YEAR OF JUBILEE

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 114, 18 May 1925, Page 9

YEAR OF JUBILEE

FIFTY YEARS OF THE UNION STEAM SHIP COMPANY

From 2,000 TONS TO 260,000 TONS OF SHIPPING

POLICYr"LOOK WELL AHEAD"

One of the most pregnant events in tho commercial history of New Zealand was the formation, in 1875, of the Union Steam. Ship Company of New Zealand, Limited, which this year celebrates its fiftieth anniversary. The rise and progress of this important ship-5 ping concern have been closely bound up with; the development and progress of New Zealand, particularly as regards the earlier days of the company, when it was engaged-in more intensive coastal activities than at the present time. The comprehensive; system of regular services which it established in place of the former haphazard communications was of immense value to the growing community; and, though in the course of time the improvement ol land transit and the opening up of more and more ports suitable for overseas trade gradually led tv a comparative falling off in the volume of coastal traffic, these very developments may to a;large extent be attributed to the stimulus given by the efficient operations of the company. In connection, also, with the mailsto and from the United Kingdom, so important to this young country, the Union Company has been of conspicuous service to New Zealand. Before its association, commencing in 1885, with the carriage of the mails, lino after line had engaged in the work with little success ; but since the company first took the mail con- : tracts, it has, with' one- hiatus, caused by the operation of the United States shipping laws, consistently and regularly carried them out right up,to the prei.senfda^ri?-; ;;-;.-..•■- '-:.:•..< ..■■, (: ,. ; -. 5 ., i; PHENOMENAL GROWTH In" this period of fifty years, the growth of the company'has been phenomenal. From a little parochial concern, it has become one of the world's great shipping lines. Commencing with five small vessels of an aggregate gross tonnage of 2126, its fleet now consists of 73 vessels, of 253,988 tons.: In 1873 its largest vessel measured only 721 tons j in -1925, its latest triumphant example .of the shipbuilder's art, the motor-Hnei Aqrangi, reaches 17,491 tons. -\Vhen the company commenced business, its itinerary was confined to the South Island of. New Zealand; now its steamers girdle the world. If we seek the causes of this remarkable achievement, we find them to some extent in the prosperity of ; New Zealand, and in the favourable circumstances which attended the. birth of the company, omens which no doubt had not escaped the keen eyes of its parents, but, still more, I 'areithey to bo found,in the enterprise, resource, and wisdom with which its: affairs have been conducted, and, in particular, in the exceptional ability of Sir' James Mills, who still, after S3 years, occupies the position of chairman of the company. ■

In the early days of New Zealand, communication, except between the settlements ■and their ports, was almost entirely by water. There were no roads -. between the provinces. In 1870 only T46 imiles of railways were in operation.- The Government policy, inaugurated in thai 'year by Sir Julius Vogel, of railway building and other public works; did not bear fruit for a number of years. • It was not till 1878 that the first line between, two of the settlements—the Chrisfc-church-Dtmedin railway—was completed. Under these conditions considerable 'coastal shipping had developed, and it was even stimulated by the activities accompanying the building of the railways, which were eventually, in their gradual extension, to take away from the local .. shipping a large portion of the traffic. Prior to the formation of the Union Company, early in the period of expansion brought about by the expenditure on these' public works, attempts to organise local shipping on any considerable scale had been miserable failures. The ■ time had not been ripe. The traffic to be carried on in a disjointed and unsatisfactory manner by ' small vessels .belonging to a number of owners, a state of affairs highly detrimental to the progress of the comnrarc- '%-■ , „-..■■■" » GERM OF THE COMPANY Ono of these little concerns formed the germ of the: Union Company. In 1861, ■ 2\lr. John Jones, whose name is well ' known as that of one of the earliest pioneers of settlement in Otago, became interested in the Golden Age, a small paddle-steamer, built for passenger and : cargo traffic between Donedin and Port Chalmers, and formed a little proprietary called the Harbour Steam Company. . Stimulated by the development of trade owing to the Otago gold rush, this con- , cern extended its operations to tho coastal traffic, though on a modest enough scale, until in 1875 it owned three: small steamers, the Beantifnl Star (176 tons), the Maori (174 tons), and the Bruce (335 tons). In the previous • year, Mr. James Mills, who had been the manager of the Harbour Steam Company since 1869, made a trip to the United Kingdom, where he arranged, on behalf, of the Harbour Steam Company, in conjunction, with a British syndicate which he interested in tho venture, for the building in Scotland of two larger steamers, the Hawea (721 tons) and the Taupo (720.t0n5). 1 When these vessels were on'their way "out to New Zealand, ! the United Steam Ship Company of New | Zealand,"; Limited, was formed to combine the interests, with: Mr. Mills as managing director. . The first meeting of the . provisional directors was held on the 31st May, 1875, and the-certificate of. in-.

