CUSTOMS ENTRIES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 4021, 7 January 1875, Page 2

CUSTOMS ENTRIES.

inwards. Maid of Otago, 50 tons, Bain, from Oaniaru, with cargo. Keith Ramsay, agent. outwards. Hope, 24 tons, Tyson, for Waikouaiti, with cargo. Master, agent. Jane Campbell, 16 tons, Watts, for Waikava, with cargo. Master, agent. Anne, 29 tons, Haswell, for All-day Bay, with cargo. Keith Ramsay, agent. Wanganui, 179 tons, Fraser, for Bluff Harbour, with cargo. H. Houghton and Co., agents. IMPORTS. Per Maid of Otago, from Oamaru : 180 casks, Turnhull and Co ;57 do, Dalf-ety, Nichols, and Co; 721 ft timber, Findlay ;50 packages, Houghton and Co; 3 do, General Government. EXPORTS. Per Jane Campbell, for Waikava: 25 packages, Zeile and Co; 2 do, Wilson; 6 do, Moir; 36 do, Healey; 4 do, North and ScouUar. Per Hope, for Waikouaiti; 2000 ft timber, Ramsay.

The Auckland Steam Navigation Company's steamer Southern Cross came in yesterday at 8 a.m. Her late arrival is explained by the fact of a heavy S.E. gale which drove her for shelter to A karoa, and then, again, she is not in the best trim for travelling, her bottom ■being very foul. It is that, in conjunction with the laying up of the steamer Star of the South at Auckland, which has brought her here. She comes to participate in the advantages to be bestowed by the unrivalled dock accommodation of the Port. Indeed aa soon as she arrived she was docked in: Murray' 6 flonting dock, and will there have her bottom cleaned and recoated. The Southern Cross is a new iron steamer built to the order of Messrs Watt Bros., of Auckland^ expressly for tlie cattle trade between that port and Napier. If not a clipper, she is a most substantial iron vessel of good carrying capacity and good lines for a seaway. Tliat she can carry well for her registered tonnage was sufficiently demonstrated when she left England with 260 tons of coal on board, and that she answers well as a cattle boat has been evidenced time and again since she has bean running in that trade. Her dimensions are—lengtti, 135 ft • beam, 23ft. Tin.; depth of hold, 9ft. She is a screw boat, and her motive power ia derived from a firstclass compound engine of 50-horse power nominal aud built by Patterson and Atkinson, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. The steamer was built at South Shields, under the inspection of Lloyd's surveyor, is classed A9O, and is fitted with eveiy appliance for savinglabour and convenience. Her windlass, a model in its way, and a most compact and efficient piece of mechanism, is one of Harfield's patents, the first of the kind that has come under our notice. It is worked by steam, the driving engine being the deck steam winch, which is also used for ordinary purposes loading, discharging, &c. The steamer's engines and boilers are placed abaft the mainmast, just forward of the steerage passengers' cabin, which can accommodate ten persons. The saloon accommodation has room for twenty, and is very comfortable and convenient, with a snug liitle cabin for ladies. Forwards of the sa!oon is all space for cattle or other cargo. The Southern Cross is rigged as a three-masted schooner and spreads a fiir quantity of canvas. She is merely running on the coast this trip in place of the Star of the South overhauling at Auckland, and on her return there will take up her usual running to Napier after transhipping to the " — «P^ rfo?h^'er^!. s .P.?ger^ and car S° she may pi=k Captain Holmes reports leaving Auckl'and"on"tliT 28fch ult, arrived at Napier at 7 a.m. on the 31st. Left again the same day and reached "Wellington at 4 p.m. on