CAPTAINS IN OUR MERCANTILE MARINE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7782, 30 October 1886, Page 2 (Supplement)

CAPTAINS IN OUR MERCANTILE MARINE.

'He Is a real old salt;" "One of the old ichool; "Not one of your quarter-deck nilksopa, bat one that has risen from low lown on the nautical ladder." Such are the expressions that may often be beard in lautica! circles when the merits or demerits if any particular captain may be under IiBCUBBioD ; and it is worthy of being placed >n record that aucb discussions are frequent, md generally take place at an impromptu neeting convened as eoon as possible after "the sun ie over the foreyard." These ixpreasions are considered in such circles as inarguable, and, therefore, not being a nember of that mystical nautical circle, and >eing as ignorant of " boxing a compass" as ve are of that mysterious " fuefu valve" ;bat engineers are always blaming whenever heir machinery breaks down, we do not jelieve we can do better than accept the ixpressions at the head of this notice, with dl their mystic significance, as being delervedly applied to the subject of oar jresent sketch. All who are acquainted with Captain W. C. Sinclair will readily idmit that he is a real old salt, and one ol in old school, where lessons were drummed □to one in a manner that cannot well be practised now-a-days, because there are nc iuch schools. Steamships are so rapialj making the place of sailing vessels that on< 8 tempted to say that our modern sailon ire only such in name, and the near repre tentative! of those who trod the decks o England's old wooden walls are rapidly Iropping away. In the old East Indiamen ;he Black Ball Line, and others, scamanshij was knocked into a man, and, if he was noi iharp at his lessons, he would soon fine himself outpaced, and left astern. Captair Sinclair's early life shows that he had sonoe training in the manner we have referred to, »nd has so profited by what ho has seen anc learnt that he has been enabled to rise tc pis' present important position in his pro:esaion from low down on the nautical adder. Such a record is the more honour ible, and one of which the worthy subject )f this sketch may look back upon witt pardonable pride. Captain Sinclair wai jorn at St. Margaret's Hope, in the Orknej Elands, in the year 1537, and in the earlj part of 1554 he started his apprenticeship it .he world-wide known ship Dunbar, owned jy Duncan Dunbar, running between Londor md Sydney. In 1857 he was appointee ;hird officer in another ship of the same imploy, and went to the Cape of Good Hope md then to India, where his ship was taken lp by the East India Company. At BomJay he left the ship, and joined one of the Slack Ball liners out of Liverpool as second >fficer,. running between London, Brisbane, Jhina, and to South America, and thence 10me. After trading to various parts o ;he world, Captain Sinclair finally left th( lailing vessels at Melbourne in 1563, anc vent into the employ of Messrs. MoMeckan Blackwood, and Co. as second officer of th< jottenberß, and soon advanced to the post >f chief officer, afterwards receiving as hi.irst command the Coorong. In turn Captain Sinclair commanded the Alhambra anc the Claud Hamilton, running the latter ai the first mail boat through Torres Strait) under contract to the South Australia! Government. The Tararna was the nsx vessel, and in that Captain Sinclair re

mained antil MoMeokan, Blackwood, and Co.'s vessels were taken over by the Union Steamship Company, and with that steamer Captain Sinclair also went in the employ of the last-named company. After commanding the Arawata for about two and a-half years, Captain Sinclair was sent home to the Clyde for the Tarawera, with which he left Glasgow on the Sth December, ISS2, and in that he has remained ever since. Captain Sinclair has had some strange experiences, and amongst those that are worthy of note is his leaving the Dunbar on the trip that she went out from London to her destruction on that fatal night at the Gap, at Sydney Heads, when all but a little sailor boy was lost. Captain Sinclair was the only apprentice that left the ship in London that trip. The ship that Captain Sinclair left at Bombay was lost soon after she left j Bombay, she foundering in a hurricane with all on board two weeks after he left her ; and he has had the mournful knowledge of hearing of the wreck, with great loss of life, of yet another of hia vessels—the steamship Tararua. His record as an officer in vessels extends to 29 years, during which time he [ has served under some of "the most notable navigators of their time; particularly may be mentioned Captain Green, who was lost with his ship, the Dunbar, as already stated. Captain Sinclair is, like the subject of our last week's sketch, of the rough-diamond stamp, but by his officers he is greatly liked, and, though firm in his duties, he is yet most attentive to the welfare of those under him. A good officer need never fear that Captain Sinclair is overlooking him, his officer's advancement being his first thought. With the travelling public Captain Sinclair is greatly liked, being at all times solicitous for their comfort.