DECORATING THE ELGINSHIRE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12907, 22 February 1906, Page 6

DECORATING THE ELGINSHIRE.

A BOLD ADVERTISER. The lar«© remnant of tlie hull ox the ill-fated steamer -Elginshire?, which lias been a useful landmark for the jocal hsuemen * and a useful topic of conversation ,or passengers along the southern railway, toi the past- fourteen years, has just had a new source of interest for the latter to her dismal attractiveness. Seme and enterprising persons have pointed on what remains of her southern broadside RIDE MURIE'3 CYCLED The perpetrator <8 this decoration—it •would be unreasonable to call it a_defa-ce-ment of beautiful scenery—is a man, Mr R. Murie, and he, with the aid of his brother, Mr W. Murie, of Tunaru, and others,, put- his mark on the -wreck about a week ago. Mr R. Murie was seized with the fancy to make such _use of the wreck, and first made preparations for carrying out his design by means of a raft launched from the shore opposite, the wreck, but several efforts to get the raft through the surf resulted in failure. He then engaged the auxiliary engined fishing smack Kia Ora, which was m port the other day, to assisthim, - and with the aid of the smack's dingy he succeeded, Mr W. Murie, who assisted :in the Vea-.-gave a member of -Our staff ; a&- account of the ; adventure: They i left' Timarti at with plans_ fully foment, smf the j£b--near the wreck,, the "smack was anchored,. "" and: • the party made their way Jo 'thewreck in her dingey. The; appearance of the remains from a close front view from the sea .is remarkable, and suggested to more thaiK one of them—"Russian cruiser." The upper (wooden) deck has a st-eepish slope towards the sea, and the forward brokeu end hangs down. The •boat was_ taken under this, through a gap in'the side, and the operators clambered from the boat upon the, lower (iron), deck, and- -hauled up, their -working, plant. They hunted about and found a cabin dqor to serve as a platform, and hanging this overj the side with ropes they had brought 'for the purpose, it formed a substantial foot-, in'g from which Mr R. Murie first ham-! mered off. thick flakes of rust, and then ■with white paint printed his legend, -in letters six feet high, and extending 33ft along the hull, " the job occupying about four hours. Mr Murie made some interesting observations as to the state of the lnill dininghis stay ,on board. The sides are very thickly rusted; the stern much, less so. The interior,. of the remains -below-- deck are a mere shell of ribs and outer plates; all trace of the timber insulation lining has vanished. The port boiler is in place; the starboard boiler has disappeared. - The engines astern- 1 of ? the boiler,-house are still standing upright, and it is probable that' these, by breaking, the force of tlio waves mailing in, have saved the stern half <>f the vessel from being destroyed loag ago. If the waves were not thus broken up, they would' in all probability have burst through the stern in heavy weather. The wood of the upper deck is in good condition, and the hollow steel mi zz en-mast- still remains in place, with an upper length hanging down fram a break., The hen coops are still on the after deck. The wreck is now.the ' of speckled shags. About twenty of / t in a row on the. ship's rai: °re very tame. The party pelto' : >M bolts with- - out; hitting rny—, r , ... too quick - off

they scan r- " to., their "perch again. The sis' <*s i:. . eer' breeding on

rough old nests of coarse grass, whicn me fishermen recognised as shags' nests. Some years ago a visitVr to the wreck reported that it was full, of small land birds' nest's. Mr Mmie saw none of these'; it is therefore to be inferred that the shags hav? monopolised their holding and scared the small birds away. . It will : be admitted that the adventure was a plucky one. whatever may be '.nought of the result from an artistic, scei ic, or business point of view.