the lst inst. Continued her way South at 1 p.m. on the 2nd, and arrived at Lyttelton at noon on the 3rd. So far, moderate weather, with winds prevailing from north to N.E., attended her. She left Lyttelton at noon on the 4th, and after clearing the harbour experienced a sudden shift of wind from N.W. to S.E., the forerunner of a heavy gale. The breeze rapidly freshened, and by the time she was off Akaroa was blowiag half a hurricane, with a very heavy sea. Having a port of shelter under her ice. the Southern Cross ran for it, and came to an anchor inside Akaroa Heads that evening. She lay there until 7 a.m. on the sth. and the weather having moderated then put to sea and arrived here as above. She brings seven passengers and a few packages of cargo, and as soon as she comes out of dock will proceed to Duuedin. We notice that she is to leave for Auckland via intermediate ports taking Fiji passengers and cargo, on Saturday next' the 10th instant. The new diving dress which came out out from England to the order of the Provincial Government in the ( ship Lennox Castle was hanselled yesterday. It was put to a very grod purpose to commence with, viz., to enable Mr Mills, the diver, to make an inspection of an ugly rock that lies in the channel close to the new pier. Its presence there spoils what would otherwise be a good berth for a big ship, and the inspection of yesterday, which was held under the immediate supervision of Mr Blair, District Engineer, was made for the purpose of ascertaining the" exact position of the rock, with the view of removin" the obstruction by blasting. The operation was conducted between one and two o'clock, from the Goveniment launch, and was an entire success. The diving dress, one of the best of its kind, answered admirably and the powerful pump, worked dead slow, supplied more air than was needed for the diver's inspiration. Captain M'Callum, the pier master, wai> in attendance throughout. We hear that the rock is not of very great extent. It consists of two large knobs, which can be very easily removed by the assistance of a charge or two of explosive compound, judiciously applied. ° The schooner Isabella Anderson, having transhipped her wool to the Calypso, proceeded to Dunedin yesterday morning. The dredge New Era was removed from the Port yesterday to the Upper Harbour by the steamer Peninsula, and will at once commence dredging operations in the long channel. Latterly her work at the Port has been confined to dredging a channel to the Graving Dock head, and in this she hasjsuccceded there being now a good fair way, having au average depth of 14ft. at low tide. v The steamer Peninsula resumed duty yesterday after having received a very efficient overhaul and repairing. She received a new stern-frame and new plating round it; her engines were taken to pieces and thoroughly looked to and repaired, and about half of the tubes of her boiler were replaced by new ones. She is now in as good condition as it is possible to bring her to. The ship Florence was ready to break bulk yesterday, a lighter being alongside ready to receive cam-o. As, however, so often happens, no entries had been passed for the cargo in the hatchway, and hence the commencement o* discharging had to be postponed. We observe that the well-known barque Woodville a regular trader between this Port and Newcastle' takes her departure for the latter port to-morrow. ' Discharging the suorar cargo brought by the barque Royal Diadem for this Port was completed a day or two ago. She has about 70 tons of sugar yet aboard for Lyttelton, and is waiting for orders how to dispose of it. . ■ :

