WAIKATO’S STEAMERS

Evening Star, Issue 21077, 14 April 1932, Page 16

WAIKATO’S STEAMERS

BGHIES OF OLD CHAR ABANDONED HULLS REMAIN The drop in the level of the Waikato River, caused by the tilling of the lake at Arapnni, has uncovered the hull of an old steamer at the foot of Hill street, Hamilton, sunk from sight for half a century, it is only one of (he many steamers that once plied n busy tratio on the Waikato River am! now lie hidden beneath its surface. Almost opposite the resting place of the old Gunboat, as the former rcsi» dents of Hamilton knew the steamer recently exposed below Hill street, is the hull of the Rangiriri, war cruiser and trader. The ferry at Hamilton in the early days, when the high road to the Waikato hugged the eastern side of the Waikato and did not cross at Ngaruawaliia (where there was a ferry acting almost on the line of the new railway bridge), was located just a few yards below the present traffic bridge, and the old Gunboat at first served as a ferry, a proper punt being substituted later. The Rangiriri was tied up for good when the railway took the steamer traffic. She belonged to the Waikato Shipping Company, the head office of which was on the delta at Ngaruawahia. This company possessed a number of large paddle and stern wheelers, the Lily, the Delta, the Quickstep, the Mine Nose, the Waikato, and the Freetrader, They used to tow large barges to supplement their carrying capacity, and travelled from the Waikato Heads (Port Waikato), calling at Mercer to lift goods and passengers when the railhead was at that town, and then proceeding to Cambridge on the Waikato and to Pirongia on the Waipa, Boats of their size could not now navigate the streams. The Quickstep was a venture of Quick Brothers, the proprietors of Cobb’s coaching line, and carried such powerful engines that she used to vibrate in a manner that alarmed nervous folk. She lay at Ngaruawaliia, on the river bank by tho Rowing Club pavilion, until about 1912, when she was burned. Sunk close to her was the Blue Nose, and a little further down by tho big poplar tree that stands on the point of tho river junction is the Lily. Between these points lie a number of barges. The Delta was abandoned just south of Huntly, on the far side of the river. The Waikato Shipping Company failed to sell the boats, and they were loft tied to the bank until they sank or drifted away. The last manager of the company. Mr T. Davis, long known as “ Steamer ” Davis, to distinguish him from others of the same name, lived for fifty years in the company's old office at Ngaruawaliia. The Waikato steamer for some years plied at Huntly, towing coal across the river from the‘old Waikato mine, which was closed thirty-live years ago. The Freetrader, the last boat built by the Waikato Company, was launched at Ngaruawaliia. She had the engines from the Rangiriri, but after being run by free lance crews for some years she was withdrawn owing to competition from tho Walsh brothers with their launch Victory, which could traverse the winding Waipa much more easily than the cumbersome steru-wheclcr. The Freetrader was tied up at Ngaruawahia, and alter five or six years was carried ashore by a Hood. She was eventually refloated about 1909, and now rests at Mercer. This town once saw the launch of the Barstow, a stern-wheeler built for a coal company that operated on the Miranda mines, up the Whangamarino Creek above Mercer. When tho venture failed i’ o went to the Mokau coal mines, but was finally abandoned on the beach there. Walsh brothers brought her back to the Waikato as the Delta, and her stern-wheel is visible on Rooso’s Island at Mercer, Air Roosc being her hist owner. On ibis island there was > lor many years a huge iron canoe built at Oncitunga during tho Maori War. Several were built and Mr James M'lntyre, long owner of the iron foundry at Oneliuiiga. worked on the canoes Walsh brothers dug the big hull out of the mud, and intended to use it for a barge. It was towed to Huntly and filled with coal, and was being towed to Mercer, when off Churchill it ran into a patch of rough water. With little freeboard and no keel, the canoe rolled and shipped water, sinking rapidly. There she rests until some interested person in the far future will resurrect her as an evidence of the boats that onco plied on the river.