PORT OF ONEHUNGA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume I, Issue 299, 27 October 1864, Page 4

PORT OF ONEHUNGA.

ENTERED INWARDS OCTODKIt 26 —Ahuriri, s.s., 131 tons, U. Shullluworth, from Wellington, &c., with 10 tons potatoes, Cniickshank, tMnart, A: Co,; 2 kegs la rd, 1 drum oil, I pkfif- S P <ll! tiiiL;', '> cases sundries, 1 hag empty s.'i'ks, 1 c;is(\ 3 r.'isus bacon, Order. Passengers—Mr. and Mrs. Troupe, Messrs. Kelly, Thompson, Daniels, Smith, M'Pherson, Eowler, Ealwasser, Graham, Gage, 3 soldiers, - prisoners, 2 Maonos. Combes & Dahly, agents. CLEARED OUTWARDS. OCTOllh'tt 2G—Nebuchadnezzar, 15 tons, Miller, for Port Waikatn, with 22 casks beef, 1 hliti. bacon, 1 kegs nails, 1 bell, 2 cases galvanized iion, 1 sack mildries, r> pkg.s., 2 chests tea, boxes candles, 3 buckets, 90 hairs flour, ] 4 mats sugar, 1 smoke pipe. Georgo 1 lodge, agent. The "Wonga Wcmgn, s.s.. Captain Thompson, left Auckland for the Buy of Islands on 22nd inst., at 2 p.m.. and arrived there at (I a.m. on the 23rd. Lett the Bay at 2.10 p.m. on tiio 25th, and arrived at Auckland at 5.15 a.m. 2Gth. Passengers—Mr. and Miss Baker, Messrs. Bcdggood and Kidd;and2in steerage. Cargo—2s bugs coals. THE CAPTURE OP THE GEORGIA. Dover, Wednesday. Tho Federal steam frigate Niagara brought up in Dover Heads this morning, having on boind Captain Witliycombe and 33 men belonging to the screw steamer Georgia, which is the property of a British merchant residing in Liverpool, uiut was captured by tlie Niagara while sailing under the British ting, on Monday, the loth August, about 20 miles oil' Lisbon. The capture was liuide by the commodore in command of (lie Niagara, on the ground that the Georgia mis formerly a belligerent ship, and in the service of the Confederate Stales as the cclebiuted cruiser of the some name. It stems, however, that the Georgia was puichnscd tome few months ago by Sir. li. Bates, a shipowner of Liveipool, and some nice questions of an international chuiactcr will therefore possibly arise out of this j rotciding on the part of the Niagara. 'J he Georgia, it appcara, vas under orders for Lisbon, having been chartered by the Portuguese Government for the purpose of conveying between that place and the Afrit an (oast or the West Indies. She had been regularly fitted up for this traffic, having accommodation tor 30 first-cla.-s and 20 second-class passengers. Qhere is reason to believe, that the American commodore was kept infoimed of the object and destination of the vessel, and that >he had been closely watched from Liverpool. r J his was her firtt voyage under her now ownership, und her < rew had all received a month's pay in advance. Nothing unusual occurred till she arrived about 20 miles off Lisbon, wlien the Niagara was seen apparently waiting for her. Captain Wifhycombe did not deviate fiom his course until brought to witii a couple of shots tired across liis bows. He was shortly afteiwiids boarded by ail armed boat's crew in command of 1111 officer of the Niagara, who Tiqutsted his attendance before the commodore, lie protested against the insult which had been offcicd to the flag under which he was failing, and insisted that as the Georgia was 11 British ship engaged in legitimate and peaceable '.1 attic, no right could exist under whiih his < ourse could be arrested. Upon getting 011 board the Niagara, the commodoie explaii.ed that it was his duty to seize the Georgia, but that he denied to cause Captain Withycombe and his crew as little discomfort as possible. The ship's papers were then taken possession of, and the crew dt taineel as prisoners till the Niagara reached Dover, when they were landed and conveyed to'the Dover Sailors' llomc, where they were kindly received. Thence they will be forwarded to Liverpool. SHIP SIGNALLING AND DEPORTING. (Front Mitc/icll's Maritime Jietjister.) The new Commercial Code of Signals, which the authorities here, and which America, Prance, and other States have adopted, as an international or universal system for communicating from ships to the shore, or from vessel to vessel at. sea, is gradually superseding all others. Some owners decline to furnish the masters of their vessels with the new (lags. A few obstinate men of the ancient selioo adhere to the old codes, and ignorance deters a smal number from following in the progress of the times in this as in oLher improvements. There are alwavs men in every profession to put. a drug 011 science. Not that they are adverse to progression, but they are disinclined to take up inventions which lead to change, and give a little trouble. They understand one way of signalling, and they do not care whether there is a better or not. If these latter persons injured themselves only, we should not care to notice their apathy or indiU'erence; but their inertness is productive of considerable inconvenience to shipowners and merchants who are interested in the fate of floating property. That our remarks may be better understood wc will demonstrate (.hem by practical example. Wc will take one day's report of ships passing Great Yarmouth. 