A FERRY FLIER.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 11125, 14 November 1907, Page 2

A FERRY FLIER.

THE NEW STEAMER MAORI.

The turbine steamer Maori, built fov the. Wellington-Lyttelton ferry service, beat the P. and O. liner Himalaya by fiv_ hours from Colombo to Fremarftle. Ht-r best day's run was 414 knots. Captain Livingstone, who brought her out (as he did the Loongana, three years ago), is very enthusiastic about the merits of his new charge, and considers tliere is nothing to touch her m Australasia. Telephonic communication is provided from the bridge to all departments. The captain says : "As a seaboat she is second to none. From Fremantle to Hobart we had exceptionally bad weather, with a strong southerly, gale and heavy sea. She acted beautifully, rising to the seas like a duck, and slipping along without a spray. There wasnM: the least vibration noticeable from the engines. From Thursday forenoon until Friday night, when we arrived here,., she was doing twenty knots an hour, and that .is something of a record after steaming 13,000 miles." The vessel is driven by five Parson's turbines, three for going ahead ancl two for going astern. Her speed at tlutrials on the Clyde was 20_ knots, with five out of six of her boilers m use, and with full dead- weight on board.

The crew have been paid off, and the Maori will be painted and otherwise made ready to relieve tho Mararoa m tho ferry service on the 18th. She is luxuriously fitted up, with accommodation for 425 first-class and 130 secondclass passengers, and the after end of the lower deck is arranged for a second-class temporary extension to accommodate fifty additional passengers m the busy season.