NEWS AND VIEWS,

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11151, 25 August 1899, Page 3

NEWS AND VIEWS,

STEAM TRAWLING OFF CAPE COLONY. The Glasgow Herald gives an account of tin launch by Messrs. Maekie and Thomson, shipbuilders, Goran, of the steam trawler Undine, which they have built- for the South African Fisheries Company (Limited). The firm is new, having been formed recently for the express purpose of developing the steam fishing industry off Caps Colony, and the Undine is their "first vessel. There is hardly anything m the way of trade in lish in connection with the colony, and nothing whatever in the way of steam trawling, so the company are entering upon what is practically a' now industry. From Capetown itself, the port of registry of the Undine, no vessels of any size, or that, can keep the sea in the slightest weather, are engaged in fishing, and the only places where an attempt is made to follow up the trade are Port Elizabeth and Natal. Even there tho vessels employed are of small dimensions, and propelled mostly by sails. The industry is therefore prosecuted in a somewhat erratic manner, and the supplies of fish in the towns near the banks vary with the weather, and the price fluctuates in accordance with the success of the craft engaged. There is no want of fish 011 the coast, but they come in shoals, and as trawling 011 a large scale is not attempted, the fishermen have no means of taking advantage of the opportunity when it occurs. The South African Fisheries Company lias been formed to work the banks off ' Capetown, principally the Aghulhas Bank, and to supply, in the first place, the port itself. If the industry develops, as it is almost certain to do, other boats will be acquired or built, and other markets opened up. Capetown contains about 70,000 inhabitants —a goodly market in itself, considering that it is prac tically untouched very few boats, with reasonable success, could supply it, and the promoters will afterwards be face to face with the difficulties of carrying theii " goods to other towns. Railway facilities are very good in the direction of Kimberley and Buluwayo, and it would not be impossble to tap Bloemfontein, and perhaps Johannesburg; but towns more to the ea6t. would be better worked, from Port Elizabeth and Natal. The trains have, of course, refrigerating apparatus, as the Undine also has, so it should not be difficult, once the fish are caught, to bring them fresh to the doors of the consumers. The vessel will land all her catches at Capetown, where distribution depots will probably be established, and after the company feel sure of their position, they will take other means to develop the industry. Hitherto the oeople of South Africa hare lived almost exclusively on land produce, and, although the colony has a great length of sea coast and productive fishing banks, the fish have been caught in almost infinitesimal quantities. Now, howeVer, that a serious attempt is to be made to put the colony, in this respect, on a level with the Home Country, the experiment will be watched with no small degree of interest. That the fishing banks are productive has been proved during the past two years by experiments earned out by the Pieter Faure, a combined trawler, liner, and " well' boat, which Messrs. Mackie and Thomson built in 1897 for the Agent-General, for the Cape Government. This vessel was built for the purpose of finding out by means of practical experiments the value of the fishing grounds off the colony. She has worked on all the principal banks, employing all kinds of gear, and a large amount of data and information has been collected ; Dr. Gilchrist, marine biologist, has been on board all the time superintending the soundings and fishing operations, and the experiments have proved conclusively that it is quite possible to prosecute the industry in these waters with financial success. The Pieter Faure was provided by the Government simply for experimental purposes, and it is on the basis of the reports furnished by the experts on board that, the new company has been formed. The directors are Mr. Alexander Mair (chairman), Mr. Wm. Spilhaus, Mr. Charles Dowsett, and Captain A. P. Burmeister, with Captain E. W. Sedgewick, who has superintended the construction of the Undine, as managing director. When the scheme was floated many of the principal men of Capetown interested themselves in it, and Mr. Cecil Rhodes was among the first to subscribe. Captain Sedge- 1 -'-"in■ f-. O! -„>..>«• about Christmas last, a '!ih r. M in« in' completed he will sa ■ .«» to Cups Colony, via Teneriffe an-. t-. I*.-*, proceeding straight to the fit •. ■: vnr.d.-. It. fire landing at Capetown. ■■ \al <; tbo new company is £25,01 :■ The Undine is a stoan . . • of It' tjns gross, 105 ft in length, '. . • • l'.r?;.'!ih, and lift 7in in moulded dept. 'I •- v.; r>=i, .1; engines of 450 i.h.p., an-! ".-it!: »•«-!• i"'-t. of 12in, 19Jin, and 32in dii •»•.-> <>• ;-. .-vU-, will be provided by Mr. '' r \ . ',vi.jo wood, Coatbridge, with I ■■ t. m n:of.fd for a pressure of 1801b per '> • Mr <:.rs. Muir and Houston, ICinnin- •I. '>• vsel has accommodation aft f'c ilv -.nviw:. ing captain, and forward fo' •'» <•»'. -h* cantain and engineers. She !;•«' :<vi'k "t specially strong, so as to ■. •* ll''.--rul «5.-rj rough weather often met with rt;' 'he Cip", will be schooner-rigged, and with all the most modern improvements, including refrigerating apparatus and electric light. In her construction, Mr. W. D. Douglas, London, was consulting engineer. The naming ceremony was performed by Mrs. R. H. B. Thomson, Blawartlea, Scotstounhill.

WHY RAN JIT IS NOT JAM.. It is well known that Ranjitsinhji's recent visit to India was connected with a claim to a kingdom ; but it is not equally well known how Ranjit lost that kingdom, the name whereof is Jamnagar, which lies in Kathiawar, in the west of India. Now, the ruler of Jamnagar is called a Jam, and why Ranjit is not to-day a Jam of the Orient, but only a gem of the cricket field, is thus : In 1856 the late Jam, a high-bred Hindu, who, after the custom of Ills race, hud married many Rajput wives,unexpectedly wed three Maliommedan sisters. A son was born to one of the Mahommedans, who was subsequently disinherited for conspiring against the life of his father. The Jam, having no other male offspring, adopted a son, who died, and in 1880 he adopted another, who was Ranjitsinhi. Ranjitsinhji is descended from another line of Jams, whose family bad been under a cloud for many years on the suspicion of being implicated in a State murder. Ranjit, as heir to Jamnagar, was sent to be educated at Rajkumar College, a sort of Indian Eton. But a year or two later another son was born to one of the Mahominedan sisters, and the old Jam asked for the adoption of Ranjit to be set aside. The Government of India refused the application. Ranjit's adoption was only conditional, it was contended, on a son being bjrn to ont of the old Jam's Rajput wives, and not to one of the Mahommedan wives. This was the undoubted intention of the Government of India, but when reference was made to the deed of adoption it was found that the word " Rajput" had been omitted before the word " wives." Thus, at one blow was the bottom knocked out of Ranjit's legal rights. So it comes to pass that by the omission of one word Ranjit lost his kingdom ; he can never be the Jam of Jamnagar, but there are good hopes of his continuing to be for many years the Jam of Susses. From the Indian kingdom he receives an allowance of some £700 a . year, which is not much, all things considered. 3