IN EARLY DAYS

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 November 1929, Page 10

IN EARLY DAYS

BY STEAM TO N.Z.

The efforts to re-establish. the direct steamship service to New Zealand, which "ceased about the time of the war, have directed attention to tne lines and vessels which once connected Melbourne with New Zealand ports (writes “Five Ways,” in the Melbourne Argus"). In any recapitulation two facts should be borne in mind. The discovery of gold in Otago m. lob stimulated shipping. Many persons left Victoria, itself the most powerful magnet of the day, for the new Riggings. Among others, the Jldina added "another chapter of her history by transporting some hundreds of such .passengers. It must also be remembered that until "the mid-’seventies the .present Dominion was divided into independent provinces, and that mail and shipping contracts were accordingly made with the provincial Governments for local services only. What was probably the first association was naval rather than mercantile. Captain Hobson, of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, after whom Hobson’s Bay was named, made several runs to New Zealand. On one occasion he brought back the Rev. Samuel Marsden. As Lieutenant-Governor he went across in 1840 to found the British colony, and it was he who negotiated the Treaty of Waitangi. The first regular service between the two Dominions used Sydney for its Australian terminus. Within a few months of this A.S.N., our first important • steamship company (which should not be confused with the A.U.S.N.), contracted with the Government of Wellington to run a monthly mail service. Their steamers —Boomerang, 445 tons, and Wonga Wonga, 680 tons — were diverted to the new route. Of the Boomerang it is told that she was at Brisbane when the news of Sebastopol was received. Captain O’Reilly had his ship decorated in such a manner as to make it a. feature of the celebrations. Whatever enthusiasm was aroused on that occasion was surpassed on ■ arrival at Wellington on Christmas Eve, 1858. There were 68 passengers and 100 tons of general cargo on board. This latter item was probably mentioned as a vindication of the new order —upholders of sailing craft had derided the possibilities of a steamship being able to carry more than the coal required for its own consumption. At this time Wellington did not possess a wharf, but the first lighthouse in New Zealand was erected on Pencarrow Head within a few weeks.

SMALL VESSELS EMPLOYED Next year a Melbourne firm — M’Mecken, Blackwood, and Co. (afterwards known as the Adelaide, Melbourne, and Otago S.S. Company)— commenced a service. This was continued until 1865. Among the vessels of this time were Aldinga (446 tons), Alhambra (642 tons), Arawata (1100 tons), Gothenburg, Ringarooma (1100 tons), and Omeo (789 tons), which had laid the submarine cable from Flinders to Tasmania in 1860. In 1861 the Intercolonial Company ran its steamers Prince Alfred and Victory to Dunedin, Lyttelton, and Nelson. Melbourne was the Australian port. , The year 1875 saw the coming of the Union Steam Ship Company. M’Mecken, Blackwood, and Co.’s fleet, then consisting of Arawata, Ringarooma, Tararua (850 tons), and Albion (806 tons)/ was bought out, and a progressive building policy was followed. How completely the confidence of the management was justified was proved by the subsequent development of the company. In 1888 it also acquired the Tasmanian Steam Navigation Company. Among the units of this line were the Pateena, which afterwards joined the Coogee in the Launceston ferry service, and the Oonah, which still remains on the Bass Strait run.

The New Zealand and Australian Shipping Company was formed in 1892 in Melbourne. Huddart, Parker, Ltd., av ere said to be large shareholders, and it o at once threatened the ascendancy of the Union Companj'. The newcomers challenged the old greyhounds, and the times of Warrimoo against Rotomahana (1770 tons), and Miowera (3393 tons) against Mararoa (2598. tons), became a matter of interest. The competition ended in a friendly agreement, and Warrimoo and Miowera were transferred to the Vancouver trade, while the HuddartParker put their steamers Tasmania and Anglican on the New Zealand run. In 1916 Miowera was wrecked, and, as the news was suppressed by the Admiralty for some days, rumours that her destruction was the work of a German submarine became current. The same year saw the departure of Warrimoo, which was sold to Singapore owners for over £50,000.

STEAMER’S LONG LIFE There were other links besides the regular services. Even before these were started the New Zealand coastwise craft included Pride of the Yarra, Ballarat, Geelong, and Corio. The Scottish-built Stormbird, which had traded between Melbourne and Westernport for years, finished her career in New Zealand, also in 1916, when she was wrecked off the mouth of the Wanganui River. As she had been launched on the Clyde in 1854, she had been in commission for 62 years' Towards the end ,the claim that she was the oldest steamer afloat had been put forward on her behalf, but her' loss left the veteran Edina in undisputed pride of place, s,o far as our waters are concerned. Mention of the Edina recalls the paddle steamer Luna, 317 tons, wliich hu£ a somewhat similar career. She ran the blockade towards the end .of the American Civil War. ■Then she entered the Melbourne-Gee-long service, and had a collision off Point Gollibrand. After that the parallel ceased. Luna was taken across the-Tasman Sea, where she finished up as a’ hulk at Port Chalmers. With the Governor Wynyard, the course was set in the other direction. This was the first steamer Xo-be built in New Zealand, and w/th Jthe primitive equipment .available in Auckland in 1851 the ingenuity, of the builder was taxed. Eventually she was launched and engaged in the river trade. Th® enterprise does not seem to have been rewarded by the success it deserved, for we find the tiny paddle steamer—its length was 52 feet and beam 13 feet —transferred to the Yarra, where its new owners reaped the benefits of the good times which followed the discovery of gold. Her final change was to Tasmania,