corporation was issued on the 12th July of that year. The nominal capital of the company was £250,000 in 25,000 shares of £10 each, but during 1875 the paid-up capital did not exceed'£loo,ooo. RAPID EXPANSION / From these small beginnings the'expansion was rapid. The extension of the company's services to the North' Island on the arrival- of the' two hew steamers brought it into.conflict with the moribund New Zealand Steam Shipping Company of Wellington, and a snort period of ■ competition closed: with the purchase in 1876 of this concern's four steamers, aggregating 1878 tons, a transaction which nearly doubled the Union Company's fleet. In the next year the conY pany made its entry into- the intercolonial trade between New .Zealand and Australia by runing the 'Eotorua, a new. vessel of 931. tons, to Sydney in. conjunction with the Wakatipu (1-796 tons), a steamer at that time belonging to .a separate proprietary, but run under the company's control. This step was followed in 1878 by the purchase of. Messrs. M'Mechan; Blackwood, and Co.'s intercolonial fleet of four vessels, aggregating 3828 tons, which were engaged in the trade between Melbourne and New_ Zealand. The acquisition of this line, strengthened the company materially, as'it "completed the chain of communication between Melbourne, New Zealand, and- Sydney, a chain which through the efficient and. satisfactory service given remained for many years in the company's, hands without serious competition. ;■', I

A CONTINUOUS POLICY

A GROWING FLEET

THE ISLAND TRADE

The company had in 1881, by the pnr9 hase °[ a, f maU steamer running between Auckland and Levnka, extended its operations to Fiji, and it subsequenti, JT^ ■?? '*? ldes t0 oUwis-of the South Sea Islands, such as Samoa, the Tongan Gronp, the Cook Islands, and afield. At this, .date -the contract betwee^the Governments of New Zealand and New Sonth Wales, and the Pacific Mail bteamship Company of New York for tho carriage of the English mails via, bon.Francisco, expired, arid as the Pacific MaU Oompaiiv did not *esjt » ieu«wft],

(y^JHE Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand Ltd., celebrates this year - mG\ tne anniversary of its service. It began in 1875 with a fleet of X^J five vessels, aggregating 2,126 tons and trading exclusively on the Coast. Its fleet to-day consists of 73 vessels with a total tonnage of 253,988 tons, and connecting New Zealand with the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, India, Straits Settlements, the Indies, and the Netherlands, as well * as trading on the coast of Australia, and serving ths Islands of the South Pacific. The Union Company is a bona fide New Zealand institution, and credit for its .. success is chiefly due to a New Zealander, Sir James Mills, who was born in Wellington, and who is still the chairman of directors. The managing director, Mr." Charles Holdsworth, is likewise a New Zealander, being born in Wellington. The history of the Company may be truly described as a romance of shipping.

THE "ALL-RED" ROUTE

negotiations were opened up, which resulted in: the Union Company taking the contract and carrying. it on in conjunction, with the, Oceanic Steamship Company of San Francisco. The first trip from this end was made by the Mararoa (2598 tons), which had just come out

mr. 14. V * l-iii' from the builders' hands, and which was n The' two new vessels of ,;a little over for Borne the com , t 700 tons each, which the company ac- best-appointed vessel. Although «he qmreoV on itsraormatTon^jverev .small, Marar^ was withdrawn after a few enough in modern eyes,-but m sizeJ trips acros3 tne PacifiC; in ordel . » speed, and accommodatim^hey.were of. her place'in the intercolonial service for rk^ *k t r m 3^an^-V I"T Pre 6" which she had been destined, the mail cessors that grave-donbta, had been ex- [ service was caxiiei on^.the'-Union Compressedm some quarters as to tb wis- pany and t he Oceanic 7Company wHh dom of providing what then appeared to ya , v ( ons stea . melß . for many with be such excessive tonnage. The vessels gi-eaf re™]aritv - • ' ™ were, however completely eclipsed by , i n 1887 an;extension wasimade ' even and make provision for all probable re- '■■■'■' . , quirements, and also to have reserve ESTABLISHED IN TASMANIA plant available for unforeseen emergen- ■ ■ ■ • : '.. . cies. Following on the acquisition of An important step.in the expansion of the Melbourne-New Zealand service, this the company was taken, in 1891, by the policy, coupled with a restless spirit of purchase of i the plant and business of enterprise in seeking every opening -where Tasmanjan Steam Navigation; Qoma-_ trade could be developed, together pany. The property acquired compriswith tho real expansion of business which ed eight steamers of an aggregate tonwas then taking place as a~result of the of 9892, and valuable premises in Government's Public Works policy; led Tasmania and at Sydney. jlne total to great activity on the part of the com- amount involved in the , purchase was pany in ordering new tonnage from £185,000, to be liquidated partly in cash Home. It would be of little interest and partly in shares. The steamers taken now to name all the vessels which in the °ver .brought up the' total off the course of the next few years were bnilfc fleet, supplemented'as it had. been by to the company's order, and which, constant additions,' to S3 vessels aggresmall and inconvenient as they might gating 57,737 tons. ■ appear to our modern eyes, included some : There is'-. little to record during the of the finest vessels of their class in the , next few years except the arrival of more w™ in those days. Special mention should, however, be made of the Eotomahana (1727 tons), tho'first merchant vessel built of mild steel and with a cellular double bottom, which arrived in 1879, arid which only last month was sold for breaking vp 1; .and the Manapoun (1783 tons), the first merchant vessel fitted throughout with incandescent electric lamps, which arrived in 1882

