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THE WAIKANA.

SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED. Saturday afternoon was a gala day at {he Dunedin wharves, the occasion being the launching of the Peninsula Ferry Company's fine new steamer Waikana. The »vent took place on tKe reclaimed ground, »nd the novelty of the sight had created such widespread anticipations that by the time everything was in readiness for the •. boat to leave the ways, several thousand people had congregated in. the vicinity. The weather, though windy, was otherwise beautifully fine, and there was a spring tide, whicn ensured a depth of water about which the launchers could have no misgivings. The important work of getting everything in readiness for the launching of the vessel " -was carried out under the direction, of Messrs T. Gillies and John M'Gregor, member* of the firm of Messrs John. M'Gregor, and Co., along with Mr Wm. Jenkins, a shipwright of many years' standing. Every- , thing had been completed shortly prior to 4 o'clock, and just on the strike of the hoar the men who stood by, hammer in hand, *t a given signal smashed" out the blocks which held th« vessel fast. Once the*e were freed, the launching had- started. Mts C. Speight (wife of the managing director of the Pernnsola. Ferry Company) stood on a raised olatform at the^bow of the. boat, and as the vessel was almost imperceptibly gathering way. tot the shouts ■of " She's off !" and amidst cheering, pec- ' formed the christening ceremony by breaking the customary gold-topped bottle . over the vessel, the bottle in this instance containing New Zealand wine. In three or four seconds the vessel was in the water, looking, quite a picture. The accomplishxnent of the launching was accompanied , by cheers, and the public swarmed to the ■water's edge to see how she sat on the , »ea. She drew 2ft frin for'ard and abont ttt 6in aft, and was launched in ample , dopth of water. The WaSsana was immediately taken -in tow by the Moerangi and shifted to the Rattray street wharf, Mr Hanlon's launch, the Inishfree, lending; a hand on -the way round. When the vessel - «v berthed alongside the wharf, a number of gentlemen identified with shippuug and commercial interests stepped aboard^ at the invitation of the directors of the Peninsula Ferry Company, and, descending to the spacious cabin below, there sat down to do further honour to the > occasion. The gathering was presided over by Mr C Speight, chairman of directors of the Berry Company. The toast .of "The " King " having been fittingly honoured, he read the following telegram received by Messrs John M'Gregor and Co- from the Hon. J. A. Millar, Minister of Manrfer— •' Many thanks for your kind invitation to be present. Nothing would have afforded me greater pleasure than t»> have been present at the launching of the Waikana. This event is fraught with great possibilities, for the future, as it is the first instance , for. many years of an iro» vessel being \ built in New Zealand. I can sincerely 1 "trust :t: t may be the forerunner of many (more, and I heartily wreh you* every sue- ! cess end a- prosperous career for the little ship. Kind regards." . . ' 'Che toast of " Success to the s.s. Wai- ■ kana," coupled with the name of Mr Wm. Scott, was proposed by Mr J. M'Gregor. ■It gave him very great pleasure, ,he said. ,to havo reached such an important stage in the construction of the Waikana. If. it 'liarf not been for certain unavoidable delay^ ■the boat would have been in running (before now. The designing and construction of the vessel had been in the hands of Mr H. M'Crae, and though they dirl not have the pleasure of ttoing a great deal ' of ship building in • this country he knew sufficient about it to convince him of the -fact that the designing of any size of boat could be entrusted -with perfect safety to •Mr M'Crae. He hoped the company hed ' reached the end of its troubles and that ■henceforth it would -reap nothing but reward. — (Applause.) Mr Wm. Scott, speaking as a director of the Peninsula Ferry Company, said on an occasion such as the present there was not time to look back and compare the 'past with the present in the matter of a ferry ssrvice. So far as the ferry service in Otago Harbour was concerned, the nast bad better be forgotten. The launching of the Waikana would be synonymous with thedawn of a new era in the ferry service. The majority of those connected with the, new boat had' been in hopes of taking their families down the sea-side;' but year in j and year out had been subjected to disappointments. Eventually, a boat was b*uktp\ . which, however, owing to lack of iin^fffe on the part or those who had ordered 'it, could not be taken over from the.-contrac-tors. Some of them had come forward : co that she would not be lost to Dunedin, } and l\ad procured her. That was the Mata- * riki, which was shortly afterwards destroyed by fire. The same gentlemen then decided to have another and larger boat . • ibuilt. All that was wanted was proper 1 'facilities in Ihe harbour,' and, the Harbc-ur Board having been approached and con■s eented to assist them, the new boat was ' ordered. If this boat turned out the sue- , cess Which they fully expected it would, it 1 would be followed by another boat next i itsason. The vessel cost something like ] £6000. She would be equipped with elec- j k tr'c light, etc.. which would mean an extra ' * £4DO. Passeneers going down the har- \ • , boor by the Waikan& would be able to rely on her in every particular. He hoped t the company would in time reach that J 1 Btan-uard which its enterprise merited. | Mr C. Sj->e.ight nroposed the toast of j ; " Messrs John M'Grejror and Co., the . builders, and Mr H. M'Grae. the designer." 5 At the outset, said Mr Speight, they were r unable to obtain a man who could design 1 i boat of this class. Mr M'Crae was mentioned, and they got into communication V with him and secured his services. He ' * R-as a man who was second to none in his of busings as a naval architect. He i. had found M««srs M'Gregor end- Co. tt> t b« firH class men. and they had eiven tk° '• •'irectois r?ailv hon-ew work. Tfa>re hud been no trouble whatever in building the i i boat. If they received +lie patronage they ' Lanticipatefj they honed to see another ves-j-*el of piniilp'- «+yle unde-r w*y next ve»r. r Mr T. Gillies responded on behalf o£. F Messrs M'GroTor and Co. and said he I trusted Hip Waikana would come up to I everyone's fullest expectations. I Mr M'Crae. in responding, said he had I at first thought that. Messrs M'Gregor and L Co. would be a little " green " in the P matter of boat building, but as time went p on he saw that they knew as much -about Ljt ta he did himself. The work had been

