HARBOUR FERRY BOATS

Evening Post, Volume LXXXV, Issue 150, 26 June 1913, Page 8

HARBOUR FERRY BOATS

MUNICIPALISING THE SERVICE. For a considerable time past the Wellington public has heard much of the desire of the Eastbourne Borough Coun* cil to improve the local ferry' service. Last year the Harbour Ferries Ltd. offered to sell its steamers to the borough, but nothing came of the j negotiations which were entered into at I that time. The council then decided to see if one or two suitable boats could be purchased elsewhere and quotations were - obtained from Auckland, • Port Chalmers, Sydney, and Great Britain. These have been fully considered by the council, which has also discussed another proposal made to it ,by the Harbour Ferries Ltd., and we are now able to announce- that the borough has decided \to take over the Duchess and Cobar subject to ratification by the- ratepayers. In the recent negotiations Mr. W. J. Organ, the new Mayor of Eastbourne, has taken a prominent part. The Duchess, a steel vessel of 95 tons net, was built in 1897, by Mackie and Thomson, of Glasgow, for Mr. J. H. Williams,, who then owned the Day's Bay estate, and made a smart trip out to Wellington, keeping to her time-table everywhere. She is 133 ft long, with a beam of 26ft, and can steam about 12 knots an hour. ' The Cobar is built of wood, her tonnage being 58 net. She was turned Gut of Frame's yard, Sydney, in 1903, and was used as a pleasure yacht before she was bought by the Harbour Ferries, Ltd. Her length is 133 ft. and she has a beam of 26ft. She also has a good turn of speed. The price agreed upon for the steamers is the sum of £13,250 in debentures or £12,687 in. cash.