SHIPPING NEWS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2370, 3 August 1899, Page 46

SHIPPING NEWS.

COLONIAL AND FOREIGN. j Arrivals,. | . Vessel Tonnage . From July. | Janet Nicol, s.s. ... 462 ... Greymouth .... 25 Beautiful Star, ss. 146 ... Timarn 2tt ; Pakaki, ss. ... 917 ... West Coast ... 26 ; Cupica, bqe. ... llf-9 ... Glasgow ... 27 | Jlora 838 ... Auckland ... 27 Corinna. s.s. ... 850 ... Westporfc ... 28 ; Beautiful Star, s.s. 146 ... Timaru 29 : Oonab, s.s. ... 945 ... Sydney ... 29 > liimu, s.s 143 ... Preservation I. 30 Elingamite, ss. ... 1665 ... Sydney 30 Invercargill, 5.5. ... 123 ... Lyttelton ... 31 Departures. Vessel Tonnage For. July. Beautiful Star, s.s. 148 ... Thraru 26 Mokoia, s.s. ... 2503 ... Syduey ... 26 j Tanet Nicol, 5.5. ... 462 ... Greymouth ... 27 j flora s.s 830 ... Auckland ... 28 Beautiful Star, s.s. I<6 ... Oamaru ... 30 : Corinna, s.s. ... 820 ... Westport ... 30 Oonah, ss 1400 ... Melbourne ... 31 ! THE DIRECT STEAMERS. The Rimutaka arrived at Plymouth on Thursday with her cargo of meat in good condition. AUCKLAND, July 29.— Arrived : Pakeha, from London. She has 150 tons explosives on board. She saw no sign of the Waikato. THE WAIKATO. Messrs Moritzson and Hopkin have received a letter from Mr G. J. Black, of Akaroa, who advise 3 them of the result of an expedition along the sea coast which he made, in company with Captain Willis, "Lloyd's surveyor , at Lyttelton, in search of wreckage. They j found a large quantity, Mr Black writes, in Long Bay, seven miles and a-half from 'Akaroa, and at' Peraki. This wreckage, the | writer says, " was evidently from a steamer's j freezing chambers, as there were several insu- I lated hatches with charcoal on. them. There j were also about 20 hatches which looked as if ! they had been in tbe water only about a fortnight, as the barnarsles were just beginning . to form on them. V* *: came to the conclusion ; that they must have .r.«me from the Waikato, and that that steamer is either on the Snares ' or Stewart Island. Some people think they came from the Elginshire, but I think that wreckage from her would be more likely to j>e found on the Ninety-mile Beach." The Press states that five out of six hatches were carefully inspected by the company's superintendent joiner, who has been engaged in the overhauling of the insulation of the company's steamers for the past 14- years. As the result of his examination, he is perfectly confident that the insulated hatch has not formed part of the Waikato or any other of the company's steamers. The company's foreman stevedore, who places the hatches in position every voyage, also carefully examined the insulated hatch, and is equally certain that the hatch did not belong to the overdue steamer. As for the upper hatches, they bear marks of having been exposed to the weather for a long time, but otherwise they are apparently new, and bear no signs of chafing Buoh as are borne by hatches which have been in constant use. These facts all point to the" conclusion that the hatches belonged to the Elginshire, which was practically a new vessel when she went ashore, and not to the Waikato, which has been running for some considerable time. It is not often that the steamer basin carries ice, but on the 25th ult. was an exception. The ice was at least a quarter of an inch in thickness, and a flock of gulls that lighted upon it seemed puzzled at the unusual experience. The Union Steam Ship Company's steamship Mokoia, Captain W. C. Sinclair, from Melbourne, via Hobart and Bluff Harbour, arrived alongside the Bowen pier, Port Chalmers, at 8 a.m. on the 25th ult. During the month of May the number of British' vessels reported to the Board of Trade as lost was as follows: — 45 sailing vessels, with a total of 7746 tons, and 13 steamers, with 15,533 tons ; 69 lives were also lost in the sailing vessels. The vessel reported passing the Nuggets on the 26th proved to be the Cupica, from Glasgow, with cargo for this port and Wellington. She was boarded off the heads by Senior Pilot M'Donald, who brought her up to the anchorage. The Cupica is a smart-looking steel barque of 1169 tons net register, built in 1888 by Mr C. J. Bigger, of Londonderry, and owned by Messrs M'lvor, Marshall, and Co., of Liverpool. She is consigned to Messrs Murray, Roberts, and Co., of this city, and brings 1800 tons of general and dead-weight cargo for Dunedin, with 600 tons for Wellington. The s.s. Elingamite, from Sydney, via Auckland and East Coast ports, arrived at the cross wharf at 9.30 a.m. on Sunday. She left Sydney on the 19th inst. The s.s. Oonah from Sydney, via Wellington, arrived on Saturday morning, and was berthed at the tongue wharf. She left the company's wharf on July 22 at 4-.15 p.m. The following vessels have been in harbour during the past week: — Arrivals: Otarama, £.8., 3808 tons; Kirkloch, barque, 755; Rimu, 8.5., 143 (twice) ; Mokoia, s.s., 2503 ; Janet Nicoll, s.s., 462; Beautiful Star, s.s., 146 (twice) ; Pukaki, s.s., 917 ; Cupica, Tiarque, 1169; Flora, s.s., 838; Corinna, s.s.. 880; Oonah, s.s., 945; Elingamite, s.s., 1675; — total, 14,470 tons. Departures : Rimu, s.s., 143 tons; Omapere, s.s., 325; Beautiful Star, b.s., 146 (twice) ; Mokoia, s.s., 2503 ; Janet Nicoll, s.s., 496; Flora, s.s., 838; Corinna, e.s., 820;— total, 6696 tons. The harbour works at Capetown have cost up to date some two millions and a-half sterling, and there is now berthing accoxnniodA-

tion for 27 steamers. The quayage built has been from 13,000 ft to 14,000 ft, giving some 11,000 ft of berthage. The P. and O. Company are building four new steamers, the Assaye of 7240 tons, the Sobraon of the same toiinage, tho Persia of 8000 tons, and the Banca of 6000 tons. This gives a total of 28,000 tons in round figures, which, at £30 per ton, runs into £840,000. The total horse-power of these vessels is 27,500. The Persia is 11.000 horse-power, or a little over one and a third hor3e-power per register ton. The S.S. and A. Company's Mamari, from Port Chalmers (May 11), arrived at London on the afternoon of Friday, 28th ult., with her meat cargo in good order. The Union Steam Ship Company's steamer Oonah steamed down from Dunedin on Monday, and left the Bowen pier in the afternoon for* Melbourne, via ''Bluff Harbour and Hobart. The s.s.^Otarama commenced taking in frozen produce on Monday morning, and by the evening had taken in 2448 cases of rabbits and 58 cases of boned beef from the Port Chalmers freezitrg works, with a large quantity of frozen sheep from Burnside. Two of the New Zealand Shipping Company's new steamers — the Paparoa and the Whakatane — are well forward in the builders' hands, and are to be launched in August. The company are having two other steamers built of 10,000 tons each. The Tyser Line Company's s.s. Tomoana, which has left New York for New Zealand jjorts, is the largß3t steamer which has left the great American port for the colonies. She is 7250 tons register, and is commanded by Captain Felgate.