MARITIME MATTERS.

North Otago Times, 24 October 1905, Page 4

MARITIME MATTERS.

' £By "Mainsail. J Uncharted rocks to tho number of IS2 ...ia reported to liavo been located duv,ug 1901. In; 20 cases the impedimenta ivoro ''disowered'i by vessels- striking lliuni with more or less disastrous re111U : The Union Steamships Company's new ulercolonial turbine steamer ilaheno d't Glubrow 011 Septepiber 29 for Mel■o.irne, via Durban and Albany, She is Una at Melbourne about November 6, but it lias not yet been decided .men sho will begin running in the intercolonial trade,. In her final speed trials, just : before leaving for Durban' boi averaged 16J knots on a six hours coa iiuious trial, As she was then exerting ' nly two-thirds of.lier powor, two doubleMided boilers only, being used, the two ihigled-ended not being in use, and WM drawing 23ft, which is considerably more than slie will draw in, the intercolonial trade, tills speed may be looked upon as liiglily satisfactory, A striking illustration of the. everwidening sphere of usefulness of the modern oil engine eays the "Otago Daily Times" is civern of the successful Raising of the steamer Rose Casey, which was sunk on the Riverton bar. The steamer lay with 4ft of water on lier decks at high tide, and the problem was how to supply power to drive, the pump Without the risk of tliß engine being swept off the decka by the hoavy seas. Ini this dilemma Messrs Murison and MPhail, who wero supervising the lifting of tho atoamer communicated with tho agents of the Lozier Oil Engino Company (Meesrs H, F, Nees and Co,, of Dunedin), and arranged for them to dispatch one of their I oil engines and an expert to the sceno 'of the week. As tho steamor's; deck was: only visible for three hours eaoh tide,' tho work of fixing the pump and setting down the engine was one of considerable; difficulty, which was accentuated by the necessity of protecting , the engine from the rising tide by hoisting it Bodily up the mast before leaving the ship; It speaks volumes for the ability of all concerned that withiii fivo days of the plant leaving Dunedin everything \paa roady for the final effort. The order to Btart the pumps was given at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, and within two hours the steamor was afloat, Tho whole operation is somewhat novel, being one of the first instances recorded wherein an oil engine has been entrusted with the onerous task of ship-raising. After an absence of Bany yoars from Australian waters 1 the steamer Jelunga' returned to Brisbane on the 23rd alt. The Jelunga is under the command of Captain T. J. Grier. Since last in Brisbane the Jelunga has had many interesting experiences. She was charterod as a troopship during-the' South African war. and has been trading in Japan and the' East from London. About the end of Juno last the Jelunga was chartered by the Russian Government to transport Russian soldiers from Shanghai homo to Sevastopol, in tho Crimea. Altogether lOlij Russians were so transported. Thence the Jelunga proceeded to Odessa, the Black Sea port, in order to load timber for London. While there rioting broke out in the city, and the wharves were burned, The ship had to ceaso work owing to tho riots, as a number of mutinous soldiers boarded hore, and informed the workmen that if they did not cease work they would bo attacked, Whilo there tho Jelunga's company' saw the Russian battleship Knias Potemkino pass oat of the harbour. Tho Russian vessel passed within two hundred yards of the Jelunga, and tlioso on board the steamer could see the big guns ready for action. Porhaps, fortunately for themselves, Wioso on board tho Jelunga irero not brought .into close contact with tho rioting at Sevastopol. Hoivovcr, they saw a bomb thrown, which, on ex. ploding, killed several people.

Dr Emilo Dillon's intorview with M, WiUo, tho Russian peace envoy, sent by wireless telegraphy from tho deok of tlio Kaiser Wilhclm dor Grosse, nt«». to the London "Daily Telegraph," and' thou cabled to ovcr.v part of tbo world. was one of tlio eensations of tho voyage of Ruesia's representative to America.. It was a groat newspaper feat in itself, and tlio translation of nearly a thousand words by such means, and under such conditions, stniiingly bur. ge6ts tho future possibilities of tho-wire-less tolograph, Dr Dillon is described as "a small man, with a largo forchond and milk-gray eyes." Ho is the St. Petersburg correspondent of the ''Daily folegraph," a scholar learned in Slavonic literature, a friend of Count Tolstoi, a ivar correspondent, (in author of Russian books, a Biblical student, and a walk-ing-encyclopaedia on Russia and the Russians "I wroto the intorview out very Carefully,' 1 said Dr Dillon, for tlicro is great liability of error in wireless transmission. Then I divided it into parts, o&ch containing about ono hundred words, and each part ending with the words 'more to como.' The reason for dividing the mossago into sections is that nn a moving ship it is quite likely that ono hundred words would bo the limit possible.to 6end to one receiving station beforo wo passed out of range," The wireless apparatus on shipboard not, it scorns, (says an exchange) trnn, mit nearly so far as is generally snppos. cd. Two or three hundred miles is tho absolute limit, and so it was necessary to send this particular mce-WRO from ship lo ship, as they wero moving on the ocean. Beforo starting tho mos6ago, the number and probable position of tho (hips was ascertained. Electrical connoc- " .! established with one 6hip on ijriday, and a portion of the message < transr itted at once to that vessel. iqO. us tho hips increased tho distance .Hffoen each other they paesed n»' >/ range of the electrical transmission It was then necessary to wait until another steamship came within the rodK of Jhe; transmitting powef on the Raise* ffilhelin. The last connection fras mkde on the following Sunday, and tho whole of the long interview reached London that night, in proper order, and Without a mistake of any consequence.