A NOTABLE COLONIAL MARINER.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 7929, 21 July 1887, Page 4

A NOTABLE COLONIAL MARINER.

General regret was expressed in Melbourne at the death of Captain John M'Leau, and the fuueral was very largely attended. The Argus in a lengthy notice of Captain M'Lean's career says:—The deceased gentleman, whilst bringing the excursion steamer Ozono out from Scotland 12 months ago, contracted fever aud ague at Batavia, and although he was frequently able to be about, aud occasionally to take command of that vessel after her arrivel here he was never entirely free from that illness, au'd a sudden attack of it resulted fatally yesterday He was born at Stranrer, in Scotland, in 1818' aud took to sea, as did also two of his brothers' James and William, at an early age, and ever afterwards he had a career full of adventure He served his apprenticeship as a seaman' m the sailing ship Champion, and he rapidly rose to the position of chief officer of that vessel, making voyages in her to different ports of the world, including two or three with immigrants to Sydney between IMO and 1845. In the beginning of 1849 Captain M'Lean received the command of tho ship Saxon, and reached Melbourne safely in June of that year, after which he sailed for South America and then to England. In 1850 he left Londou, being still in charge of the Saxon, on a three years' voyage to Aden and the East, having a cargo of coals and general merchandise. All went well till the vessel was south of Mauritius, wheu he altered bis course so as to run between that island and Madagascar, to examine the Bird Rocks, which lay to the north of Mauritius, for the purpose of ascertaining if a cargo of guano could be obtained there, When midway between the outward and homeward route of ships from India the cry of "Firo" was raised one night, and smoke was found to be issuing out of the main hatch. Captaiu M'Lean examined the hold, but did not discover any flames. He, however, kept a vigilant watch, and when daylight brake ordered the crew to throw water down the main hatch. This was done and continued until oue of the seamen fainted from the heat which was issuing from the open hatch. Captam M'Leau then ceased the endeavour to drown the fire with water, and put on the hatches with the intention of making all sail for Mauritius. The fire, however, had got a firm hold of the coal, amongst which it had broken out, and by noon the hatches were burst open and the Hames shot forth with such vigour that it at once became appareut to all ou board that the fate of the Saxon was sealed. Captain M'Lean ordered the boats to be got out without dulay, and a couple of hours after the officers and crew abandoned the ship to her doom, and stood by until the vessel was burnt down to the water's edge, which took place shortly before midnight. _The boats were 750 miles from land, and oOU miles from the course usually taken by vessels in those seas. Only blankets wore available for sails, and tho prospect before the occupants was, ns can well be imagined, by no moana cheering. After being in the open boats for a week, duriug tbe lie 4 part oi which stormy weather prevailed, and alter suftoriug terrible hardships and privations a sail was_ observed on the horizon. It was watched witn eagerness by tho captain and his men, and their feelings () f j oy caa be ro . uli , understood when it became apparent that the vessel was making towards them. It was dusk before they were reached by the vessel, which turned nut to be tho ship Essex, of Messrs Green s line, on its way to England from India.

fW,?, mt 0l $*?. ,vessel told Captam M'Lean that they had been within an L ace of pass ng tho boats by. The officers and ' cZX^MH M 1| lUe °ftpe °f Good H«I».«" 1 Captam M'Leau afterwards went on to Engand. He shortly afterwards brought out , •Reamer Victoria to Melbourne n 180 lto trade between the city and Gee- ■ h? B M ne Sllbsc( '"en% ha^ tbe command of ; the Melbourne, Duncan Hoyle, and Citizen I a" of which were paddle steamers, and , traded during the goldfields fever between i Melbourne and Geelong. There were other bouts engaged in the trade, amongst them being the Aphrasia, the Vesta, and the Shannon, and t the competition amongst them was at times very i, keen Some amusing methods to attract patroni age t o a particular craft, such as brass bands, kc , , were resorted to But despite all other attrac- , tions, Captain M'Lean, by his courtesy, urbanity, ; and frankness, soon acquired a widespread popularity, which never deserted him, and his vessel ■ became so well patronised each trip that the l opposition steamers were withdrawn oue by one through want of sufficient passengers The _ Geelong railway was, however, completed a , short tune afterwards, and the steamer trade fell off considerably The Citizen, the best steamer i that Oaptain M'Lean commanded between Mel- | bourne and Geelong, was sold to a company in New Zealand, but she never reached her destination. She started on the voyage across, , and passed through the heads, but was * n VCl r- '"?, r°r seen or heard of- In 1885 Captain M'Lean withdrew from the Geelong ; trade and took control of the s.s. Ladybird for two or three trips to Tasmania, and a few i mon hs afterwards he entered the employment ■of Messrs M'Meikan, Blackwood,and Co. and ; rapidly rose to the position of commodore uf their fleet. He assumed command of the s.s. Omeo, which belonged to that firm, iv October 18.>9, and made 24 voyages in her between Melbourne and Adelaide. In December 1860 he ; made his first trip j„ her to Otago and Canterbury Six months later he took charge of the s.s Aldinga, and made several trips in her to Adelaide, and then traded to Otago in her till i December 1862. After this he w£s given the • command of the s.s. Alhambra, in which boat he had a considerable proprietary interest. Thisposilon here amed forannmbeJof years, and afterA?h in hf d cout, r r o11Q succession of the steamers Albion, Otago, Tararua, Gothenburg, and Ringaroomawhicharnvedhereinlß7s. WhenCaptein M'Meikan went to England about eight years ago, Captain M Lean was appointed mLine superintendent of the fleet, and when it was Mnf fr tlyK*°ld t the Uuion alld MeMte a*d Mount Gambier Steamship Companies he entered the service of the Adelaide Company as master of his old vessel, the s.s. Aldinga. On the death, seven years ago, of his brother William, who was so highly esteemed in Adelaide that a handsome monument was erected to his memory bytheresidentsofthatcity.CaptainJohnM'Leaii took the control of his vessel, the s.s. Victorian, which position he relinquished in May 1886 when he sailed to England to bring out the Cone, which he successfully did, after a perilous and anxious voyage. Previous to his departure for London a testimonial and a purse containing 600 sovereigns were presented to him. i*ll, r,ng u ? e whole of his seafaring career, although he encountered off the New Zealand coast some very severe gales, he never lost any vessel save the Saxon, nor yet a single life. Although cautious in navigating a steamer, he could, when occasion required, force every pound of power out of her engines as far as was compatible with safety, and earned a notable sobriquet descriptive of his desire to make rapid passages. Several times whilst carrying New Zealand mails for transmission to England by the monthly mail steamer, which then left Melbourne, he was delayed by severe weather, bufc he never once missed the boat

