THE PRIME MINISTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17651, 11 December 1920, Page 10

THE PRIME MINISTER.

FIFTY YEARS A COLONIST. ANNIVERSARY OF ARRIVAL. VOYAGE OCCUPIES 85 DAYS. By the ship City of Auckland, -which arrived at Auckland 50 years ago to-day, there came to the young colony the present Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Right Hon. W. F. Massey. The newspaper records of the time show that the vessel dropped anchor in the Auckland Harbour on December 11, 1870. The published passenger list shows among the names that of Win. F. Massey. The ship was a well-known vessel in the trade between English ports and Auckland. The report upon the passage stated : " The voyage was one of the fastest on record, being 79 days from, the Channel to the Three-Kings, and only 85 rom Gravesend into port. The distance run from Gravesend was 15,601 miles, and only eight months and twenty-two days have elapsed since the vessel left Auckland for London. " The City of Auckland carried 143 passengers on the voyage, of whom 127 were adults, yet, states the report, " notwithstanding the unusually large number the vessel arrives in an admirable state of cleanliness and order." The voyage was reported to have been without notable incident, save that a young lady passenger 23 years of age died of brain fever at sea. The master of the ship, Captain Ashby, was presented by the passenger" with an address and a handsome silver cup at the conclusion of the voyage. The history of the ship on which the Prime Minister travelled to New Zealand' was subsequently somewhat tragic. _ A little over a month after her arrival, when she was almost ready for the sea, she was discovered to be on fire. At halfpast two on the* morning of January 24 smoke was found to be issuing from the forehatch. Despite all efforts to extinguish the flames the vessel was soon seriously afire. She had been loaded with from £26,000 to £30,000 worth of cargo, and it appeared as if this and the vessel herself were liable to be totally destroyed. Ei"-ht hours after the outbreak was discovered the City of Auckland was towed into th© stream, scuttled, and sunk. She was then raised, the cargo _ was discharged, and the ' vessel repaired. The ship met her fate on the New Zealand coast, for, as Mr. Massey himself recalled on the last anniversary of his arrival, she was afterwards wrecked on ; the Otaki Beach.