THE UNION COMPANY'S SERVICE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2400, 1 March 1900, Page 50

THE UNION COMPANY'S SERVICE.

The following alterations in the Union JSteam Ship Company's time-table are anzaiounced: — . The Takapuna has been withdrawn from liher present running between Lyttelton and SWellington, and takes up the old running of Lthe Rotorua— viz., Wellington., via Picton to WSTelson, on Tuesdays, returning on Wednescdays, via Picton, to "Wellington ; Wellington Jjback to Nelson, via Picton, on Thursdays, f&nd thence on Fridays, via Picton and Wellington, to Lyttelton, leaving latter port on Saiondays for Wellington, Piclon, and IV elfson. Tht Rotorua has been withdrawn from ser.•vice in the meantime, and is at present laid Kup at Port Chalmers for overhaul: ' There will still be daily communication between Lyttelton and Wellington, but the tonly steamers waiting at Lyttelton for the exjforess from the south will be the Takapuna ton Mondays ; the Rotomauana on Tuesdays, '.Thursdays, and Saturdays; and the steamer teaking up the San Francisco mails every fourth Friday. / The Mawhera's time-table running is now fa? follows: — From Wellington on Mondays, f.via Picton, to Nelson, returning on Tuesdays, J,via Picton, to Wellington. She then proceeds ,Yon Thursdays from Wellington to Westport t'direct, returning direct from the latter port <'on Saturdays to Wellington. The.Wainui will be a day later thanatpresaent time-tabled, leaving Wellington on, Wednesdays instead of Tuesdays. She will thus Heave Westport on the return journey on Satvurdays, and arrive in Nelson on Sundays, Heaving the latter port on Mondays, and call :at Picton en. route to Wellington. The Haupiri is time-tabled to arrive at and •Bail from Greymouth on Mondays, but on and .■after the 27th inst. she will leave Greymouth , on Tuesdays and pass through intermediate (ports correspondingly later, arriving at Wel'iington on Fridays.

"The b.b. Mararoa steamed down to Port Chalmers on the 20th, and left in the aftermoon for Sydney, via Auckland. , - The s.s. Wakanui left London 6*n February fl. for Wellington, Lyttelton, and Port Chal.iners.

The barque Akaroa was towed clear of the (heads on the 20th, and sailed with cargo for liondon. We wish Captain A. Kelly a good Jpassage Home. . , After an absence of some two years, H.M.S. 3?auranga arrived at Port Chalmers on the 20th. She will hemain in these waters for 'about a week, and no doubt during her stay (here will be a great centre of attraction. Since her last visit to these waters some important changes have been made in the per'eonnel of her officers. The Tauranga is now commanded by Captain Leslie C. Stuart, C.M.G., who was honoured by this decoration on account of his bravery and good services Sduring the late Samoan disturbances. The ■Tauranga has a complement of 215 men, all told, and it is almost needless to state she comes into port in the most superb order. Indeed, one has only to inspect her armament to appreciate the good work the " blue jackets " ~are doing in South Africa. Her 4.7 guns are perfect pictures of modern artillery, while the rest of her armament is equally effective, and.it goes without saying tae Tauranga is ready for active service at any moment. r The- s.s. Monowai, from Melbourne, arrived Ht the tongue wharf at 6.55 a.m. on the 21st. Bhe left the wharf. Melbourne, on the 14th Jn3t., at 4AO p.m. The Shaw. Savill, and Albion Company's fcew steamship Karamea, from Durban (South Africa) arrived off, Otago Heads at noon on the 21st, and was boarded by Senior Pilot M'Donald, who brought her up to the ocean ■teamer pier at Port Chalmers at 3 p.m. The Sa'ramea is a splendid specimen of marine

architecture, is built of steel, and registers 3553 tons net, and 5563 tons gross, and was built at Hepburn-on-Tyne by Messiv Hawthorne, Leslie, and Co., who also constructed her engines, which are on the triple-expan-pion principle, the diameter of the cylinders being respectively 30in, 48in, and 78in, with a length of frtroke of S^in. Her nominal horse-power is 600. She has a handsome saloon solidly fitted in caived walnut wood, and has accommodation for 27 first class passengers. She is commanded by Lieutenant Burton, R.N.R., a gentleman well known here as captain of the company's steamer Rangatira. She has a groes capacity of 10,000 tona, and has space in her refrigerating chambers for 80,000 carcases of frozen mutton. Cawtain Burtou reports leaving Durban, Port Natal, on January 8. He had a strong E.E. gale for the next 48 hours. The s.s. Mouowai steamed down to Port Chalmers on Thursday morning, and left in the afternoon for Sydney, via Wellington. .* fler a stay of 10 days in these waters the French corvette of war, Eure, left Port Chalmers at 7.30 a.m. on Thursday for Lyttelton.

The ship Canterbury, from Timaru, for London direct, was towed out on Thursday morning, and, aided by a fair wind, was soon out of sight. — The &.s. Vine Branch returns from the Cape to load another cargo of oats and is due in Timaru the first week in March. — Timaru Post.

