PORT OF BLUFF.

Southland Times, Issue 20833, 23 July 1929, Page 2

PORT OF BLUFF.

EXPECTED ARRIVALS. Waipiata, Dunedin, to-morrow. Kaitangata, Dunedin, to-morrow. Port Dunedin, Dunedin, to-morrow. Calm, Lyttelton, July 25. Opihi, Westport, July 26. Waihemo, Dunedin, July 27. Kaiapoi, Hobart, July 29. ... Cumberland, Dunedin, July 29. Port Gisborne, Dunedin, July 31. Karetu, Lyttelton, August 2. Kartigi, Dunedin, August 3. Mataroa, Port Chalmers, August 6. Raranga, Port Chalmers, September 6. Rotorua, Lyttelton, September 13. Narbada, Dunedin, October 6. Piako, Dunedin, October 9. Canadian Britisher, Dunedin, October 23, Waitemata, Dunedin, November 10. lonic, Port Chalmers, November 20. Waihemo, Dunedin, January 15.

PROJECTED DEPARTURES. Calm, Dunedin, July 25. Kaitangata, Greymouth, July 25. Waipiata, Dunedin, July 25. Port Dunedin, Timaru, July 27. Opihi, Timaru, July 27. Kaiapoi, Dunedin, July 30. Waihemo, New Plymouth, July 31. Cumberland, Timaru, July 31. Port Gisborne, Dunedin, August 2. Karetu, Sydney, August 3. Kartigi, Hobart, August 4. Mataroa, Timaru, August 13. Raranga, Dunedin, September 9. Rotorua, Dunedin, September 15. Narbada, Dunedin, October 8. Piako, Dunedin, October 11. Canadian Britisher, Timaru, October 25. Waitemata, Dunedin, November 12. lonic, Dunedin, November 23. Waihemo, Dunedin, January 18. GENERAL NOTES.' The Opihi is scheduled to load at Westport to-day for Bluff, being due here on Friday with 800 tons of coal for discharge at Bluff. Upon completing the vessel will proceed to Timaru. The Union Company’s freighter Waihemo which arrived at Dunedin on Sunday from Pacific coast ports, via Napier and Lyttelton, was berthed at the Victoria wharf, where the local portion of her general Canadian and American cargo is being discharged. The vessel left Los Angeles on June 8, and arrived at Napier on July 6. The Waihemo will sail about Friday for Bluff and New Plymouth to complete discharge, being due here on Saturday and leaving again on Wednesday. The Calm is now expected to arrive at Bluff on Thursday morning from northern ports to discharge and load general cargo for the return voyage.

The Waipiata' which was scheduled to leave Lyttelton at 5 p.m. yesterday, is due at Dunedin to-day and at Bluff to-morrow. The vessel after loading a quantity of general cargo, will sail on Thursday for Wellington and Auckland via ports. The Kartigi, the local agents advise, is now expected to leave Auckland to-morrow for Wanganui, Wellington, Lyttelton, Dunedin and Bluff, being due at this port on August 3. The Kaiapoi which sailed from Melbourne at 4 p.m. on Friday for Bluff via Hobart, is due here on Monday. Included in her cargo for discharge at Bluff are 84 tons of general merchandise from Melbourne. The Kaitangata is expected to leave Port Chalmers to-day for Bluff, being due here to-morrow and proceeding on Thursday to Greymouth and thence Adelaide. The Karetu is expected to leave Sydney to-day with general cargo for discharge at Dunedin, Lyttelton and Bluff, being due here early next month and proceeding afterwards to Sydney direct. The Federal steamer Cumberland is expected to leave Timaru to-day for Port Chalmers where she is due to-morrow to continue discharge of her general cargo from west of England ports. Upon completing there the vessel will proceed to Bluff, being due here early next week.

