Ships and the Sea

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 137, 6 December 1930, Page 30

Ships and the Sea

A Matter of Insiira-nc^.

ON THE IRRAWADDY

PADDLE-STEAMER FLEETS

STRIKES BAND MUTINIES

■■ Some interesting notes :on life in the vicinity of ..the.'lrrawaddy River are given in.a,letter written, to a friend in New Zealand' by Mr.: S. R. Bis, a former. Wellington; resident, who, for the past''■twenty-three years, has 'been a chief "engineer on the .floating staff of the'lrrawaddy. Flotilla, Company, Ltd. Mr... Dix •writes that the company ■by which :he ; is; ■employed haß been connected' with Burma since the 'sixties of- ■ last" century. ■ The founders were connected with the line of-Patriik Henderson, which .■usedvto. run-'-s'aihug ships to 'New' -Zealand.- ':' "Among .thp»e■ ships jvero' the Canterbury and the Auckland, and'-'othefs Vbeariiig- familiar-New' Zealand names. ?''; ■'. ■'•"•■" ■','•"' ... "The- flotilla " -fleet: is a very large one, and- -is ■ ■ constantly being added to," he writes, "b'eihg'-a river-service subject tdvvarying' conditions as to

deptbi-of water, the: vessels are of the shallow draught, type. The largest steariiera■. aie. 320 ft lotig,- ;77f t-~ across the Sponsoils-r^for^the^ are- side'paddlers-^1 with a draujght of 7ft. :They tow a barge almost -as' long as themselves on either side, miakjng the extreme combined beam 140 ft. A fleet; of-six of these boats maintains an express service between; Rangoon and Mandalay, leaving twice a week and doing the journey in 14: days; while a weekly cargo service is ihairitaiJied!witli: five boats of similar size. In addition.to this there is : a daily servieo.between Promo and Maii-dalay,"run-by: boats. -Between Mind alay and'Bheino there is au espresso and; catjKr service- with ferries touching. at smaller villages. The Delta service-is-maintained by a fleet of fast .twin-screw : launches: ranging from :90ft downwards.; Owing to the delta being. so broken up by waterways, there are few roads, and the ma : jority of'the trade, is waterborne. "On,the Chindwin Eiver, which joins the Irrawaddy', between Pakokku and Myingyan, .a service is .run jby. a fleet of .stern, wheelers that .run aa far as Homalin, a distance of 392 miles, from the juncture %vith the main river. "Qur. large, boats' haye _accommodation' for 24 first-class, ■• 24. second-class, and 2000 .deck ; passengers, and have good.cargo capacity. . We carry general cargo up-stream—machinery, hardware, piece goods, tinned foods, etc., and bring down cotton, ground nuts, and grain. '.. '..;;. "" ■_ .';.'...'; REGION OP OIL WELLS. ."At Ye-Nan-Gheung (bad-smelling water) are situated- the oil fields, arid many millions of barrels of crude oil are sent annually, to the refineries at Rangoon through the pipe line. One company has a number of good producing wells sunk-in the bed of the river, a stone wall a mile long . protecting them' from-the'current; :--So'- -closely spaced are-the well.rigs■ inrS'ome places that in the distance they have the appßarance" of forest tree's^ while- the drilling'tools '• of ■rival companies have been known to-foul'each other at a depth of:2ooßft.i •■ :-:' ■■■. ■■■■;■. .:..- .■ ■•": "The': rice-growing industry is the largest' of all provincial industries,- the exportable; surplus ■ -this v.year -being 2,000,000 tons, but'at present the price is tfery ' low. -■".-■: -; •' ■'■■■ "..'■■■ ' ; :':■■'■ :"••. ',:.,. ■'."''ln-the-'aiorthern-Shan States' aro situated..-.perhaps-^tfie.....langest._ kno.wn. lead and silver mines. The Burma Corporation that works : the mines has a capital: of . £13>Q0O,OQO; .'liast .year the price of silver-was 26d T .per- oz, butnow ifc-is about' l(5d: per-"oz,- which means -a very big-loss to the-sharehold-ers;-. .. Some of.the old Chinese work-ings-are stilL?t6, be V seen.: :■: '■'. '.■;■■■:■ ■■■ pbLiTiditti oc^BEsi. , :;■•■/:- - '•"la : keeping with... other countries, Burma is suffering ifrom depression and much hardship is.being felj; by the poor people.- .In..lndja"the.situa.tio.n'.:;is.much: worse,' and it.is accehtuate j by the political' unrest. At present' (October, 1930) our Governor is in England, and the Home Member, Sir Joseph Augustus Maung (xyi, a Burman, is Acting-6ov-'erno'r. This appointment has greatly pleased the Burmese. 'If the provinco gets separation from ;India, as advised by the Simon Commission, maybe a Burman will be the first Governor under the new regime. . ' "Last yMay we experienced a very s.§y_?_r.e-..«?rin._a!?ake^wi.th.^its...centre - at. Pegu, that did enormous damage to property/ and--■-'kilted several :hundred .people.-- -Then/ shortly: ■afterwards, there = were -very' •■setfoiis riots' ■■between the Burmana.' and"?G6ringhi coolies.1 The latter,'-who are from the Coromandt3l coast^of-India,-do most"of the unskilled labour of Xower Burma, and thestevedoring; section, 'although well paid, had struck ■.■for-/-/ higher ■ wages. Burmese labour was introduced, but after some weeks the-master stevedores gave- in, and this-'led to:hdt words between the two .communities, .who came to blows, and in; the-melee 170 were/killed and 700 injured.'^ A. : littlo, later—-the day after the..Simqh; Qoinniission. Js recommendation—a, mutiny Isroke out ia; the RangoQn gaolyin^the quelling of which a -number :M- lives were lost." •:

