CENTRE ISLAND

Evening Post, Volume CXIII, Issue 1, 2 January 1932, Page 20

CENTRE ISLAND

A SOUTHERN LIGHT

WIND-SWEPT LOCALITY

Centre Island is a small island situated, about ten miles off the coast, near Itiverton, in the extreme south of New Zealand, and marks tho western approach to Foveaux Strait between Southland and Stewart Island.

' Just -as . tho lighting of the approaches to Cook Strait was v source «f worry'to the'authorities of Wellington in. the oarly days of tho provinces'so was the lighting of the approaches'to Foveaux Strait a worry to the authorities of Otago and Southland. Jln tho early days when most of ■the vessels trading to tho colony were sailing ships, those bound-to Dunedin and the Bluff always came from .tho ■westward, and the feiir of tho dangers in the stormy waters of Foveaux Strait caused those vessels bound for Dunedin to keep away to tho southward of Stewart Island. When the lighthouse was. erected oh Dog Island it was recognised that' before long a lighthouse ■would be required on Centre Island, but 5t was not until many yeaTs later that the Hon. W. H..Reynolds, when in Melbourne, wrote on tho 2nd July, 1873, directing that Captains Johnson and Edwin should immediately prepare a, report on .sites on which they considered additional lights .should be. erected, pnore. especially in the vicinity'of the

!»estein approach-to Poveaux Strait. vCentt* Island, which. hadrbeen known ly tke Maori names of ftarotonga or Barat6ka, ■ was purchased by the Government in 1853, and in '1875,, following the decision to put a light on it, the island, was permanently set aside as a lighthouse Reserve. After the report of, 'Captains Johnson and Edwin had been made, Mr. 'J. Blackett, the marine engineer, left "Wellington, on tho 15th, December, 1874, in the p.s. Luna to select a 'suitable site for .the light on th« island, and in the'following February an order for the lantern and apparatus was sent to England. The lantern, which had been made by James Milne and Sou, of Edinburgh,- was shipped at Glasgow 'by the ?hip Posnona for Dunedin, where, on arrival, it was stored in the N.Z. Loan and Mercantile Company's warohousel The apparatus -was not shipped until the 16th .February, _ 18715, and was brought out in the ship Horsa, also to Dunedin. JMr.1 W. Boy.d, who had been the" successful tenderer for the erection of the tower and dwellings for the lighthouse at Puysegur" Point, was also th" successful tenderer at the piice v of £'3087 for the works on Centre Island. ' TROUBLE WITH MAORIS. The material for'the buildings ■ was landed on the island by the Government Bteamcr Stella. By tho time the ■buildings, were nearly completed,' the lantern and. apparatus were landed by tho same .vessel on the 9th July, 1877, and when Mr. Mill, the lighthouse artificer, arrived on the island in March, '1878, ,to install the lighting apparatus,, some Maoris, who contended that they had not sold the island to the Government, had taken up their residence in. one ©£ rtho dwellings, and'considerable difficulty was experienced in their peaceful removal from ,the .island., As was the case at tho .Brothers' 3 Lighthouse (referred to in ( Jast week's article) very strong winds . were-experienced at Centre Island, and it,was necessary to ballast all the buildings by filling .up between the lining ,and the.weather boards with broken .rock. The light was exhibited for the first time on the night of tho 16th September, 1878, and was described as being a_ fixed .white light of tho first order .dioptric with red arcs showing over the- dangerous areas of foul ground iv the_ passage between tho island and the mainland. Theso xed arcs were ob.tainedby an arrangement of mby glass -screens specially made for tho pur.pose ,by Messrs. Chance Brothers and Co., of Birmingham, and erected . inside the lantern on, the side from which it is desired the red light should . be_ thrown. On account of the ■ light being 2C5 feet above sea level, it was necessary to erect only a short tower of 20 feet in height, and as the sito \ was some considerable distance from the only, available beach on the island, a very long road had to bo .constructed to v enable the stores to bo taken up from the steamer. When the light was , first established all stores were picked up. by : a ibull which was later replaced by a,, donkey, but for some years now, with .the' improvement of .the road, a horse sledge has been used. A TEMPORARY CABLE. .To enable the arrival of tho inwards -bound-mail steamers from Melbourne ', to be reported to the Bluff and Dune--1 din, a cable was laid from Centre ■ . Island to- Biverton by the Tutanekai on the 17th March, 1908, but with the advent of wireless telegraphy on ships, , the necessity for the cable has disappeared, and, consequently, when it ■ became interrupted some years ago, it was' abandoned. . The first keeper to have chaige of Centre Island Lighthouse was Mr. A. McHbrilay. ' 'VMfhongli,.-'ag'stated above,- there are |OD§ideable daogesa m the sjgjnitjf; of

