SHIPPING MISHAP.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 41, 25 March 1914, Page 9

SHIPPING MISHAP.

OPOTJRI'S MAINMAST BROKEN.

About ten o 'clock last night, while the steamer Opotiri was loading cargo for Greymouth, her mainmast gave way at the base. At the time of the mishap a motor lorry, weighing about five tons, was being lifted from a truck, and when directly over the hatch the mast gave away. The mast and cross tree missed the funnel by about a foot, but smashed one of the ship's ventilators in. The motor lorry also escaped damage, landing in the hold in position. It is supposed that the mishap was caused through a flaw in the bolt and rivets by which the mainstays were secured to the top of the mast —a steel one about 16 inches in diameter and 50ft high. The thickness of the metal ,is about lin. The Opouri has made regularly weekly trips to Greymouth and Lyttelton for five weeks without any delay through bad harbour bars, but as a result of the accident she will be laid up for about a week.

SUMNER BOROUGH COUNCIL. The Sumner Borough Council met last evening, when there were present the Mayor (Mr G. W. C. Smithson) and Crs Boulton, Hill, Wood, Preston, Stuart, and Rankin. Apologies for absence were reI ceived from Cr Brewer and the Hon. John Barr. I The Works Committee's report reeom- | mended the council to consider the amendment of clause 855 and following clauses of the by-laws respecting the use of water in the gardens, and to prosecute a resident for a broach of the by-laws relating to waste of water. The work of cleaning up Clarke Street and tarring and sanding the footpath should be carried out in April. The report was adopted, with the exception of the first clause, which was held over till nest meeting.

It was decided to grant the gas manager 21 days' leave of absence from April 6.

In accordance with a recommendation by the Finance Committee, the sum of £3, fees paid by the Gala Committee, was remitted. "^-^

The director of the Technical College asked the council again to make a grant to the funds of the college. It was decided to make the annual donation of £lO.

A communication was received from Mr W. S. Short to the effect that the matter of arbitration between the Tramway Board and the council would have to remain in abeyance until he again visited Canterbury in about a month or six weeks' time.

The financial statement showed that | the receipts to the district fund account [were £1213 14/5, and expenditure £2OO | 7/-, there being still a debit balance of £987 18/11. There were credit balances on the gasworks loan account and creek outlet account of £65 16/2 and £1342 1 18/7 respectively. The gasworks revenue [ account showed a debit balance of £343 6/10. Accounts amounting to £540 8/3 [ were passed for payment. ! The Hon. the Minister of Marine wrote I intimating that the Lyttelton Harbour i Board had notified the Marine Depart'ment of its intention to discontinue the ! pilot and signal station at Sumner. | A communication on the same matter | was forwarded by the Lyttelton Harbour ,*Board, intimating that no signals would |be shown from and no look-out man would be in attendance at the signal station after April 15.—The communications were received. The council then went into committee to consider a resolution forwarded by the Lyttelton Harbour Board —'' That the lifeboat service be offered to the Sumner Borough Council on the same terms and conditions as those contained in the board's offer to the Eoyal Life-saving Society, namely, that the lifeboats at Sumner jetty and Bell's baths be handed over, in trust, to the Sumner Borough Council, and the council be allowed the use of the present boatsheds While such boatsheds are there, but that the board should not guarantee to keep them in their present position nor to maintain the lifeboats or the sheds, nor to accept any responsibility in connection with them in any way. That in the event of the Sumner Borough Gouncil abandoning the lifeboats or failing to maintain them for the purposes for which they were handed over by the board, the'lifeboats and sheds shall revert to the possession of the board."

EXTRAORDINARY GOLD COIN. ■ > An extraordinary and, indeed, unique . gold coin has just been purchased for the nation by the trustees of the British Museum, with the generous assistance of several private subscribers. It is the only known example of the gold coinage of the Anglo-Saxon King Offa (A.D. 757-796), the most celebrated ■ of all the Mercian princes, the friend of Charlemagne, and the recipient of many presents from that Emperor. j The coin .is remarkable not only o» 'account of its •uniqueness aiid of the fact that it is the earliest gold coin that can be definitely ascribed to anyEnglish King, but also because, although it was struck by a ChristianKing, it bears a Mohammedan inscription in Arabic. ARABIAN CHARACTERS REPRODUCED. At the time-of the issuing of the coin the Arabic dinar formed a large pari of the gold currency of Europe, ami it is believed that it was for this reason that Offa caused an exact imitation of an existing Arabic coin to be made for I his own use. While the artificer may [have been, and most probably was, ig- . ! norant of Arabic, the characters were-" reproduced with sufficient fidelity as tomake it easy to decipher them to-day. The inscription runs: "There is no. other God but the one God. He has no equal. Mahomet is the apostle of" God. ..." etc. ' - - The date of the original Arabie coin was about 20 years before the time of Offa. It is inscribed, according to the chronology of the Hegira, on the coin struck by his orders. It has been surmised that the coin. owes its origin to the fact that Offa. agreed to pay to Pope Adrian I. as alms, for the poor (Peter's pence) 365 gold, mancuscs a year. Against this theory,. < however, it may be objected (1) that the mancus is probably a weight rather than a coin; (2) that had a large number of these coins been made, examples, of them would probably have • eomcearlier to light; (3) that a Christian King would hardly have selected for presentation to the Pope a coin with an . Arabic inscription, for although the- , King would not be conversant with the* language of the Arabs, he would certainly know the nature of their religious tenets,, ' ADOPTED A PREVAILING STYLE. It seems more likely, therefore, thatOffa simply availed himself of the* predominating gold currency as offering; the best model for his purpose. The* . words ''Offa Rex" which appear upon. the reverse are* in the form of the> Roman .characters usually seen npon the» silver coins of Offa. *-; '." The eoin is in a fine state of preservation. The existence of this'specimen has been known since. 1841. It was obtained in Rome by the late Due de Blacas, but from 1841 to 19,07 nothing was known of its whereabouts. In the latter year, however, it passed into the possession of Mr Carlyon Britton through the firm of MM. Rol lin and Feuardent. • - " It was purchased by the British Ma seum at a sale held by Messrs Sothcbv. Wilkinson, and Hodge.