THE FOG

Southland Times, Issue 14437, 7 June 1910, Page 5

THE FOG

ULIMAROA BERTHS 2.15 A.M. The passengers by the ss. Ulimaroa from Melbourne and Hobart yesterday had a rare experience. The steamer was expected to berth at 8 a.m , but when dawn broke a heavy, misty, fog lay over sea and land, and it was not possible for any steamer from the westward to make the harbour. Hour after hour passed and the straits remained obscured by weather as thick as the pea soup that serves the traveller so handily for purposes of comparison. Evening came and still there was no lifting of the fog and no appearance of the Melbourne steamer. Finally the steamer arrived safely in Bluff Harbour and made fast at 2.15 a.m. A special train left Bluff at 2.26 and went right through to Dunedin to catch the 8 o’clock express for Christchurch. Passengers will come up by first train this morning. It must be many years since the Melbourne boat failed to make port on Monday. There have been delays of a few hours on account of fogs, but at time of writing we cannot recall any previous occasion on which.the steamer was compelled to stand off the land for the whole day. Needless to say, the Ulimaroa’s passengers, anxious to tread dry land again, regarded the tedious delay as anything but pleasant. The Moana. from Dunedin, succeeded in berthing and sailing for Melbourne yesterday. DELAYS SHIPPING. (Per United Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, June 6. The season so far has been exceptionally foggy, and yesterday the fog was so thick outside Lyttelton Heads that coastal vessels could not make port. The morning was beautifully fine on shore, but just off the coast a heavy bank hung low. The Mararoa, from Wellington, got within a mile of the heads and anchored. Her smoke and the tops of her masts could be seen from the signal station at times. By the afternoon a dense fog settled over the land, and vessels had pet-force to stay outside till this morning. Nothing was seen yesterday of the Storm, from Wanganui, but the bell of a steamer, supposed to be the Moura, from Westport, could be heard. All three vessels came inside between six and seven o’clock this morning. AUCKLAND, June 6. The Maheno, expected to arrive from Sydney on Sunday morning, has not yet been signalled. Probably she is delayed by a fog which is dense off the coast. The non-appearance of the turbine steamer Maheno, from Sydney, caused some uneasiness in Auckland to-day. The steamer left Sydney at 2 p.m. on Wednesday last, and was due here yesterday morning. Late this afternoon, however, a telegram was received from Cape Brett stating that the Maheno had passed there at 4.30 p.m. She is expected to reach port about midnight. The departure of the Governor for Sydney has consequently been postponed until tomorrow night.