% Centre Island, tlicie have fortunately been no very serious casualties to ships within range- -of the'light. Some of the casualties having,been:— 27th March, 1S71: Norwegian brig., Hindu, 255 tonSj laden with tea, stranded and became a'totn.l loss three miles north-west of New River. , 24th August, 1884.—Briguntine Aug-j usta,- 138 tons, stranded'aud became a total loss at Point Island, near the, entrance to the New Hirer. 27th. .January, 1883.—Brigantino Snrau and Mary, 145 tons, stvanded on j Sandy Poiut, at New River Estuary, j S.S. aud A: Passenger Liners. In connection with the announcement cabled from London recently that the Shaw, Say.ill, and Albion Company was remodelling its passenger liners to provide for one class only in each.ship, it is stated.that the Mataroa and Tamaroa will carry cabin class passengers only at fares ranging from £72 to £82 single, and £126 to £144 return, and that the lonic and. Tainui1 will carry tourist class passengers only, at fares from £38 to £6*5 single and from £6S to £114 return. They will be the first liners using the Panama route to cater for tourist class passengers, but follow a practico that has been adopted in recent years on the Atlantic and Suez Canal routes of carrying a cabin' class between the first and second classes, and a tourist class between the' second and ■third classes. \

A; Pseudo Doctor. A very remarkable'stoiy was unfolded at j West Ham Police Court recently,

when a-young- man, described as a hospital attendant, was fined -for > falsely pretending to be a doctor, states "The Syren and Shipping."' He. had applied to a well-known shipping company for a job ' as, ship's 'surgeon and "had been handed a form to fill up.' .This he did by the simple process of going to a public library-and picking out .the, name of the , first doctor, ho crime, across and assuming -his identity. Armed with his document,' ho, returned to the company, and evidently ho was taken 'at his face value, for, he was .appointed to one of their vessels bound- for Australia. Two months after her arrival in the Commonwealth, he-approached the firm's representatives and was posted to a homebound ship, mainly because the master was suffering from heart disease and it was felt that skilled attention was desirable. The evidence submitted at the Court by a police witness was all in favour of the defendant, whose treatment of the captain was described as "very,,very good." Nevertheless, it is a little disquieting to reflect that unless this soi-disant medico had voluntarily admitted,his fraud to the company his bona. fides would seemingly never have been1 suspected. l Shaw, Savill Enterprise. With characteristic enterprises the managers of the Shaw, : Savill, and Albion Company have made arrangements for the steamers in the New Zealand service, which pass through the Panama Canal, to .call at Port Royal Jamaica,' insteafl of Cristobal, conveying passengers and goods to that port, states "The Shipping World." This decision.is due mainly to the change in the sterling-dollar rate of exchange. Jt points to a close study of the new situation and may suggest to other British shipping companies the advisability of revising their sailing arrangements. The change means that more coal will be needed at Port Royal, and that will give employment to British tramps. As The Times" pertinently remarks, "by these developments Jamaica will gain the advantage of additional communication by largo British liners;.passengers to and from New Zealand and this country will ,have tho benefit of another very interesting port of call on the voyage; and work will be provided for British miners in this country and for the seamen in the ships which carry the coal to the bunkering station."' Motor Ship Contracts. The prospects of an improvement in the shipbuilding situation, according to The Motor Ship," aro better than they have been for the past twelve months. As a result ,<of the election, confidence is returning, freights show an upward trend, chartering gives signs of new life, and prices aro at their lowest ebb. .There is every indication that a large proportion of the orders which will undoubtedly soon be placed will ,be for motor ships. They have proved more economical during tho present depression, since only 2 per cent, of the cargo and passenger tonnage now laid up is, represented by motor vessels,, the remainder being steamers. The increased popularity of the motor ship is confirmed by the fact that of all the vessels completed during the year ended 30th June, 1931, 70 per cent, were equipped with oil engines and only 30 per cent.'with steam machinery, whilst motor vessels totalling 130,000 tons gross were commenced last quarter, against steamers of 43,000 tons gross.