MARITIME MATTERS.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1651, 21 October 1903, Page 32

MARITIME MATTERS.

(By uMizen Top.)

Messrs Hadley and Co., of Auckland, have again 'been successful in securing orders from tMr F. J. Sullivan, of. Dunedin. for taro 4 h.p. Standard Marine oil engines and one 10 h.p. The latter is being fitted up in a trawler for Moeraki. Messrs Hadley and Cb.’s speedy jlaunch tlio Standard, wliic ; h will run m the Dunedin harbour for exhibition purposes, is duo there next week. This boat is pronounced the fastest in New Zealand waters, and is most handsomely fitted up with a 15 h.p. Standard oil engine. Advices received by the English mail confirmed the news cabled some time ago to the effect that the. Gulf lino steamers Gulf cf Bothnia, Gulf of

Genoa, Gulf of Siam, and Gulf of Taranto have been disposed of to the Hamburg-Am-e-ri can line, and that the Hamburg-American steamers A emaiinia, Athos, Pol aria., Polynesia, and Rhenania have been sold to British OAvners. Tlie five last named vessels have,, it appears, been given in part payment foil* the four Gulf line steamers. It is reported that the directors of the Gujf Bine, Bimite,d, lia,ve found that the vessels at present engaged in, the Australian service are unsuitable for the trade, and it is proposed to build five neA\- large steamships to replace those just sold. The yaAvl Kia Ora, for Mr Buckridge, who Avas on the tiny ocean going canoe Tilikum, and is about to sail for Bondon, via Cape Horn, was launched at Stanley Bay, Auckland, last week. The Kia Ora Avas built by Messrs Bailey and BoAA'e, entirely of New Zealand woods. She is under two tons and a half, is 22ft long, and 6ft Gin beam. She has a lead keel, with about 7-AcAvt- of metal. Mr Buckridgeiis carrying all consentrated foods, and 96

gallons of fresh water, which he calculates wall last 180 days, at half a gallon a day for himself and mate. Mr Buckridge hopes to catch a. great deal j of rain water between Auckland and i Gape Horn, and if his provisions hold ; out, or are supplemented by - supplies j from passing vessels, ho will caty at no j other port, except Staten Island, off j Capa Horn. After a stay in London. Mr Buckridge will sail to St Louis, J going to the Gulf of Mexico, and up the i Mississippi to St Louis, and will exhibit' at the Exposition. The Ivia Ora- will j sail from St Helier’s Bay this week. • {

The British four-masicd ship Pel- j grave, bound from New "York with a ■ cargo of general merchandise for Hong • Kong put into Sydney unexpectedly re- j cently. The Pelgrave, it seems, sailed j from New York 140 days ago, the pro- j longed passage being due to a series of

calms and a succession of head Avoids, and also to tlie fact that the bottom of the vessel is very foul. OAving to the length of time she' had been at sea. the ship ran short of provisions, and her water supply was also becoming exhausted. Captain R. Coutts, the master of the Pel grave, thereupon determined to make for the nearest port, which happened to be Sydney for the purpose of replenishing Iris stores before continuing his voyage. .Tlie steamtug Advance, of Messrs Fenwick Bros. 5 fleet, sighted the ship about 40 miles off the Heads yesterday afternoon, and she Avas taken in toAV. Sydney Heads were entered at about 10 o’clock last night, and the Pelgrave anchored in Watsion’s Bay at 10.30 p.m. Captain Coutts, upon being interviewed by a reporter shortly after his arrival, said that from the time he left New York Until rounding the Cape of Good Hope, nothing but head winds and calms Were met- Avith, seriously delaying the progress of the vessel. From there until the Australian coast was first sighted fine weather was ex per i-

enced, but about three weeks ago moderate gales from the south-west and south were encountered, followed later on by a very strong blow from the north-east. He had called at Sydney to replenish his stores, the provisions having become almost, exhausted. The supply of water- was also running .short, although there was sufficient on board to last for another fortnight. Ho intended as soon as he had re-provisioned the ship and obtained a fresh supply of water to continue the voyage to Hong Kong, and hoped to get away from Sydney very soon. The Pelgrave is a vessel of 3187 tons gross and 3878 tons net, and is classed 100 A 1 at Lloyd's. She is nearly 20 years old, having been built at Port Glasgow in the year 1884. Jules Verne's sensational novel

‘'Round the World in Eighty Days” has long since been eclipsed. Mr Henry Frederick, Avho left New Fork by the steamer Deutschland on July 2nd, on a journey round the world, arrived back on August 25th. This is faster by an hour than the trip completed by Air Gerald Sayre, of Seattle. Tlie train journey from Paris to Dalny in China consumed eighteen days. Two days \vere occupied in crossing tlie Yellow Sea, and two days by rail across Japan to Yokohama, Avliere Air Frederick missed tlie steamer by ten hours and lost seven days, being compelled to take a sloav boat two days later, which was sixteen days on the Pacific. He landed at Victoria and crossed the American continent in & little over four days. This, with the Deutschland's fast time of six days across the Atlantic, mad© the record fifty-four days. During that time Air Frederick only slept in one hotel, namely, in Yohohama.