. Shipowners..must., often ask, themselves whether after going to the expense' of equipping their ships -with wireless, direction-finders, auto-alarms, and the'many other devices which ensure the greater- safety of life and property at sea, they are any better off than they were. Discussing tho matter, the marine insurance correspondent of "The Shipping \Vorld" emphasises tho difficulty of making any authoritative comparison between pre-war and. post-war marine insurance rates, since so many factors have to be taken into account, such as. the question of values and. the- inconsistency which often exists between the insured and market values of; tonnage. To attempt an exact analysis o£ the effect of modern safety devices on hull rates is, in his opinion, impossible, but it would seem that ""hull rates in many cases approximate., to those being paid immediately before the war." Since tho eostof everything else has gone up by 60 or 70 per cent, it, is not perhaps too far-fetched to believe that the marine

insurance market, when considering hull risks on vvell-deflned and tested principles, has found that tho numerous inventions, which must always bo associated with the name of Marconi, have led to an appreciable reduction in the risks they have to underwrite. Tho enterprising shipowner who equips his fleet with the ..latest safety devices, may or may not immediately reap a reduction- in his hull premiums, but among many other direct and indirect advantages he obtains is the knowledge that he has helped, to reduce tho risk on life and property at sea. And, in the last analysis, he will be the better off in pocket. New Shipping Service. At the end of this month a regular shipping service between the Mandated Territory of New Guinea and the East will be established by tho Eastern and Australian Steamship Co., Ltd., which has decided to include Rabaul in the itinerary of its three .. AustraliaJapan liners. The Tanda, Nelloro, and St.,Albans. will call at the port on. both the outward, and. homeward jourueyß, states the. ".Sydney Morning. Herald." The first vessel to run. to the now timetable will be the Tanda, which leaves Yokohama at the end of the month for Australian. ports. The vessel will load

