CITY OF NEW YORK ARRIVES.

Otago Witness, Issue 3898, 27 November 1928, Page 25

CITY OF NEW YORK ARRIVES.

FAMOUS WHALING VESSEL. With the Stars and Stripes flying at the gaff, and the Union Jack at the fote, the City of New York was towed up to Fort Chalmers on Sunday afternoon. She is a sister ship to the Eleanor Bolling of the Byrd Expedition. Tlie* passage from New York via Panama and Papeete occupied three months exactly Her commander Captain Melville, learned his seamanship in square-rigged sailing ships, and the handling of this little barque was a familiar proposition. His only handicap was the lack of stiff breezes. The weather was too fine and the winds too light to make good' headway. Even the assistance of her auxiliary engines could not make up a worth-while average. AU the same, her captain thinks- she is a handy little vessel, and capable of • being safely extricated from tight corners. The City of New York is barquerigged, her loftiest canvas being the topgallant sail at the fore and the main. The mizzen carries the usual gaff and boom, for the fore-and-aft spanker. In appearance the white-painted hull is not exactly handsome, but it is business-like. The bottom planking is four feet thick and the sides a foot less in thickness. She was built for the ice, and the thickness of her hull imparts the stability required to withstand ice pressure. The Norwegians have proved her worth in many sealing voyages to the Arctic regions. The crow’s nest, for the accommodation of a lookout man, is above the eyes of the topgallant rigging on the mainmast. Everything seems to be in keeping with the traditions of old-time sailing vessels, even to the bowsprit and the jibboom on which the fore staysail and two jibs are furled. Abaft the foremast are furled a main topmast staysail and a main topgallant staysail. Abaft the mainmast and very close it is the funnel, the top of which, is about level with the main yard. Consequently, the mainsail is well begrimed with smoke from the furnaces of her steam boilers. Her long poop-deck extends from the stern almost to the mainmast. On the poop has been constructed a large “ house" to provide the extra space required in connection with the expedition.

The City of New York is an old-timer. Near the toji of her funnel on either side is painted a picture of the Globe, the continents being faintly limned. Across the design is a scroll on which is painted the name of the expedition. The crew is composed of sailors, many of whom are on their maiden voyage. But all hands had gained their sea legs long before New Zealand was sighted. The vovage so far seems to have merely whetted theii appetites for real adventure. To them the Antarctic is the land where adventure is beckoning. Every man on board the City of New York is responding with enthusiasm. “ We’ll be locking horns with the unknown quantity,” a youthful adventurer remarked. But that seemed to be merely a slip of the tongue. The men on the City of New York are not talkers. They are very friendly to visitors, and visitors cannot help noticing that they are a purposeful body of men. The vessel, on arrival, went into dry dock at Port Chalmers for cleaning and inspection before she leaves for the Antarctic.