HISTORY OF STEAMERS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 179, 30 June 1936, Page 9

HISTORY OF STEAMERS

FIRST STEEL VESSELS. ROTARY CLUB ADDRESS. Mixing humour with more serious fare and diverting his hearers now and again for the inclusion of a fitting anecdote, Mr C. R. Luke entertained the members of the Palmerston North Rotary Club to-day with an address on “Steamers.” Mr Luke dealt with the development of the iron hull and the inclusion of steam motive power, concluding with a.n outline of the dimensions ot the greatest ship yet to leave the stocks, the Queen Mary. The chair was occupied by Mr 'G. G. Priest in the absence of the president, Mr IV. E. IVinks. At the opening of his. address, Mr Luke touched on his family’s associations with the building of steamships, saying that his grandfather, in 1883, had built the IVeka, a vessel of 200 tons, for trade l>etween Gisborne and Wellington, with accommodation for about 30 passengers. The IVeka had been equipped with refrigerating space and had been in use for some 50 years. The Matai had been his next vessel built ; it was 180 ft long and of 500 tons. The original owner had been Ca.ptain Williams and he had been bought out later by the Union Steamship Companv. The Matai was the first steel vessel built in the Souliern Hemisphere. Proceeding, the speaker, who had served his time as a marine engineer and had later worked in Great Britain, said steam had first been used for propulsion of a ship when h niton had installed one of James Matt’s engines in a wooden hull, using paddle-wheels. In 1818 steam had first been used m the crossing of the Atlantic, but had been only an auxiliary to sa.il. It was in the third decade of the same century that steam had been used as the chief propelling power. In 1858 had come the Great Eastern, a ship of 18.000 tons. There had been difficulty in launching the bull and necessity had then forced the invention of the hydraulic jack, which had been successfully used for the first time in moving the vessel, lire ship’s machinery had been too weak and eventually the hull had been cut m two and two boats built. Proceeding, the speaker dealt with I the growth of rivalry on the Atlantic, the introduction of the steam turbine in 1901 as a method of generating propelling power, and from those davs traced developments leading up to the building of the Queen Mary. To give his hearers an indication of the size ot the liner, lie said it would Rangitikei Street. to Princess Street and would l>e about as wide as Hie frontage of Messrs Collinson a.nd Cunriinghame’s premises. The decks covered aii area of 20 acres—the Square in L almerstou North was but 1 1 1 acres m extent, including tbe roadways. Ihe electric lighting system was of such a capacity that it could light a city tlie size'of Wellington. The speaker reverted to tlie budding of the first iron vessel. There bad been romance connected with die project, lie said. A Scotsman, Thomas Wilson, bad been impressed in 1807 by the extent of the damage done to the wooden barges when they first went through the frozen canals. The matter had been mentioned to Mrs Wilson and she had suggested that the boats should he of iron Allien countering' that iron would not float, Mr Wilson had t>een told that the iron porridge-pot had nearly floated away down the canal. Such a near-calam-ity” had impressed the man. said Mi Luke amid laughter. For two years Wilson considered the matter and then he mentioned it to the firm for which he worked. In nine years time a decision had been made to experiment. The hull was made for forged bar-iron rivetted together aiul the fact that it floated had been regarded as a wonder. The thanks of the members were expressed to Mr Luke by P- 1 ■ hone, who proposed a vote of appreciation which was carried with acclama-tloM-essrs E. IV. Mills and E. G. Sprnggon, both of Palmerston North, were welcomed as visitors.