The old s.s. Hero.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVIII, Issue 6023, 21 March 1891, Page 4

The old s.s. Hero.

+. One of ths besb known and erstwhile most popular steamships in the Sydney-New Zealand Trade was the old s.s. Hero, which is now to be turned into a coalhulk. The vessel was familiarly and affectionately termed " old " by New Zealanders twenty years ago. She was then engaged solely in the SydneyAuckland trade, and was thought a great deal more of than a "ship of the age" would be now. Captain Thomas Logan was her commander, and boat and skipper were fairly idolised. On the completion of his hundredth trip Captain Logan was presented with a purse of sovereigns by the citizens of Auckland. The Auckland youngsters to this day look back pleasurably to many excursions in the Hero with their friend Captain Logan. Some 12 years ago the Union Steamship Company purchased her, and Captain Logan, of course, went over with the vessel to the new flag. The modern steamships of the Rotomahana, Manapouri, Wairarapa and Monowai class threw her so completely in the shade, ancl the expenso of her running was so great on account of her obsolete machinery, that she was laid up in " Rotten Row " (Sydney), a rather pretty bay near the entrance to the Parramatta, where the superfluous and worn-out craft of the past are to be found lazily at anchor. Captain Logan was appointed to the steamship Mauapouri. The Hero has a history which relates to royalty itself. She was specially designed and built at Hull by Messrs W. C. Earle and Co. in the year 1861 for the King of Sweden, and for a time was employed as the yacht of that monarch. Her saloon fittings still show tihe expense and artistic taste that were devoted to her by her designers and builders. In the American war, later on, she was employed for some time very successfully as a blockade runner. It is for a vessel with such a history to be told off for a coal hulk by her owners at Dunedin. Such, however, is the caso, and an officer has been sent to Sydney from headquarters to get her ready for the trip across. — Star. ■ ii iii i

The Waimea correspondent of the Nelson Colonist has the following : — "The hop harvest is now in full swing in tho country districts, and every morning scores of pickers may be seen wending their way to the various gardens. On visiting the fields one notices quite an array of vehicles of all descriptions, which gives a picnic-like aapecfc to the scene, while iuside the garden the merry pickers are hard at work filling the bins with tho golden cones. Hop picking would seem to be an intensely fashionable employment, for very nearly every class of the community is represented. But crops are sjood and pocket money scarce, and the want of the 'almighty dollar' is accountable for tho presence of the majority. Very fair wages are being earned, a single family having picked 120 bushels the other day, while a young lady established a record of 31 bushels ; but 20 bushels a day may be considered a fair average for a good picker. The price generally paid for picking is 3d per ten gallon measure. The crops are good all round, and one of our largest growers, Messrs Eden Bros., havo picked 1000 bushels a day for the last week. ' What's the pric© going to be Vis the question asked by the growers, and up to the present time still unanswered by those who ought to know. While crops in our district are good, those at Motueka and Takaka are about as usual. Bub what is the produce of our four or five hundred acres when thrown into the world's yield . There is at present a great boom in the northern hemisphere owing to the shortage in Inst year's crop. Papers from America by the last mail give the latest quotations at 3(> cents a lb, a good rise on the usual price, Bor 1.0 cents," Referring to the lynching at New Orloans, the Auckland Herald says :— For some reason or other there has lately been a large immigration of Italians into New Orleans, of whom a largo proportion are Sicilians. The Sicilians are up to the present day little better, in fact, in many respects no better, than savages. Brigandage is an institution in Sicily, or was until very lately. The Italian Government have made strenuous efforts to suppress it, and have partially succeeded, by methods which have at least the merit of being thorough. But they have hot succeeded in suppressing tlie Mafia, which is a secret society, composed of men of all classes, which imposes its will and commands on even the highest civil authorities. Its code is simple—obedience or death by assassination. Some of the members of this confraternity emigrated to New Orleans, and recom menced their little game there. An energetic chief of police, Mr Hennessey, determined to root them out, and probably from ignorance of their customs, or from a spirit of courage which despised danger, neglected the necessary precautions, and was murde-ed by a detachment Irom tho Society. A number of its members were arrested as the murderers or accomplices in the crime, and were brought to trial. There is little doubt that the usual tactics pfthe Mafik were brought into play, and every individual juryman was threatened 3y/itii jis^ssin^ion if he found a verdict of gUfityV: The consequence was that the s£oMt&i#prifmei;fi ms accjuitfced,

In fche course of his address at his i.e. ; ception in Sydney, Sir George Grey told an interesting anecdote. Me said :—A citizen of South Australia, one chosen now to represent his colony at the Conference which ia sitting here, camo up to me, welcoming me, and told me, ' Ono thing has left a lasting impression on my mind. When I was a child in South Australia you gave a party to young children, and we saw our first magic lantern. I was a little fellow and could not see, and you took me in your arms and raised me up, and I saw everything, and the thought of that has never left my mind.' Aud the thought which came across my mind was this—Now, what aro those who desire to be statesmen to do above all things'? Clearly what they should do is on every occasion they have to perform a kind and gentle affectionate act. (Cheers). I felt that I had arrived at a great truth, and a sort of flow of gladness came over my heart. But, I said, there is another side to this. How many opportunities have I neglected of doing like good-natured acts ? What would I not give to live my life over again with the knowledge thatl now have. '' The Wanganui Herald (Ballance's paper) attempts to defend the police reductions by deliberate misrepresentation. It says : —"The Police Department also comes under the pruning knife, a number of long seiviced officers being retired on their compensation allowance. These officers have done good service in times past, but owing to ago and physical infirmities, havo ceased to be equal to the requirements of their positions, and will now retire. Their places are not to be filled, a redistribution of duties effecting a largo saving." This statement as to age and physical infirmities is absolutely untrue. There are not in the service more active or vigorous men than Inspectors J. B. Thomson, Kiely, and Goodall, for instance, and none of them are near the age when retirement is supposed to be compulsory, while several officers who have long passed that age and are notoriously frail in health and strength are retaiued in the service. Something should be done to restore the graves of Captains Canning and Carr, and the three other members of the colonial forces who fell during Colonel Whitmore's engagements againat Te Kooti at Puketapu up the Ruakiture in July, 18*08. They are buried at Erepeti, not far from the scene of the engagement, but the palisading of tho graves has become rotten and broken down, and the ground rooted over with wild pigs. The graves of men who have fought and shed their blood for the country, and whose memory i» held in honored remembrance, should be better looked after by a grateful country. — Wairoa Guardian. 1 A farm hand knocking about Timaru "on the spree" had LIBO in looso notes and cash in his pockets. «■— ■—■——'— "^— "—"*""*****