SEA-BORNE COMMERCE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIX, Issue 32, 8 February 1915, Page 3

SEA-BORNE COMMERCE

DEVELOPMENTS IN FIFTY YEARS COASTAL, INTERCOLONIAL AND INTERNATIONAL HOW THEY CONCERN WELLINGTON'S PROGRESS

The inauguration and developnient of various shipping lines in and out of Wellington is inseparably linked with the remarkable progress the cjfty has made during the last 50 years* Wellington is the centre of a huge- trade, which had its infancy away back, in 1840, when the city was but a tiny iinfant itself. An old engraving of Poit Nicholson as it was then shows quite a number of small sailers anchored in the stream. The place looked 'busy even then. It was by far 'the busiest port of the "Southern Settlements of the New Zealand Company," standing far above its rivals — Nelson, Akaroa, and New Plymouth. Sixty-five yearsi ago regular trading services were maintained ; that is, regular as far as sailing boats would permit. Vessels arriving from or departing to London were few, but a comparatively frequent service was carried on by first-class ships between Wellington and Sydney. Quite «i fleet of small schooners, cutters, and the like engaged in coast-wise trade, and once in a while — perhaps once in twelve, months — there was a departure for somo unusual foreign port. Perhaps a elans?} at the shipping intelligence as published in an old newspaper will give the beut idea as to the nature of the trade. The following arrivals were recorded 1 > on 15th September, 1847:— September 11 — Schooner Scotia, 68 tons, Davis, from Sydney. Same day— Schooner Flirt, 8 tons, Day, from Manawatu. Same day — Cutter Catherine Ann, 17 tons, from Cloudy Bay. Same day — Cutter Katherine, Johnstone, 10 tons, from Taranaki. September 13— Schooner Ocean, 30 ton 6, Furgusson, from Massacre Bay. Same day — Schooner Governor Grey, 35 tons, Taylor, from WanganuL Same day— Schooner Carbon, 25 tons, Joyce, from Taranaki. Same day — Schooner Kate, 68 tons, Bow* den, from East Coast. Same day — Schooner Dolphin, 25 tons, Hatt, from East Coast. Departures recorded in the previous issue (11th September) were :—: — September B—Barque8 — Barque London, 388 tons, Williamson, for Hongkong. Same day — Schooner Matilda, 8 tons, Brown, for PoTirua. Same day — Schooner Catherine, 15 tons, Porter, for Porirua. Same day — Cutter Ann and Sarah, 28 tons, Sinclair, for Cloudy Bay. September 9 — Schooner Comet, 97 tons, Cook, for Banks Peninsula. Same day*— Schooner James, 6 tons, Reid, for Porirua. Same day — Cutter Catherine Ann, 17 tons, Cemino, for Cloudy Bay. Same day — Schooner Edward Stanley, 25 tons, Armstrong, for Wanganui. Same day — Schooner Souvenir, 80 tons, Jennings, for Auckland. AUCKLAND NEWS" VIA. SYDNEY. Such was the nature of the trade in and out of Wellington- The above extracts were taken at random, and give a fair indication of what trade existed. Of course, the little sailers provided the only communication between the various parts of New Zealand, and the arrival of a vessel, say, from Wanganui, was a great event, bacause >of the news it brought. The non-arrival of any boat was looked upon as a serious matter, especially by the early newspapers, who despaired more than once because news from outside sources was lacking. On one occasion in 1847 something like ten weeks elapsed between the arrival of I boats from Auckland, when, at the time, important matters affecting the whole colony were being considered. The news was eagerly awaited, and it came at last — via Sydney ! One day the Spectator proudly announced :—": — " The Sydney files which arrived here yesterday contained the following news from Auckland." Then followed clippings from the Sydney papers, which, in turn, had clipped from Auckland journals. TWO OLD ADVERTISEMENTS. As above mentioned there were regular oversea, sailings, as the following advertisements show :—: — "POR LONDON DIRECT. The Fine Fast Sailing Barque Ralph Bernal, 450 tons, George Maclean, commander (who is well acquainteH with the trade), has room for a few tons of light cargo, and will sail for London on Ist December. The Ralph Bernal is Al at Lloyd 6, and underwent thorough repair before leaving London, and has excellent accommodation for passengers. I For freight and passage apply to W. S. I Loxley. or to William Fitzherbert. Wellington, 14th October, 1846. The next concerns a sailing for " Hobart Town." It runs : — •pOR HOBART TOWN DIRECT. FOR PASSENGERS ONLY. The Lowestoft will sail for the above port immediately on her return from Kai Kouras. For passage only, apply to Captain Griffiths on board, or to Robert Waitt. Wellington, 30th September, 1846. THEN AND NOW. It is not the purpose of this article to deal with port statistics, but at the same time the development of the various services will be better appreciated when it is stated that in 1841 the tonnage dealt with, vide an old handbook published by the New Zealaud Company, was 53,099, including coastal and oversea ships. In 1914, Wellington's figures totalled 3,047,879, contributed to by 3197 steamers. On top of that were forty-eight sailers, of a tonnage of 11,149 tons. Now Wellington's