When in 1883 the company called a halt for a time in the acquisition .of fresh plant, the fleet had increased in eight years from the original number of fiv« vessels totalling 2126 tons to 24 of 24,216 tons, notwithstanding '. several which m the meantime had been lost or sold. So far the company's steamers/ although they carried cargo, had almost without exception, even to the smallest coasters, been passenger vessels, the Umon Company peforming tho function which is now largely carried out by the railways .of, transporting the travelling public between the different parts of New Zealand. In 1885, however, there arrived from the builders two now stcamera intended purely for tho carriage of cargo, ono the Ohau, being partly fitted for the handling of frozen meat. These vessels^ were employed in the coastal cargo trade. _ . . . . steamers from- time., to time,, which A more important event in .the com- brought the company's tonnage up to pany s.history was the purchase in this 77,738 in 1900.: In.that year, however, year or _the business and plant of the the company's connection with the-San concern known as the Black Francisco mail service ceased. The iJiamond .Line, including ■ the Koranui Hawaiian group had lately been annexed coal mine, near Westport, and five small. to the United States,: and under the <?rSJ nffaS l e<! T carrv>ng passengers, shipping law of the United States forcargo, and coal between the West Coast cign vessels were debarred from plying vrL 1 tr P^ °f N6W %***"*■ ■ Two between ports of the country; while r<£ £wv, to iZ* wmpa-ny sold the mine cent legislation confined mail subsidies to whir* .; VestPo, r^ poa.l Company, from vessels owned in the.States. ' The traffic rrnall coli;l^ rC f 6"? Jn .^change three between flonolulu and San Francisco and small colliers. In ISB9 it- acquired four the mail subsidy which was being receiv--2° fT ,\ he Gf 6y V4ky Coal Com- cd from the United States wer S G Lsen- &„ Bj}}c. i30 transactions tho Union tial to-tho profitable running- of the mail C^anyoßtamed _ a j ooting irlthe coal . _ Ecrvice . so | hat the Union Company "„ fwSh S- ' -whlch now forms a large- forced t0 with<li-aw-and leave the serinconspicuous, part of its busi-! vice in the hands of the Oceanic SteSi ' Ship, Company, which, as an American concern.^ was not' subject' to; tho same disabilities. '

1 The Union Company turned its atten tion in another direction.. .The Canadian Australian Line, which had been founded by Mr. James Huddart in 1893, to undertake the mail service between Sydney and Vancouver, had got into financial difficulties, and had passed into the hands of the New Zealand Shipping Company, which was now running it with three vessels' In 1901 the Union. Company bought a'share m the service, and-event-ually; by subsequent purchase, 'becamci solo frgjgrigttw of .Uig Lifle. . By-carefuJ

couver, and the San Francisco steam-

ers leaving Sydney and a fortnight later for Wellington, Rarotonga, Tahiti, and San Francisco. Through passengers have the choice of any railway route across Canada and the United States, and of any steamship line across the Atlantic. In ■ dealing with the Transpacific mail ,services we have gone a little out of the proper order of oar narrative. We will ■ now hark back to the period from 1901; when the Company first took an interest in the Vancouver steamers, till 1913. During this time the Company had many important steamers of an essentially modern . type built for it, some for the intercolonial eer-

vice (the largest beJng 'the Maunganui, 7527 tons), some for the Islands services (including theTofua, 4345 tons), and' others, which ive have already men tioned, for tho Canadian • Australasian Lino. A new departure was the introduction . of turbine passenger steamers of the cross-channel type. The earliest of

these was the Loon-

gana, a vessel of 2448

tons, with' a speed of 30' knots, built for the Melbourne-Lann-

management and the substitution of newer and larger steamers from time to time, it has brought the line, now known as_ the Canadian-Australasian Eoyal Mail Line, or the "All-Red" route, up to a high state of efficiency.

