NIAGARA ARRIVES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15701, 31 August 1914, Page 5

NIAGARA ARRIVES.

LENGTHY TOYAGE, NO SIGN OF THE ENEMY, USUAL COURSE ABANDONED DELAY AT HONOLULU. > LIGHTS MASKED AT NIGHT.

An Arrival at Auckland yesterday which had great interest owing to the war was the Union Company's fine mail-liner Niagara from Vancouver. War conditions naturally mem a little uncertainty in recard to tlie movement* of ocean-going vessels, and .. large crowd eagerly watched the approach of the liner as she steamed slowly up the harbour.

The Niagara left Vancouver at 8 p.m. on August 6, a day and a-ha If later than scheduled time, on account of the war. Sho made the usual call at Victoria (British Columbia), arriving there at 1 p.m. on August 7. Leaving Victoria at 4 p.m. on the same day she arrived at Honolulu on August 15. Here she. was detained 'or 5J days in compliance with orders fior.i the British Admiralty. On August 18, at 10 p.m., the vessel ]*Tt Honolulu for Auckland, and arrived here at 2 p.m. yester day.

On the voyage the passenger? wore made as comfortable us possible, but naturally they had to submit to some restrictions on account of the war. During the 5i days' stay at Honolulu they were not allowed to land, but otherwise the restriction* did not prove in any way irk£ome.

Captain Rolls stated yesterday that durin" the voyage a double watch was kept on the bridge. Tim vessel was surrounded in darkness at. night, for th« headlights and sidelights were extinguished. The portholes were also marked. Deviation of Course. During the voyage the. Vessel travelled at ordinary speed. She deviated considerably from her usual course, and was thus out of the track of other vessels. The wireless room was idle during the voyage. Xo messages wore sent out at any time, for this would have been dangerous,' and would have indicated the vessel's position. One or two messages were intercepted, but these, the captain stated, contained little or no information worth mentioning. No other vessels were sighted by the. Niagara on the voyage, owing, no doubt, to the course followed, ' Although she had to go out of hpr way, the Niagara made fast lime, and. if she had not been detained at Honolulu, she would ' lave reached Auckland in f,O days—the usual time taken on the trip.

Testimonial to the 'Captain. The passengers of the Niagara had the utmost confidence in the captain of tho vessel. They realised tho arduous nature of his work in navigating the liner safely to port. To show their appreciation, Captain Polls was handed the following loiter, signed by over 300 passengers:—

• " The war in which the Empire is en- ' gaged has had it* effect on the present voyage of the R.M.S. Niagara. In order to avoid capture by cruisers of the enemy, it became necessary lor you and the officers under you to exercise the utmost wariness. ' The change of the course of the ship to an unaccustomed route must alone have added considerably to the dangers of navigation, for sunken reefs are always waiting to be discovered. Passengers Inspired with Confidence. "We, the undersigned passengers, feel that all these circumstances'have added enormously to the anxiety and labours firhicn are always inseparable from the navigation of a ship, especially a, ship as valuable as tho Niagara-, and yet you have hern able to inspire in us a full confidence that you would win through, if it were possible. We ourselves have- been unable to help, except by keeping brightly occupied, and cheerfully submitting to the restrictions which we readily believe were essential to the safety of ourselves and,the thin. Now, on approaching New Zealand, we. all wish to tender to you. and through, you to the officers under yon, our heartiest congratulations on the result of tho voyage, and our best thanks for enabling the voyage (o bo nip.de- with a maximum of comfort and as free from care as possible under the sad conditions of war we believe to exist. In conclusion, we join in the hope that you may always have luck added to your skill And wariness, and that you may never again have such an anxious and trying voyage as the present one."

-•;,;- PASSENGERS' IMPRESSIONS. GLAD TO REACH AUCKLAND. General relief was expressed by the pas- ■•• sengers on the Niagara at having reached Auckland in safety. The trip, while Actually uneventful, was rendered unusually • Witir-c. by various wild rumours which "ere continually in circulation, and some is:onvcnknco was suffered owing to the absence of deck-lights and the closing of all port-holes at night. All sections of the passengers inter viewed on the- arrival of the steamer agreed that it. was an uncanny . experience, because they knew so little, ■"••■•. and Tore left to conjecture as much. • r ; The narrative of the voyage and the life on board, compiled from the statements ■(\ of various passengers, shows that the Niagara left. Vancouver on August 6, or one day late. The news that Great Britain hail become involved in the war ],- had only jn.-t been announced when many of those' who had booked passages on the , vessel arrived in Vancouver. Speculation immediately became rife as to whether she would sail or not. and all sorts of . stories were repeated as to tho danger to be apprehended from German cruisers. Canadians, both in the cities and 'Jie towns, were in a. state of the utmost enthusiasm, ami were eager to assist Britain in the impending struggle. / - Tho Niagara finally left. at 8 p.m. on August 6, and not a light was shown from that time forward throughout the entire trip. Only a very brief .stay was madeat Victoria, and thou the vessel was • headed for Honolulu by a devious course. . The- passengers early settled down to the conditions, finding it a little, strange to : : •' have to take deck-exercise at night in perfect darkness. They had to put up with ../;■ -the restricted oiitilation afforded by elecg WW fans if they desired to sit in the light. i-> In a.spirit of patriotism, however, a cheerful face was put upon the matter, and tho ;-,,. ! ,8 »'il games, concerts, and dances wero p.:.:, indulged in throughout, tho trip. -, „ . .The Niagara arrived at Honolulu on ' fliunday, August 13, and for about a day ';, . and a-half remained at the wharf, where ;> _ she took on some more passengers. Then £ *h& wont out into the stream, and there

dropped anchor, where she remained for four days, finally leaving for Auckland, on an unaccustomed course, .at 10 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18. Foolish people spread many wild tales about the war, and the dangers of the Pacific, but these did not materially affect the good spirits of the passengers. During the. last four days at Honolulu no one was allowed to go ashore. Those who joined the vessel there, however, brought Honolulu papers and gossip, and these served to wile away the time. Another incident that wa,s welcomed was the arrival of the aroma from Sydney and Auckland, the two steamers keeping each other company for a few days, and both taking their ultimate- departure at the same Lime.

The newt, of the war created a great stir at Honolulu, being received with especial enthusiasm by the 10,000 American troops there. .The latter expressed the utmost good wishes for the success of British arms when it became known that Britain had intervened. There were said to bo 80,000 Japanese on the Hawaiian Islands. General Relief on Leaving Honolulu. The passengers wore told very little ae to why they were kept at Honolulu, and. wore at some inconvenience through not being allowed to send wireless messages. However, the news was hailed with relief at. 9 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18, that tho captain had received sealed orders to resumo the voyage. An hour later tho steamer sailed lor Auckland. The course taken was southerly, past Palmira Island, and then the Nassau and Savage Islands. After passing through the tropics tho vessel seemed to take a south-westerly course.

The women passengers admitted frankly that on leaving Honolulu they experienced some trepidation, although by general and unspoken consent they kept their fears to themselves,. "Wo Colt eafo as long as wo were in Honolulu," remarked one woman. "We wcro told we were kept there to avoid a German cruiser. It was different when wo put to sea again, for. of course, being so much in the dark as to what was happening, we did not know what fato might bo in store for us. However, we enjoyed the usual pleasures on the trip and nothing happened to incr.wo our natural apprehensions—which, by t!\e way, were shared in by some of the men.