coastal shipping alone would easily excel the complete figures of '41. The mosquito fleet is one of the most important features of Wellington's shipping activities, for all the year round it is busily engaged in working coastal ports — Napier, East Coast Bays, Wanganni, Patea, New Plymouth, Nelson, Picton, Blenheim, Kaikoura, Lyttelton, Greymouth, Westport, Hokitika, and the rest — bringing all sorts of produce for transhipment to the big liners at Wellington. THE ARRIVAL OF THE ANN. It was with the advent of steam that more frequent and more regular lines were inaugurated and maintained in and out of Port_ Nicholson. Commercial steam craft came in 1853 when there is a record of the arrival of a screw steamer called the Ann, a little vessel of 154 tons which, on the 3rd September that year, Arrived from Sydney, via. Nekoa, Shg

was, then, the forerunner of the Maunganui and the Ulimaroa although she did not commence a regular service. It may be mentioned that in 1853 Wellington had no wharves whatever. INTERCOLONIAL SERVICES. The services between the intercolonial ports were extremely erratic, and little schooners ran at irregular intervals only to points which would make a trip profitable. No other points, apparently, were ever considered. It is interesting, therefore, to trace the development of the interprovincial services. In his "Steam in the Southern Pacific," Will Lawson records that the steamer Nelson, 330 tons, Captain Martin, was brought to New Zealand to maintain a regular service between the provinces. This was about 1854, and the vessel came under agreement to the General Government. A subsidy of £6000 was granted, and the Nelson entered into service between Manukau and Dunedin, caning at New Plymouth, Nelson, Wellington, and Lyttelton, en route. A year later the Nelson was replaced by a vessel called the Zingari, which, on 22nd August, 1855, run the first harbour excursion in Wellington. In 1857 tho Zingari went to Victoria, where big profits were being made as the results of the gold rush. Her place was taken by the White Swan, of 335 tons, which continued in the service for a few months. In 1857 came the Wonga Wonga (which inaugurated the Wellington-Nelson service), and later the Stormbird (perhaps the oldest boat in the world at present in active commission). There is only one other claimant for this honour— a vessel engaged somewhere on the South American coast. The was another claimant— the Collier — but she was wrecked last year, and in reporting the incident more than one Home paper asserted that the Stormbird was the oldest vessel afloat. THE STORMBIRD'S HISTORY. The Stormbird was launched in May, 1854, by Laurie and Co., Whiteinch, Glasgow, and was originally built to act in conjunction with the Wonga Wonga as tender for two liners— the Sovereign and Prince of Wales — which were to have inaugurated a service between Melbourne and the Panama Canal, a project that was abandoned. The Stormbird came out under sail, occupying 116 days to Hobson's Bay. After she had run for some time in the Melbourne-West-port trade, she came to New Zealand in the early 'sixties to engage in coastal work. She 1b now owned by the Wellington and Wanganui Steam Packet Company, and is doing excellent service. The Stormbird,v it may bo said, has seen the coastal trade expand at a remarkably rapid rate, just as the intercolonial and international services have done. For instance, an extract from an old publication dated 1865— fifty years back-— it is stated that "during the past year there have been trading along the coast and intercolonially sixty steam vessels, a number of which are first-class ships of suitable tonnage. With the Panama service established, the number should be materially increased." The tota.l number of coastal traders registered in New Zealand now is 433, with a net tonnage of 104,356 tons, giving direct employment to 5487 men. These figures do not include all the vessels engaged in New Zealand, and the total is probably 445 vessels, with a tonnage of 116,356. That is how shipping has grown. As a matter of fact, there are as many lighthouses on the coast now as there were ships in 1865. And Wellington has had a lion's share of the general progress made. THE STEAM NAVIGATION COMPANY. On the eubject of the coastal trade, an announcement made in 1865 by the New Zealand Steam Navigation Company, which afterwards went out of business, is interesting. It asserted that its screw steamers Taranaki, Wellington, Ladybird, Rangatira, Queen, Ahuriri, Wonga 'Wonga, and Stormbird, maintained "regular communication between Auckland, Manukau, Napier, Castlepoint, Raglan, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Waikato, Nelson, Hokitika, Picton, Lyttelton, Dunedin, and Wellington." Mr. G. Hunter was chairman of directors, and with him on the directorate were Messrs. George Crawford, J. Dranefield, W. h^an, W. M. Bannatyne, E. Pearce, W. B. Rhodes, W. Waring Taylor, G. H» Vennell, and G. Moore. The position of , manager was held by Mr. R. J. Duncan. WEST COAST AND SOUTHERN ■PORTS. A steamer called the Queen, 132 tons, inaugurated iihe Wellington-Dunedin 6ervice in 1858,' when the