The Shire lino steamer Banffshire, Captain Stewart, which left the Bluff on the 22nd inst. for London, with 12 saloon passengers and full cargo, took the following from New Zealand: — 7716 bales wool, 28 do sheepskins, 4 do rabbitskins, 450 do flax, 1 bale basils, 33 bales leather, 6 cases do. 12 sacks oats, 41 cases seed, 12 bags tailings, 486 casks tallow, 8 do pelts, 7 bags, 252 cafes gum, 93 cases meats, 11 cases sundries, 72.581 carcases mutton, 1614 hind quarter?, 1651, fore quarters, 378 cases beef, 1529 do rabbits, 362 do kidneys, 49 do plucks, 139 do eels, 6Q do hearts, 51-11 do butter, 64 casks do, 3196 cases of cheese, 2do sundries. Of this, she received at Auckland 1451 bales wool, 460 do flax, 1 do basils, 41 cases seed, 12 bags tailings, 49 casks tallow, 8 do pelts, 7 bags, 252 cases gum, 4489 carcases mutton, 414 hind quarters, 451 fore quarters beef ; from Wellington — 2047 carcases mutton ; from Lytlelton — 799 bales wool, 150 casks, 5 cases tallow, 3354 carcases mutton, 134- cases kidneys ; from Timaru — 849 bales wool, 250 casks tallow, 22,638 carcases mutton, 178 cases kidneys, 2 do sundries; from Port Chalmers — 2402 bales wool, 6 cases leather, 6 sacks wool, 2 cases, 3349 carcases multon, 770 hind quarters, 770 fore quarters, 398 cases beef, 26 cases kidneys, 40 do liearts, 3411 do butter, 702 cases cheese, from the Bluff— 22ls bales wood, 28 bales sheepskins, 12 sacks oats, 97 casks tallow, 73 cases meats, 6544 carcases mutton, 430 hind qiiarters, 430 fore quarters beef, 1529 cases rabbits, 31 do kidneys, 49 do plucks, 139 cases eels, 20 cases hearts, 2494 cases cheese, 4 bales rabbitskins.

The Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's splendid ship Nelson, Captain Perriam, from Liverpool, via Wellington, arrived at Port Chalmers on Sunday forenoon. She is consigned to Messrs Neill and Co. (Limited), of this city, and brings some 1000 tons of cargo from Liverpool, of which 630 tons are deadweight and ihe remainder measurement goods.

Tne s.s. Zealandia, from Sydney, via Wellington, arrived at the cross wharf at 9 a.m. on Saturday. She left Sydney at 2.30 p.m. on the 17th inst.. arriving at Wellington at 4 p.m. on tho 21&t.

The s.s. Westralia, from Sydney, via northern ports, waited at the tongue wharf on Sunday morning- until the s.w. Zealandia took her departure, when she came alongside the cross wharf. The Wostralia left Sydney at 5 p.m. on the 14th, and arrived at Auckland at 9.30 p.m. on the 18th. The following vessels have been in harbour during the past week: — Arrivals — Taupo, s.s., 408 tons; Invercargill, s.s., 123; Tauranga, H.M.S., 2575; Rotorua, s.s., 576; Karamea, s.s., 3503; Upolu, s.s., 700: Kini, s.s., 702; Monowai, s.s., 2503; Te Anau, s.s., 1028; Awarua, tug, 56; Zealandia, s.s., 1735; Westralia, s.s., 1819; Napier, s.s., 48; Aratapu, brigantine, 122; — total, 15,958 tons. Departures — Oorinna, s.s., 820 tons; Mokoia, s.s., 2153; Akaroa, barque, 1293; Invercargill, s.s., 123; Mararoa, s.s., 1381; Tauuo, s.s., 408; Kini, s.s., 702; Kinclune, barque, 718; Monowai, s.s., 2503 ; Eure, corvette, 1500 ; Upolu, s.s., 700; Te Anau, s.s., 1028; Sarah and Mary, brigantine, 145 ; Zealandia, 5.3.. 1735; Tauranga, H.M.S., 2575;— t0ta1, 17,68+ tons. , The s.s. Karamea left Port Chalmers on Saturday evening for London, via Wellington, with the following cargo : — 8668 carcases sheep and lamb, 436 quarters beef, 1620 boxes and kegs butter, 2117 crates rabbits, 12 do fish, 248 casks tallow" 21 do pelts, 616 bales wool, 22 do leather, 2 do glue pieces, 187 sacks grass seed, 4 pkgs sundries. During her voyage from Puget Sound to Melbourne the barque Louisiana met the American barque Agate, which signalled that she was short of water. Some days previously the Agate, whiclt was bound from Puget Sound to Honolulu, had fallen in with heavy weather, during which seas had broken on board and carried away all her,stock of water. Captain Halcrow. of the Louisiana, depleted his own supply to relieve the Agate, and the vessels then parted company. Next day rain fell in torrents, so that Captain Halcrow was able to replenish his tanks liberally.

The schooner Perle arrived at Noxunea on the 10th inst., with the captain and crew of the French barque Renouf, which foundered on the evening of the 6th inst. near Mare Island. The vessel was bound from Ihio to Glasgow with 3500 tons of nickel ore. She left Ihio on the 2nd inst., and struck a reef four days later, foundering almost immediately. All hands, to the number of 36, including the captain and his wife, took to the boats, and were subsequently picked up in Harana Pass by the Perle. The Emile Renouf was a new, four-masted barque, of 2425 tons, commanded by Captain Bojou. She was built of steel, and was 312 ft long, 45ft 4in beam, and 24ft 6in deep. She was owned by a French company.

The German schooner Hate, which left Oldenberg in September, 1899, was towed into Granton, Scotland, by a Newhaven trawler on January 11. The ship had mcl with a succession of storms in the North Sea, and the crew had since been given up as lost. When landed the men j>resented a deplorable appearance. Three weeks ago the water in the ship gave out, and since then the men had quenched their thirst with any rain they could hold. A few days after the water gave out the provisions ran down, and for about 20 days oVie men sustained themselves on the straw which packed the bottles they had as cargo. They had given up hope almost when the Hardy, trawler, came to the rescue. Some of the men could not walk, and were nearly delirious through privations. The distressed steamer was towed into Leith.

The following have been elected trustees of tho Maungatua drainage district :— Neill Black, John Hoddinott, George Lyall, Francis M'Lean, and John Stevenson.