NAUTICAL NOTES.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1831, 10 April 1907, Page 65

NAUTICAL NOTES.

(By R.N.R.)

v "• H©re', in New Zealand we are apt to .(think of the .Atlantic passenger trade as', something colossal.' Although, Ave regaru our ; steadily increasing shipping trade with' some satisfaction, yet -from vague - accounts' we . receive of the traffic between Great Britain and America we that the maritime business of Noav Zealand is tod small to admit: of any coni-. • parisonv• When, however, population and area of'country are taken into account, there-is. no doubt that,: in proportion, our export© and 'Cur passenger frame will compare favourably Avith that of the ' western- world. .American© are said to : be. great travellers, but per head of population New Zealander® beat them. It is '•> somewhat difficult to obtain complete -data for: comparison, hut the following figures will .perhaps give some idea of ■western ocean passenger traffic. In con- - sidering them, the 80 millions of America .•'and the dense population of Great* Britain must -be remembered. During the A year. 19(J6 . the. four" principal steamship > lines only carried,' outward, from Great 1; Britain to American ports,; 324,583 pns- - eengers'. The Cunarid-Line topped the list -: with ’ 122,768, of. whom 93,414 were third- '• class, 18,400 second, and 10,924 fireh. The - White Star Line com es, second with -a; •' total of "93,218. which comprised 62,960. third class, 15,629 second, and 14,629 first. The American Line take© third "place : with 69.647, 51,448 being 12,413 second, and 5,786 first. The Anchor Line whose■ ports are solely-Glasgow and New* York, carried- 88,952, 23,642 third- . class, 12,407 second, and 2,903 saloon. II reliable figure© could be obtained for our Inter colonial and coastal service®, . the most noticeable featjire would undoubtedly be-that saloon passengers would be greatly in excess of steerage. The large number of eteeiage passengers in the At-' ' lan tic trade indicates the steady fiow of emigration towards the West. \ -y ‘ - -'armour plate©. , The state of the wharves at Port Lyttel- : ton has long been a subject of .adverse ■comment by intercolonial shipmasters. In comparison with " the wharves at Hobart, Newcastle, and-most Australian and New Zealand ports, theur primitive design, and rough unfinished appearance affords a marked indication of the mf ability of the Lyttelton Harbour Board to rise to up-to-date ideas in the matter of wharf construction or improvement; Apart, from any question of appearance, > there is a total absence of those gener- ' ally adopted improvements which con-siderably-lessen the risk of damage to vessels when ■ being A wellfinished wharf should always present a fairly smooth surface along which a vessel may-safely glide into: her berth , withV out danger of - being indented _by any projections. Instead of this m- Lyttelton we find, every pile-head obtruding, -out-sid-evthe edge of the wharf; and^ armourplated by heavy iron bands which cannot I- fail to indent or perhaps pierce the plates of any vessel which- comes in ; contact •-with them. The objectionable presence of- the obtruding piles -has been regis1. Itered by varying, degrees, of damage to rr. the: plates of so many steamers that it is Itime .the.memhers of the Board gave the - "fffdtter some consideration. There is no reason why .longitudinal fender pieces should' not- be fitted to cover these pro-tuberances;-and. Lyttelton is subject to iio Ideal' peculiarities either in regard to ' weather, or rise and fall of tide, to consitute' any- logical objection to. the e^' : ample .set' by other ports, being followed. LIFE. SAVING API S ABATES,

