OLD SKIPPER'S CAREER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 18939, 10 February 1925, Page 11

OLD SKIPPER'S CAREER.

CAPTAIN TOM BOWLING. NEW ZEALAND IN THE " SIXTIES." Many early settlers in Auckland and in other parts of New Zealand will remember Captain Tom Bowling, who is staying in Christchurcii for a few days before going to Dunedin to live! During his notable career on the sea he took no small part in the work of colonisation, as he came to these parts in vessels that brought many of the colonists. From the time of his first voyage, with troops to North America in 1856, when he was a lad of 15, he was 41 times round the Horn, and spent .soma 50 years of his life sailing the Seven Seas. In the days of his youth Captain Bowl* rag was on vessels that came to Australia and were engaged in the China trade, says the Lyttelton Times. On the completion of his apprenticeship he went to the East and West Indies. Back in England, ha joined the Chariot of Flame as quartermaster. and came with her to Lyttelton in 1863. When the Chariot of Flame cams out on her following trip he was fourth officer. That was when she, as a troopship, brought to Auckland the Eighteenth Royal Irish to take part in the Maoii Wars. Captain Bowling was born at Kingston, Ireland, where his father was stationed with the Navy. He describes the Irish soldiers as a lively lot, but thoroughly good fellows. Leaving the vessel at Auckland, he took charge of a small cuttor that ran along the coast of this province. A voyage to Guano Islands, off th® coast of Peru, tallowed. Soon after a visit to Scotland he joined the Shaw, SaviU Companv, which ho served for 26 years. In New Zealand waters again Captain Bowling took horses and sheep from Auckland to the Bluff. He retnemoers giving * salute of 17 guns to Sir George Grey when the Governor paid his first visit to that part of the colony. It was necessary for Captain Bowling to give the salute singlehanded, as nobody els'? available knew how to handle the cannon. Among his vessels in later years were the Invercargill the Adamant and the Avalanche. ' Although he had exciting and trying experiences, especially in the Invercargili. Captain Bowling never lost a ship or even a stick, never touched a rock or a dangerous shore, and never had a mishap of any kind. He left the Shaw, Savill Company in 1905. He has been on land 20 years, enjoying the pension the company has awarded him for his long services.