THE COOK ISLANDS FRUIT TRADE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11712, 23 July 1901, Page 5

THE COOK ISLANDS FRUIT TRADE.

I "■ : -.. , ' »."' —' ! ■' - ■■ . ■ • I v : CHRISTENING THE NEW" ; ' SCHOONER. i CEREMONY • PERFORMED BY THE ; GOVERNOR. His Excellency the Governor performed a most interesting ceremony yesterday afternoon, in the christening of the new auxiliary screw schooner, built for the fruit trade in the Cook Islands. The schooner was happily christened "The Countess of Ranfurly," and in the course of the afternoon made a short but successful trip up the harbour to test her oil engines. : The christening ceremony took place as the schooner lay at the Railway. Wharf, the Hon. Charles Hih Trevor and Captain Boscawen, A.D.C.'s, being in attendance on His Excellency. There /were a large number of citizens present at the invitation of the Governor. The following were the invitations issued:—The Primate and chaplain, Mrs. Cowie, Canon Nelson, Mrs. and Miss Nelson, Canon Mac Murray, Dr. J. Logan ', Campbell (Mayor), Mrs. Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. Kidd, Mr. Wilson (town clerk), Dr. and Mrs. Parkes, Mr. and Mrs. Thome George, Misses Thome George, Mr. Moss Davis, Mrs. and Miss Davis. Mr. and Mrs. N. A. Nathan, Rev. and Mrs. Gillam, Mr. and Mrs. Bagnall, Mr. R. E. Isaacs and Miss Isaacs, Colonel and Mrs. White, Mrs. and Miss Boscawen, Mr and Mrs. Kensington, Mr. and Mrs. H. Brett, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. H. Horton, Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Leys, Mr. and Mrs. J. M. Brigham, Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dillingham, Mr. George Dunnett, Miss Duunett, Mr. and Mrs. T. F. Cheeseman, Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Morton, Mr. and Mrs. Seegner, Mr. and Mrs. Mueller, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Upton, Professor Brown,; Mr. and Mrs. Tibbs, Mr. and Mrs. Whit- : ney, Mrs. Mcßeth, Captain and Mrs. J. R. Reed, Captain and Miss Reid, Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Heather, Dr. and Mis. Hope Lewis, Mr. Alfred Walker, Mr. and Mrs. Edwards, Mr. Rose (Collector, of Customs), Captain Morrow, Mr. Major Lane (builder of the schooner), Mr. W. T. J. Bell, Captain M. T. Clayton, etc. About 60 boys from St. Stephen's Native School, Parnell, attended, under the guardianship of the manager, Mr. J. R. Smith. ' .;' The early arrivals had a look over the schooner prior to the starting of the ceremony. Everything being in readiness, the boys from St. Stephen's school .• assembled on, the wharf, sang the 100 th Psalm' in Maori, after which the Primate offered up prayer as follows:—"0 Thou .that sittest above the water floods, and stillest the raging of the sea, accept, we beseech Thee, the supplications of Thy servants, for all -7ho in this ship, now and hereafter, shall commit their lives* unto the perils of the deep. In all their ways enable them, truly and godly to serve Thee, and by their Christian lives to set forth Thy glory throughout the earth. Watch over' them in their going forth and in their coming in, that no evil befall them, nor mischief come nigh to hurt their souls. And so, through the waves of this troublesome world, and through all the changes and chances of this mortal life, bring them of Thy mercy to the sure haven of Thine everlasting kingdom, /through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen." ' . . His Excellency then broke the orthodox bottle of champagne on the bow of the vessel, and christened her " The Countess of Ranfurly." In doing so, His Excellency said: —" I name this schooner the " Countess of Ranfurly." It gives me very great pleasure to perform this ceremony at the special request of Makea Ariki and the other arikis of Rarotonga. When the idea of building a schooner for the fruit trade of these islands was first considered, !it was not known that the boundaries of this colony were to be extended to the islands, and therefore it may possibly be that this schooner is not to be used exactly for the purpose and in the manner in which it was originally intended. The intentions were that money should be borrowed somewhere —and the New Zealand Government came forward when the money was required for the purpose of building a schooner to carry fruit, and encourage fruitgrowing in some of the islands not regularly visited by steamers, and so enable the people, by the production of fruit, to reap some benefit by their labour. The Union Steamship Company, no doubt, considers the schooner has been built in direct opposition to them. Such is not , the case. The schooner has been built in direct opposition to no one. It is purely for the purpose of gathering together the produce from the outlying islands, and, if necessary, to fill her time in, to carry certain cargoes to various* ports of New Zealand. The people of Auckland naturally fear that the destination of the schooner may be Wellington.