" Whenever a- few ■ wrecks occur theie generally are a number of 'well-meant : from correspondents concern- • ifig \ the necessity for increasing the lifesaving apparatus, on;, our coasts.- Whilst net wishing , to, discourage the humane ' and- sympathetic spirit which prompts .the writers—Who, by the way, are. generally; landsmen ; or -amateurs, it is impossible' to characterise the majority of sucii : 'emanations- as 7 being anything else but unpractical and of little value, Eefoienee is frequently ■ made, to. the number “ of life-boat and mortar'and rocket star Vf ions on the tidast ;of Great Biirain, and it-is .-assumed,: that,'-a' laxity is shewn by ifli'e-'-authorities m .New Zealand,, beoanse so- few ' facilities'of this . kind, have been -k^fabli^herl;,on our coasts.: It inust, how--ever; -be remembered that . the general //ffeatures; ofz the •-coast line of Ne\? Zeaiahd. are so ’ different'' to that of - Great -Britain that--a., fair analogy can not be made.' The former-: . may be generally - described - as -a- vliigh i precipitous rocic--7 hound' coast,/.with- deep water/..close- up- . to . ihost- of its dangers; -the latter con- • sjsfea - mainly , of / shelving : beache®, low ' cliffs off lying slibals-,' and low-;.laid.’ Irrespective of any.'.consideration of- the ‘' presence"; of ;,a . coast-living population, '.."who'are'..always ready to give help, the beachea of/Great/Britain in many loeaf-

: Mies permit ofboth lifeboats ail'd rocket /G/ apparatusea being rapidly shifted... for y' many, miles to- the ' most advantageous ik. - proximity- .tt -the ,< work • in hand; while r; there a re very few localities in N ew Zea- •' 'f'lahd where it: would be possible to shift A . •/either. ia ..lifeboat or a rocket "• apparatus .for': : jadTe . than a.'couple of ingles. At " tTifnaru,; . QamaruyWestport, Greyniiouth, ; - ‘ Hokitika,. Ly.ttelten- arid Napier,-rocket apparatuses,have/been established, though ;. -the -Wreclt/offthe. ©.©.' - Taupo ..at'-'.Grey-, -k’-ojioatli> affordsythe’ only, instance where -?•. the apparatus had : com e in..to. tise To sav e. :-//■ -ilifel Wanganui dr. two other ba-r- ---■ -.*■ harbour s ports might, -well be , supplied, '-.bnt : .for-fheTcfiaSt lined generally the. :/ ./ -j-ocket ; apparatus' is / /out /' of question, v’-k• There is however one locality where the /:v•; mortar and rocket, apparatus ' could be ky pddsihly iilsed with miuvh advantage in case .k<>f 'disaster.- -With the heavy winter :-southerly and south-east gale© there is 'v' a Hability. for ©ailing vessel® to • - be 7 driven ashore; between Lyell’® Bay imd Sinclair . Head. .Already we have Gpy had ''fide -wtecks -in -..that, / vicinity—•Xviz., /the barques Wellingtonaind( Sirius, " TbebfigahtineLa. Bella, and the scliodnColonist. and Maud Graham. The

population of the Island Bay district is rapidly increasing, and if a mortar and rocket station was established, there would be a splendid , opportunity and good reason to.form a volunteer brigade to work it. The good roads now formed would enable it to be rapidly transported to any particular position on a long range ’of the seashore, and weeldy practice’would be a recreation for the brigade which, at any’moment might be turned to useful account. Without practice and experience in its -use the apparatus is. not of much'value. It is to be regretted that ih'- some parts the apparatus has laid uiithought of in the- cellars of the •harbour : board's buildings anti' the, idea of- ascertaining its” condition or of obtaining any proficiency in its use. has never entered anyone’s head. . • ' : THE GERMAN TROUBLE.

Full accounts of the recent dispute between the . German steamship-owners and ■the marine ’officers are . now to hand. The former have practically crippled ’t Officers’ Union, but we have it on the authority - of a leading Shipping paper that “the ‘damage done to discipline on board ships is enormous.” One hundred and thirty officers who refused to resign from the Union have been discharged, and are now looking for employment in British vessels. 'The Union consisted of 2000 members, 500 resigned in obedience to the owners’ request, and it is expected that a "large number will follow their example, : Trade unionism as “made in Germany” is-about” as durable as many other; articles they, manufacture. There was a good deal of public sympathy with the officers, but it is stated that.they have fallen in public .esteem through not making, a firmer stand.

Some English newspapers have attributed the defeat to a weakness in the national character, induced by the rigid discipline to whioh the German apprentice and cadet is subjected; and state that the moral principle and independence of the German is not equal to that of the French or British. It is, however, more likely that the want of cohesion among- the German officers is due to tire fact of nautical trade-unionism being quite a new thing in the Fatherland.