NEWSPRINT FROM CANADA.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20743, 14 June 1929, Page 7

NEWSPRINT FROM CANADA.

SHIPPED AT PORTLAND, MAINE. PORT AUCKLAND’S OCEAN TRAVELS. Among the arrivals at Dunedin yesterday was the Commonwealth and Dominion Line’s steamer Port Auckland, which came from Antwerp, Falmouth, Portland (Maine), and New York, by way of north New Zealand ports. The vessel brought an assorted freight, one of the principal items being a shipment of newsprint. The ship made the call at Portland especially to load this freight, consisting of 1500 tons for discharge at Auckland. Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin. The local consignment is of about 60 tons. The newsprint was manufactured in Canadian mills. The Port Auckland was the largest foreign freighter to visit Portland for several months, and her arrival there created more interest than usual among the waterfront community. Large shipments of newsprint are made from. Portland during the winter months, mostly to England, but the Port Auckland’s shipment is the first to be brought to the Dominion from the American port for some time past. Portland is about 580 miles north of New York by sea, and is close to the international boundary. The port was at one time the gateway for the shipping of Canada's products, but with the rapid expansion of trade Canadian productions are now shipped from several ports. Montreal and Quebec are the shipping ports during the summer. As these ports are frozen for five months of the year, they are open for navigation only between May 1 and November. During Die winter goods are shipped from St. Johns (New Brunswick), Halifax, and Portland. -

M hen the Port Auckland arrived in Otago Harbour yesterday an Otago Daily Times reporter wfis furnished with some interesting particulars of the ship’s visit to and her long ocean voyages. These particulars were made available through the courtesy of Mr Philip B. Sharpe, marine reporter for the Portland Evening News, by the medium of a letter and a copy of the newspaper under date April 11. It was the Port Auckland’s first visit to Portland. She arrived there on April 11. The weather was extremely cold, there being 17 _ degrees of frost, while frequent falls of snow hampered loading operations to some extent. The officers of the Port Auckland were informed, however, that it had been a mild winter. Captain R S. Durham, in command of the Port Auckland, -in an interview with the Portland Evenings News representative, said that the last time he saw Portland it did not look much like it did that day Captain Durham previously visited Portland when chief officer of the Commonwealth and Dominion Line steamer Port'Adelaide, in the winter of 1919. The captain's recollections of his visit included a great deal of wading in soft show at the docks. At that time there were drifts some eight feet deep along the sidewalks, and large openings Had to be made to enable one to cross the streets.

Captain Durham was informed that a real warm day was experienced in Portland on April 7—the warmest April day for 55 years—the temperature being above SO degrees.

The Port Auckland sailed from Newcastle, England, on March 25 after being fitted with new turbines. After leaving Newcastle, she went to Antwerp to load 3300 tons of basic slag, a form of fertiliser, for New Zealand ports. Sailing on March 31 from Antwerp, the ship stopped at Falmouth England, to take on bunker coal. The vessel sailed from the English port on April 1, making the passage to Portland in about 11 full days, an unusually fast run. The Port Auckland left Portland on April 13 for New York to load general cargo. She sailed -rom the American port on April 22. cleared the Panama canal on April 30. and arrived at Auckland on May 22.

Before the Port Auckland again returns to England some time in August, she will have steamed over 30.000 miles on this voyage, or greater than the distance avniuil the world.