BLUFF HARBOR.

Southland Times, Issue 3298, 15 January 1879, Page 2

BLUFF HARBOR.

Therewere no airnvals -or departures at the ' Bluff yesterday/: ':-:. -„'V .: ..'/'■,"., EXPECTED ;ARRIyAI..: .:; ,: ~:...J : Western Moharoh/ship, from .London, Oct. 13. The Albion ShippmgCompan^svsMp Jessie; Headman put "out the last of her cargo : yester-: day and is nowreceivmg outward cargo rapidly. - The tNew Zealand Shipping Company's ship. Waitara stowed .the last of her outward cargo yesterday afternoon. The; ;late wet weather,, • however, has hindered het preparations for sea. Bending sails had to be; postponed, and hence the ship's departure for the old , country has. been unavoidably : pos"^>oiied to" Friday. ■"_•*■"-- The New Zealand Shipping Company's ship Waitara completed loading yesterday and will clear for sea to-day. The following is a list and; value of her cargo .:~. ' :'''-'"77.^'- . 4020 bales of wool ... ...£80.400: ,r 507 sacks of wheat ; . ... ... A "507 .; . : 23 packages. sundries ...- ... ; 505 ; ••' £81,407 The Waitara has beeh' forty-two days in porir •up to to-day, and considering the loss of time through the holidays has received a smart dispatch. .•'-'■>.-."'-■.',' .: ; . ;: -y.::yyAyX. -AA-k Messrs Cutlan & Son, of London, have recently patented an Archimedean .revolving brush for cleaning ships' bottoms while afloat aiid in motion^, and without requiring the services- of a diver to adjust it; the apparatus is self -acting, being 'worked by a revolving, screw, the -revolutions of which* are regelated'by.the speed of the vessel/ giving lOO'revolutions per minute with a speed of four or five knotsj; it r A. -'can ako be 'Used, -it is stated, by vessels at. anchor in a tideway; having a current of from •two to three knots per hour. An experiment . , was tried on August 31st, on .the Thames, and ; " 'the vessel "afterwards placed upon a gridiron to enable the judges to ascertain whether the work, had been effectually performed : that section of ' ." the vessel, -from •: the keel •to the water's 1 edge, which, had been subjected to the" action 1 of the machine ■■'-. was found to be perfectly: clean, and the other part of her bottom being: foul and dirty:— Australian Shipping News. ; A torpedo boat of novel design has been tried ."••■ at Birkenhead, invehted: by the Rev/Xx-W. Garrett, Manchester. It is propelled by a treadle worked by men on board, but compressed air or other motive power can be ? applied. The boat is intended for the : ?fixing of torpedoes oh to the hull of anenemy's ship's below water, or for the clearing of the Channel of those destructive engines. It is lighted by electricity internally, and can direct rays of light in any direction under water. One of the most interesting features in the invention is an; ap- .. paratue ifor purifying the atmospher-c air taken down in the boat, so as to enable the men to remain at work seyeral hours under water. This novel apparatus was severely tested: and worked satisfactorily, it could be used by 'divers apart from a tbrpedo boat;- The boat; '-'- :.-.„ answered her helm "readily, was moved easily, ■■' : ' ; '"'.- and rose ; arid sank: to. any level required, .the men remaining' for fonr hours under, water. —Buoy ■*.-;■-■-. A-.y;'y '/ ;: / : /. ;' <(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.) ' - r Wellington, Jan. 14. It appears from /an -extract from a private letter by the Suez mail that the New, Zealand - Shipping' "Company's ship Waikato had a somewhat perilous passage home from Lyttelton, on her last voyage, she .being: stuck in the ice f or • *•■' three feys hear Cape Horn. . Soon after that matches, oil^ candles, ahd tobacco run short, and in the tropics the vessel was becalmed for weeks and experienced high winds during the remainder of the passage. . : ■■ Sailed— Arawata, ior the South. Passengers —Mesdames Bascand, Howard, Bradley," Vincent; Messrs Vavdsour, Burns, Palmer, Vincent, PearCe, Kemp, Murphy, Payne. Chbistchurph, Jan. 14. Cleared— New Zealand Shipping Company's ship Rangitikei, for Edndon, with full cargo of wheat and tallow. '" " Lyttelton, Jan. 14. The New Zealand Shipping Company's ship Rangitikei, Captain Milman, has cleared' for London and sails to-morrow morning with a cargo valued at £112,470, consisting of 5431 bales wool, 178 casks; tallow, 117 cases tallow, . 14 cases specimens natural history, and 21 bags 3 cases sundries. She has nine passengers. Westport, Jan 14. It blew a furious westerly gale last night, i with l heavy rain. The brigantine Lizzie Guy is reported ashore north of Cape Foulwind ; only one man was seen on deck, the rest are supposed to be battened below. No communication has yet been held with; the vessel. The sea is fearful and breaking over her' The beach is composed of soft sand. Lateb. The'brigantine was bound from Lyttelton to - Hokitika with ten tons of cargo and in ballast. A squall threw her on her beam ends and she ■;•:■ drifted on shore. All hand's are saved and it is thought the vessel may be got off. Two of her crew were injnred. She is. owned, by Messrs Craig.and Howarth, of Hokitika. ..'•■■. Otaki, Jan. 14. The ketch Forest Queen ran ashore about 5.30 .;-. this, morning, in a strong north-west gale, : about ohe : mile south of the Hydrabad. She belongs to Mr Mclntyre, of Wellington, and is insured for £750 in the New Zealand Office.