- Well, possibly, on an odd occasion or two, it may be Wellington. It 1 is necessary that, this schooner should make as much money as is possible for the growers of the fruit, and wherever the market is likely to be best, I presume the fruit is to be sent. It is a well-known fact that in the past two or three years the native growers of oranges and other fruit have sometimes been at a loss by growing their fruit and sending it to market. Much of that may be their own fault; it may. be due to bad packing, to the want of grading, and to the bruising of the fruit when picking. But we know that the native will not continue to grow fruit if he is to be at a loss thereby. On the contrary, he expects to meet with some reward for his labours, and we must in some manner, enable him ■to arrive it that position, so as to encourage produ n, and enable more money to pour into tnjse Cook Islands. I, who have visited these islands on two, but too brief, occasions, can only inform you that they are most lovely islands, and that the Maoris who inhabit them are as nice a people as you could desire to meet. In naming this vessel I desire to wish her good luck, and I trust that she may, carry cut the purpose for which she was built, and that she may be a benefit to the inhabitants of the islands. To Captain Worsley, who is now taking charge, I wish God-speed and a prosperous time in the ' Countess of Ranfurly.' " • , ' ■ - • The boys from St, Stephen's then sang "God Save the King" in Maori, and on the call of the chairman of the Harbour Board, three cheers were given for the " Countess of Ranfurly." ■ ■ , •■■'.• Immediately after the ceremony the vessel left the wharf for a short spin in the harbour to test the oil engines. The run lasted only about halfan-hour, and was enjoyed by all present. The St. Stephen's school boys sang several patriotic songs on deck. On arrival at the wharf again those on board were invited to the Harbour Board shed, where His Excellency had provided afternoon tea and light refreshments. This terminated the pleasant little ceremony, which it is to be hoped will be the beginning of many prosperous years for the Countess of Ranfurly, and for the fruit trade of the Cook Islands, which she is intended to develop. The Countess of Ranfurly was built to the | order of the New Zealand Government by J Messrs. Lane and Brown, the well-known shipbuilders, of Whangaroa, and has been specially constructed for the trade in which she is to be engaged. Her dimensions are : Length, 115 ft; beam, 25ft; depth, lift; tonnage, 195. She has been built under ! Lloyd's surveyor, and is classed Al for nine years. The frames are of pohutukawa and hardwood, and the planking of kauri. She is rigged as a three-masted schooner, th»: spars being lofty, which will enable her to carry a large spread of sail. Aft, on deck, is the saloon, and amidships, on deck, a house for the accommodation of passengers, the officers' quarters being aft, and the quarters of the crew forward below. Every attention has been paid in the construction of the vessel to ventilation, both for the comfort of passengers and crew, and the carrying of perishable cargo. The motive power of the vessel consists of a Union oil engine (supplied by Messrs. W. A. Ryan and Co., the local agents), which is of 100 indicated horse-power, and is expected to drive the vessel' along at a speed of about seven knots per hour. The engine, which is the largest of its class in Australasia, worked very well on the trial run yesterday, under the charge of the firm's engineer, Mr. R. Spinks. On deck there is a very handy winch of four horse-power, which is capable of lifting cargo in and out _of the vessel very rapidly.