THE DIRECT STEAMERS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2205, 4 June 1896, Page 38

THE DIRECT STEAMERS.

The Tongariro left Capetown for Hobart and "Wellington on tne 24th lust. . Ths Gothic arrived at Hobart at 7 o'clock on the 27th ult_, and sailed later -in the day for ■Wellington She brings 40 hpassengera for Australian ports, and 75 for New Zealand. The. Ibnic left Rio for London on the evening of the 23rd .with her meat in good condition. The ; Euftpehu arrived at Plymouth on the ■29th tilt, with her frozen meat in good condition. • ■ The Rimutaka left Plymouth on the 30th for Wellington and Canterbury, with 2040 tone of cargo' and '62 passengers. ' The Ruahme, from Lyttelton, arrived at the Bluff on Monday afternoon. SHIRE LINE STEAMERS. The 1.8. Perthshire (London, April 12) arrived at Adelaide at 5 a.m. yesterday. She proceeds thanpe to Melbourne, Sydney, and Quoenslund, »nd is due in New Zealand at the end of June. ARRIVAL OF THE PAKEHA. The Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's s.s. Pakeha, from, London, arrived on the 25th. After the crew had' been muttered and inspected by the < health officer, all being well, she was admitted to jpratique, and promptly oleared in by the customs surveyor, and berthed at the George street pier prior to discharging her oareo — some 2530 tons — for this port, the balance of her cargo (1050 tons) feeing for Lyttelton. She coma consigned to Messrs Dalgety and Co. (Limited). Her passage bas been accomplished in 65 days notwithstanding that she encountered very heavy gales and high seas while running down her easting. She left London on March 3L ARRIVAL OF THE GOTHIC Wellington, May 31.— Arrived (I p.m.): Gothic, En London, via way ports. Her dates are j— mouth, April 18; Tenerlffe, 23rd; Cape. May Hobart,- 5 p.m. on 27th. The vesflel had :' weather throughout, and the voyage was iventfuL The Gothic brings 77 passengers. She landed 10 passengers at Teneriffe, 217 at Cape, and 30 at Hobart. She has 3200 tona general cargo. Sir Maurice Q'Rorke is among the passengara. ARRIVAL OF THE LINA. ■ The -German barque Lina, from Liverpool, via Wellington, arrived off the heads at 3 p.m. on Sunday, and was tendered by the tug Plucky;which towed her into port, and she came to anchor off Deborah Bay in readiness for towing to . Dunedin on Monday's tide. The Lina (which was formerly the Cape Brett) is an iron vessel of 1200 tons register, built in 1875 by Messrs Osborne, • Graham, and- Co., of Snnderland. Her dimensions are i Length, 236 ft lin ; breadth of beam, 37ft mi depth of hold, 22ft Sin. She is owned by Mr .0. M. Metzen, of Hamburg, and Comes consigned to Messrs Neill and Co. (Limited). The Lina left Liverpool on December 27, reaching Wellington on April 21. ' WRECK OF A STEAMER. Wellington, May 30.— The Marine department has been informed* by telegraph that the Steamer Marram»rr», 45 tone, recently purchased in Australia for the Mokau Coal Company, has gone Mhore eight miles south of Opun»k«, and is likely to become a total wreck. The crew landed at Opunake at 1 o'clock this morning. The Marramarra was a wooden screw steamer of 80 horse-power, and was built in Sydney in 1881. A FIRE ON THE S.S. WAIEATO. Auckland, May 30.— The New Zealand Shipping Company's cargo steamer Waikato arrived jErom London to day, after a passage of 69 days. ■With s the exception of one incident she had an Uneventful passage. When about the meridian of Cape' Leuwin Western Australia, on April 17, the Bteamer encountered a Very heavy gale from N.N.E. A terrific sea rose, .and the after part of the ship was continually being flooded. . Next,, morning the wind had died away, and a riell of burning .tar was noticed coming from No. hold, which m situated aft. . A very heavy sea ■was still running, the deck being frequently Sjlooded. The' hatcheß, however, were taken off, Vr6en the flames burst from .the' hold. About 10 minutes After the hour at which the fire was'discovered—viz., 8, o'clock,— the hoses were in full Swing, and" after the' pouring of water into the told for about three hours the fire was extinguished. It was found that the outbreak had .evidently arisen in some tarred felt among part of • the Auckland cargo' of tweed coats, presumably by spontaneous combustion. Abaut five or six cates- were jettisoned, .*nd a large number of buckets of the debris were emptied overboard. . Ijt is thought that the damage is sot very great, and probably more cargo will he found to have »been damaged by the water poured into the hold than by the fire itself. A TRYING EXPERIENCE. Wellington, Mat 27.— The scow Eclipse, 18 naya out from Mercury Bay to - Timaru, with timbtr, put in here owing to stress of weather. The crew had a very .trying time. Two days after leaving Mercury Bay they met a south-east ; gale, and one- tremendous sea. which came aboard j earned *way the boat, cook's igwlley and all uten^ <■ Bits, both the water casks, and also 6000 ft of. timber which was stowed on the deck. One of the sails was also blown away. The crew for three days were without water, and put into a - small bay on the Bast Coast, where Borne of the Haoriß supplied them with water 1 and fresh provisions. The captain unsuccessfully tried to make Gißborne and Napier, and on being blown off Wei-" lingtoo Heads some days ago made for Lyttelton, but when within 40 miles of that port the vessel was blown north. A NEW BOAT-LOWERING APPARATUS. An improvement in the method of the rapid handling of ships' boats in a seaway, and by means of which it is hoped many lives may be caved, has been devised by Mr Hugh M'Gilvray, of this p >rt, and has received the Royal letters patent. Mr Jf'Gilvray, who_ is an experienced seaman, exhibited a working . model of his invention yesterday eveniug ths offices of Mr Try t hall, in Bond street, , and several gentlemen connected with the shipping were present, including the •Hon. G M'Lean, Captains Allman, Cameron, • W. Thomson, Boyd, Mr Roberts, *'.E., and others. Captain M'Gilvray'a invention (which recommends itself for its simplicity) consists of a set or sets of ship's davits with an improved boat .Bkid,- which, in conjunction with Mr A. Dray,^he has designed. By means of a' lever fitted to the cod sfassakiDf shaft, lying across a vessel s deck.

