EOYAL COMMISSION ON CANALS AND WATERWAYS.
13630.
Is it all the county of Tipperary ?—The
track¬ way is on the Tipperary side of the river, but Mr.
Grubb will supply you with that information better than I can.
13631.
Has it ever been considered that it would be de¬ sirable to amalgamate this with the navigation, for example, of the Barrow ?—I
have not considered it at least.
13632.
If your plan were adopted and an Irish national system were introduced for the canals, what effect do y^ou think that would have on the charges for carriage ?—I
think it would reduce them very materially and give a great impetus to industries of all classes in the district and serve the country generally.
13633.
Do you think the existence of this navigation has any effect upon the railway charges ?—It
is a competi¬ tive route.
13634.
Are the charges from Clonmel to W^aterford less than they are where there is no competition ?—As
regards the local charges for goods loaded at Waterford the rail¬ way charges compare favourably with the boat charges, but in the case of cross channel loading, that is coming from Liverpool and Bristol, there are the cartage charges of the railway at Waterford which makes the charges higher.
We have not a free bridge in Waterford and the cartage becomes heavier over the bridge.
13635.
What have you to say on the subject of local control ?—I
would prefer the State control with a Local Advisory Board.
Of course, as I have said before, it all de¬ pends upon who will finance the concern and the nature of the scheme.
I should like to add that if there was a cer¬ tainty of punctuality in delivery a great increase indeed of goods going outwards from Clonmel would immediately come to the boats.
For instance, I have just been speak¬ ing to the manager of a very large condensed milk factory we have in Clonmel, and he told me that he could send 70 tons of condensed milk weekly by boat at a very con¬ siderable saving, but that, owing to the uncertainty of delivery he sometimes had to go by rail.
As I have ex¬ plained to you the uncertainty arises from the floods and shallows and such causes.
13636.
Do landowners and farmers in y~our district make much use of this navigation ?—Yes,
they do; I may say they are very strong in support of the Suir; they have always fully contributed.
The old Grand Jury which existed previously contributed very cheerfully, and the county council are continuing the same policy.
13637.
What do the agriculturists send off ?—There
is a great deal of timber sent by river, and then they get coals, ironmongery, manures, and such like, some for the dealers and some delivered direct to the farmers.
13638.
Building materials ?—Very
largely.
13639.
Seeds ?—Seeds.
13640.
Feeding stuffs ?—Yes.
Coal is a very large item by boat.
13641.
Do they send off milk and butter ?—Farmers
do not, but the local dairy owners do.
13642.
I suppose the milk is sent in the form of con¬ densed milk ?—Yes,
and also sent the other way from Carrick-on-Suir to Clonmel to be made into butter— factory milk.
13643.
Is that sent up stream from Carrick-on-Suir ?—
I do not think to any great extent owing to the rapidity with which it is required to be taken, but if there were regular deliveries I understand it would be.
Sometimes sheep are sent from the fairs in the boats, sheep principally, and pigs, but not to any large extent.
13644.
Are more sent by railway ?—Far
and away; of course the barges presently on the river are scarcely suited for cattle at all— in fact they are not suited be¬ cause they are rather low, but you can bring sheep.
13645.
Are there any sufficient means of collecting and forwarding the produce ?—In
the case of corn the boats come alongside the stores; the stores and mills are quite alongside the riverside and men with handcarts cart the corn into the boats.
In the same way the co 1 and other articles such as corn coming up are port re.1,
out of the boats by men.
13646.
(Sir John Dorington.)
Is it anybody's business at the present time to look after the river between Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir ?—The
county council look after the repair of the trackway.
Aid.
T.
P.
Morris* y, Clounhl Corporal.on
13647.
But the river itself ?—Mr.
Grubb is connected with the old company called the Suir Navigation Company and he will be able to give you more information than I can on that.
13648.
Is the Sun Navigation Company in existence 3 Oct.
191.6
still ?—It
is.
13649.
They might take out those shallows ?—You
could hardly expect them to do that.
13650.
You think the river requires canalisation ?—
I do, of some form; of course I am not an expert.
13651.
The existing Suir Navigation Company has not sufficient powers ?—They
have not, they have no powers whatever.
13652.
Is the Suir Navigation Company a carrying company ?—A
carrying company.
13653.
Have they no right to manage the river ?—Mr.
Grubb is the manager and he will be here presently; I would like you to ask him these questions.
13654.
Do you know the fall of the river between Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir ?—I
think about 51 feet.
13655.
You would require a certain number of locks to be built ?—The
rapids are very great in some places.
13656.
The natural way to cure that is by a system of lockage ?—That
is my idea, but I do not pretend to have any engineering knowledge.
13657.
What you want to cure is to get rid of the shallows, and the rapids and, in fact, to make it a river capable of navigation ?—Quite
so, uniformity' of depth of water.
13658.
When that was done the passage would be delayed at the locks of course ?—That
is so.
13659.
You would want about eight locks to cover the 50 feet ?—I
do not understand it, but some have suggested.
six or eight, I forget which.
13660.
That would be about ten minutes a lock of delay, but otherwise the passage would be certain; it would be the transit over 11 miles plus about ten minutes at each lock, about an hour: would that satisfy you as regards rapidity ?—Personally
I think it is the right thing to do, but I am not an authority on it.
13661.
I only ask your opinion, it is evident that if the river is to be made less rapid and the shallows are to be got rid of there must be a system of locks ?—That
is my idea.
13662.
And you would not mind the obstruction of the locks—the time taken in passing through the locks ?—
There are some difficulties about it I need not tell you.
13663.
Are there no locks below Carrick-on-Suir ?—
None whatever; they have the tidal water there and a yery fine river.
13664.
(Lord Brassey.)
I suppose I may take it from you that the district with which you are connected is a rich and productive agricultural district ?—Quite
so.
13665.
And in your judgment it is well worth while to spend money in the improvement of the navigation 1— I am very strongly of opinion that it is.
13666.
(31r.
Snowden.)
The river, I understand from you, is only tidal to Clonmel ?—It
is tidal to Carrick-on-Suir and slightly above Carrick-on-Suir.
13667.
Is there any traffic at all above that point 1—.
Above Clonmel ?
13668.
Yes ?—Not
by river.
13669.
That means, therefore, that the goods that would come would be for delivery either in Clonmel or in the neighbourhood of Clonmel ?—Yes.
There is another place called Kilsheelan ; there are various points between Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel at which boats can stop and take in loading.
13670.
I take it from you, then, that you could not expect much traffic on the river except for goods that were intended for places upon the banks of the river or adjacent ?—Yes.
Clonmel drains a very large district.
Agricultural produce for miles round is sold in Clonmel, 13671.
For what distance would you say ?—I
would say for ten to twelve miles round.
13672.
Is there much population there ?—Oh
yes.