111 the hhippiny <tml Mercantile. Gazette of Monday lust, of-vessels signalled, 110 less than fifty-four reported themselves 011 Saturday, tho 30th ult. Several of these vessels had their numbers up at the same time, and there were ong intervals during the day between (ho approach of one ship and the passing of its preJcccssor. A signalman cannot arrange affairs so is to bring the vessels in successive order to suit lis labour. Do has to strive to make out the lags ill fine weather, during rain, haze, or mow. Now and then a master who may bo very mxious to report will heave his ship to, whilst others .vill run on, and if there is a strong leading wind .he flags are scarcely distinguishable unless properly loisted. All masters do not understand how to dis)lay the Hags to the best, advantage. A"ain, the signalman 011 shore may be supplied with a powerful elescope by which lie can in»ku out the Hags, whilst ■hese 011 board the vessel have but a poor glass to lid their sight. To report, therefore, iifty-four vessels during certain hours of the day demands some it tent,ion, and to enable the signalman to answer all ressels, the code which admits of the quickest dispatch should be universally enforced. 111 practice it s found that the new Commercial Code of signals is lie best suited for signalling operations ; foi° us to;ards ships' names, port, and destination there can be 10 mistake. The Commercial Osde liub eighteen etters, and Marryatt's twenty figures in all. If the vhole of the fifty-four vessels passing through Yarnouth Roads ou the 30th ultimo had required to

1 J' avo been reported mrryutt's Code, many of them would have find to heave to for hours. This, •- when there is a fair wind mid clear wet.Mier nu«l,t .1 not to bo tho ease, for time is money in the Inivi^u. tion ii f-hip. ahe new Code supplies all informat tiou at once, for a ship gives a llunibt , l . > au , L fl „ reference to tho oflieml List, which now forms p'vrt < 1 of tho book, her identification is ut once 'aseeVs. tamed. It is dill'ercnt with MWitfa Code.: 8 Having nilldo out thv titiin'o, then comes the. ; sc.umd qviestiohi m i' 6 her Port, land it. notunlre-f •• t|\ieuUj'.'occurs that live signals ha\e -to. ,bo made,' before the report is correct. .This happens from 1 'tWo being, perhaps, Jlfly vessels > of tho same . name registered at one port. What misleads, also, , is tho fact that (lio iiamna of ships and masters lire similar. See, then, how this operates. There is no C night signalling at Yarmouth, and in tho winter r nio7iths there are but fow hours of daylight. During this daylight, probably 100 ships out of three tinuT that number, going through the inner roads, require 3 reporting. One only at a time can bo answered in a - clear and unmistakeablo milliner. A vessel shows L her lings, and when tho signalman on shoro makes i them out, ho hoists on (he i!agstufl' the coirespondI iiig ones. However sharp-sighted a iniiii hia.y be, he ■ 1 cannot always detect at a gluncb the Hags displayed, ' > for the colours arc bloWil about by .the wind, and the ; > view is dimmed by tlvo \vcatlier.' "When ,t]io sliore- ) man <in«woh> the ship, the flags of, tho latter should J inttahtly he lowered to (lenofe that the answer is • right, but some 'masters neglect to haul down the - signals, 'aiid this delays the duties at the signal staff. ; If a ship reports her name in cede, arid . then follow tlie questions—What l'ort ? Xiuiie of Master 'i Owner r and lastly, oflicial niimbei —a full ■ hour may bo wasted. If at the time there aro no I other vessels, it is not of so much consequence ; i but if 100 or more vessels have to be ro- ! ported in about seven hours, this waste of tii ic • is a serious matter. At Yarmouth there are a • great many vessels reported also by a system i known as Watson's Code. This rather complicates ' (lie signalling, for vessels are in the loads displaying —Ist, the new Commercial Code'; '2nd, Man vat's; 3rd, Watson's. At the setnapiioro those vessels hoisting the three flags of Watson's Codo are reported. All the owners of tho vessels reported by Watson subscribe to a club fund. ] f these owners would adopt tile new commercial code of signals they would have no necessity to contribute towards the cost of private signal stations. No code of signals is perfect unless eilieienUy carried out, and we regret to have to observe that some vessels eannoL be reported because tho Hags are wrongly put together. When they aro simply inverted they may be made out, but tlicrj is no excuse for bending tlieiu so that they aro inexplicable. The next step in advance will be night signalling and reporting. Vessels run through the inner roads at Yarmouth especially to make their numbers, and many get oil the Scroby, Corton, or Holm sands in consequence. The hundreds that puss daily out-side the sands are never reported. There is a lightship near the Ilasboroogli sands, besides the