LOUDON VIA CAPE HORN

Evening Star, Issue 19613, 20 July 1927, Page 12

LOUDON VIA CAPE HORN

THE MATAKANA SAILED TO-DAY “ Rounding Cape Stiff for Old England” was one of, the descriptive phrases applied to the departure' of the oversea steamer Matakana,- which left Port ’ Chalmers to-day for London by way of the" historic-ocean highway round Capo Horn Boisterous seas and bitter gales made the rounding of Cape Horn a stiff proposition in sailing ship days, so tho. sailors called >t “ Cape Stiff.’ They did not.like it, not even When they were rounding it Homeward bound, and singing in the dog watch “ Rolling home to Merry England; rolling home, sweetheart, to thee.” Times have changed—all to the good Even “shellbacks” know the meaning nowadays of a square meal. “When I was a young fellow on sailing ships I never' knew, what it was not' to be hungry at sea.” That was tho : ■Diming up of one of the ancient mariners who watched the Matakana _ 1 to-day. “And,” he added, “the chief officer then got £9 a month. Now the A.B. gots £9 10s.”' There were various other comments, ranging from the good old days to the better mode n days, but through it all ran a note of admiration for the ship that was sailing for London, “ far over the sea.” Worthy of admiration are ships of tho class of tho Matakana—certain and seaworthy carriers of much foodstuffs to a waiting market. The Matakana had. on board a cargo of dominion food stuffs, including 90,000 carcasses of mutton, 10,000 boxes of butter, ana 12,000 crates of cheese. Tho foodstuffs alone would have provided cargoes " half a dozen of the picturesque sailing ships of days gone by. But the Matakana bad other cargo also, such as ,000 bales of wool and various sundries. She wa« loaded down te a draught of 26ft. The Matakana is a direct product of her predecessors of sail. She flies the well-known Shaw, Savill house flag, which was popular when the Dunedin, Oamaru, Canterbury, Nelson, and Westland sailed our wool cargoes to London >n anything up to ninety days. It is a front-ranker flag, and closely associated with New Zealand products winning a premier position on the markets of London and elsewhere. That is business. Also it is. associated with the weaving of the fairy web of kinship with the nations _ overseas. Business nays, sentiment stimulates, aud memory languors fondly ronn d tho age-long song of the. sea. The Matakana is a twin screw turbine steamer, built on the Clyde five years ago to steam 131 knots, and the has been doing it fairly regularly ever since. Her commander is Captain H. P. Thur ston. who graduated in sail-as well as in steam, and has commanded steamers for five years, although he is a young man with many voyages ahead. On clearing Taiaroa Heads, to-day the Matakana set a course for Capo Horn She will call at Montevideo and Teneriffe ,to replenish her bunkers on her way Ao London.