The s.s. Coromandel.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3228, 24 June 1879, Page 2

The s.s. Coromandel.

Official Trial Trip.

The official trial trip of tho new s.s.S Coromandel,.,built by Messrs Holmes| {Bros, of Auckland, and fitted out with; engines and boiler by our local iron! founders; A. and G. Price, ■ took) place to-day. The Coromandel people, I finding. thai , they were . put to ;j considerable: inconvenience,.by beiogr cut off- from regular commuriicatian t with the large* centres of population; foifined'a company, '■ tho' -: Coromandol Steani Boat Company, and ordered the steamer from Messrs Holmes, who have turned out a vessel doing infinite credit Id the resources of their' establishment. 1 Her

dimensions are : Length of keel 100 feet, beam 16 feet, depth of hold 6(t. ,§ip., an*} full draft s|ft- Her tonnage, builder's measurement, is about 95 tons, and she is built; on the diagonal principle, and; copper; fastened,, throughout. The engines are compound surface condensing of 25 H.P. nominal with cylinders 13? and 2§ inches* with a stroke of 15 inches, supported by 1 marine multitubular boiler of the follow-

ing: .dimensions : Length, ' Bft-. 1 i lOih.; |diameter, 7ft.. 2in., with two furnaces. ! The boiler is of very, superior make and ; material. The propeller is ,sft. lOin. I diameter, • with a pitch' ■of P «feet, (driven at a speed of 126 revolutionß. The ©ordimvndel j Mt' the W&W 10^30r!'with vthe' folFdwing gehftemen 1 board :—Mr McCullough (Mayor), Mr Bijodie,; (Cgat»ty f ehairman)v>;jQoli Fraser, K.M., Messrs AiJ. Allom, J. McLaren, E. W. Hollis.E.B. Cameron, Carrick, O'isborne, Symington; Forgie, Alexander Aitken, John Brown,, James McGowan, W. J. apeight,l J. j Wilson, Gf. Black, {Holmes, Drabble, Sims, Brassey* J. jSmithi 11/Mbllhon'e/McLein^Elliott'; U. IE-.h,vMtfried^ :J. : B f &ioney „>. J. S,teedmanf !t^..i Souter, <A. ; , Hogg, Beere, Greeuville^ pj;»!4*:®uWk! (Herald),/ J. D. Gibbonst. junior (Advertiser), and Captain Best;' phe went out to the buoy at the -edge,of the idhannel, then down to Tararu'and back to the Gbodg WHaff C !DuMg the run she behaved admirably, and many experienced j engineers and seamen, pn board were quanimou^ in the approval of. the'stieamfoig titfali im\ of itlie boa£ !and= the luporiof workmabsbip aud power of' |he^machinery.;;., UWi ,;. ,:, i ;'V''!..,::{ 1)

,!';oUofitT»OHjlGir«;!:!j ,:'•.•:'! As the steamer7came alongside jthe ? wJbarf ifl Were' in viieicl iio > prb.cee'd ko fith'e<' saloon and partake of luncheon. The ohair was occupied tyHif .Worship thej. JWa^r, the,Cdyrii^ Chairman .filling,r)he Chairman proposed "the" health-oor.f r . th.«! Queen, the Prince of Walosi and'therest Oi'thefioyal family. • -■* Jl^-( "' ■>'[•'" r»>- ---! The Vide-Cliairman proposed the health >f ■^Hi8 vEkceUency the 1 Grcivernidr^ ! Three' cheers were given/ 1 and' one 'for' tikdj ilobinsbn.: ',: '/. '""■. '[ ,]■''■ '• '',> V,!"!;. ! Mr Ehrenfned said, hehad fprtqnajieljr 1 , a toast placed in'his hands, which Was ' jure tp,, be well received—.«« The Preset Ministry of New Zealand.'' He spoke of the efforts ofrthe*'w.oyernmont. in;- sqlfing '■ tjho native difficulty, andLespecially to the 'good work done in securing the friendship of Be.wi, ; He,alluded=tb the Ikfotw $4 ■(jio^lge ffiipj M thie^attlers at Hawera, - wnicu letter, he said 7 tra»- the {wot!k;of jfi Statesman. He-further said thte vTKamer people had reason to be thankful for the favors received from the present Ministry; iforjinstanee, the railway, the opmhffi ipf; ijbelaridup the river, the foreshore, and many other concessions. - ■■ j The toast was well received, the Chairman calling for three cheers, which were given lustily. j Mr McLaren responded to the toast, j ! Col.;Fraserproposed "Theshareholders 'of tho'Company and success to the under-! taking." He said it was a credit to the; i place and a compliment, that the share-j .holders of the company had come to th'e^ t Thaqics for the required machinery. Hea iwashmre they would have no reason to 1 regreistheir action. , 1 The toast was received with applause. uThree cheers were given.