turned out to his entire satisfaction. >*He ] hoped that this would be the forerunner of a good many other boats to be built here. ' Mr W. A. Scott proposed the toast of " The Otago Harbour Board," coupled with the names of Messrs W. Gow and J. Loudon. The members of the Harbour Board, he said, had indirectly more to do with the formation of the Peninsula Ferry Company than probably most people were aware of. There was at the outset to be , considered ihe question of the proportions j of the vessel to be constructed, and as the harbour conditions were not as good as they might be, they had found it necessary to approach the Board to see what could be 'done' to assist them. They found the members of the Board most reasonable, and they were made promises which in % dueed thenu to commence the building of a boat sdeh as the Waikana. If certain things had not been promised in the way of facilitating navigation the Waikana would not have been built. Mr Gow, in responding. 6aid not only . had they that day segn the launching oi a good-sized steam vessel for the first time for many yeaw in" the harbour,, but they had- ibe inauguration- of things, which they had for, a long time been, looking forward to., A» regarded the attitude of the Board ' towards this venture, they could take it . for granted that- the men r who at present "constituted it held other ideas than in. regard to the mere keeping open of the channel for the exit- and entrance oi vessels t-tt -to -the port of Dunedin They recognised that- there was a duty owing to the residents, on the borders of the harbour, and to those whose occupation was in the harbour, and they were accordingly prepared to do anything that was in the* legitimate interest* of the harbour. In regard to carrying oat these td^as there was the fact to be remembered that the foreshore of the harbour was not vested in the Board. It waa vested in the General Government. Therefore, when people complained of how little was done, . let them remember that the Board did not have control of the foreshore. An effort was being made to have it vested in \he ' Harbour Board, and he hoped that everyone would see the wisdom of the Board getting control, and that nothing would be put in the way of securing it, for it was for the best interests of the community as a whole. Mr Loudon said the afternoon's event showed what could be done in Dunedin. He believed the vessel would fill a greatly j felt want here, and as to the Harbour j Board, there was no reason to believe that their successors would alter the policy of members, which waa to do everything possible for the benefit of Dunedin and the citizens at large. The toast of "Mr Win Jenkins, chip- , wright," who supervised tEe launching of the vessel. wa<? also" proposed and honoured, Mr Jenkins replying briefly. ; Mr Hanlon. who was requested to speak, said he was irratified to know that it. wa3 reco&nised that it was the doty of the Board to do something 1 for the general users of the harbour. He would suggest tha.t the Board should not only deepen the water at the - various wharves on the Peninsula, but should also do somefning in the direction of adequately lighting the harbour. In the Victoria Channel beacons that were supposed to hold lierhts were really a menace to shipping. They certainly wanted lights placed at the three legrs, and at Macandrew's. and at Grasev Point. Now that the Board bad awakened to a >«ense of its duty he would ask that , the cut be continued through from Cemetery Point to Puddin«r Lsland. THE VESSEL. The Waikana is a steel-built vefse! of ™£ Ufc - M ° tOUS gross - li2ft in lletn # th > a-nd .20ft in beam, capable of carrying from 750 to 800 people, having- twin screws, and engines capable of developing over 200 horse-power. It draws about 2ft 6in forward and about 3ft bin aft. Cabin accommodation is provided for both ladies and gentlemen, there being four cabins m all. rhe lighting: will be by electricity, and the boat will also carry a etron^ electric searchlight. Special attention has been paid to ventilation, while lavatories are fitted fore and aft. Four watertight collision bulkheads are constructed in the vessel, two surrounding the enpine-rcom and one at the bow and one at the stern It is expected that the Waikana. will be completed in ail detail and ready to be j put into commission in eight or 10' days.

Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/OW19091117.2.146

Bibliographic details

Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 36

Word Count
1,960

THE WAIKANA. Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 36

THE WAIKANA. Otago Witness, Issue 2905, 17 November 1909, Page 36

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