.
The Committee appointed by the
Sanitary Board to consider this question estimated the
cost of running the two steam-lighters, after making due
allowance for interest and depreciation, at $16,800 per
annum, or if a third spare steam-lighter were required at
$19,800 per annum. There would, therefore, be a saving of
$11,000 per annum on the present scavenging expenses,
and in view of this fact I have the honour to request Your
Lordship's authority to provide for the building of 2 steam-
-lighters in the Estimates for 1909 and to order them
before the end of this year in order that payment may be
made