THE PERTHSHIRE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11929, 28 June 1899, Page 5

THE PERTHSHIRE.

HER ARRIVAL AT SYDNEY., INCIDENTS OP A LONG DRIFT. t REPAIRING A SHAFT UNDER DIFFICULTIES. DRIVING ON TO NORFOLK ISLAND. The “ Sydney Morning Herald,” in the course of a long account of the arrival of the Perthshire in tow of the Talune, says; Crowds of people went down to Farm Cove yesterday to see this crippled vessel safe in port. There she lay comfortably at her anchorage, her yellow funnel as destitute of sea spray as a new ship from the stocks. Six© was painted up from stem to stem; and, in the sense of being a. stormtossed derelict, sans masts and spars anddestitute of respectability as a British merchantman, there were within easy range vessels of her size which looked immensely inferior by comparison. No one would suspect thatl this pow'erful-lokkig steamer had a few!

hours before been towed for hundreds of miles. None would believe the history of her anxious career of seven weeks’ roiling, pitching, and tossing, with signals flying-for, help where there was none, of burning, flaxeup lights, of sending rockets skyward a-sk-ing for help at night, and of . the sunrise-' scanning of the horizon far tire sign of..anything in the shape of a friendly sa.il Be-i garded as a ship in port she presented to the eye as complete- a pidsare of.a. merchant? man as any vessel in harbour. Therein lies a difference, between the distressed steamer and the. storm-smitten sailing ship-—the one bears the outward evidences of- -a. desperate battle for existence depicted in, her shattered spars, her all but overturned.hull, .mid her shreds of canvas—-a living picture of “saved from destruction.” Sack was the ship Eilbeck tha-other day. Compaasedi'with this is the Perthshire, which in no sense

strikes the observer as having braved the penis of the-deep. She looks as seaworthy] and as good as the day, now fifty she cleared Port Jackson Heads for a fivo>

days’ run to Invercargill. But the vital' parts were equally as much affected as in the case of the crippled sailer, though not so apparent. The one suffers fromdaternal, the other from external injury, buff toe result is the same—both are helped by a friendly hand into a safe haven. Such were the reflections of those ■who.from a distance or at closer quarters surveyed the ‘steamer which lay so peacefully and contentedly off Mosman’s Bay yesterday. There was more than meets toe eye, however, in thC Perthshire, and it-is necessary to aMI realisation of what has taken place to visit the steamer, to explore her internally, to'go below into that labyrinth of machinery which constitutes the vitals of toe great ocean carrier. Up and-along herroomy decks, in her staterooms, her saloon, and top other living accessories toe evidence of unseawortoinesa, the story of many anxious days and nights which her commander, her officers, and her

crew have spent is-sought for with as much] sucess as going over, a mail steamer at to© Circular Quay. Were the question asked by the visitor, “Ts this ship here in distress?” the member of the crew to whom toe inquiry were put might he pardoned for his discourtesy in showing the visitor the gangway. Everything points to comfort and ease. But another story is revealed below. It was here toot a great battle fought; here that an engineering victory was won. Away along top shaft tunnel are

to be seen the achievements of Innnan science—toe spKcing of a mass of steel, and this in mid-ocean, in the rolling, the pitching, and toe labouring of a mammoth vessel in a seaway. Weighing many tons, toe broken tail-shaft was, it may be, imperilling the vessel’s life by crashing against toe tub© when the accident occurred. The motive power was destroyed, to, be followed perhaps by the destruction of the vessel, witH its tragical results to all on board. Here, then, cam© in the exercise of that skill to the possessors of which, perhaps, too little credit is usually accorded. If one may com J pare small incidents with great ones, the breaking of the tail-end shaft might be likened ta too fracturing of toe arm of a-one-armed man. The man relied upen fighting

his way through life on that; limb; the steamer was dependent on thatisihgle shaft. The surgeon puts the am in splint® and bandages; the engineer does a similair service for the broken shaft. For that was perhaps the most surprising story told yesterday in the engine-room of the Perthshire. How, after weeks of continuous labour, tho broken parts were, coupled and the Perthshire was again put under steam, her propeller again in motion, and the vessel forging ahead again. Such engineering feats are rare. Onei-of the New Zealand steamers, the Tofcomaru, had a similar operation performed at sea, and in the Atlantic there are instances on record. These in no way detract from the credit due to the engineering staff of the Perthshire.