SIR JAMES FERGUSSON.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18263, 23 December 1924, Page 15

SIR JAMES FERGUSSON.

A YACHTSMAN GOVERNOR 31R HARRY PRICE'S REMINISCENCES. The publication, in one of the illustrated journals of the Dominion, of a reproduction of a photograph picturing fcir James Fergussons vac.u, Blanche, being overhauled in the Tort Chalmers dock in 1573, vividly tccalled to Mr Harry Price, of Chriaichurch, his connexion with tho vessel and reminiscences of the then Governot of the Colony, tho father of the present Governor-General of the Dominion. Mr Price, who was, until recently, licenseo of Warner's Hotel, has had varied colonial experience and started his career as a boy of fourteen cm .1 Yarmouth liphintr boat * n *' lC Sea—a severe training ground for a boy. In response to a reporter's rc-quet-fc Mr Price indulged in some reminiscences of his experiences ou Sir Jumeu Fergusson's yacht. "I joined the Blanche :ts one of her crew, in "Wellington, in the latter end of 1573.-"' Mr Price said. "I was then about nineteen years old. The Blanche was a fore-and-aft schooner and had been sailed out from tho British Isles, being towed through the Suez Canal. I joined her after she had been docked at Port Chalmers. Oil one occasion wo left Wellington for Nelson, via French Pass. The captain was taken suddenly ill and Sir James Fcrgusaou. who was a keen yachtsman and a tine all round good sport, took and stuck to the wheel right across Cook Strait. On ncaring French Pa.S3 wo wero beca'med and as there was not tho same amount of traffic by that routo as there is nowadays, wo had to wait for tho wind. At a favourable stato of tho tido we drifted through tho Pass, but as there was still no wind we were under tho nocossity of dropping anchor. Kir James expressed a desire to go fishing, and a boat was lowered, and lio was rowed up oxio of tho coves in tho vicinity of ihe_ Pass. Ilis Excollcncy was after big fish and v.'hiio throwing the line the hook penetrated tlio palm of his hand, the barb coming right through. It was impossible to get tho barb out and all that eould bo dono was to iilo off tho end of tho hook. It happened that H.M.S. Blanche-—a warship of the same namo as his Excellency'a yacht—was lying off Nelson, and as thero were no signs of u favourable wind rising, and tic appearaneo of any steamers, his Excellency was rowed to Nelson and the surgeon on board the warship extracted tho remainder of tho hook from his Excel* lcncy's hand. I was ono of the crew that rowed tho boat from tho yacht to Nelson. "Another incident that I recall was in connexion with a music box I had won in a .raffle on Lambton quay. Amongst tho ttinoa played by it were 'The Bluebells of Scotland/ 'Annie Laurie',' 'Auld Lang Syne,' and some other Scottish airs. I took tho musical box on board the yacht, and tho tunes used to delight the foe'ale. One day Lady Fergusson heard tho musical box and was so pleased with tho tunes that sho would not bo content till sho bought it. With the money Lady Fergusson gave me for it and somo I had savod I went off to the rush on tho Ohinemuri goldficlds, whero I lost it all and had to 'work my passage'back. "Sir James Fcrgussou was very keen to try trawling in Wellington harbour and its vicinity, and had a trawl fixed on his yacht. His experiment did not provo successful as the sea bottom was so rocky and rough that it tore the gear away and 110 trawling could be done. I waa on the Blanebo for about four months. Her crew consisted of one officer, a bo'sun and four seamen. Another member of her crew, whose namo has escaped my memory, has just retired from tho servico of tho Wellington Harbour Boardw Sir James Fergusson ultimately sold tho Blanche, and sho traded about the New Zealand coast for somo time but what becamo of her afterwards I haven't heard."