“Down to the Sea-"

Greymouth Evening Star, 25 February 1928, Page 34 (Supplement)

“Down to the Sea-"

Romance of the Union Company HpHERE is always the spirit of romance woven around the sea.. * and the men who go down to the sea in ships. Since 1875, when the red house-flag of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, Ltd., was first unfurled on a little steam “hooker” at Dunedin, a romance has been in the making—a romance of commerce and the sea that is outstanding m the history of New Zealand industrial enterprises. To-day, the red house-flag of the Union Company is known, to mariners on ea'ch of the Seven Seas.

WITH its headquarters at 1 Dunedin, the company has over forty branches and agencies throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the East, and offices in England and Scotland The company was established in July, 1875, at Dunedin, for the purpose of taking over the business and plant of the Harbour Steam Company, a small local proprietary which had been in i existence for some years, and whose trade, originally confined to the carriage of passengers and cargo-between Dunedin and Port Chalmers, had afterwards been extended to other New Zealand ports. The steamers taken over consisted of the “Maori,” a vessel of 118 tons register, which made monthly trips around the South Island calling at Bluff, Martin’s and Jackson’s Bays, Hokitika, Greymouth, Westport, Nelson, and Lyttelton; the ‘Beautiful Star,” 146 tons, and and ‘Bruce,” 460 tons, both of which traded between Dunedin, Akaroa, Timaru and Lyttelton, each boat making one trip per week., In addition to these, there were two steamers which had been ordered from Messrs .W. Denny Brothers, of Dumbarton, a few months previously, in view of extending the company’s operations to the North Island. These steamers, in size, speed, and accommodation, were of a class far in advance of anything then employed in the coastal trade of the colony, and many persons were of the opinion that the directors of the company were over-sanguine in expecting remunerative employment for boats of such excessive tonnage—72o tons register each. The first to arrive was the ‘Hawea,” which reached Port Chalmers on June 10, 1875, and she was followed by he;r sister ship, the •Taupo,” on July 2. These at once took up their running in the new trade, each making a fortnightly trip from Dunedin .to Onehunga and back, via Lyttelton, Picton, Neilson and Taranaki.

Such was the fleet taken over by the Union Company, and from such small beginnings has the present great organisation developed. The first meeting of the provisional l directors was held on May 31, 1875, .and on July 12 the certificate of incorporation of the company was issued. The nominal capital of the company was £250,000, divided into 25,000 shares of £lO each; and its first directors were Messrs George McLean, E. B. Cargill, Hugh Mac Neil, Henry Tews(ey, J. R. Jones and James Mills ("managing director.)

The increasing prosperity of the colony kept the company’s# vessels fully employed, and it was soon necessary to order additional ships. The first check to the company was the loss of the “Bruce,” which was wrecked at Taiaroa Heads on October 15, 1875. The extension of the company’s service to the North Island brought it into conllict with the New Zealand Steam Shipping Company, a Wellington proprietary, but after a short period of competition a friendly arrangement was made, by which the Union- Company purchased the steamers ‘PJioebe” (587 tons), “Taranaki”

(443 tons), ‘Wellington” (383 tons), and “Ladybord” (421 tons). The next important step taken by the company was the purchase, in November, 1878, of Messrs McMeekan, Blackwood and Company’s inter-col-onial fleet, comprising the ‘Rangarooma,” ‘Arawata,” “Tararua,” and ’Albion,” which at that time ran a weekly service between Melbourne and New Zealand. This acquisition strengthened the company materially, as it completed the chain of communication between Melbourne, New Zealand, and Sydney, and practically placed the entire coastal and inter-colonial carrying trade in its hands. In September 1879, the ‘Rotomaliana” —soon to be known as the ‘Greyhound of the Pacific” —was added to the fleet. It is worth noting that this steamer was the first trading vessel built of mild steel; as this material was the means of her escaping serious damage on the occasion of one or two mishaps in her earlier career, the fact was widely chronicled, and led to a revolution in shipbuilding.