The local agents advise that the sailing date for London of the Shaw, Savill steamer lonic from Wellington has been postponed from August 2 till daybreak on August 3. The Port Gisborne is scheduled to load at Bluff on the 31st inst. for New York, Boston and London, proceeding upon completing here to Lyttelton, New Plymouth, Wanganui, Wellington, Napier, Gisborne and Auckland. . The Shaw, Savill liner lonic is back in Auckland, but (said the Star, in a recent issue) her old commander, Captain Jackson, is no longer with her. Ho recently retired, after 45 years at sea. No seafaring man was better known or more highly respected in Now Zealand than Captain Jackson, to whom a farewell lunch was tendered on his last visit to Auckland. He had an adventurous life, spending many years in sail before the advent of the big steamships. He was first mate of the barque Belle of Arvon in 1894, when yellow fever broke out on a voyage from Calcutta to Rio de Janeiro. The captain, the second mate, and nearly half the crew died. Voting Jackson remained at his post, and brought the ship safely to Rio do Janeiro, but he collapsed after reaching port and nearly died of fever in hospital. While serving in the same ship, he was an unintentional participant in n typical South American revolution. In an interchange of shots between' the shore mid a Brazilian ship of war, the Belle of Arvon received a shower of shrapnel, but fortunately nobody was injured. "It’s a rummy experience being fired at and having no chance of hitting back,” remarked Captain Jackson, discussing the incident when last in Auckland. The veteran skipper is now a marine surveyor at Liverpool, and the lonic is under the command of Captain W. Lloyd. The Commonwealth and Dominion Line motor ship Port Dunedin is expected to sail from Port Chalmers to-day for Bluff, being due here to-morrow to load 20,000 freight •carcases of meat, 9,000 crates of cheese and a quantity of general merchandise. Upon completing about three days later the Port Dunedin will sail for Tiniaru, Lyttelton and Wellington, clearing Wellington early next month for Home. The Marine Department has landed' a new launch for use ut Westport (states the Westport Times). It is a fine little ship capable of 11 knots, and is reported to be an excellent sea boat. It is 40 feet in length with a beam of about eight feet. It has a closed hatch forward and lockers in the cockpit, and as the wedding reports say a handsome rope fender completes a dainty toilette.

The pinnacle of rock in the channel passage between Goat Island and Quarantine Island has been removed by blasting, and the plant wil probably be removed in a day or two, stats the Otago Daily Times. The rock formation at the base of the pinnacle is interesting. A shelf of hard rock extends into the channel for a distance of about 40 feet from Quarantine Island, the depth of water on the top of the shelf being about 20 feet at low water. The outer edge of the shelf is perpendicular, and shows a sheer drop of 90 feet to the bottom of the channel, the great depth being due to the scour of the tide in the restricted passage between the islands. The obstructing pinnacle of unstanding rock was in the form of a ridge extending to the outer edge of the shelf. Its height has been reduced about six feet, thus bringing it down to the level of the foundation shelf of rock. The removal of the. shelf itself would, it is soid, be a big undertaking. MATAROA’S MOVEMENTS. According to wireless advice received by the local agents the Shaw, Savill and Albion Company’s liner Mataroa is expected to berth at Wellington at daybreak tomorrow from London and Southampton. After disembarking passengers she will sail again next, day for Lyttelton, arriving there on the 25th to put ashore the remainder of her passengers and commence discharge. The vessel is scheduled to leave Lyttelton on the 30th, being due at Port Chalmers on the 31st. Sailing again on August 5 for Bluff the Mataroa is. due here on August 6, and after discharging 2,600 tons of general cargo from London and loading 30,000 frieght carcases of meat, the vessel will sail on August 13 for Tiniaru, Lyttelton and Wellington to complete, sailing finally from Wellington on August 28 with passengers and cargo for Southampton and London. Following is the advance passenger list of the Mataroa: First Class: Mr. and Mrs. 11. Barker, Mr. F. Claret, Mrs. A. Duncan, Mrs A. Harrison, Mr. C. Levin, Miss E. Pearce, Mr. P. Robinson, Miss M. Thompson, Mr. H. Topliss, Mr. R. Topliss, Mrs. Topliss, Mr. and Mrs. A. Wyness. , There are 51 thirdclass passengers, 22 of whom are for Wellington, 13 for Auckland, six for Lyttelton, four for Dunedin, two for Napier and four for Australia. MAEINE JOTTINGS HORORATA'S NEW FUEL. USE OF PULVERIZED COAL. ECONOMIES EFFECTED ON LONG VOYAGE. Unusual interest attaches to the present visit to the Dominion of the New Zealand Shipping Company’s steamer Hororata on account, of her semi-conversion to the use of pulverized coal. The vessel which sailed from Auckland on Monday for Lyttelton, Port Chalmers and New Plymouth to complete discharge, is expected to arrive at Port Chalmers on,Sunday. This is the vessel’s second voyage from England under the new fuelling conditions. • Of the world’s maritime tonnage, only eight vessels are at present using powdered coal. The Hororata is one of them. Although still in the experimental stage, the new fuel has already demonstrated its commercial advantages and a great future for it is prophesized by shipbuilding authorities. The results achieved on the Hororata are being carefully watched and tabulated by the engineering staff, and will be the subject of searching investigation by experts on the vessel’s return to England.

