SHIPPING

Evening Star, Issue 7924, 4 June 1889, Page 3

SHIPPING

Ulßb Water. To-MOBBOW. Taiaroa Headn ; 6.31 a.m. 6.55 pm. Port Chalmere : 711 m, 735 p.m, Dunedin : 756 a.m.. 82) p.m. Port Chalmers. SAILED.- June 4. Invercargill, e.s., 136 tons, Suudstium, for Invercargill.

The Tarawera was detained at Hobart till Fiidiy evening awaiting the Tainui’s at rival. She is expected at the Bluff to-night. The barque William Turner in expected to complete her cargo for Sydney this evening. The brigantine Enterprise is landing cargo at the Rattray street wharf. The Invercargill took in cargo this morning and left the Rattray street wharf this afternoon for Invercargill.

The Beautiful Star took in cargo at the Rattray street wharf to-day, and leaves at 10 p m. for Oamaru. Mr M'Kerrow thinks that Now Plymouth will have a grand harbor some day, if the peop’e only go in for P. They need, be says, to run a rubble wall to the Sugar Loaves, and hire the big dredge from Dunedin for six months to o’ear the sand out of the harbor. The Piicftman backet drudge they have will not help them much.

Important modifications are gradually taking place at Hume in shipbuilding practice. Vessels 350 ft long are now being built without keels, to adapt them for tight draught trades, and vessels of the same size are, owing to being built with web fiames and intercoastal stringers, devoid of hold beams, so permitting the mure easy and rapid stowage of cargo. The use of Z bais is also increasing, thereby saving labor and material. This section <s being used in ordinary mercantile vess-.la in place of frames and reverse frames. The new Russian irono'ad which has been commenced at Nicolaieff will be called the Twelve Apostles, It will be 8,076 tors displacement, and will be protected by a belt of armor of 14in, and will be provided wish er glues developing upwirds of 8,500 i.h.p. The Hangut. another vessel for the Russian Navy, of 6,950 tons, has just b:en laid down at tbs Admiralty works, f-1. Petersburg This vessel will have only partial armor, Tmla of armor plates at Portsmouth lately made show that compound armor plates a»e superior to steel armor in resisting shut, Compound armor plates are made by running molten steel rpon »n iron armor plate, and then rolling the compound plate, which is thus iron, steel faced, T|) a description of armor h;is bom U'-ed in the recent ironclads built fur the English Navy, while the French end Italians have used steel p’atee. The British Parliamentary papers of April 5 to 12 include a copy of the Naval Defence Bill recently Introduced by Lord Seoig! Hamilton, for building, equipping, and completing for pea, by April, 1894, a large number of additional ships for the navy, at an outlay of L 21,600,0 f O. Cause 2 sets out the financial arrangements for contract vessels, by providing for the openit g of an apeount at the Bank of England* (o bo mped the N aval Defence Apoount, the money Issued to which Is to be applied for the purpose of building and oomp'eting contract vessels A sum of L 10,000,000 L to be issued out of the Consolidated Fund for this purpose, In seven equal annual payments, ending March 31,1896. A number of large schooners ate building in tb« United States. One four-maated sebueuer of X.200 tons ie on the slip at Camden, N. J.; an iron four-masted schooner of 1,600 tons at Wilmington, the latter being the first large iron schooner built in America. Even this is exceeded by a four-masted schooner building at Camden, M.B , which Is to register 1,800 tons. Two other vessels of this class are mentioned—oue on the slip at Poll River, Muss., of 1,300 tons, and one of 1,400 tons at Bath, M,B, MOVEMENTS OP THE UNION STEAM SHIP COMPANY’S FLEET. Tuesday. June 4. O AM ABU.— Brunner sailed lata last night, TIM ABU. Brunner arrived from Oamaru early, Mahinapua arrived from Lyttelton egr ly t Lyttelton. Hauroto arrived 7 a m. from Oamaru; sads 10 p m. for Wellington.—Manaponri arrived 7.30 a m. from Wellington ; sails C p.ra. for Dunedin - Rotorua arrived 9 a.m. j sails 10 p.ra,— Rosamond arrived 10 a.m.; sails to-morrow, _____ THE DIRECT STEAMERS The National Mortgage and Agency Company h.ve received a message from Hobart saying that the Tainui was signalled at 9 a.m to-d»y. WRECK OF THE MAITAI. On Sunday morning last, about seven o’clock, the Union Company’s steamer Maitai. whi'e on her trip from the Fast Coast ports to Aucklai d. ytruck a rook at Mercury Island apd fouijduied

