DEPARTURE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume VI, Issue 628, 17 February 1879, Page 2

DEPARTURE.

February. 17— Rosina, s.s., Scott, for East Coast. The Board of Trade, London, have taken into consideration the propriety of drawing up some regulations for the removal of " floating wreckage" which may prove dangerous to navigation ; and m order to extend the operations of these rules as possible — without which they would be but of slight service— they have determined to put themselves m communication with the various foreign maritime Governments, with a view of making any legislation on the subject international. There are, however, many difficulties m the way ; and highly desirable as it is that these floating dangers of the deep, which m all probabilty have been the cause of the disappearance of many a good ship, should be removed and placed where they can harm no one, it is questionable whether any workable rules can be drawn up and enforced. From various signs to be observed among authorities m the shipping world of the United Kingdom it would appear to be not at all unlikely that the present method of giving orders to a man at the wheel (a method which works by " rule of unreasonable") will be abolished m favour of a more reasonable and simple plan, by which the present chances of misunderstanding an order at a critical time when an error means a general smash and loss of life will be reduced to their smallest limit. In the days when " starboard" and " larboard" (afterwords altered to port) were first employed, the tiller the most invariable means by which the rudder was worked, and as it had to be moved m the opposite direction to that m which the •rudder and vessel's head were required to turn, the words of command indicated on which side the " tiller" was to be E ushed, and were a plain direction to the elsman which he could not mistake. Nowadays, when the steering by a wheel is completely the rule, the above words of command are confusing, and liable to cause error.