The intention of the owners to convert all six boilers on the steamer to the use of the new fuel was prevented by unforeseen circumstances on the vessel’s last trip Home, with the result that three boilers are still being fired by ordinary coal. It is expected that complete conversion will be effected upon the return of the vessel to London.

Owing to an abnormal amount of rough weather encountered on the voyage out and the fact that only three boilers are being steamed on powdered coal, the economics' obtainable from the use of the new fuel were not as fully obvious as might be desirable. For these rea'sons the consumption of coal was not materially reduced, averaging 95 tons a day, and the speed was maintained at only a fair average of 12.69 knots a day. The great advantage of uniformity in steam pressure was fully demonstrated, however, in the case of the three boilers under observation.

The actual saving in steam and consumption of coal under the new system is counter-balanced at present by . the fact that most of the steam saved is required to drive the crushers and sifters employed on board to pulverize the coal. It is maintained- that if this special machinery were driven electrically the economies in coal consumption would be very noticeable. The economies in labour are also off-set by difficulties occasioned by the combined use of the two fuels. The Hororata’s usual staff of firemen numbers 18, and it was found necessary to replace three firemen, whose services were dispensed with when the semi-conversion was effected, by three extra greasers. When complete conversion is achieved substantial reduction in the boiler-room staff will be practicable. The new fuel is not viewed with much favour by the engineroom and boiler-room staffs on the Hororata. While admitting its advantage over ordinary coal from the economic standpoint, they complain of a fine dust, which seems at present to be inseparable from the pulverizing process. At the stage when the fuel is fired it has the consistency of crumbled chalk, very fine and soft, and quantities at all times pervade the air of the boiler-room. Blackened faces are unavoidable after .even a

brief visit to the lower regions of the big ship. The conversion in England of the remaining three boilers to pulverized coal will occupy about three months, during which the vessel will have to be laid up. A. AND A. LINE SAILINGS. Messrs. J. G. Ward and Company have received advice from their New York agents that the American and Australian Line steamer Pakipaki which has been delayed on account of a fire in the store room, is now expected to sail about July 27 for New Zealand ports. The local agents also advise the following programme of sailings from New York of other A. and A. Line vessels: City of Lincoln, on July 31 for Suva, Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin. Natoppo, on August 22 for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin. Tredinnick, on September 5 for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin. Keelung, on September 27 for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin. Surrey, on October 1 for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin. Armadale, on October 22 for Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton and Dunedin. The usual Bluff transhipments will be carried by the above vessels. WITHIN WIRELESS RANGE. The following vessels were expected to be within range of the undermentioned wireless stations last evening:— Auckland: Canadian Victor, Mahia, An-glo-Indian, Tofua, Golden Coast, Kent, Falsterbo. Wellington: Maori, Wahine, Ngaio, Tamahine, Ruahine, Mataroa, H.M.S. Dunedin, H.M.S. Diomede, Maheno, Ulimaroa, Port Alma, Maui Pomare, City of Hertford. Awarua: Maunganui, Tahiti, Kaitangata, Paua. Chatham Islands: Nil. TELEGRAPHED REPORTS. COASTAL AND OVERSEAS. Auckland, July 22. Arrived: —Kalingo 1.30 p.m. from Port Stephens. / Sailed;—Mahia 7.20 a.m. for New York. Wellington, July 22. Arrived: —Canadian Conqueror 2.55 p.m. from Auckland. Sailed: —Opihi 5 p.m. for Westport; Calm 5.5 p.m. for Lyttelton; Storm 5.15 p.m. for Wanganui; Wingatui 6.30 pun. for Auckland; Wahine 7.50 p.m. for Lyttelton; Holmdale for Wanganui; Himatangi for Foxton. Lyttelton, July 22. •Arrived: —Canopus 2.30 p.m. from Westport; Kaitoa 3 p.m. from Tarakohe. Sailed:—Cygnet 12.20 p.m. fori Kaikoura; Corinna for Wellington; Waipiata 7.40 p.m. for Dunedin; Maori 7.45 p.m. for Wellington. Dunedin, July 22. Arrived: —July 21.—Gale 9.50 p.m. from Lyttelton. July 22.—Kahika 12.10 p.m. from Wellington. London, July 21. Arrived: —Huntingdon. Liverpool, July 21. Sailed: —Tasmania.