San Francisco Mail.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XL, Issue 20, 13 May 1908, Page 55

San Francisco Mail.

PACIFIC COMPANY’S FLEET, By WILL LAWSON. When, in 1873, the Californian line of paddle steamers ceased running in the ’Frisco mail service, a temporary service was maintained by the A.S.N. Co., of Australia, which ran the vessels MacGregor, Mongol, and Tartar, of 2000 tons burden, and having a speed of ten knots an hour. The main routes were from Sydney to Fiji, and from Dunedin to Fiji, where transhipment was made into a steamer running to San Francisco. The steamer which came to New Zealand called at Auckland, Napier, Wellington, and Lyttelton, en route to Port Chalmers. The first sailings under this arrangement were from Sydney on 20th December, 1873, and from Dunedin on 10th of the same month. The port of transhipment at Fiji was Kandavau. In 1874, the Tartar and Mongol were replaced by the Cypinenes and the Mikado; and the City of Melbourne also engaged in the service. In this year the North Gernrand Lloyd offered to run a line of 2500 ton steamers between Sydney and ’Frisco, but this offer was not accepted. It was not until the year 1875 that an agreement was made with the American Pacific Mail Company, a most powerful Pacific concern, owning a large fleet on the China and Honolulu runs, whereby a monthly service between Sydney and San Francisco was arranged. Writing to the Secretary of the London Post Office, Sir Julius Vogel, then Premier of New Zealand, stated—- “ When we majle this contract with the A.P.M. Co., we remembered and recognised the fact that the American people have a large interest in the success of the, line, and we believed that, in making this contract, with a powerful American company, we should interest them still more in the enterprise and eventually secure a more speedy transfer of mails across the continent.” The mails left London on Thursdays, ’Frisco on Wednesdays, arriving at Auckland, Port Chalmers, and Sydney on Sundays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays respectively. The homeward mails left Sydney on Fridays, Port Chalmers on Wednesdays, and Auckland on Mondays, arriving at San Francisco and at London on Thursdays, a fortnight elapsing between the two dates. The route fol-

lowed was fr. m 'Frisco to Fiji and Auckland. At Auckland alternate boat* forked for Port Chalmers and Sydney, and branch steamers plied on the route which for the time was not followed by the main line steamer. On 12th September, 1875, tiie Pacific (Ompany wrote that the following .-.hips Would sail in the order given below:--Vasco de Gania, sailed from Sydney, 19th November, 1875. Colima, sailed from ’Frisco. 10th Nov., 1875 City of San Francis* o, sailed from ’Frisco, Bth Dec.. 1875 City of New York, sailed from ’Frisco, sth Jan., 1876. City of Sydney, saihd from Frisco, 2nd Feb.. 1876. Zealamlia, sailed from London, 15th Dec., Australia, sailed from London, 15th Jan., 1876. Excepting the first two, - these steamer? were of 3000 tons register, ami were spes cially fitted for the service. Of the two former, which were only employed pending the arrival of better boats, the Colima appears to have been an unfortunate ship. She* broke a crank shaft at ’Frisco, and was delayed, thus forfeiting her subsidy for the trip. Again in April, 1876, she broke down off Bank’s Peninsula. The s.s. Maori came to her assistance, and took off the pilot, Mr D. S. Rich, who proceeded to Lyttelton to arrange for towage. The cause of the breakdown was attributed to overloading on the trip over from Sydney, the ship having made a tedious passage to the distress of herself and her passengers, who, .when the ship arrived at Kandavau, a ro<e en masse and hooted the old steamer. She was shortly afterwards withdrawn ami replaced by the Taranaki. At Kandavau. three mail steamers met, two transhipping into the 'Frisco boat, on the northward voyage, and vice versa. Here is an extract from the report of the Mikado's mail agent concerning some friction with (he company’s agent at Kandavau. The Mikado arrived there with measles aboard. “Ton hours after arrival in Kandavau, Air Woods (company’s agent) hailed us from a boat and informed Captain Moore that he would have to discharge mails into the Colima at a port 30 miles away, but Captain Moore refused to comply as it would delay the mails, and unless he transhipped at Kandavau, he would procede on to New Zealand. I also told Mr Woods that I was the New Zealand mail agent, and requested that he would be good enough to tranship me at once, but he took no notice of me whatever.” Eventually, Mr Woods, in taking the