and resting fa brackets at each end, the chocks tn the boat skid drop into a slot, and the grips, cover, and guys are at once released. Tho boatdavits are fitted into a quadrant with a socket which receives the davits, and by means of a shaft connecting them, they can by a few turns of a handle attached to the shaft be projected over the I ship's side in an angle of from 3t> to 40 degrees, according to the BhSp*B position. - So that even a heavily-equipped boat may easily, by means of these davits, be got over the ship s side even if she has a heavy list, and which ha 3 hitherto been considered practically impossible, as in the case of the ill-fated a.s. Watrarapa and of the s.s. Elbe in the North Sea, in both of which events so many lives were lost on account of the boats on the weather side not being got out, both vessels taking a heavy list seaward. The patent davits can be used as ordinary ones, being independent Of the gear attached to the shaft and its accompanying gear, and, in the case of the leeward boatsj as Soon as the layer supporting the chocks, &o. Ib withdrawn tho boat will at onoe swing clear of the j side. One great feature in this invention is tint the boats' do not require lifting in order to release them from tho chocks, which under the present gyß l em is an acknowledged drawback, as usually six or eight men arc requisite to lift ths boat off the skids when fully equipped with the Marine B«ard appliances. On the whole the invention is an- excellent one, and will no doubt be largely made use of. 1 During the week ending May 31, 10 vessels, with a total of 6315 tons, arrived at the Dunedin wharves, and six vessels, registering 3326 tons, left them. The 8.8. Pakeha steame 1 up from Port Cbalmers on Thursday, and was berthed at the Victoria wharf to discharge the bulk of her Dunedin cargo. The many friends of Mr A. Morrison, R.N.R., inspector of machinery, will be gratified to learn that the Lords Commissioners of tho Admiralty have promoted him to the rank of Banior engineer . in the Royal Naval Reserve*. * Mir Morrison is the only officer of this rank in New Zealand. Mr Frank Gray, of the Union Steam Ship, Company's service, hue successfully passed his examination as a first mate iv the mercantile marine service at Sydney. Mr Gray was for .a time reading up with Mr Simms, of this city. Captain Angus M'Lean .and Mr Mitchell, members of the Bluff Harbour Board, and Mr Fox, the secretary of that body, who had come to Dunedin for the purpose of making a settlement with the Otago Harbour Board In connection with the recently-expired charter of dredge 222, were, with a few others, taken on the 27th ult. in the Plucky for a run outside the heads, several members of the local board being present. - On tb.3 return trip Captain M'Lean proposed a vote of thanks to the Otago Board, and spoke of the good work the dredge, had done at tho Bluff, raising boulders far too large for the buckets to hold, but laying them on the ladder, from which they were removed by the crane. Mr Mitchell also bore testimony to the practical work done in both harbouri and expressed his hope that a kindly feeling might always endure betwixt 'the tvo bi,»r.ls. Mr Gourley (chairman of the Ota*o Board) responded, and was followed by Mr Pinkerton, M H.R., and Mr W. Dawaoh. The Administration of the Buretu Veritas has published the list of maritime disasters reported during the month of February 1896 concerning all flags. We remark in this publication the following j statistical returns :— Sailing vessels reported lost : 18 American, 18 British, 2 Danish, I Dutch, 4 French, 4 German, 1 Greek, 2 Italian, 9 Nor. wegian, 4 Swedish :— total, 63. In this number are included 6 vessel* reported missing. Steamers reported lost : 1 American, 15 British, 1 Belgian, 1 French, 1 Greek, 1 Portuguese ;— total, 20. Causes of losses :— Sailing vessels : Stranded, 41 ; fire, 1: foundered. 2 ; abandoned, 9 ; condemned, 4 ; miß3mg, 6;— total,6 ;— total, 63. Steamers : Stranded, 9; collision, 6; .fire, 2; foundered, 1 ; abandoned, 1 ; condemned, I;—total,1 ;— total, 20. Vessels surveyed and classed by Bureau Veritas from February 21 up till March 20, 1896 ; Sailing vesiels, 172; steamers, 71 .'—total, 243.