REPAIRING THE SHAFT.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CI, Issue 11929, 28 June 1899, Page 6

REPAIRING THE SHAFT.

... , A DANGEROUS TASK. A«t a last resource it was decided to break ainay ttm stem tube, ’ and endeavour to couple the broken shaft... - Two hundred holes were cohsequently bored into the tobe.in stscb dii-eciaens as it,was;Wahted to At the same tiiße ciiains were wdth great diffonlly "parsed round the, propeller •otsde the ship, and after the gear bad carried away twice it was eventually lifted into its proper position. The approximate -weight of-the propeller is 13 tons, so you nm see that it was no easy matter; , ParcelItng was also got round the propeller shaft, •a- as when heaving it into the hold we could keep the water out. Them came the tasfc of splitting the tube and catting away the brass off‘the shaft. After six days hard toil in the shaft chamber,, where we had scarcely elbow room and where we always worked constantly saturated with water, the mgnwyt cleared off the last piece of brass inmtoe abaft and pronounced it ready for iha You must know that our Iwoitall this time was extremely dangerous. The chamber in which we were to be kept folly on the pumps the whole time to keep the water dmwn, and if they had got choked there was only one manhole for the Tw>n ,to. scramble out of. As soon as the ■haft was ready the-coupling, in three parts, oarih bf which weighed 10 cwt, was lowered down with great care, and it was fitted on to the' broken end of the shaft. This occupied another three days, and was, you may be sure, a time of much anxiety to us. Oh. June 7 we sighted the Yerajean. At *hb time it was comparatively calm, but before abb could speak to us it came on a fowling gale.again, so her captain could not board us. We were still working on the temporary abaft coupling, and on June 11, after 14 days of hard work, which had lasted light through the twenty-four hours., the first few toms of the propeller were taken. You can imagine our feelings of joy and excitement when we once more heard the throb . of the engines, which had been" silent for six weeks or more. The temporary structure worked all right, and we got steerage way on the boat, and it was not a moment too soon. At that time we were within 46 miles of the- rock-bound coast of Norfolk Island, and we were driving straight towards it at two or three knots per. hour. It was not more than a day’s dnft from us. What made our drift so fast was the heavy gale that was raging, and it was accompanied with a mountainous sea. “ If it had not been, for the repaired shaft we would hive'been absolutely helpless. That day we we went slowly ahead with the engines all day, -stopping them two or times to adjust the couplings. So easy did we go ahead, for Ve were afraid to take too much out of her for fear the coupling would split off, that we did not make mors than two or three knots an hour, but those two or three knots were in a direction to take us clear of the island. The next day the engines still continued revolving, and we steamed 85 miles to the westward. This distance was accomplished, in ■ spite of several stoppages which were made to inspect the broken ; .shaft, and further adjust the couplings.