return saloon fare to Lyttelton (excursion rates on account of the races) was £8 8s and steerage £5 10s. To Otago it was £13 and £9 respectivdTy. Of course, there was nothing like the present ferry service then. It has all come so gradually that people find it hard "to realise that anything but,, a daily service ever existed. Then in 1865 tnere were constant sailings to tha West Coast diggings. One of these vessels, the City of Dunedin, a paddle steamer of 327 tons, left Wellington on. 20th May, 1865, and was never heartd of again. She had fifteen passengers> Mr. Lawson, in his book above mentioned, states that at this time Hokiitika was "a thriving place, and "heavy passenger lists and cargo freights were usually the order of things." The Kennedy, which Btill trades out, of Wellington, ran from Dunedin to the Coast. There were many sailings from Wellington, and the following is an advertisement which appeared La Tho Post on 24th July, 1865 : FOR HOKITIKA DIRECT. THE Fast and Favourite Brigantine CHEETAH. Passage ... '£6. For passage only, apply to the MASTER, On Board. MONOPOLY OF FIFTY YEARS AGO. And so the coastal services have developed. They were all started where tlio need existed, and as the need remained they were retained. Of course, tbe wonderful activities of the Union Company have done much, and thus condOEn now has practically a monopoly of the interprovincial trade. THE INTERCOLONIAL TRADE. t lAs far as the initial intercolonial 6er•vjjces ar.« - concerned, , gas.

most interested in an agreement made in. 1857 with the Intercolonial Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. For a subsidy of £24.000 (£IO,OOO coming from NewZealand, and the remainder from the Imperial authorities), the company agreed to make regular voyages between, Sydney and Nelson with the vessels Prince Alfred (1200 tons), Lord Worsley, and Lord Asliley (500 tons), and the Airedale (400 tons). Will Lawson states that the speed of these vessels was about nine knots, though in October, 1859, the Lord Worsley crossed from Sydney, to Wellington, in 4 days 18 hours. "Tho connection between Sydney and Nelson was a monthly one, the Prince Alfred leaving Sydney 24 hours after the arrival of the English mail steamer. On he* arrival at Nelson the mails for Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin were transhipped to one of the smaller Vessels, and the Prince Alfred preceded to Manukau, calling at New Plymouth on ( the way. At Onehunga she waited a rea«onable time,' ahd then with the outward Auckland and New Plymouth' mails returned to Nelson, where tha Wellington and Southern mails were collected for transit to Sydney in time to catch the outgoing English mail steamer." In 1858 the A.S.N. Company of Australia commenced a. monthly mail service between Melbourne and Wellington, and the Wong* Wonga, of 680 tons (a different boat to that which preceded the Stormbird), arrived in Wellington Harbour on 26th November, 1858, after a six days' run. The second and succeeding voyages were made by the Boomerang. The following paragrapth appeared in the Independent of 18th February, 1859. when the Boomerang arrived on one of her trips :— "Wellington presents a more than bustling, gay appearance, there being no less than four steamers, three ships, three barques, two brigs, six brigantines, and nine schooners at anchor in the harbour. '' In. August of the same year the service stopped, and under a rearrangement one steamer plied between Sydney and Napier, via Auckland, and a second between Sydney and Port Chalmers, via Nelson, Wellington, and Lyttelton. Gradually other services came to be established", and there was much rivalry between various companies, even when the Unioft Company and the Huddart-Parker Company held sway. j ABOUT THE OLD PANAMA RUN, Many people have forgotten that there was ever a Panama service in existence, In 1863 negotiations, in which New Zealand was the chief colonial mover, »teri minated in an agreement between New South Wales and New Zealand on the one hand, and the Panama, New Zealand, and Australian Royal Mail Company on the other, for the carriage of mails to the Panama. The contract tima between Wellington and the Panama was 30 days. Tho vessels engaged were the Kaikoura (1501 tone), Ruahine (1503 tons), Rakaia (1456 tons), and tho Matatua (1786 tons). The Kaikoura began the service from Sydney oa 15th June, 1866, and took 27 days to reach Panama after leaving Wellington. "Thk monthly mail service" (Bays Steam in the Southern Pacific) "waß maintained for I three years, the vessels running to tains fairly well. ... The postage of letters by this route cost Is an ounce. . , The Baloon fare tc Panama from Wellington was £65, and to Southampton £100." The last ship to ran in the line was the Rakaia, which left Sydney on 2nd December, 1868. Various matters helped to bring about a collapse, including the unpopularity of the service and the constant friction between the Governments and the company. TO SAN FRANCISCO— ENDLESS NEGOTIATIONS. Then followed the Sau Francisco Sktvice, with all its ups and downs and intricate negotiations.. la 1869,. Lieut. G. A. Woods, Colonial Mail