The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JULY 14, 1879.

Timaru Herald, Volume XXXI, Issue 1501, 14 July 1879, Page 2

The Timaru Herald. MONDAY, JULY 14, 1879.

Mb James U. Russell, Surveyor at Dunedin to the New Zealand Underwriters Association, has undertaken to perform a feat which many others have tried, but have failed m, and we have no reason to believe but that he flatters himself he has achieved it. He has set himself the task of once and for ever proving that the Timaru roadstead is a worse anchorage than any other m the world. Possibly he has succeeded m convincing those outsiders whose interest it is to have none other gods but Port Chalmers and Lyttelton, and with whom the wish is father of the thought, that Timaru should be " quite unfit to be considered as a place suitable for the loading or discharging of other than such small crafts as would be thrown high and dry on the beach m case of wreck or stranding," as Mr James U. Russell puts it. Elsewhere will be found Mr Russell's letter, as published m extenso m the Otago Daily Times, and we propose to criticise m detail, m our usual candid style, its main points. To begin, then, with Mr Russell'B expressed conviction that the anchors and chains of the brigantine Akbar were according to the rules and the register tonnage of the vessel, and yet unfit for an open roadstead : We always thought that a foreign-going vessel was expected to be provided with ground tackle fit for any anchorage. We never knew before that such a craft could be passed by Lloyds Agents when the tackle she had aboard was fit only for such snug, safe harbors as Port Chalmers and Lyttelton. It is a " wrinkle " to know that vessels trading, say between New Zealand and Australia, are supposed to have only stream anchors aboard, so long as they are bound from one land-locked port to another, although no one can say at what moment they may find themselves on a lee shore and an iron-bound coast. But, according to Mr James U. Russell's idea, British vessels are never required to let go their anchors anywhere but m landlocked basins, for he says, m referring to the fact of the Akbar's chains being of the same relative proportions as those with which all classed British vessels are furnished, " It therefore follows that, according to our opinion, no vessel should be allowed to trade to our open roadsteads unless specially supplied with ground tackle of extra size and weight, exposed as they are to the ex-ti-aordinary heavy swell which frequently rolls m without any apparent cause." After reading this, any infantile or uninformed mind would naturally conclude that the terrors of our open roadsteads, that is those of New Zealand m general, and Timaru and Oamaru m particular, are not to be approached m any other quarter of the globe. It would also be assumed that Lloyds at Home, with all their experience, do do not know half as much as Mr James TJ. Russell does, for if they did they would never allow vessels with ev«n

