SHIPS AND THE SEA.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 71, 26 March 1910, Page 12

SHIPS AND THE SEA.

END OF A FAMOUS SHIP. •THE TORRENS TO BE BROKEN UP. Advices by the mail state that the .Italian barque Torrens has been sold to be broken up. To those whose acquaintance with nautical matters extends back but a short period, this information might mean littlo or nothing. But to other* associated with tho trade between London and Australia some years ago, the news thai the Torrens has at last ceased to sail the seas will cause a pang of regret. Without doubt the Torrens was one of the best-known saikoj; ships regularly employed during me closing quarter of last century in voyaging between London and the Antipodes. Every year saw her depart from the Thames, generally with a number of passengers on board for Australia, and at Port Adelaide she was looked upon as a regular visitor. In a way this grand old packet was a hospital ship, for her company specially catered for those whose medical advisers had recommended them a long sea voyage for fheir health's sake. From a picturesque point of view she was a noble ship, and a fuis sight she presented when under full sail. Aa a British ship she was commanded by Captain Angel, and afterwards by his son. Later she was sold to the Italians, who used her a» an ordinary cargo carrier, sending her here and there wherever freight offered. On one of her voyages to Australia she had a serious mishap in the Southern Ocean through colliding with an iceberg. . She was damaged about the bowi, but fortunately waa able to reach port in safety. When she arrived at Port Adelaide she had a groat hole in her bow, filled with cork fenders, ropes, etc., whioh immediately after the accident had been placed there to check the inrush of water. The Torrens was a composite-built vessel, and was launched in 1875. It was in November Io«t that she arrived at Genoa, the port at which, ■he was registered, and there doubtless ehe will be dismantled. A WELL-EQUIPPED TRAMP. The big tramp steamer Noniuoh, which attracted much attention when in Australian waters on account of her peculiar name, and until her arrival ww thought to be a myth, it, it is claimed by her owners, Messrs. Bowles Bros., of London, bh« first "tramp" steamer to be fitted with wireless _ telegraphic equipment. Apart from this installation, which, it must bo agreed, should bo included in the equipment of every ocean-going vessel, be it a passenger-carrier or the ugly "tramp," tho nonsuch has another innovation that is, and hat been for lome time, attracting | much attention. It baa been fitted by the Submarine Signal Company with two "ears," and conmta of one each side, undor the waterline forw*rd, for hearing many miles away, and finding the direction during a fog of the submarine bolls rung by various lighthouses and lightships or on another steamer. The beat of another ship's propeller may also bo heard for name disttaoe. Mean. Bowies Bros., who apparently watoh closely the advance of modem soience where it concerns shipping, •re to be commended for their enterprise, and have set » course which should bo followed by all shipowners. THE GREAT EASTERN. "You oan say what you please about the old Groat Eastern,'' said an American who had orossed tho ocean twice or more every year for almost half a century, "but she was a grand idea. The trouble was that the idea was almost fifty years ahead of its time. It has taken the world all that time to grow up to a Great Eastorn, as exemplified by the Lusitania and the Mauretania. I made my first voyage to Europo in tho Groat Eastern. That was in 1862. It was the first timo the vessel sailed into Liverpool. She had accommodation for 10,000 passengers, but there were only 100 in her on that trip. You know she had both a propeller and paddle-wheels. As long as she kept going it was all right, for sho movod along steadily and majestically; but one day wo ware hailed by a small French steamer which had a mail to tend to Europo, and we stopped short in mid-oooan while a boat put out from the other vessel. She wobbled about there in a 'dreadful fashion. Passengers and stewards were hurled about in every direction, and as for crookory, I don't believe a whole plato or oup and sauoer was saved from the wreokage. On the vessel was every sorb of general oargo, including live stock, and as provisions, why, wo had hotter foou and fresher than you oan got on a linor to-day. \Vo had absolutely fresh meat, fresh milk, and freshly-killed chickens." The Great Eastern was 680 ft long, of 18,918 tons, and her longest day's run 333 knots. Her coal consumption was 300 tons daily. OLDEST IRON SHIP IN THE WORLD. Tho United States man-o'-war MichiSan, although still in service on the roat Lakes, is the oldest iron ship in tho world, having been built on tho shores of Lake Erio in 1842, almost 69 years ago. She was a veteran when Ericsson a Monitor threw all tho navies of tho world into junk pile, and many and many a generation of fighting ships hdvo come and gono since thon. Her iron construction was a novelty in naval work, but for years afterwards tho United State continued to build wooden ships for its navy, including the famous Kearsago, whioh was built twenty year* after. Even the Constellation, a wooden ship that shares the honours of the old sailing vessels of tho navy with Old Ironsides, did not come until 1854. The material for tho ship was dragged across the mountains from Pittsburg to Lake Eris, an infinitely harder task than it would be now to transport enough material for a navy of great batdoships. The plates and anglflfe, bars, and beams, bolts and rivets, forgings and castings, were all made at Pittsburg. A MAGNETISED SHIP. Weird in the extreme was the story toM by Captain Davies, of the Cardiff •teamer Trafalgar, on putting back into ' Palmouth a fow week* ago, with his ship disabled by an unaocountablo magnetic visitation that rendered the compasses useless. "Wo have been struck by a comet or a thunderbolt and our ship is disabled," he said. "W© were bound from Port Talbof, to Baetia with coals, and when about ton miles south-west of the Wolf Rock tho vessel trembled violently, and there was a loud sharp report like the explosion of v cannon. The foremast seemed a mass of flame, and' the whole chip bees mo aglow. At tkstt moinont we saw a large fiery body, with a tail about 30ft to 40ft long, strike the sea about 20ft from us. Its appearance was accompanied by a loud hissing noise, and as it disappeared a column of water rose in the air. Directly after tho men came running out of the forecastle, saying it waa on fire. Tho whole of the interior was glowing with a brilliant light. The effect of the phenomenon in the engine room was most awe-inspiring, the whole place glowing with a Taint violet light, from which millions of spark's emanated. All tho men rushed up on deck. Tho second mate happened to bo 6ounding the well at tho timo, and roceiyed a violent shock from tho steel rod which ho fpld in his hand. Tho phenomenon did not last many seconds. When we hud recovered from our nurprise we looked nt the compasses, and found them all demagnetised and awry." Of tho comparatively small number of •ailing shinn that have survived the competition of steam, none ia better known than the Loch Garry, whose association with the Australian trade covers more than a quarter of a century (says the Sydney Daily Telegraph}. Bmng also ono of tho bcst-lcopt ships afloat, tho old "Loch" linor does not look anything liko her age, and would »ti!l appear to have v long and useful lifo boforo hor. Tho namo Loch Carry, and that of Captain J&tnes Home, hor master, are almost synonymous, ho hawing commanded the vessel during the greater portion of her career. Looking fairly hnlo and hearty, tho veteran mariner h still in charge of •the Loch Garry, which anchored off WillUmitown on ttu 6th Inrt., upon arrival from Sydaej.