RECORD FROM SYDNEY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 47, 24 February 1923, Page 17

RECORD FROM SYDNEY.

A MISTAKE Cl___U-P VF. BARQUE KATE HOLDS PALM. ' In the first of my aeries of shipping articles I referred to the passages made by fast sailing vessels from Sydney to Auckland and stated that the record wa* held by the barques Alice Cameron and Trieste, each of them having accomplished the run in six days 12 hours. Recently when searching the files of papers published-prior to the date I was appointed marine reporter for the "Daily Southern' Cross," and before I commenced to keep records, I came across some fast rune made by the Alice Cameron, the barque ' Kate and tbe brig Moa, and was surprised to find that the passages made by the Trieste and Alice Cameron in 18S6 bad been beaten by the barque Kate and also by a previous passage by the Alice Cameron. This led mc to make a careful search 1 back to 1850, and I am now in a position |to state that the Kate holds tne palm I for the record passage from Sydney to' j Auckland of any calling vessel between j 1850 and , 1890. The. Kate, In command., of Captain 'Sherlock, left Sydney on August 27, 1883, having embarked 80 volunteers j under the command of Ensign Coulter and Dr. Drake. She sailed from Sydney at 2.30' p.m. on the date mentioned, and j carried a wester!-' with clear weather ', right across, the wind ranging from jN.W. to' S.W. The Three Kings were sighted at. 9 a.m. on the 31st after an excellent run of four days six hours. The barque experienced light winds •from the S.W. and fine weather down the coast, and anchored in the Waitemata early on the morning of September 3, five days 20 hours from Sydney. Mr. Alder Fisher, who was an A.B. on the Kate under Captain Sherlock in 1862,. is still living in Grafton Road, Auckland. A NOTED LINE. Both the Kate and the Alice Cameron belonged to the famous Circular Saw clippers owned by Messrs. Henderson and Macfarlane, and their sailing capabilities were about equal, although tho Alice Cameron during the years the two vessels were engaged in the AucklandSydney trade had a better record than the Kate. The Alice Cameron started her career in this run in 1862, when only eight "years from the builders' hands. On her first run from Sydney to Auckland,, in May of that year, she made the passage in a little over seven days. The "New Zealander" of June 7, 1862, referring to the advent of this little clipper, says: 'The Alice Cameron is unquestionably the very finest addition that has liem made to the tonnage of the port of Auckland, and is another conspicuous example of the good taste and sound judgment which have been the* guiding principles of the enterprising, firm to which she belongs. There is no house which has done so much as that of Henderson and Macfarlane; essentially progressive, they have been as deservedly I prosperous. The firm has gone on purchasing and perfecting their line of

Auckland and Sydney packet ships, | thereby adding materially to the trade . and prosperity of the port, until they have'gathered together a squadron of the smartest, handsomest, best found, beet fitted and most efficiently commanded ehipa—such a squadron, indeed, as any firm or any port may .proudly point to." Mr. Thomas Henderson,'a.

son of the head of the firm of Henderson and Macfarlane, is still in'business in Auckland. THE ALICE'S BEST. The Alice made her record trip from Sydney to Auckland-three months later, under Captain Barren. She left Sydney at 1 p.m. on July 27, and experienced a succession of westerly winds to the Three Kings, which she passed at 5 a.m. lon August I—f our days five hours from port. Her run from the North Cape Ito Cape Brett was done in eeven houre. When beating up against a strong head wind her fore topsail yard was carried away. When she dropped anchor in the harbour she had completed the passage in five days 23 hours, or three hours longer than the Kate. On this occasion the Alice brought a large number of diggers bent on trying their luck on the Coromandel field. The Alice Cameron's next best trip, as already recorded, was made in 6 days 12 hours. The barque Trieste on another occasion made the run in almost exactly the same time. CAPTAIN COOPER SPRINGS A SURPRISE. T well remember on one occasion, 1 believe in 1867, 'boarding the Alice Cameron during a black nor'-easter at about 9 p.m. off the Queen Street wharf. Captain Carter, who was in command, said: "The Kate started two hours after us," and rubbing his hands with a smile, he added, "you will not see Cooper for two or three days. We rounded the North Cape just as the N.E. gale started, and we did not sight land again until we got a glimpse of the Barrier; dirty weather all along the coast." To my surprise, at about 11 p.m., Captain Cooper, of the Kate, made his appearance at the office to hand in hie report. He left Sydney two hours after the Alice, and dropped aiiohor about two hours after her in Auckland, harbour. MOA'S GOOD PASSAGE. The brig Moa, which was running between Auckland asd Sydney for ten

THE CIRCULAR SAW COMPANY'S KATE.

I years prior to the purchase of the Kate,. also made some remarkable passages across the Taeman. As far back as 1852, when.in command of Captain Norris, the-Moa ran from Sydney to Auckland, under - seven days, and "but for the consideration given to make the •hip easy for; the safety of the atock," ■aid-the-captain on this occasion, "I

could have readily accomplished the passage in 24 hours' less time." The Moa had on board 300 prize sheep and 12 horses, and only two were lost on the passage. The Moa also made several passages under eight days when in .charge of Captain Bowden, and once— 1859—with Captain H. F. Anderson in command. ' The Moa ceased to run in the Sydney trade after the advent of tie Kate. As stated in a previous article, the brig Vision also made some good passages from Australia to Auckland, on one occasion doing the run from Sydney in a little under eeven days. But the most remarkable run, of all across the Tasman was that made by the little schooner Huia,. when, in command of Captain George McKenzie. She covered the distantce between Sydney and Kaipara Heads in 4 days 0 hours. The Auckland-built barque Novelty also made some very fast passages from Sydney to Auckland, her best run occupying 6 days Iβ hours. (To be cob tinned next Saturday.)