in ten minutes. The purser (R>bert Lars. n) ytnd (he foi'i-cabin steward (George Archer) were drowned. There were seven passengers on board, and the remainder of the crew, numbering seventeen, landed on Mercury Island, and were then taken on board the Hincinoa, which brought them to Auckland yesterday, The Mnitai made the Mc.cury Gr- up at six o’clock on Sunday morning. The weather war thick, and a,'violent easterly gale was blowing. The stealner hove-to for about forty minutes, when she set out again. Her course was altered to off shore, butafterrunuh g for a short time the vessel stricken what is supposed to he Richardson Rock, at tire Red Mercury Island. The boats were at once lowered, and the whole of the pitrsoegers and crew loft the steamer with the exception of Mr Larson, the parser, lie had seized orte of the davits, and remained dinging to it, evidently tit terror, and re used to drop into the boat underneath though appealed to by the others. Iho steamer hail struck with great force, and she quickly fill, <l, and the hatches bursting, she sank in forty fathoms. Larsen went down with the steamer and was drowned. The 'orecal in steward fell out of ore of the boats and Ire was lost, sinking before he could be rescued. The crew pulled into Mercury Harbor, and were received by Mr Cook, proprietor of the island. When the Maitai struck the passengers hud to jump into the water and were re-oned by the boats. Everything on board was lost. Auckland, June 4. The following is Captain Dawson’s statement“ We loft Oreti Point at half-past five on Saturday evening, with a moderate E.N.B, breeze, gloomy weather, and an easterly scq. We steered a course to clear Red Mercury Island, and made it four points on the bow. At five am. we were steering W.N.W. from Oreti Point. I then stood direct for Red Mercury Island at half speed for forty minutes, and then kept the island abeam. At this time it was just breaking day. It was very thick, and a hard N.E. gale was blowing, with heavy sea. We si ruck ou a rook at 6 20 on Sunday morning, and at half past the vessel had sunk out of sight She only struck once on the rocks, and then went clear. As soon as she was off I went full speed and steered in for the island. She must have gone for about eight minutes before she sunk." W. Miller, chief officer, gave the following graphic account: — l4 Tire port lifeboat was mine, We launched her iff the deck, the captain having previously brought the vessel’s head to the sea after the other boats were launched, as it would have been impossible to have lowered her on the weather side. I took the pain'er, and after the boat was swung off, made it fast, the chief engineestanding by it. While making it fast the forec.rbin steward (George Andrew) and a fireman and lamp trimmer got into the boat to stand by. The purser, unknown to me, let go the fall, and the boat went d ran es (1 on into the water and filled. Tiro others held on, hut the steward was knocked out of her ai d nev< r teen again. The boat was then about ten or twenty yards from the ship, and as we cou’d not have her close in, she being full of water, the captain sang out: ’Hurry up; jump for your lives ; the ship is going down.' Then tl o captain disappeared along the deck in search of an old lady passenger. I jumped into the water, and was followed by the captain and the old lady, who jurmred by his order, this being our on y chance. We managed to get into the boat, which was full of water, and was knocked about considerably, the was very leaky, and had a hole iu her, but, heir g fit'ed with water-fght tanks, could not rink The purser then appeared on the bridge, and cried out for help and for us to come back to the skip ; but the was then in the act of foundering, and it would have been madness to have approached Lei. I ssid ‘No, jump, jump for your li'e, and we will save you.’ He did not move, but clung t r the- after-davit with both his anus, appearing to bo rjuite d. zed. By this time the vessel was nearly one end, with her bow down. The seas were washing her funnel. This was the last I saw of him, for an instant afterwards tl e steamer disappeared beneath the waves. I just caught a glimpse of his cap being lifted off his head by the seas as she went under. In bailing the boat out and iu shipping her rowlocks some ten minutes were occupied. The cargo out of the hold was floating found us, but there was no sign of the purser or steward. Then we pulled after the other boat, and made for Gr. at Mercury Island. There were nine of us altogether in my boat, including the captain. Mr Anasll, the second officer, got away in his boat without any serious mish' p. The captain was very cool, and, with the exception of the engineer, was the last to leave the doomed vessel. The latter held the painter of tiro boat till all were ou board, at.d then jumped himself, pulling himself on board by a rope. There was not the least sign of cowardice anj where. If there had been we would to a certainty all have b: en drowned.”