Granada out of the harbour, fouled the Colima, delaying all three vessels. The report continues — “You will ask, sir, where the pilot was. He was not allowed to leave the Mikado, and was brought on to New Zealand by order of Mr Woods. Mr Woods came on board, but directly he heard we had measles he ■went ashore and reported the matter to the Health Oflicer, but did not mention that he had been on board.” With the arrival in the service of the new ships, Australia and Zealandia, a better state of things obtained. In conjunction with the three “Cities,” they constituted a strong fleet. It may be mentioned that the City of San Francisco on her trials showed that she could steam 360 miles in 24 hours. The New Zealand representatives of the line at the various ports were as follows: — 'Auckland — Messrs Owen and Graham. .Wellington — Messrs W. and G. Turnbull Lyttelton — Messrs Wilson, Sawtell, and Co. Dunedin — Mr Henry Driver. Mr R. .1. Creighton, of Auckland, having decided to take up his residence in San Francisco, he was appointed agent there for the New Zealand Post and Telegraph Department at a nominal salary of £3O per annum. An appointment of this kind was necessary owing to the action of the two transcontinental railway companies in levying heavy charges on all mails which went by trains other than the regular ones. Several expensive. trains ran, one of these, the famous “White Mail” being an excessively costly one to send mails by. It was alleged against the railroads that they delayed the mails so that they had to be sent by these trains. Mr Creighton at once set to work to secure a reduction of the Charges, which, of course, were not entirely borne by the Colonial Governments, and to a certain extent he was successful.

The performances of some of the steamers engaged in the service are interesting. The City of San Francisco left [Auckland on 14th February, 1876, and arrived in ’Frisco on 9th March after a trip of 564 hours, being 34 hours under contract time. This vessel was alleged to have touched at Port Chalmers, on

the bar, but the statement was denied by the Harbour-master, who said there was 25 feet of water there at the time. The Australia, however, went aground three-quarters of a mile inside the bar, but came off without damage, and it is to be remarked that the Zealandia left Dunedin, drawing 21 feet aft and 19 forward. It urged that the channel was too narrow-, and tortuous for navigation by these ships except in daylight, and, with the assistance of a tug. Napier, too, was not a favourite port with the skippers, and the Australia got into hot water by omitting to call there on one outward trip, the reason being that ten miles out, where she was, a strong gale, was blowing, thus causing the captain to assume that the same conditions prevailed inshore. Inshore, however, the •weather was calm. In 1877 the route was altered from via Fiji to the Honolulu course, as seamen and underwriters considered the Fijis unsafe for night running. Soon after the change, the Australia sailed past Honolulu, refusing to call, as the Hawaiian Government demanded a fortnightly mail service with ’Frisco for 10,000 dols. a year, and the company desired to compel a further subsidy. Another of the “Cities is the heroine of a' piece of navigation which, in these degenerate days, would not lie tolerated for an instant. The City of Sydney, on her way from ’Frisco to Honolulu, cracked her high-pressure piston head. As repairs would have occupied four weeks, she was allowed to proceed to sea, provided she employed a tug until well off shore, and her captain was advised to return to ’Frisco, using only the low-pres-sure cylinder. But he came on to New Zealand, and earned the subsidy, the delay incurred being forgiven. The American Pacific Mail Co.’s last contract expired in 1885, and when fresh tenders were invited, this company did not tender. There were rumours of the establishment of an All-Red service, and this fact kept the San Francisco contracts down to a short term basis, making their renewal precarious. The Oceanic Co. of America entered the lists, in conjunction with the Union Co. of New Zealand bringing into the service the new steamers Alameda, Mariposa, and Mararoa.