< I Mr J. H. Drabble, the Chairman of the (Joromandel -Steamship^ J oaipany, ye^stoondedi'fJfte>kai Igmijfied on behW s <tf the 'A of the Company tb meet Ba«kny; «entfomenr, representing 'the we»W'fcna•'ability' of'tne'TnanTes. .(Hear,, hearl, He, W A WZ W^%4l.*fr „the result of the directors exertions, and was proud that so fide a boat had been» procured for 1 the convenience.,iff^|Ve^resi?f dents of Coromandel., „|^o ' #aii jwelf pleased, with tho machinery thnt had been placed in the boat, a finer set of engines it would be impossible to procure in the Colony, or even the .Qld Country. The builders deserved credit, for the manner in which; the bull hadbeehtutried'but,* alntf altogether he felt well pleased with, the,. ;boat,-which he hoped would/repay'ithe 1» Coromandel people for their enterprise; ;Mr E. W.flbllis prpposedthe, toast'of "The Engineers and tho Builderii;" and said he had great pleasure in doing so. He spoke highly of the lines of the boat, and said if was with unqualified approba-' tion he had noticed the way in which (he engines performed their duty. He was himself a mechanic and was qualified to form an opinion, and he had a very MrU one of the workmanships of the Coromandel. Ho was confident .that woric of such a nature ' from' the .Thames would hold;its own with any in the colony. (Applause.) Mr Alfred Price was received^ with cheers, and returned thanks for the very kind manner in which the toast had beeu; proposed. It was the first job of the kind that his firm had done—from the making of the engines and boilers to the placing them -hi. the, boat, and he thoughtit but right that some little demonstration should be made upon the^ occasion. ;• He hoped it wpuld not be the las,t job of the, kind! !3bne 'on the '"'Thames. (Choers); He felt verysconfident that the directors' ,w ; oiild find they had turned ■out a/sound,, "good, workmanlike job, (Applause.) Mr.Holmes, the builder of the boat, said bo was very proud at (he way in

which iiis workmanship had baen spoken of. He had a great deal of experience in shipbuilding and machinery, but a better pair of engines than those in the Coromandel he had never seen. He hoped to bo back with another boat before long for Price Brothers to place engines in. The boat was a good one, and, it' properly taken care of, would be a credit to all concerned in its construction. The boiler, Mr Jobson had told him, he had never seen a better one. >He™.-spoke • fttvorably^of* the?*«pMMnt Government, and said when Mokau was opened ''up, la ,ne's field iorfyfejhterprise would be found for Auckland.

7V Mr AY J; Allom had tnif If«t«tdlist placed in his hand a, V-T.he loc<^l governing bodies." Ho thought but little was required in asking all to drink to this ,tdast.'' There - Were; tjleiM^^r and County Chairman,''gentlemen who were doing,their bost for th^ district, and he could.,say the local.bodies.had. ; in.the past done Well for the Thames'.' (t)neers.) -Tlio toast was received;wit!i fenthußiasm

and they are " JolljrG-ood Fellows," sang by-the' company^ ,T>r>f JJTH O.TJCH The Mayor was called upon to respond, %&! delcgatuHUliat duty tb^' inoH in^oO Cr McGowan, he did not

think it exactly fair to be called upon for fflch-mf; b jttt«teiiip hmm wfau he would^not, shirk the call. If jJredit was due to the local governing bodies he con-v sidered the compiuuitj^t Wgo wo^vde- * serving of more. The people by their exertions did more for the welfare and pr6Bp'erity;of tlle T lHWtlinn'tbot«»Ws of the Councils. If all put their shoulders to the wheel Jh,ow<would sqoa be a change for the better on the field.

