STORY OF THE PERTHSHIRE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXIX, Issue 3777, 27 June 1899, Page 6

STORY OF THE PERTHSHIRE.

INTERESTING PARTICULARS. As was expected, .the arrival of the liner Perthshire in' tow of the Union: Company’s, steamer, Taiuna caused intense excitement in Sydney, and crowds of people assembled on every point of vantage to watch the vessels as they proceeded up the harbour. Tno Xaluno tov/ed the disabled steamer to an anchorage in Neutral Bay, and then steamed to the Union Company’s wharr. amid the cheers of the crews of other vessel. Even the whistles of the ferryboats were made to shriek congratulations to Captain Spinks on his success. On being interviewed, Captain Spinks stated that before leaving Wellington he had carefully studied the weather that had prevailed _in the Tasman Sea-, and after allowing : for a drift of twenty miles per day,.,he decided to shape a course to a point .in;the..vicinity of, Norfolk Island, thence to Lord Howe Island, and from there to Sydney. “Ileft! Wellington on' the evening of Friday, the 9th inst., and on Sunday night wo sighted a French barque bound north-east. I . signalled to her, ‘Have you seen disabled steamer?’ and, sin replied, ‘Me no see.’i At noon on Monday we had reached, latitude 30.21 south and longitude 167.13 ease. the weather being cloudy, with ,» light breeze. The sea was still smooth, however, until 8 p.m., when we got into a strong breeze, with very squally weather. Rockets were kept going all night at ’ internals, for by this, time I knew that .1 was getting close to the furthest point north I intended, to igo.'and in my opinion* was near the probable track of the drifting steamer. At 1 a.m.. we hauled west-south-west, to hand the fore and aft canvas, the weather fortunately keeping fine, with a light wind. At 3.20 bine lights were noticed in reply to our rockets, a few miles off. We then boro N.N.W., "and at 3.45 a.m.. in latitude 29.3 south and longitude 163.38 east, came right up with the Perthshire, the engines meanwhile having been slowed down. The weather at tho' time was fine; with a light wind, and, if anything, a bit cloudy. We stood by ■ Until daylight, when Captain Wallace came on boards We decided to tow with fifty fathoms of wire cable. A rocket was used! !to get the line on board, and at about 3.'4 6 p.m. everything was right, and we started on our long tow of 700 miles to Sydney, at viving early on. Monday morning, the 19th. I found the Perthshire just 10 n -" miles out after leaving Wellington, and then towed her about 700 miles. TbeTal - line had to stand a very heavy strain, especially in the engine-room,. but otnerwise there is hardly a mark on her from the cables, owing to the way in which my men worked. The officers, engineers, and , men ; 'deserve a. lot of credit, don’t forget: that, and I must, sa.v it was half the battle, to have such a body nfvjnen; to help me.”

Captain Wallace, in' answer to ouestions. staged that the furthest point that the Perthshire was away from the coast was about 880 miles. For about 33 or 34 days it blew a. {tale, all the while the vessel was going to the northeast. Immediately after the breakdown occurred it was found that the vessel was unmanageable, though every expedient known to seafaring men was tried, but in vain. Had he been told it was nossiWn for a vessel in the Position in which the Perthshire was after she broke down not to have been sighted by sonin passing steamer, he vould have ridiculed the' idea. The hi.trresr drift was 73 nules in the day. the vessel from the time of the mishnn till tho, shaft wan repaired moving in a rS<r-ZRP. and altogether erratic oours«. The captain spoke highly of the admirable manner in which the crew ohaped under most trying circumstances, mid "he said that he had no trouble, at all with the passengers. The vessel proved thoroughly seaworthy, and although she encountered fearful weather, especially " during the wnnle cf the month of May, be bad no fear on that score. Sis fears, however K c- 'o -c-1 when . he found himself north of the track of the .Auckland steamer'’. The displace** propeller resisted. all efforts to - get it-: into position, and when they were drifiin" into danvermis parte, and again set to work on +bn propeller, it twice snapped the heavy chain? that .held it as if thev we-o cirrots, , When the heavv propeller was brought no into its old place, it was found that the engineers had ?. remarkably stiff contract on hand, tho flood of waters making their work risky. The sailors were called on to perform dangerous duties in block

mg up the opening around the shaft with spun yarn, being submerged again and again, the life-lines alone preventing -them being washed away. The joining the broken shift together by means of Thompson’s coupling patent was accomplished under most adverse circumstances, and nobody could say that it was altogether successful, and that it would not break down at any moment, when, after having saved themselves from the breakers of Norfolk Island, they came duo west with full sail set, at the rate of about four and a half knots an hour.

Tho chief engineer of the Perthshire, Mr John Blair, said that tho second engineer was standing by' tho engines at 6 p.m. on the Friday, two days after she left Sydney, when all at ones, the engines began to “race.” Tho chief engineer was called. They knew at onc-j what had happened, as tney heard the propeller make a few revolutions, and beard it hammering against Hie sternpost. He had a consultation with the captain, and an inspection of the after peak showing that, owing to the fact that tho workmen would bo cramped for room, and the exceedingly laborious and difficult nature of the job, it wouldbe many days, and perhaps weeks, before the necessary' repairs could be effected. It was deemed advisable, considering that they' wore on the tracks of tho Now Zealand boats, to take no risks at present by removing the stern tubing, but to await their chances of being picked up. The tubing was 27in in diameter and 2i?in thick, which had to bo ripped from the shaft before this could be got at, the removal of the tubing letting in the water and making the job a dangerous one. The pumps word kept going all the time tho men were at work in the after-peak, whe v e they worked like Trojans, and during both day and night. It took fourteen days before the couplings wore fixed, on to the broken shaft, and it proved not an hour too soon. Questioned about tho flaw, tho chief engineer showed tho reporter two chunks of steel which had been taken out of the middle of tha shaft, where the fracture "bad occurred. He pointed nut that the blob-sbanpd formation of tho metal showed defective welding.