Xcwaip, Cockle Gat, Nicholas, and Stanford light-vessels, all of which are in or near the approaches to Yaimouth Noads. One of these vessels ought to he tinned to maritime advantage by connccting it with the shoro by a submarine electric cable, and then vessels could report further out at en by flags ill 1 lie day ur by lamps at night. This will certainly fellow the geneinl application of the now commercial code of signals. The maritime trade o the United Kingdom has become so important that if behoves us to keep pace with the spiiii of the age, and supply increased and more rapid means of communication. A CONNECTOR STEAM VESSEL. A model vest el, which is intended by its projectors to be the precursor of a largo tlc.et of cargo-carrying craft for the coasting trade, has for many months ' been the object of curiosity and remark to the traveller by the liver steamboats. It is necessary to remind our leaders that she i.? intended to show the piacticabilitv of adding together several cargocan ying ccmpaitmcnts, in tho mine manner that luggage trucks aie Conned into a train upon a railw y, the motive power be comprised in a distinct compartment. '1 he object sought lo be gained by this arrangement has special refeience to the London coal trade, and consists in the avoidance of delay arid consequent waste of expenditure by detaining; the machinery ecmpartnient while the cargo sections are being' unladen, and therefore it proposed that up n a laden wat (r-tiain—as it may be termed —reaching I it.s destinat ion the machinery sectic.n shall tic disconnected and transferred to another train of emp y vtw-els, with which it will rot urn, while tl lose whi ii it has just brought into port aro being unladen. The ; dvantages of such a plan, if practicable, are obvious? i ut the means proposed to that end are so novel that at the first sight of tho model vessel few persons can avoid entertaining doubts as to its success. Tin.* vessel, as it at present lies ill the river, consists of three compartments connected together by projecting bolts fastening in the eyes of overlapping iron sponsons. The idea of excessive friction upon these connecting points naturally presents itself as a proble difficulty to the success of the plan ; but the inventor and captain of the vessel, Sir. McSweenv, aflirms that the amount of friction is surprisingly small, and certainly after more than two years' wear no signs of injury are discernible in cither bolts or sponsoons. although the vessel bus twice made the passage irom Hartlepool to London, laden with '13 tons of coal in heavy weather. When it is borne in mind that the three connected compartments are 110 feit in length, with a beam of only S feet 4 inches, and bulwarks of only •>. feet ill height, the motive [lower being an engine of 10-liorse power, the exposure of such a craft to the rough waters o the North Sea would seem to he a bold venture. However, the 'Connector' went to Hartlepool and returned, and on Tuesday she started upon an cxprrimeutal trip clown the river to trea lfcach. Notwifhstanding her disproportionate lerglh she was easily steered through the intricacies of llio crowded I'ool, her singular appearance and the snakelike motion ot her various Sections exeiti: g great curiosity. At f J ilbury a stoppage b> - came necessary to receive an accession of visitor.-, who were brought oil' from tho pier by the stern compartment alone, containing the machinery, which was disconnected from the other sections in less than hall a minute, the means employed being u rack worked by a key upon deck which drew inwards the connecting bolts. Tho inaehirifiy section was afterwards reunited to the other compartments, an operation which occupied neurei'lv two minutes, and the I journey toward.-? tho A'ore was resumed. There was but lit I Iti wind and less sea, so that it whs not possible U» judge of how the Connector would behave 1 when encountering heavy waves. Upon meeting the heavy wave caused by a large paddle steamer the fore compartment leaped up it to a very considerable tingle, but the following compartments were entireh undirected by the motion. The managers of the I vessel stated that such was tfio case at sea ; that the fsrc compartment does all the tossing, and opens a quiet path for the next' section, a feat interesting to travellers, but the importance of which is qualified by an admission that, although not given much lo rolling, the connected vessels are apt ill rough weather to acquire a considerable " list." During a portion of tin; run sail was hoisted upon the masts, one of which is carried by eneli seel ion. but lhere was no opportunity of testing the alleged stillness under canvas of this novel craft. Whatever may be (he ultimate practical value of the invention, which it is said has received the approval of many nautical and engineering authorities, there can be n'o doubt of its ingenuity, nor of the success which has attended the performances of the experimental Connector.—Ki mhuj Mail, August 1<).