In the earlier days of the company's association with this line, the route was from Sydney to Brisbane, Honolulu, and Vancouver, and later Fiji was included in the itinerary. In 1911 tho New Zealand Government granted a subsidy for the steamers to call at Auckland instead of Brisbane, the Australian Government discontinuing its subsidy. Thus the company resumed the carriage of the principal New Zealand mails to and from the United Kingdom. The service is a four-weekly one.

The company has devoted a great deal' of attention to tho improvement of the Canadian-Australasian Line, and has provided splendid steamers specially for it. The first of these was the Makura (8075 tons), built in 1908. In 1913 she was eclipsed by the well-known Niagara (13,415 tons), which in size, speed, arid equipment surpassed anything up "to that time running to Australasia/This year the Makura has been replaced by the Aorangi (17,491 tons), the largest motor ship in the world. .

THE SAN FRANCISCO SERVICE

In 1909 the company inaugurated, Under subsidy from the New Zealand Government, a monthly service between Wellington, Rarotonga, and Tahiti. Tho service connected with the Oceanic Company's steamer which was running between Tahiti and San Francisco. The following year it was arranged with the Government that larger and faster steamers should be put on, and the service continued right through to San Francisco tins affording a monthly alternative mail to Great Britain. \

• T? lt'nerary was later extended to include Sydney. For this service the oomijany purchased in 1911 the Port Kingston, ,a • fine vessel of 7585 tons which has been renamed the • Tahiti. Various other steamers have been run in conjunction with her, her present consort being the Makura (8075 tons) The sailings of the steamers of the San Francisco Line are arranged to alternate with thoso of the Canadian-Australasian ■Line, so as to afford a regular fortnightlLffl d Passenger service across the Jfaciho, the Canadian-Anstralasian steamers leavmg Sydney every ,28 days for Auckland, Fiji, Honolulu ' and Van

ceston service in 1904. She' is still running in her original trade, but was transferred in 1922 to a special company formed to undertake the mail services between Tasmania and Melbourne, and known as the Tasmanian Steamers Proprietary, Ltd. Encouraged by the success of the Loongana, the company ordered a .similar but larger boat, the second Maori (3399 tons), which arrived in 1907 for t§'i Wellington-Lyttelton passenger service, ■and another, the Wahine (4435 tons) in 1913. These vessels have a speed of 20 and 22 knots respectively, and are among the largest and best appointed crosschannel steamers in the world.

Although the Union Company had for many years been dealing with passenger traffic to and from the United Kingdom by way of America, it was not until 1912 that it became interested in shipping trading direct with British ports. In that year it purchased four large steamers, aggregating 28,968 tons, engaged in the trade between the United Kingdom and Australasia. Some of these vessels have been lost, but a. new steamer of 9000 tons has recently been ordered for the service. The vessels, which bear the names of Irish counties, run in conjunction .with the Federal' Line. _ In 1913 it was decided to reconstruct the company. The original company was accordingly wound, up, and a new company of the same name incorporated, the reconstruction taking effect from the Ist October, 1913. The fleet by this r^i^T ched the °f 75 vessels of 232,147 tons.

At the beginning of 1914 Sir James Mills, to whose capacity, more than anvtnmg else, the company's phenomenal success had been dne, relinquished the position of managing director, which he had held for the 38 years which had elapsed since his founding of the company. Althongh he thus gave up the active control, he retained his seat on the board and the position of chairman, and has thus continued to give the beneHoldsworth, who had been general manager since 1901, was appointed managing director in lieu of Sir James Mills

The s.s. Takapuna was specially built for an express service on the coast for the swift transport of passensers between Auckland (Onehunga) and Lyttel-

It is difficult to obtain evidence of the existence of ; the sea serpent, but one was seen from the bridge of the Rotomahana on her way from Bluff to Hobart. The eye-witness was First Officer Kcvv, who was on watch at the time and he gave a most thrilling description of the monster—to a Hobart reporter avid, for news.

When the' Union Company and another line were in keen competition for the Hobart-Sydney trade, much amusement was afforded shipping men on reading the cargo lists. In those days not only_ were the numbers of cases of fruit particularised, but the numbers of split palings, bundles of shingles, fence posts, and.other similar bulk cargo sv 3p —io sw K il (,hc .totals.