cargo and - embark passengers for Babaul at Hong Kong. The service in the other .direction-will be inaugurated ljy-theNeliore, leaving Sydney on 13th December. The new, itinerary will not lengthen the voyage between Australian ports and Japan, arrangements having been made to omit the present calls at; Cairns, Thursday Island, and Sandakan, on the northward journey, and Sandakan, Thursday Island, Cairns, and Townsviilo on the voyage south. The-journey .between Sydney and: Hong Kong will. thus actually be'shortened, from 23 to 21 days, Making the World's Charts. Only tw6 countries; the United States and Great Britain, really cover the World in the preparation of navigation charts, according to a statement of Captain C. Kempff, hydrographer, of the Hydrographic Office,, U.S. Navy Department, and published in the "United SUtes Daily." Tho United States and Great Britain make about the same number of charts, Captain Kempff explained, adding that France makes about 2900 charts, a smaller number. Charts made in France are, naturally, in French, and the measurements are expressed in metres, making them-unsatisfactory for the use of American navigators. | Japan comes next in number, with aj total of 1700 charts, covering less than half of the navigable waters. Germany prepares only about 700 I charts. The rest of the nations of the world produce such a small number that it, is' necessary for them to. purchase charts from the Unitedi States or Great Britain. At the beginning of the World War the United States had 14 sailing directions. With the expansion of the merchant marine and trade, 56 pilots were needed to cover the world. Therefore, it was necessary to make up tho sailing directions that were required. That was done by interchange of sailing directions among the hydrographic offices throughout the world. The United States now actually had under publication 56 of these pilots, because they were caught short of them at -the beginning of the war, and did not intend to get caught short again. Legislation that had-been, passed by Congress for the encouragement of the merchant, marine;.was being applied in the Hydrographic Office. '- ■■■•■■■ ] Canadian Steamers Sold. . .The freighters Canadian Voyaguer and Caniidian. Trooper have been sold by the. Canadian National Steamships to G. Paul: Knudsen, of Bergen, Norway, on behalf of Norwegian owners,'! who plan to operate-the. vessels in European waters.. Tenders also have been called for the sale of the Cana- ■ dian Beaver, Canadian: Squatter, and Canadian Ranger* Tho vessels are surplus tonnage"l of' the Canadian National fleet, not being considered adapt-! able for tie established routes of the company. . : . . | Midget Golf on Liners. j The vogue of midget golf has prompt-) ed the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company -to install a nine-hole course on j its cruising steamer Atlantis. This is quite" an innovation on board ship, and should prove very popular with passengers. The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company celebrated on 26th September the 91st anniversary of its incorporation, the first Royal Charter, under Queen Victoria's" Government,-" having been granted on 26th September, 1539., improvements On ;Sailihg Ship. . ..The sailing ship Magdalene Vinnen was. berthed at Cape Town on 23rd October, when many interested persons boarded.the vessel to note the various innovations and. improvements which had been installed in sailing vessels during the past few years. On every part of the long deck there are to be seen mechanical appliances and laboursaving . devices. Motor winches,. hand winches, and capstans ire used for hoisting, yards and'sails, while the cargo handling gear is most efficient. Flexible-steel wire is in use for every possible purpose; the topsail Sheets are' wire, .the sheets .of the courses are wire, and a glance up aloft shows that wire has. taken the place of manila rope in numerous instances. Different ships, different fashions, but all tho square sails in the Vinnen clew up at the yardarms, whereas in the majority of former sailing vessels, the sails clewed up at the bunt, the latter giving a higher degree of smartness to /the general appearance of the vessel. The masts have the top-mast and lower-mast in one piece, and are of steel, while practically all the yards aro of steel also. Instead of a figure-head, there is yel-low-painted scroll-work, with a: crest consisting of a white hand and a silver helm, and an inscription: "Vertutis lavs omnis inactione." Half-way' lip the iigger mast is a' fog syren, a great improvement on the small mechanical appliance which was slung over a man's shoulder and manipulated by the man on tho look-out. The vessel is heavily sparred, but tho iron wire rigging is exceptionally stout. Alongside the miz-zon-mast there is a miniature flower garden, whore nasturtiums and other flowers are flourishing despite the salt-1 laden air,.