"proved" groundtackle to -visit Timaru. They would make it a condition that the anchors and chains should be at least fifty per cent overproof . Again, ■we were never before aware that heavy swells roll m here without any apparent cause. On the contrary, we have always been under the impression that they were caused by heavy gales prevailing at Port Chalmers or Lyttelton, but which were unfelt here owing to the roadstead being m a deep bight. Mr James U. Russell's ignorance on this point is most deplorable, Before going on to the next paragraph of his letter to the Underwriters Association, we may say that while we quite agree with Captain Mills as to the Akbar's cables being too light for this port, we will go further, and say that they were utterly unfit for a foreign trader of her size, for they were not up to the standard measurement. Passing over Mi- Russell's private opinion as to Timaru being far from a safe anchorage — which goes for nothing, and is not really worth the paper it is written on — we come to his statement that all nautical men with whom he has conversed are imbued with the belief that if large vessels are to continue trading to the places referred to— Timaru and Oamaru — it is merely a matter of time when some great calamity will happen. Of course it is ; and so is it merely a matter of time for some unfortunate ship to break her back on the Port Chalmers bar, or for a whole fleet to leave their skeletons on the grinning rocks which line Lyttelton harbor. At the same time, we feel much more prepared to back ships which come to Timaru, against time, than we do those which go to Port Chalmers or Lyttelton, and this m defiance of the disinterested and unbiassed opinions of all Mr James U. Russell's nautical friends. The next paragraph says, " An iron ship of the present day is different from a wooden one." Well, we must confess that we are not m a position to contradict such, an assertion; but when Mr Russell states that the former has no buoyancy when filled with water and will remain and speedily break up where she first settles down, we beg to differ from him. With all his knowledge, he does not seem to be aware of the fact that iron vessels are, now-a-days, built with watertight compartments, whereas wooden ones are not, and that it takes three times the time for the former to fill than it does for the latter. Again, his intimate acquaintance with, the Timaru roadstead has evidently led him to believe that vessels are m the habit of filling while riding at anchor, or at any rate long before they touch the beach, and of going down m deep water ; the fact being that it is rarely, if ever, vessels either fill or touch ground until within a few score yards of the- shore. Mr Russell's affectation of knowledge on this point is lamentable m the extreme. The sixth paragraph of his letter is the most entertaining of all. There is such a fund of drollery m it that one feels almost inclined to take the whole bulletin as a joke. " There is the chance," he says, "of a vessel being driven on to the Breakwater at Oamaru, and if ever such a catastrophe does occur, those who witness it will not forget the spectacle m a hurry. I would rather be a mile up m the air, hanging on to the fragments of a burst balloon, than on board a vessel so situated." So would we. In fact we would sooner be hanging on to nothing at all. But then it is a matter of time for such a catastrophe to occur, as it is for the great calamity at Timaru, and meanwhile we do not care to think about either the one or the other. " By legal authority," according to Mr James U. Russell, " vessels m \mseaworthy condition are prevented proceeding to sea, because the lives of the crew may be thereby endangered." If he had added " except when bound to Timaru," we might have believed him, but from the number of floating coffins which have of late years arrived here, we cannotpossibly do so. We are bound to believe what we see with our own eyes. Nothing would please vis more than to know that legal authority was exercised as strictly as possible m the case of all vessels coming here. Indeed it would not be a bad idea if the Hai'bormaster was empowered to refuse to allow any unseaworthy vessels to come to an anchor m the roadstead ; for, with the evidence we have before us m reference to past wrecks, we know full well that the place has been intentionally made a cemetery of for a number of rotten hulks, which were m danger of falling to pieces from sheer old age. In making these remarks wo wish it to be understood once and for all that we do not hold the opinion that the roadstead is as safe as land-locked ports. We do hold, however, and our opinion is borne out by masters of vessels frequenting the roadstead, who have had every opportunity of judging its defects and its merits for themselves, that Timaru is one of the very best open anchorages m the world. Wrecks we must expect now and again, the same as land-locked harbors like Lyttelton and Port Chalmers ; but when we take into consideration the small proportion which the wrecks bear to the total number of vessels visiting this port, we have no hesitation m characterising the statements constantly made m regard to its extraordinary terrors, as being without a shadow of truth. Again, is Timaru to be blamed for wrecks which occur through masters of vessels deliberately ignoring the instructions of the Harbor Master ? For instance, on Saturday, the twenty-eighth of June, Captain Mills, observing that bad weather was approaching, hoisted a signal that no vessels were to come to an anchor. Yet, m the face of this, three, which had already lost one cable, each and were returning from Lyttelton, brought up m the roadstead, and the consequence was they were all within an ace of getting on the beach the following day. If they had done so, their foolhardy and self-opinionated skippers would have received the warmest sympathies of the Dunedin and Christchurch people, while another howl would be raised against the port. We should dearly like to see the captains m question come before an English Court of Enquiry after being wrecked under such circumstances. If their certificates were not suspended for several years, we should feel very much surprised. In conclusion we would offer Mr James U. Russell a few words of kindly advice. We not only have not the pleasure of his personal acquaintance, but we must confess, with feelings of deep shame, tbat we never knew ther* was

such a person m existence until we saw his name at the foot of the letter referred to above. He therefore cannot say that we bear him any malice, when we advise him to direct his abilities towards attaining some other object than the closing of the port of Timaru. We have not the slightest doubt that he means well, but we cannot help feeling regret at the enormous amount of valuable brain power he has wasted m trying to prove Timaru is everything that is bad, and everything that it is not. It is a hopeless cause attempting to drive vesselb away from here, even with Lyttelton within a few hours' sail on the one side, and Port Chalmers on the other. The thing has been tried time after time without the slightest success, by the Dunedin and Christchurch papers, backed up by all the nautical men and Underwriters of the i-espective cities ; and we are quite convinced now that so long as any unseaworthy, but highly insured vessels are afloat, so long will the terrors of this port be ignored, and its beach be well lined with wreckage.