THE S.S. BANKS PENINSULA.

Press, Volume XLV, Issue 7213, 26 November 1888, Page 4

THE S.S. BANKS PENINSULA.

33je above is the name by which the new steamer for the Peninsula and Akaroa Ste&m Navigation Company will be known, and which is to arrive here early in January next to enter into the Lyttelton-cum-Akaroa trade. The steamer, which is built of steel, is 120 ft long, with a beam of SKt tin, and a draught of 6ft Gin when loaded. She is to be propelled by twin screws, driven by compound engines, and developing a speed of twelve knots per hotrr. A topgallant forecastle Is proTided for the crew, and the ladies* cabin is situated amidships. The general saloon is right aft, in which are two enclosed cabins. One feature about her I* the clearness of her decks. She is schooner rigged, and the arrangements for cargo are very good, there being two batches, fore and main, the forehatch jrorked by a winch in the forecastle head. The building of this steamer has been saperintended oy Mr Robert Brown, late engineer of the s.s. Akaroa, and we feel sore that the efforts of the Company to laeet the wishes and requirements of their tiients in the bays will be appreciated. Captain Gibbons, late of the barque Lurline, comes out as master, and in Lyttelfcoa he will be relieved by Captain James Malcolmson, who is to receive the command of the steamer. In regard to this, the appointment of Captain Malcolmson as her commander is a happy thought of tae Company s, as he is jterhaps one of the eldest and best known skippers in the Peninsula trade, in which he has been engaged for the last twenty years, his first command being the schooner Lizzie in which he sailed for two years, until'his purchase ot the cutter Antelope in IS2. the terror of the bay tmders on bygone regatta days, in which smart and serviceable craft he lias traded for the last twenty-six years. The cutter Antelope was built In Auckland, and very excellent work was put into her, as her appearance •* the present is first-class, and she should ace many years' active service yet. Her name is almost a household word with the ■etttee on the Peninsula. She would «ak* a first-class vessel for deep sea fishMg, and as a sea boat is incomparable.