A LONELY VOYAGE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22327, 30 July 1934, Page 3

A LONELY VOYAGE

ITALY TO NEW ZEALAND ARRIVAL OF STEAMER FISCUS An account of an exceptionally lonely voyage of 14,000 miles and of weather varying from bad to fair during a period of over two months was given when the steamer Fiscus, from Ancona (Italy), via Gibraltar, Auckland and NewPlymoutli, berthed at the Ravensbourne wharf on Saturday to discharge a part cargo of grey rock sulphur. The Fiscus made a long voyage of 03 days from Ancona to Auckland, and after the first week did not see even a smudge on the horizon to show the presence of another ship until a few days off the New Zealand coast. During the whole of the voyage the weather was changeable. The cargo brought by the Fscus comprises a very unusual type of sulphur. The colour of ordinary sulphur is yellow, but otherwise the properties of the grey rock and yellow sulphur are similar. The portion to be unloaded here will be used for making sulphuric acid for the preparation of superphosphate at the fertiliser works. The amount of travelling that a tramp steamer does is exemplified by the experience of one of the Fiscus’s officers. Recently he received copies of a paper from his home town. They were 12 months old and had followed him round the world. The Fiscus loaded somewhat leisurely at Ancona, being there 15 days in all. The sulphur is brought from a distance of 50 miles to the wharf in motorlorries. Ancona itself is a historic port. It was founded over 2300 years ago by the Syracusans, but by the tenth century it had been destroyed twice, once by the Goths and once by the Saracens. Later it fell into the hands of the Papal State, of the French and of the Austrians. It was re-possessed by the Italians in 1861. To-day it is one of Italy’s best harbours and is an important naval station. Constant improvements are being carried out on the port even to-day. It is the most important port between Venice and Brindisi. The Fiscus, which last. visited Auckland seven months ago with a cargo of sugar, made only one call on her long voyage to Auckland. ■ This was at Gibraltar, where she replenished her coal bunkers. The deck crew of the Fiscus is European, but the firemen are Arabs. They aro accommodated in separate quarters, and, according to the officers, there is never any trouble between the two faces. The Arabs are quiet and industrious. The Fiscus is a steel screw - steamer of 4815 gross tonnage. She was built at Newcastle in 1928 and is 399 feet in length, 54.5 feet in beam, and has a moulded depth of 25.2 feet.