The barque Duke of Edinburgh has discharged about two-thirds of her cargo of coal. The barque. Sunlight, ftom New York, commenced discharging on Monday, and has got rid of one lar«-e lighter of goods. The work, however, is much hindered by want of entries, those whioh have been passed not agreeing with the cargo nearest to hand The brig Thomas and Henry sailed for Kaipara yesterday.

The seamer Wanganui took her departure for Southern ports yesterday. Amongst her numerous passengers were the Invercargill cricketers.

Boatmen and others will do well to take notice that .one of the mooring buoys between the Railway Pier and Boiler Point has been removed, and re-moored near the head of the Graving Dock. This has been done to facilitate the docking of vessels. The ship Janet Cowan was towed up from the powder ground yesterday by the Geelong, and moored in a dischargins berth off Lower Oarcy's Bay. The p.s. Samson was expected to arrive at "the Port about 10 o'clock last night with a cargo of wool for the ship Waikato.

The brig Prairie has discharged the whole of her cargo, and will commence ballasting to-day. The brig Pakeha is v w ballasting, and as soon as the repairs she is now undergoing are finished, will sail for Stewart's Island for a cargo of timber.

A BURNING SHIP AT SEA. (From the Melbourne Argus.)

A terrible disaster—destruction by fire at sea would appear to have overtaken a large iron clipper, iianie unknown, not very far from Sand Heads, Calcutta. From the carefully-noted particulars furnished by Captain M'Lay, of the ship Apelles, who most commendably endeavoured to ascertain all he could concerning the derelict burning vessel, the assumption is that she was a Clyde-built if not also a Clyde-owned »hip. The Apelles, with a cargo of castor oil, jute, tea, &c., for this port, left Sand Heads at 1 p.m. on October 20th, and Captain M'Lay reports that at midnight, when about 30 miles S.S.W. from the Eastern Channel lightship, a luminous appearance was descried right ahead, which on nearer approach was found to be a ship on fire. Captain M'Lay bore down on her, and passed close under her stern, hailing her at the same time, but receiving no reply. There was good moonlight and fine weather at the time, and the Apelles sailed round her twice, passing on one occasion very close across her bow. Men were sent aloft on the Apelles to the toptrailont yards to look down on and into the burning slip, which internally was a seething lurid mass, having two large heaps of fire, one about the main hatch, and the other ne^r the after hatch. There were no decks visible, and the beams, combings, and other framework were seen in clear and distinct relief

against the fire. Captain M'Lay ordered his crew to make as much noise as possible, with the view of attracting the attention of any one who might be on board the burning -wreck. There was no response, however, save the echo of the accosting voices. Determined; if possible, to find out something more about the blazing derelict, Captaiu M'Lay remained in proximity to her during the night, and burnt a number of blue lights to attract attention, in case there should be any boats in the vicinity with the crew in them. Not a boat was to be seen, however, or sign of any life on board the wreck at daylight next morning, and taking advantage of a light breeze, the Apelles again sailed close past the stern, and ample time was afforded to closely note the appearance the vessel presented. Captain M'Lay describes her as a splendid iron clipper, about 250fi. in length, and about 1500 tons register, a beautiful model, and having a marked resemblance to the iron clipper ship America, which was in this port several months ago. (The America, it may be mentioned, left here for San Francisco, having taken up the charter of the dismasted ship Loch Ard. The five, it is thought, must have been burning for a considerable time, tliere being only a thin transparent whitish smoke rising from it, but the quivering and agitation of the atmosphere over the vessel indicated how intense was the heat of the fire still raging in the interior of the hull. The masts had all fallen, and the bowsprit was bent downwards over the starboard headrail by its own overhanging weight, assisted, perhaps, by the fire having burnt the fastenings at its heel. The port side was scorched, and all the paint burnt off with the exception of a few feet from the figurehead, which was that of a female, a three-quarter bust, painted white, the trailboard underneath being black and edged with geld. The stern was also similarly scorched, and the carved work had disappeared, leaving the studded rows of screwbolts showing where it had been fixed. Tliere was a small piece, about oft. or 6ft., of the lower counter moulding remaining, also painted black, and having a gold edging, but there was no name visible or port of registry to afford a clue as to by whom or where the ship was owned. The paint on the starboard side had also suffered by the intense heat, with the exception of a portion of about 15f. from the hawse-pipe, where it was quite visible. The bulwark was black, with a broad white streak as if for painted ports, and below this the side was lead colour down to the lower paint or composition, which was a dark green, similar to M'Guinness's patent preparation for ships' bottoms. One of the lower masts was lying over the taffrail. where it had fallen, the topmast, which had snapped s-hort off at the cap, projecting over the stern. Several of the other broken yards and masts were lying on the starboard side, before tbe poop, and hanging partly over the side. AU the masts and yards visible were iron, with the exception of the piece of broken topmast hanging over the stern. The anchor-davits were standing erect forward, at the bow, with the block bindings hanging from them, the wood - work having been consumed. The boat-davits aft were in a similar condition, and the channel - plates were all standing, with the dead-eyes burnt out. In fact, as Captain M'Lay states, the ship must have been on fire from end to end, as evejy vestige of wood-work above the hull had disappeared, leaving only the bare gaunt ironwork. Oe passing the stern it was noticed that the vessel's draught was 14ft., and the watermarks were painted in Roman numerals and not in figures. Captain M'Lay suggests that possibly the best course to have adopted would have been to tower a boat and knock in a few rivets, and thus allow the burning hull to sink, but being so close to the pilot station, he considered it stood a very good chance of being picked up and towed to Sand Heajs. Had the light not been seen, it is extremely probable that the Apelles would have ran against it, it being difficult to discern a low-lying hull of a nondescript colour even on a clear night, as the object generally blends with the colour of the sky.