The members of the Board for 1897 are unchanged, with the exception of Mr. F. H. D. Bell, as mayor, Mr. J. Hutcheson, M.H.R., Government appointee vice Mr. E. Pearce, and Mr. F. Bradey, returned by the Hutt County Council in place of Mr. C. W. Brown. The whole of the following figures relating to the Board, which are made up to the 31st of December, 1896, will, in comparison with the statistics given in the article appearing on pages 306–316, inclusive, show substantial progress. The revenue was £59,661, the expenditure being £43,459, including £28,206 for salaries and wages, in addition to £2100 added to the Sinking Fund, which stood at £27,366. The sum of £17,872, including £10,608 of money earned and written off for depreciation, was expended on new structures, the balance of assets over liabilities being £140,740. The revenue of the Board from its foundation was £720,795, which, together with £201,984 from loans, made a total of £922,779. The expenditure on working accounts amounted to £552,835; on capital account, £331,880; and for sinking fund, £19,736, making a grand total of £904,451, leaving a cash balance of £18,436 in hand to start the year 1897. The arrivals in 1896 numbered 2099 steamers, of a tonnage of 1,010,522 tons, and eighty-five sailers, totalling 38,690 tons—in all, 2184 vessels, equalling 1,049,212 tons. The tonnage of general goods handed over the wharves was 61,916 tons of foreign imports, 74,118 tons colonial and coastwise, and 61,738 transhipments, making 197,772 tons for the year. The exports in tons were:—4535 frozen meat, 899 preserved meats, 2164 tallow and pelts, 309 leather and basils, 1061 butter, and 743 cheese, eleven bones and horns, and 486 sundries, totalling 10,597 tons. In addition there were of general goods, colonial and coastwise, 44,184 tons; of timber 596,891 superficial feet; of wool and skins 99,569 bales; and of hemp and tow 13,419 bales. Besides the foregoing, the exports transhipped to ships lying at the wharves, over the ship's side, were, of frozen meat 4468 tons and general cargo 2868 tons, delivered to English and foreign vessels; 798 tons of general cargo to colonial and coastwise vessels; of wool and skins 7924 bales; and of coal 60,156 tons. Additions to the property of the Board include the jetty for the convenience of ferry and excursion steamers, and the enlargement of the P store. The charges on hemp have been considerably reduced, and now stand at the tonnage rates as on general cargo. The business of the wharf having outgrown the accommodation for the staff, the Board decided in 1894 to erect new wharf offices, combining with them a store, to relieve the pressure in the Queen's Wharf sheds during the wool season. The buildings were designed by Mr. F. de J. Clere, F.R.I.B.A., and erected on the old boat-harbour site, in brick, by Messrs. R. Carmichael and Son. The view on page 309 shows the building as originally designed, but during its construction the wool-brokers of Wellington decided on holding annual wool sales locally, and to meet their requirements the design was altered so as to provide for an additional story, specially roofed and lighted with vertical skylights, for the convenience of wool-buyers in examining wool. The building, as completed, stands on a piece of ground approximately of triangular shape, and has a frontage to the Queen's Wharf of about seventy feet, by a depth of about 265 feet. The northern end or apex of the triangle is occupied by a semi-circular house, containing a hydraulic accumulator, together with a building in four stories, each floor having an area of about 500 square feet, for use as workshop and stores in connection with the Board's plant. The Queen's Wharf frontage contains a range of offices on the ground, first, and second floors for the use of the book-keeping and wharfinger's staff, and the body of the building is occupied by a large store for use in connection with the adjacent berths and for the storing and dumping of wool. It has a ground-floor area of about 9000 square feet, and has two galleries having together 14,600 square feet of floor area, on which galleries the wool is stacked for exhibition at the times of the annual sales held each wool season.

Mr. T. J. Gale, J.P., retired from the office of chairman of the Harbour Board in February, 1897, Mr. F. H. Fraser being elected to that important position.

Mr. F. H. Fraser, J.P., who was re-appointed in July, 1896, one of the Government members of the Harbour Board, was elected chairman of that body in February, 1897. He is referred to at length under Wellington Corporation as a councillor, on page 277.

Mr. J. Hutcheson, M.H.R. for Wellington City, was appointed by the Government in June, 1896, to succeed Mr. E. Pearce as a member of the Wellington Harbour Board.

Mr. C. W. Brown, J.P., (vide page 317) was succeeded by Mr. F. Bradey as a member of the Harbour Board.

Mr. F. Bradey, who is referred to on page 1078, was appointed by the Hutt County Council as a member of the Wellington Harbour Board, in succession to Mr. C. W. Brown.