ON THE RIVER. WANGANUI'S ATTRACTIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 09, 11 January 1908, Page 9

ON THE RIVER. WANGANUI'S ATTRACTIONS.

WORKING THE RAPIDS. I • (For The Tost.) The paddles of the little steamer are beating the water of the placidly-bowing river into foam. §he is still in the lower roach where the stream is deep and wide. The vessel is a steamer in a nutshell— ! compact and complete in every detaih Her registered tonnage is about 1 fifty tons, and' her side paddle-wheels are driven by an engine of 30 horse-power nomina.l, which means that at a p^inch she will develop six or seven times that energy. She- has much beam and little depth, drawing only fifteen, inches of water, and on a. low river during a dry season she will be fortunate to get that depth on some of the rapids. So that her hull may suffer no damage In bumping over such shoals, she has a false bottom ot mild steel, which will bend without breaking. Her engines being ot the non-condensing type— similar to a locomotive— she snorts her way along tba water to the steady rhythmical patter of her paddles. Each wheel occupies only a portion of the laTge paddle-box covering it. In the remaining space of tho port paddle-box is tho cook's galley, which, however hot it becomes, has. at least a cool floor, for tho water from the revolving floats dashes against it. In the starboard paddle-box is the lavatory. On a '.evel with the tops of the paddle-'joxes is. the bridge, which,* extending right aft, foim the promenade deck. This deck is covered an awning. FdTward of the bridge a ladder leads down to the main deck, which extends to the bows, where a sturdy winch has its quarters. .Beneath this upper deck and having entranc^ from ,the main deck, is a saloon to seat about thirty people, the benches and tables being against the walls, so that one may watch the panorama, slide pa^t as he satisfies his appetite. ' " The captain controls the engines directly by means of a lever reaching' from t.fto throttle oi ihe engine up to tho , b-ridgo, and placed alongside the steeringwheel THE SUPREME EFFORT. Running on level water (the expression seems tautological, yet here it has distinctive meaning), the exhaust in the funnel has a soothing, sobbing beat, the wheels drum along-— river-men always call the paddles .wheels" '— ; a Maori woman squatting on tho main-deck waves a hand to a friend on the ,river-bank, and crys her greeting in a- weird, highlypitched, wailing voice. Tho steamer swings round a bent!', and there before her lie the first rapids. White water is boiling down between groynes built of timber and stones bound together with wire, and designed to maintain a fair depth of water Dy a process of scouring. The skipper, a full-blood Maori, moves his lever, letting heT. out a little ; exhaust hardens, and quickens ; ' i the whirr of "the wheels is an intense note of sound. These rapids will be climbed without the assistance of {.he wire rope which is used in the higher reaches of the river. Two deck-hands appear, armed with stout poles, and! take up positions on either bow. Now the' noise of the rolling gravel beneath the water can be heard ; tho captain gives aIJ the steam, and, as she responds, he- points her nose into the psychological spot-^-where the eddies from either side- m^et> and boil — and shouts fo the men ■with the pole's to keep her there. Lik'e 1 , a freight engine rushing at an, inclined 'tf\t> little steamer shoves her nose iinto the galloping water; the shrill note of her wheels, the $haip blast of her .funnel^ aid the grinding/ rolling (( sound from "the water » and 1 thef gravel ■ making*, a fit* ting aqcompahlment fo "her ' ijttprena©' effort.' In the centre of the down-rushing water, for- several minutes, she hangs. Then, by -watching an oEjoct ashore, it is seen tb&t she' move's. It is the old, old .fight of steam and stream, and now, as ever, steam wins. The deck hands lay down their poles, tho* engine is "linked ' up," the soft sobbing of the exhaust tells that she is on Jevel water once more, and following tho beautiful winding river, on whose surface there is never a ripplo t$ the. sharp prow cuts it asunder to be torn to ribbons by the wheels. , ', , At midday the-, steamer', approaches tha point where tho up and the down steamera meet, and presently the down boat sweeps round a bond, and the vessels^ hail one another on the whistles. The other boat's wheels aT« reversed, as the foam tossed forward attests, and she glides to the river 'bank, where grow overhanging trees, and is tied up. Then tho up steamer is laid' alongside her, and the captains and crews proceed to exchange 6nips. Every skipper has his beat on th& rivet and his own crew. Only the steanters 'and tho passengers go right tbrougji. "QUICK AND LIVELY." C.The exchange is soon effected, and the vessels proceed on their differ ont ways. Tho new captain is a pakeha possessed of great energy and power of rhetoric ; his crew of deck hands ii composed of three Maori youths, yhobe agility and activity h only equalled by their cigarette-smok-ing propensities. It is on theso upper reaches that the rapids are numerous and difficult. When the first of theso appears in view, a Maori takes a long pole with a crook at the end of it. He stands in the bows, looking' backward now and then to the restless skipper 1 , who is eyeing the water intently. "There you are, quick and lively," ■shouts the skipper. The pole sweeps through the water, grating on the stony bottom. The hooked-, end re-appears clutching nothing. The voice of the skipper rises above the anarl of the rapids. ,He tells Rewa, tho deck hand, something which occurs to him at the moment, something interesting. Again the pole plunges, and this time it brings up a snaky-looking wire rope which lies in the, channel of the rapids, and has its termination at a' stout trie übove the rapids, round the stem of t which it is Securely fastened. '" 'Rewa turns, a triumphant look to the' bridge as he takes a couple of turns of ,the rope round the drum of. the winch, and gives the machine a little steam. Two poles in the hands of the other lads are ready to" keep' her in the channel. The engines are serit full-speed-ahead, the wheels race in their effort to gel a good purchase whore it seems there' is no grip to be had at all, so swiftly does the water rush down-straam, and tho winch lifts its voice to swell the medley of sound. As the steamer advances into the ■ rapids, the slack end of the rope is paused overboard by a man standing on a paddle,box, so as to throw it clear of the wheel. This rope is used merely to keep the vessel's (head to the stream, and is not a propelling agent. Tho wheels supply all the motive power. Vagaries of tho currents and eddies necessitate the 'constant use of poles, for, once the steamer gets out of the centre of tho swirling water, she almost inevitably swings on to the shingle, and very often there is only one way to get her off — to send her astern and make another attempt to climb the rapids. Tho captain, ■being an earnest man with his mmd set on reaching level running as soon as possible, keeps a constant fire of caustic comment directed on the toiling deck hands. And he moves restlessly about, tugging at the regulator, which is already at its limit of movement. His remarks cause the Maori crew to grin appreciatively. They like theatrical effect, they, love the superlative, .With their

