WHY A BOTTLE IS BROKEN ON A SHIP.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 10820, 10 December 1902, Page 4

WHY A BOTTLE IS BROKEN ON A SHIP.

, Why is a bottle of wino broken, on V ship before it is launched? is a qucstior. that has often., bepn aekod; and an answer i^ given by a Canadian writcor in an Ame . lican eontemporjiry.. It is >f or, the reneor that made Pplycnrtea- throw, his -ring irilo the sea. — to. give misfortune its share They say to misfortune; "We srive thif to you. B<£ satisfied- with it. Take oui v wine and take, nothing ehy'-" It is the reason that An^p i ejs,,.t]ip fai tlif ill Jews tc , break a cup at their wedding ceremony The broken bottle is a child's stratagem It is poor man's craft against destiny. 7 T ~« r ~ • The Wcstralia" 'arrived at Melbourne, from tho Bluff ; and Hobnf't, on Monday. Tho barques , Ma*y Mwoi^, for ? Mcl bonvto. and Helen' Denny, for Sydney, left Kaipara' on Monday. The Zoninndid' left' Auckland on 'MoHda^ for .Sydney; • , ' ' '. • ' Owing 'to the! ■ -p'rtrir tides, the 'Ofeti,' while nleamiiigf :npHhc:rrver;gronffdpil on

the flats. She got off <, tjus morning arid moored at Jhe Wharf sit 5 a.m. .' Tho W;aimatc, which is expected in the rda'dstcacl <5n Friday,' takrs' a- sUipmenl of meatand wo6l from the Aramoho Mont Freezing 'Wprks. Tho . Stormbird will lighter tho wool and the Thistle the moat. A shipment of cattle will bo taken to Wcstpori; by the Mo:t, which sails tonight. . Thtvs.B., Wairanto, of the New Zealand Shipping Company's fleet, will arrive in the roadstead on Friday from Timarii, to load for Home. Sho will be followed by the- Indradcvi, of the Tysor ,LinC ( Company, which is expected to arrive' from Napier early on Monday morning. , Fc-K lowing the 'Indradevi will come the Devon,, of the South. African Steamship ' Company ,, which may be looked for about tlje 19th mat. . The ship Anncsley, now at Dunedin, .-will discharge' original ' cargo' from Liverpool and then return to Wellington 1 to load wool for the N\Z.S. and Shaw, Savill, and. Albion Companies. . The Board of Trade, inquiry into thojoss .of the Allan liner Huronian, with, s7 lives, was concluded 911 "October 2. The finding of the court was that *tho ' vessel was seawortny and properly equipped, and the court had no evidence to enable it to ar_rjve at the cause df the disaster. * The barque (formerly ship} Orari, t once i noted clipper under the N.Z.S. Comoaiiy's flasr. is reported " to load at New York for New Zealand. , ,It is stated that the passngc rates by, the Orient Company's new liner Orontea arc to 'be so moderate that each first-class passenger will -pay only about Id uer mile, - while thi,rd class passengers will pay 11 grdat deal loss .than, -id- a mile for the privilege of journeying to Australia -Mid "bpirig at the same, time comfortably housed; and abundantly fed. She enilcd for Australia on. October 24. and^on her- trial trip on 'tho Clyde developed a- speed of lQ.]y knots W hour. I'Ltovd's .Rewigter" returns show that, excluding warships, there were 388 vessels,, of l-,f)00.714 tons gross, under construction n the United .Kingdom at .tlleclosc bf tho quarter " onded 30th .September .aat, -leainst 477 vessels, of 1,414,120 tons fross, *t the corresponding (period of lSJOl.^whcn •-he total was v.npreccntedly high. The -eturn sh'dtvs a decrease of about 129,000 •bems* compured with the' preceding quarter. , i Mr .Herrcßhofl: has for years been one of. the leadijijar shipbuilders in the United States; having designed many yachts and 'torpedo boats. He has been blind -gince his , fifteenth 'y.car. He is gifted with' infaculties of touch and memory,' for wijioh blind men, are remarkable. Jle, can' discuss an intricate specification that 'ins bepii once, read to him as -accurately t «8 though he 'saw it in print before lam. ' md byfrunning his fingers over a model 'ie can tell its lines ,to a nicety.. ■ , ~ ~H;M. new armoured ciuiser Drake, one nf the K;n<r Alfred qlafes, which returned .J« Portsmouth from a cruisfe on October 2, signalled that she had, whilst steaming' ' it full, power, been • propelled by her en■jines at over. 24, knots an" hour, the greatest speed vet achieved by any British cruiser. The Drake has been fitted with broad-bladed propdlora ' ' The British battleship Ocean, lyjiidi re-" ?ently left Hong Kong for. Nagasaki, cx1 -oerienccd the full strength of .a severe tyotioon. "YVaves 60 feet high washed at ";inies , clean over the funnels. Two boats ' vere . lost, ' and tho 'stern walk* was re'Tuced to a wreck of twisted iron. 'The torocdo- net's were rent into, ehreds in many ilaccß. ■ One sailor had his thigh and leg 'irokcu and Ms kneecap eniaßhed to luts. Every bit of furniture in the wardroom took, charge, from the piano .downwards. v The' Arctic cruiser Frani returned to Christiania with the members of -the Sver«^rup' 1 expedition on board on September 29.' Two- war vessels with the Norwegian Minr,/ stry on board-met the Fram iv Kristinia- . 'ord, accompanied by the professors bf the university at Christiania, and repre- - lentatives of , the civil and military authorities. Captain Svcrdrup' was flnthusiasfcica.lly - greeted by an 'enormous numbci? - -)f people. ' " ' ' . ■ . During' the .month, of September Clyde - shipbuilders -launched' ,twp warships, 19 •teamers, and; 3 sailing ships. New.orlers have been placed to the amount of >7jooQ.ions, - •• ' . - It was hinted in' Liverpool spmo time \go that one or two vessels of 800 ft were ' . projected, the impression conveyed >icing' hat they "were for the North Atlantic'scrric&. One or two thinars indicate, Jiow>ver, £hat the Codric's sister, recently heju'n, "will about represent the limit for iomc time to come. None of the German linerfl in progress ate larger^ and the Ham-burg-American steamers are understood io. be finding the Elbe quite shallow enough , F or them. It has, we are told, been found lecessary to lighten some of these lcviatfians^ to 7 he ' extent, of some 7ft before "ihey could leave the lower Elbd. , In "England the trouble is the length. No i»hip if more than 730 ' feet can work in tho TjiVerpool docks, and none, of more than 700 feet in the- London docks.' No sailing vessels have cro?sed the Suez danal since- 1874 or 1875, except during Mie" Turko-Bussian war of 1877-78. At that time sailers arrived from Calcutta- withT.ndian bnt for the last ten no sea-going sailing 1 vessel has crossed the :anal. Sometimes trains of coal and material treated by tho Suez Canal Company is sailing vesels with, 1 the view of collontiug thefc.towin.sj duties, have crossed the ■auril, but no sailing vessel encaged in usjh sea navigation has crossed U wi.liin L he period named. The absenco of sailinfir vespels in the canal is explahved by the _ diRculties of navigation iv tho Red 'Sea*. Tho extraordinary jiumber of Railincr ncs-; 'els lost in .the Red .Sea (which is full .of langeroufl roc^s and slioals) during the. years 1872-73 seems to, havo .(liscoura^e.d further attempts. t'fh» officials of the Suez Oannl -Company believe that the construction of the canal, which was opened to invisaHon in 1369. has been an impetus *o pjtcam --^vfjption. tltrongliout the worlds •