PORT OF GREY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXI, Issue 5251, 24 July 1885, Page 2

PORT OF GREY.

HIGH WATER. This Day— B.lß a.m. ; 8.42 p.m. ARRIVED. July 23— Herald, s.s.j 430 tons, Crawford, from Onehunga. Kennedy Bros., agents. Maori, s.s, 118 tons, Connor, from Wellington. Kennedy Bros., agents. Murray, s.s., 78 tons, Furneaux, from Hokitika. Nancarrow and Co., agents. SAILED. July 23— Maori, s.s., 118 tons, Connor, for Wellington Kennedy Bros. , agents. Murray/ s:s M 78 tons, Furneaux^ for northern ports., Nancarrow and Co., agents. . : VESSELS IN PORT. : : Westland, tug steamer : Herald, from Onehunga ;. 'Ohau, from Auckland

Commander Edwin wired urgent yesterday afternoon: — "Bad weather may be expected between W. to S. and S.E. ; glass further rise ; weather very cold, and sea heavy." The Collector of Customs has received the following telegram : — "His Excellency the Governor has re-issued a certificate to Captain Savory ; he may therefore be permitted to take command of the Herald." This is satisfactory, and will no doubt be pleasing intelligence to Captain Savory's Greymouth friends. The Union Company's steamer Mahinapua leaves Dunedin for West Coas? ports (calling at Oamaru, Timaru, Lyttelto , and Wellington) on Monday, 27th Julj. The s.s. Maori arrived from Wellington on yesterday morning's tide, and sailed on . her return trip in the evening. The s.s. Murray arrived from Hokitika yesterday morning, and sailed in the evening for northern ports. • Tli9 J s.B. Herald arrived frem Onehunga yesterday morning. ' The Wellington Post says:— "The run ! Home, between the two direct steamers AraVa'ahd Tongariro has resulted in favour .of the former. It will be remembered that the Arawa left Lyttelton on the 6th June, .and the Tongariro left this on the 7th. The arrival of the two vessels has just been telegraphed, the Arawa reaching Plymouth on the evening of the 12th, and the Ton- , gariro reporting at the same port on the 14th. It will be seen that the Arawa arrived on the 36th day out, and has 'thus scored the fastest on record for the homeward trip as well as for the outward run. The Tongariro's passage of 37 days is also a splendid .one, and both together prove what can be' accomplished by the direct line, Of course we cannot at present give the exact duration of each passage,' but ' one fact is forcibly demonstrated by the dates of arrival and departure, which is, that with such steamers running, there is no great need for the renewal of the San Francisco mail service." 'A novel and poetical custom appears to prevail in Japan at the launch of a vessel. ' We rea"d in connection with the launch of the Yamato-kan, Japanese man of war, thafcevery thing being ready, Mr Ishimaru, the •director of the establishment, cut a string that released the dogshore, a cage hanging from the bows opened, and two doves flew out as the vessel glided, first slowly, then gradually faster down the ways into the water.

In compliance with instructions from the Admiralty, experiments have been made at Montrose, Forfarshire, with oil shells, invented by Mr Gordon, for use in saving life at sea. Eleven shells, , each containing one gallon of oil, were fired , and the effect on bursting was remarkable, broad, smooth patches of water- being produced on the sea, which was exceedingly boisterous, as a strong gale was blowing. Captain' Bell, Tt.N., and other officials pronounced the experiments most successful. We should like to learn something .more definite about such trials as these, for, as a rule, there is so much vagueness in the description of the operation and its effects, that it is not possible to form anything like an accurate opinion on the subject. — Nautical Magazine.