SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 85, 21 September 1872, Page 10

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

ABSITED. September. 13, Wellington, s.s., 262 tons, Carey, from Lyttelton. Passengers : —Miss Hartwell, MiHenderson, Masters Henderson (2), Mrs Luxford, Mr Elliot, Mrs Murray, Major Horn brook, Rev. Father Birbeau, Messrs Travers and Mudie, Lovett, I horn, Buckridge, Thomson, Mr and Mrs Thomas, and eight for other ports. , 13, Camille, barque, 365 tons, Tucker, from Newcastle, N.3.W. 14, Camille, barque, 355 tons, Stafford, from Newcastle. 14, Ruby, schooner, 24 tons, Fraser, from Kikerangi. 15, Thames, cutter, 17 tons, Smith, from Picton. 15, Taranaki, s.s., 299 tons, Wheeler, from the North. 15, Tararua, s.s., 522 tons, Pearce, from Melbourne via tiie West Coast. 17, Luna, p.s., 199 tonß, Fairchild, from Waikato, with a full cargo of coals. Passengers —Mrs Enshaw, Messrs Stevens, Stowe, and another. 18, Wallabi, s.s., 101 tons, Best, from Wanganui. Passengers—s steerage. 18, Glimpse, ketch, 38 tons, Croucher, from Napier. 19, Helios, ship, 699 tone, Paton, from Newcastle. 20, Nebraska, p.s, 2144 tons, Harding, from Napier and Auckland. SAILED. 13, Cora, schooner, 46 tons, Russell, for Havelock, in ballast. 14, Wellington, s.s, 262 tons, Caiey, for the North. Passengers : Cabin Messrs Feilding, Rochfort, Biddell, Palmer; 3in the steerage. 15, Taranaki, s.s., 299 tons, Wheeler, for the 16, Tararua, s.s., 524 tons, Pearce, for Melbourne via Southern ports. Passengers : Catin—Mrs and Muster Bidwell, Bev R. Ward, Messrs Warboys, Cullen, Paratina, Scott, Jolinni, Beard, Lodson, Brown, Mr and Mrs Purvis Russell, servant, and child, Miss Spurway, Dr Haast, Mr Smitham. 16, Briton, barque, 452 tons, Dyson, for Newcastle, in ballast. 17, Falcon, ketch, 37 tons, Morrison, for ■ Blenheim. 18, Amateur, ketch, 25 tons, Hamilton, for Picton. 18, Elizabeth, schooner, 33 tons, Short, for Picton. 18, Thames, cutter, 17 tons, Smith, for Havelock. 19, Wallabi, s.s., 101 tons, Best, fcr Dunediu.

The Colonial Government p.s. Luna, Capt Fairchild, arrived in harbor at 4 o'clock on Tuesday morning from Port Waikaso. She left Wellington on the 4th inst, with the European and American mails for the Nevada. After landing them at Manukau she proceeded to Port Waikato, where she had her hull cleaned. Captain Fairchild erected two leading beacons for guiding vessels across the bir. The beacons are painted white, and can be seen at a distance of six miles. She took on board 152 tons of Waikato coal, and left for Wellington on the 14th inst; called at Taranaki on the 15th, and landed some stores for the Armed Constabulary, leaving the same day, arriving here as above. Experienced fine weather, with light head winds during the whole of the passage. The coals are a very fine sample, and well adapted for steam and household purposes. They can be had in any quantity at 15s per ton, brought alongside in barges. The harbor is suitable for vessels drawing 18 feet, the channel quite straight, and easy of ingress and egress. The mine from which the coal is brought is 60 miles up the river. It is dug out of the bank of the river, and barges are loaded alongside from a shoot. The harbor is so accessible that we may mention that H.M.S. Eclipse, 700 tons, has been in the port, besides any number of other vessels, during the late war.