The Chairman called upon Mr Brodie to respond on behalf of the County, but th«#!|e;entlemen saidi 4n reply; tp^iWP«F% " lay it on thick, 1' that he did not like to have it laid on,too,thick*in facf, he never got praise laid on thick (somebody said I poor fellow). ~™™. ' Mr Brodie said he believed, however, ! that [tlxaifroal, bpdje(, weW dd^ff ithr i»est they could for the future of thefplace. : The Borough in laying down good footpaths?,? and ij water.-taWes^to^ ;h«lp yhp drainage, the Harbor Board in granting ] allotments on.idh&?£or«§ho&e to such as ; Price Bros., and the County in attending 'to thelwantScofr the butfdiftfio/ta.. d Tfcf; {Overdraft at the bank, however, was a

great touisanere, «rad her eakf mriieik*hjor'\ law would wipe it out, for it would then \&'> Wttfr'-'tksJi pfgil''¥ni4'*(g<f4lil"«HfßlW^3 ipleased with results of the trip in the iCoromandel, and bfelieWinrwAW^* fleet credit upon .all concernad in her con* structio I*™^ -tV '^ ■■■■■

j Mr. Brown also returned thanks on be* s half of the County, and agreed with Mr JMcGowan that a fine future was in-ttore-for this place, and,especially if a harbor made sat5 at (L^SghteW) IBST would ask the p^rfljission of thephairmaitito propose a taast ( he-,wW sure should pot be overlooked—^ Tje Emjilo/ees of (Messrs,. .Price Bros/ r~~He. was an en« Uey by'tkd^ftnd I worked feiitO so mighfc be allowed toi b© • ju^^fl^of gpod Workmanship in that ,lin,e, T and the manner la which th&,ejagp^;|in the Cpr^niandol.; had been finisEed^were a credit firm. But the forfjman of a fou^affjc^,^ might have the highest ability and kiioWf^rledge, and he vbelieved) the Messrs><>i^riM>'3 Bros, had such, yet #1 thoa^Bkillfldiworl*f 1 <r taen^thbir> l3esigirt :add workj;woold*tiHil be indifferent,; and'ieflect little e?Wit;'fl The success of th*'work turned 'out ba-3 tjhe Thames - was >in < a gre^fr lA^aatmiMe tjo the skilled work.mpn employed by i»riee Bros.tf fo,rrn ( on3;bu^{fi,r«t-cia^ifwj^j| xnen,,were.^ngage^rbyp4^4rM, )h .^ Woijkmanshipyin, t^, boilers on the Thames was not to be rivaned, ana W^^he had m&M^jit^^oujd not, be surpassed in the Old Country. Ho had great pleasure in proposing, the ioast. , i Mr Watson briefly replied on behalf of the!workmen. ?, VI -v - Vf O TJT \ Mr Mcllhone proposed the " Justices? J_ of the Peace on the Thames."

j Messrs Allom, Ehrenfried, and Brown replied to the toast. I Mr Mcllhone proposed the health of ."IThe^Odrifter,'* GA'K; -BrifiAiWSßi^l 'Beceived with cheers. Mr Cameron, of the National Bank, proposed "The -Ladies,''UiwMioh Mr Brassey responded to in his usual humorous style.- -'a w « ram* nau r>

"The Press" was proposed by Mr Speight, and responded to by Messrs Gibbons and BtfttW.)o ■T'IIMOSH IUAD Mr Allom asked leave to propose a tdast that was not on the programme, and oie vvlrtob; under preseniUircdniitkuAai,; 1 he thought should not be overlooked. He referred to the present position in Taraniki, and said !th4t he, B Un; oH'iibUnlitl' tlje oldest perhaps present, considered the least we could do, as fellow colonists, whs to express sympatttf <&*&eWM'tliett£ present difficulties. iThe toast was well received, which* after " The health of tW kad' Vice - Chairman," concluded the pro* giamme. The luncheon was wdll * liitP iiut'-arid) bcuntiful to a degree, and was provided by Mr George Symington, of the Gorer* ix6r By*ie'A?"Hotel.T MXiiOa aai yJIUHfr