skipper, to climb tho rapids is an heroic thing to do. So they grunt at fheir poles and rope, turning occasional glances towards watching passengers as, though to say, "It is fearful work, yet, see, we do it. Thanks to our captain whom you see pulling his ship-along by the lever. Hoi s all right N " Lite-rally inch by inch the river is conquered, the water that is rushing down, to destroy her being actually used to float and propel tho steamer in her passage upstream. At last sho reaches smooth water, the ropo is cast oft, the noise and tumult is ovor. Passengers offer the perspiring Maoris cigarettes, - and are told strange stories, half mythical, half true, wholly artistic and entertaining. THE RETURN JOURNEY. Coming down the river, tho steamer shoots the rapids \vith wheels motionless, sweeping down resistlessly,-rio one speaking, even the stearuer holding her breath till' the passage is over. At ono place she come 3 down stern-first with paddle^ moving half-steam-ahead, so that sho may have steerage way to make >the tunr in the rapids. When she swings,' about before taking the rapids, she executes a graceful waltzing movement, her stern armost grazing the banks on either side. Having negotiated the broken y water, the same manoeuvre is gone through before ohe resumes her journey down tho river. Thi6 swing, back-down, and counterswing mark the high-water mark of river navigation in a skipper. And it is a pretty motion to watch.. It is as though the river said to the steamer, "Our dance?" Then it takes her gently and firmly, they swing, the river backs' her down the v rapids, while sho holds her breath, and, "{Shall we reverse?" the river gallantly inquires. bo they reverse, and the wheels take up again tho burden of the song the river taught them. • WILL LAWSON.