Accounts from other sources show that the scene was very exciting, The boats could not cm close in to the ship, and the captain ordered the pa sengers to j amp into the wate-, and they wou'd be picked up. Tiro crew nu r - bered twenty-one, and the passengers seven. THE WEATHER ON THE COAST. Auckland, Juno 3. An easterly gde has been blowing on the East coast for the past three days. The Ringarooma, on the voyage from Gisborne, hove to for six hours ; and the barquontine Elinor Vernon, which arrived from Wellington, took refuge behind Cuvier Island from Friday evening to Sunday morning Her jib was blown to ribbons when the vessel was off Tiri Island. 1 he Centennial had also a rough experience and hove-to for a day. A number of open boats and the yacht Albatross were driven ashore m the harbor. H.M.S. Dart, which left for -ydriey yes'erday, put into Kawau and returned to harbor this morning, owing to the new rigging slackening through the heavy weather. At Te Aroha tho i M mining battery known as Stacey’s was blown d-rwn and wrecked. The machinery was removed sornlime ago. Shipping; Tclearniiits, Auckland, June 3 f rSydney Wanganui, Juno 3. —At a meeting of thHarbor B-ard to-day, the harbormaster reported that the contractor for tho Hrad-fa-cine work had made good progress, and th J. owing to the fascines being placed in position a bank was forming as desired on the western side, and tho results looked more permanent than hitherto. If thete re ults con inue, Thatcher’s scheme will probably be thoroughly successful. It was decided to place beacons at the South Spit to show mariners how far Hrsuidbank extended.

Wellington, June 3. Manapouri, for Melbourne via the South. Passengers : Mis es Eis-enhardt, Russell, Beswick, Welsh, Wi'l, and Whiting. Me-rdimes Barlow, Brown, Ga'braith, *- toverrs, Carmichael, and four childr n, Messrs Martin, Carrow, Rotherham, Gullv, Tolhurst, Cannichael, Stevens, Gray and sor, Masters Grant, Carmichael, Kemp, r zard ; ten steerage.—The steamer Austra'ia (which was in charge of Captain Johnston on this voyage from Auckland, owing to Captain Kemp having remained behind to attend the inquiry) touched on a rock coming d wn. When leaving Awanui roadstead on Finlay morning a slight shock wa ■ felt, and on arrival here she was placed on tho slip to ascertain if any damage had been caused. On examination one of the plates on thepo-t side under the after hold was found dented f r a length of 2ttin and Um deep, besides a f»w riv ts started. Repairs were c unplctod this morning, and she will be launched to-morrow Bluff, June 3 —Orawaiti, from Grcymont:', Owing to thick weather she could not call at Milford Sound, but will call on the return tiip te learn tidings regarding the missing men, Captain Malcolm and Young Hobaut, June 3, from tho Sydney, June 4,—Waibora, from Auckland