At this period, the directors thought it advisable to seek the sanction of the shareholders to an increase in the nominal capital of the company to £500,000, and also-to a proposal to establish a London Board to represent the company at Home. The authority was duly given at a general meeting of shareholders held on September 15. 1879, and confirmed at a subsequent general meeting. Accordingly, an office was opened in London and a local Board appointed. Steady growth took place in the company’s business, new ships were constantly ordered, and fresh courses set for them. The increase in the inter-coloni-al trade resulted in the appearance in colonial waters, in November, 1885, of the “Mararoa.” At this time the company undertook the carriage of the San Francisco mails, in conjunction with the Oceanic Steam Ship Company of San Francisco, the first trip being made by the ‘Mararoa.’ The Vancouver mail service was subsequently entered and trade with the South Sea Islands had previously been inaugurated. West Coast Trade

One of the most important features of the New Zealand coastal trade is the carriage of coals from the West Coast, and with the rapid development of the Coast mines, the directors found it to the interest of the company to pay the closest attention to this branch of the business. In order to place themselves in the best possible position to do this, they took over, in 1885, the business and plant of a Wellington company known as the Black Diamond Line. This purchase comprised five small steamers —“Mawhera,” “Koranui,” "Grafton,” “Manawatu,” “Maitai”—a small mine at Westport, known as the Koranui mine, and some other property. Two years later, the Westport Coal Company, of whose coal the Union Company was a large purchaser, finding its steamer plant inadequate for its growing business, made a friendly arrangement with the Union Company, which agreed to obtain all its New

Zealand coal supplies from the Westport Company, in return for the carriage of all the Westport Coal Company’s freight. In accordance with this agreement, the Company took over three colliers belonging to the Westport Coal Company—the ‘Wareatea,” “Kawatiri,” and “Orawaiti”—while the Westport Coal Company took over the Koranui mine. Subsequently, the company made a somewhat similar agreement with the Grey Valley Coal Company, taking over its three colliers. For the growing needs of the New Zealand coal trade, and ffcr the coal trade with New South Wales, steamers of steadily-increasing size have been added almost every year to the fleet. The year 1890 was memorable in the history of the company, and also in that of the colony, which then found itself in the midst of the greatest industrial struggle that had taken place in colonial history. When the hold-up came, the company made strenuous efforts to man the vessels afresh, and within a week of the commencement of the strike, the company had eigh-

teen steamers in action; within a month, thirty-four steamers were running, and the company had 2140 free workers in its employment. One of the results of the strike was the introduction of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, which came into force in August, 1894. In 1891 a most important step was taken by the directors, in the purchase of the plant and business of the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company. This necessitated an increase in the company’s capital to £1,000,000, which was duly authorised by the shareholders. During the intervening thirty years the company has continued to add to its fleet and to extend the radius of its operations. To illustrate the facilities available to the travelling public now, compared with those at their disposal when the Union Company began business, it need only be mentioned that in 1875 the company commenced its operations with three steamers, the gross tonnage of the largest being 460; today, its fleet comprises sixty-six

steamers, of an aggregate of 245,999 tons, ranging from the splendid motor liner “Aorangi,” of 17,491 tons, to the cargo steamer “Kowhai,” of 792 tons. The present chairman of directors is Sir James Mills, K.C.M.G., who was managing director from the inception of the company in 1875 until 1906, when he was appointed to his present position. • The managing director is Sir Charles Holdsworth, who entered the office of the Black Diamond Line in 1880, and was subsequently appointed branch manager at Westport. When the Union Company purchased the Black Diamond fleet in 1885, Mr. Holdsworth transferred his services to the company, and remained at Westport as manager until 1891, when he was transferred to Hobart as manager for Tasmania. He was appointed general manager in 1898, and managing director in 1914. The Greymouth manager, Mr. W. B. Cunningham, has 30 .years’ service with the Company.