THE WELLINCTON-LYTTELTON FERRY SERVICE.

Colonist, Volume LII, Issue 12750, 23 March 1910, Page 2

THE WELLINCTON-LYTTELTON FERRY SERVICE.

CARRYING STOCK ON PASSENGER STEAMERS. (Special to "The Colonist.") Christchurch, March 22. The carriage of live sheep from the North Island and the Maryborough Sounds to Lyttelton usually finds employment for a number of vessels at this time of the year. The trade is generally conceded to be a very profitable one, as the live freight is quickly loaded and discharged, with a minimum expense for "handling." The numbers of live sheep brought to Lyttelton so far this season is considerably below the average, but it is noticeable that the Union Steam Ship Company has once more reverted to the practice of carrying live sheep on board passenger steamers. Last year several large shipments were brought down from Wellington to Lyttelton on the decks of passenger steamers, the ferry steamer Harare a being utilised for the purpose on sei oral occasions, much to the annoyance and discomfort of the passengers, several of whom were strong in their complaints. Attention was drawn to the matter in the columns of "The Press," and for the remainder of the season no more live sheep wore carried on passenger steamers. On Saturday morning the Monowai arrived at Lyttelton from Wellington with a fairly large consignment of live sheep on her upper deck, which extends for the" full length of the ship. The whole of tho deck space forward of the bridge and on either sido of the deck houses to within a short distance of No. 3 hatch was railed off by hurdles into pens, which were full of live sheep. The vessel arrived in port at 7.30 a.m., but it was after 1 p.m. before the last sheep had been driven off the ship into the sheep trucks on the wharf. A reporter who watched the unloading process for a few minutes noticed that the decks were in a filthy state, and were so slippery that many of tho sheep lost their footing as they were driven along to the "race" leading to the trucks, while the unmistakable and pungent odouf peculiar to sheep carrying vessels; was strongly in evidence as far aft as the saloon entrance. How the steerage passengers, the entrance to> whose quarters is just abaft the bridge,fared for deck room it was difficult to see. It was impossible to get to the ship's rails from their entrance without climbing hurdles and getting into the pens. The ferry steamer Mararoa, which arrived at Lyttelton from Wellington at 11.30 a.m., with 150 passengers, had also a number of live sheep on her upper deck,, enclosed in hurdles forward of the steerage entrance, while the sight of' a large canvas ventilator- suspended from the rigging and leading down, into the after hold, indicated that there was also live stock down below. Fortunately both the Monowai and the Mararoa had fine"weather and smooth seas on their, way down but had there been heavy rain or bad weather, with the vessels rolling and pitching, and shipping spray, the condition of their, decks would have been bad indeed. The cargo steamer Wanaka is bringing a large number of sheep to Lyttelton on Wednesday, and with the number of cargo boats at its command the Union Company, it is thought, might well arrange to carry all the sheep offering in such boats without putting them on board passenger steamers.