MR REYNOLDS' RETRENCHMENT. TO THE EDITOK.

iJtl '7tu? emilg-t0 Mr Reynolds' letterinyour issue of this morning, his attempt to prove that his Government has retrenched is useless, as no one will 'believe it; whilst it may have made some small reductions or savings in some directions, it has expended ten times as much in others, and thus largely increased the expen-

As Mr Reynolds states that he sounded many notes of warning" in 1883 and 1884 as to our taxation becoming too heavy to bear unless the brake were put on at once, will he let us know why he did not insist upon that " brake " beiug put on directly he joined the present Government, and failing his views being carried out, resign, and make known to the public his reasons? People would then have believed in Mr Reynolds' sincerity, whilst now the only inference they can draw is that the two knights have flattered his vanity and made a tool of

I think Mr Reynolds is wasting his energy in comparing the savings of his Government with that of the previous one, as both the Atkinson and Stout-Vogel Administrations have been bad and disgracefully extravagant and wasteful. Mr Reynolds would better save the country by usine his energies in pointing out in what manne? ISew Zealand can be extricated from the very serious and grave position into which it has been landed, and for which his Ministry and those members of tbe House who placed them in power are largely responsible; by doing tbis he might possibly earn the forgivenness of the people of this colony for his unfortunate share in the past.

The future is what requires to be steadily kept in view by every elector throughout New* Zea and, as upon the future management of public affairs depends its prosperity or ruin Retrenchment and good management mean prosperity, confidence, renewed credit, and good name. A return of the Stout-Vogel-Reynolds, &c. alliance means ruin, repudiation, bankruptcy.

The electors hav e it now in their power to save the good name of their adopted country and themselves from ruin by returning candidates pledged to distinct promises of retrenchment in every public department. Notice the following paragraph in Mr Reynolds letter:—"ln your paper you have advocate! the return of Major Atkinson to power" I have read the Daily Times carefully for some time past, and I must say that I have not noticed any advocacy to warrant Mr Reynolds' assertion. On the contrary, I think you have more than once stated that he is not the man to lead any Government at the present juncture of affairs, although he might be a useful member of the next or any Ministry. In my opinion, Major Atkinson does not*, speak out plainly and boldly upon certain important matters, and he evidently fails to fully realise the absolute necessity of retrenchment to the extent of doing without any more taxation whatever; and unless he yet becomes convinced of tbis, and sworn to acfc upon it, he is not alone not worthy of a seat in the next Gavernment, but is unworthy of being elected to the House, because he has had a large share in bringing the country to its present position, and should now do his hest to redeem it without fear or favour.

In Mr J. C. Buckland's address, published in this morning's issue of your paper, I noted the paragraph under the heading '< Securing* support." It would be interesting to the electors to know what Mr Reynolds has to say in justification of his Government committing* such grave acts of bribery and corruption as is there set forth by Mr Buckland, who deserves the thanks of every person in New Zealand for making known these iniquitous doings. Ifc would be more interesting and useful if the names, of all these members who have received these bribes were known and published, wben it is ta be hoped their constituents would take care they never saw Wellington again at the public expense. And now that the matter has been so far opened, I trust it will be probed to the very bottom; indeed, public interests demand this.—l am, &c, Retrenchment. Dunedin, July 18.