The comment which was made some months ago in this paper as to the quantity of ballast supplied to ships leaving the port of Melbourne, called forth, it will be recollected, a letter from Captain J. E. Jackson, master of the ship British Peer, in which he fully concurred with the remarks of the " Argus," and stated that, in the instance of his own vessel he bad grave suspicion of not being supplied with the quantity alleged to be delivered on board. He mentioned, moreover, that on several occasions he had taken steps to test the accurate weight of the ballast on receiving it from the lighters, and in each case he found it deficient. To quote Captain Jackson's own words, ho affirmed :—" According to the Government and lightermen's account, I have 740 tons of ballast on board. With this my ship is only drawing 13ft 9in, even keel, whereas, according to the most minute and i accurate weighing as proved by the displacement scale on two recent, charters of salt, 640 tons will put the vessel down to the same draught. JNow, this shows a discrepancy of 100 tons, corresponding as nearly as possible to the quantity complained of as being short by Captain Whiting, which I feel sure is attributable to short delivery from the lighters." Contingent on the dispute over this matter, it; was agreed that the ballast should be carefully weighed out on the vessel arriving at Calcutta, and that if there was any deficiency in the quantity charged for, the difference in value would be refunded. J3v this mail advices have been received from Calcutta, and along with them certificates from the ship's i agents there, who disposed of the ballast to the municipality. The quantity certified for here as bein£ delivered on board and charged for was 724£ tons, and on being carefully weighed out ut Calcutta it had, according to the vouchers received, diminished to 637£ tons, showing a deficiency of 87 tons in weight,

and a difference of £l7 10s in the amount of the account. Possibly the statement of these circumstances may lead to some equitable measurement in the quantity of ballast supplied to the ships, and more accuracy in the accounts rendered by those who supply it.— " Melbourne Argus." The Admiralty have issued a notice to the effect that 3500 boys will be required annually for the Royal Navy. The boys mmt be able to read and write fairly, should have the written consent of their parents or guardiaus, and must sign an engagement to serve for ten years from the date of their attaining the age of eighteen. At eighteen, by good conduct and attention to their duties, they may be rated ordinary seamen, as soon as found qualified.

| THE GERMAN NAVY. 1 Nothing prevents Germany from creating ; for herself a powerful navv (says a correspon- ' dent of the " Sydney Morning Herald"). Its : coasts on the Baltic and the North Sea extend for a distance of nearly 9000 English miles ; ' and a canal sufficiently deep for ships of the line will soon unite these two seas, and make l the difficult passage of the Sound and the i Belt unnecessary. The mercantile marine of ■ Germany is already superior in tonnage to that of France ; so that the number of sailors | at the disposal of Germany is sufficient to pro- ! vide a very considerable naval force. The coast is so protected by rocks and sandbanks that it presents great obstacles to a hostile attack ; and when the works now in progress 1 at Kiel, Memel, Pillan, and at the mouths of , the Elbe and Weiser are completed, it will j require a very large number of small ironclads • to enable an enemy to effect a landing, or any ! other hostile operation. But if Germany J lacks neither coasts, ports, nor seamen, she ! lacks ships. She has only four iron-clads, with i as many corvettes, and a few smaller vessels. The former are very good, especially the Konig Wilhelm ; but the latter are nearly useless. The German Admiralty has been adopting torpedo vessels, whose small size, slight elevation above the water, and the impenetrability of their plates, will make it possible for them to approach a fleet at anchor, even in the i daytime, unless it kept an ironclad ready, | with steam up, to drive the aggressor off. At night their movements would he much easier ; and it would require a small fleet; of cruisers to drive them off. There is nothing more dangerous than vessels lying deep in the water ; artillery being almost powerless against them, as was strikingly shown in the late war between Paraguay and Brazil, in which rafts, with big guns on them, did immense injury to the Brazilian fleet. All the Brazilians could see were the guns and their gunners; and it was found impossible to take aim at such small objects in the heat of a naval battle. i Three of the new German torpedo-vessels i have already been constructed, and three ! more are now being built at Dantzic ; and ten ! officers and 340 men, selected from the German navy for their special qualifications, are to be employed exclusively in this important branch of the service. The French had a torpedo-school at Roclielbrt, before the war, ' but have now abdndoned it from motives of economy. It seems tolerably certain that Germany, though probably not destined to become a first-class naval power, will nevertheless be in a position before long to deal pretty hard blows at nations with fleets of greater pretensions, as she is able to profit by the long and costly experiments that have been made by the navies of England, France, Russia, and the United States. Happily for the rest of the world the new Empire is little likely to become an aggressive power. On the contrary, all accounts from Germany represent her people as even more anxious for peace and quiet than before the war; and it is a significant fact that all the rumors of triple and quadruple alliances to be formed against France, are always declared to contemplate no other action than that of preventing her from again indulging her old passion for making war upon her neighbors.