BEFORE THE MAST.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17078, 29 January 1916, Page 4

BEFORE THE MAST.

IS THE ''WINDJAMMER" COMING BACK? SOLVING THE FREIGHT PROBLEM. SOME VIEWS OF THE CANADIAN SCHEME. There is a possibility that, after all, tho days of the " windjammer" are not numbered. With the rapid advance of the steam-driven, vessel commencing thirty or forty years ago, the vessel that relied on a piping breeze for its progress gradually fell into disuse, and with its passing a lot of the romance of the sea departed. Thoro are still many men who remember when the advent of a steamer was tho exception rather than the rule. Some speak with regret of the decline of the sailing vessel, for the sight of a sailing ship under full and bellying sail was something to be remembered. Such people will welcome the news that from the Pacific Slope emanates a suggestion to once more revert to the sailing vessel as the means of carrying merchandise along the sea lanes. Powerful interests arc said to he consider, ine the construction of a, large fleet, ami are only awaiting the opportune moment to make a demand tor largo bonuses, in view of the obvious tact that it will be necessary to construct quicklv, a number of ships that will necessarily be of obsolete types and useless after the trar. The earning out of the proposal would d'o much to remedy the problem caused by the shortage of bottoms. Germany's mercantile marine is no more, and its vessels he bottled: at Hamburg and other ports, *• restingplace for barnacles only. They no oncer participate in sea-borne commerce, and this fact has effected the trade of even those, countries m which the Fatherland is at wan. Am tho problem that naturally arises is. How is this shortage of freight, becoming more and more pronounced, to be overcome? \N OLD-TIME " GREYHOUND." One expert who favours the Canadian idea of building sailers is Mr John Hutcheson, of Wellington, who spent several vears of his life at sea on sating vessels, and has been closely associated with shipping ever, since he settled down on shore. His birthplace was Dumbarton, one of the homes of shipbuilding, and he remembers man> historic sailing vessels. One of these is the Cutty Sark (of the Beet of China tea clippers), which was mtar time looked upon as one of ™e.gJJ bounds" of the sea. then eiuite a ad', was present at tne 1 \mching of the Cutty Sark m which CantanWson- the P r S sent h f b ~ maste at Wellington, afterwards sa 1Moon's imagination as a piaeucai mean" of solving a rery tenon, probSHORTAGE PREVIOUSLY POINTED OUT.

Discussing the subject with a, remCr sentative of the Wellington. 'Post M> Hutcheson expressed surprise Government had not long ago the question of overcoming the shoita"e in vessels. Just after the outbreak o? the war the various farmers organisations had sounded the alarm and the position at present was that a lujge amount of wool was tied up, and was not reaching tho London market. It was, of course, impossible to say irl ethcr the Home markets could absoib all this wool, but, seeing tho tremendous demand there was, it was more than likely that they could do so. Much meat was also delayed, and there was no telling when it would reach the Home markets. The British shipbuilding yards, said Mr Hutcheson, could do nothing to augment the present steam tramp tonnnige ''available. Every yard that was of any use was engaged lor naval purposes, even yards that were just large enough to accommodate'a monitor/ Possibly in some cases the builders had been permitted to finish contracts undertaken prior to the, war, but no further vessels for the mercantile marine had been biult. And hundreds of vessel previously engaged Hi cargo-carrying had been commandeered for naval find army purposes. Itwas hopeless to took for relief from the British shipbuilders. <

OVERCOMING THE DOLDRUMS. Mr Hutcheson said he was fully convinced that the shipyards on tho \\ est Coast of North America had the capacity of turning out a large fleet of sailers in a very short space of time lhey could be built by the hundred there. Elsewhere the building of sailing ships was a decadent industry, but the Pacific Slope, and the East Coast too, stilt had the men who knew all about the handicrafts of building sailing vessels and manning them. He felt confident that a 2000-ton sailer could be in commission six months after the keel was laid down, and a large number of suck vessels could soon be in commission if the shipbuilders decided to set about solving the problem of lack of space. Possibly the idea, was a deliberate plan to fit the vessels with Diesel auxiliary engines, with the intention of relying mainly on sail and utilising the engine power as a means of navigation through the calm bolts and the doldrums. The, question arose, however, as to whether sailing vessels would he able to compete with steam tramps after the war. Tho decade between 1870 and 1880 was when the last serious stand was made by sailers to compete against steam tramps in ocean-going trade. Gradually the steamers were fitted with increased coal bunker capacity, which enabled them to go round Capo Horn to the South American ports, and the sailing vessels faded out of tho competition.

STTLL ABLE TO COMPETE. Tliere were quite a number of senfaring men, especially Americans, said Mr Hutcheson, who believed th*at sailing vessels of sufficient size and tonnage and fully equipped with the latest, labour-saving appliances, such as steam winches for hoisting sail, and the more intricate part of a sailing vessel's equipment reduced as much as possible, could still compete against steam from an economical point of view. They contended that on certain cargoes, such as timber and coal, the freights were very low, and large roomy sailing vessels equipped in the manner already indicated and with the number of the crow reduced to a minimum would be serious rivals to tramp steamers carrying similar freights. Touching on the past history of sailing ships as far as New Zealand is concerned, Mr Hutcheson pointed out that some of the "windjammers" previously trading here, such .as the City of Perth; were fitted with refrigerating machinery to enable them to carry frozen meat. When the industry was first established in this country, indeed, meat cargoes went exclusively by sail. The trouble with the sailing vessel, so far as meat was concerned, however, was that too much space had to bo taken up with refrigerating ma«liiiuu.'.y-

PREVIOUS SAILING RECORDS. As to the time occupied by sailing vessels on. the voyage from New Zealand to England, Mr Hutcheson pointed out that the vessels of tho old Blackball line, such as tho Marco Polo, frequently made the passage from London to Sydney Heads in seventy days. Thero were regular time-table sailings of this line, and tho arrival of its ships could generally bo calculated to a week. Tho trip from England to New Zealand had been covered in sixty-four days, but that was a record passage. A trip of ninety to one hundred days was quite a frequent occurrence, as against forty-two to fifty days taken by a steamer on tho voyage. The longer passage, however, would not affect such freights as wool and coal. The main question, Mr Hutcheson added, was what was to happen to recently built sailing vessels at tho conclusion of tho war, when tramp tonnage was available? Was it possible to guarantee that they would have a sufficiently long run to pay their capital cost, and the interest on the money invested in them before they became worthless? If a satisfactory answer to this query were forthcoming, then the fulfilment of the Canadian proposal would go a long way towards solving the problem of the shortage of shipping space. _____^__^__