Surveyor, in a report on the best service to lingland via America stated :—" After carefully considering the question from a nautical point of view, I atn of opinioni that the most advantageous route lot an. ocean postal service to San Francisco . . . ■would be with Sydney as the port of arrival and departure (until there we facilities in Wellington for the docking of large ships), the vessels calling at> Wellington and Tahiti en route." The scheme was calculated to bring Wellington within 38 days of London. Strange to say, this report, which is really the basis of the present San Francisco service, was not adopted until 1909. Th* first service was run in 1870, Trith Auckland as the New Zealand port of call. Consequently, this article does not concern the early trans-Pacific runs, as an endeavour has been made to limit the* scope more directly to Wellington. However, when the temporary line ceased in. 1871, an agreement' was made with the Calif ornian Line to run a fleet of four paddle Bteatners between Sydney and San Francisco, calling at Auckland, and Honolulu. The steamers used Here the Nevada, Nebraska, Dacotah, averaging 2000 tons each, and the Moses Taylor, of 1354 tons. This line ceased operation in April, 1873. During a few of the trips early in the Bervice the vessels went alternately to Sydney and Port Chalmers, calling at Napier, Wellington, and Lyttelton en route to the southern port. Then, followed various temporary services, and those run under the auspices of the Pacific Mail Co. (1875 to 1885), the Oceanic and the Union Company (conjointly) and the Spreckels Line (after the passing of protective legislation by the United States Government). In 1909 a subsidised San Francisco service was Btarted by the Union Company, with Wellington as the port of call. Even this service, which is in existence now, has been the subject of almost endless negotiations, which aro renewed every time the short-dated agreements expire. As has been frequently pointed out, San Francisco lost much of it« importance with the development of the mail service via the Suez Canal, but with the war some lost' ground has been regained. DIRECT SERVICE WITH LONDON. The direct service with London a« carried on by the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company and the New Zealand Shipping Company is more particularly concerned with Wellington than any other oversea mail runs. By the provision of only first-class boats this line has become extremely popular with passengers, and the history of both thes© companies is wound up with the history of the Dominion. Their early sailing ships brought the first colonisers, and the companies enjoyed profitable times. Their big sailers were as well known as ara the big liners now — the Remuora, tha CorintMc, tho lonic, and the rest. When the Shaw Savill Company made its first experiment of despatching regular vessel* to the A-ntipodes the average number did not exceed 15 per annum, and these were only sailing ships of six hundred to eight hundred tons register, the voyiige usually occupying from four to five months as against 80 or 90 days for their fast clippers, which came later, and 40 to 45 days for their ocean palaces now running. The two companies have come to agreement for mutual benefit, and maintain a fortnightly service between London and Wellington. All the Bteamera are specially designed for the colonial trade, and have played a notable part in the development of the frozen meat Bervice, and most of all in the development . of the Dominion as a whole. Some of the early steamers which engaged in thd service are the India Mail Steamship Stadt Harlem (which brought the first mails via Cape Born, arriving at Port Chalmers under; iio agency pi &6t2bs

Zealand Shipping Company about 1868), the British King and the British Queen (New Z«iland Shipping Company, 3558 *>nB), Catalonia (Cunard boat, under the auspices of the Shaw, Bavill), lonic and Doric (White Star, 4268 tons), Mauala »nd Sorrento (German boats, the former kiting the first cargo of meat from Dm^edin on 7th December, 1883), the ElderaJie (under the agency of Mr. John Beid, ftderslie), the Victory (which brought 500 passengers from London to Auckland in 1884, doing the trip in 60 days without sighting land), the Triumph, the Aorangi (then of the highest class), the old Tonganro, Bimutaka, Kaikoura, and Buapehu (all of 4166 tons, starting the mail service in 1884), the Coptic, Doric, and lonic and Tainui. All the boats have since been superseded by biager boats of the same name, and now a most regular and up-to-date service is maintained, and New Zealand is the better for it. , In later years came the New Zealand Shipping Company's regular service frdm Montreal to Australia and New Zealand, and last year saw the mauguaifcion of a cargo service between the dominion and Boston and New York tv the Federal-Shire line, winch also runs regular lines to West of England ports. The Commonwealth and Dominion line (late the Tyser Lme) aleo maintains a first-class fleet of reingerateci: steamers, which have done their share in the development of the mmion's trade. 1840 to 1915— wbftfc a transformation !