A LONG TOW.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14976, 25 May 1914, Page 8

A LONG TOW.

FROM ADELAIDE TO WELLINGTON" (rn_s AssociATioj- T___n--___ ) WELLINGTON, May 24. Tho Union Steam Stop Company-steamer Kaiapoi arrived here yesterday with the Norwegian barque Lilla in tow. Adelaide was left on May 10th, and the 1900 mile- was covered at an average speed of six knot- an I'.-ur. This ia a record tow to New Zealand waters. Very stormy weather prevailed d_r;<r a large portion of the voyage, and at times there wag a risk oi the "barque breakisg away owing to the rough seas. By ekil-.' ful handling of the tow-lines, however, the' steamer hung on to the nailer. Occasionally both vessels used sail to -steady the'i strain on tho lines. .

The tow from Adelaide to Wellington is by no means a record for long-distance to*, wisr in Australasian -waters. Some yean ago the Sydney-owned collier Ducke__-Jd towed the dismasted ship Samuel Plirosoll fiom Sydney to Albany, which ii a lao-jet distance. A notable tow accomplished about five years ago was that of the well-known tug Champion, with the dismasted 2500-ton ship Leicester Castle from Auckland to Sidney, which occupied fourteen days, in very tempestuous weather. About eeven years ago the .Liverpool four-masted barque Galgate was totally dismasted off. Capo Horn while o_ the passage from Cardiff to Pis-gust (Chili). Under jury-rig. Captain Griffiths got his big, unwieldy ship safely to Rio de Janeiro, whence she was towed' by the tug Sarah Joliflc to Liverpool for repairs. Iho ij ocean-going tugs belonging to Rotterdam have the finest record for long deep-ao* 'owe. Some years ago two of these big tugs towed the groat floating dock, Admiral ewcy, from England to the Philippine Isands, and on another occasion they towed > floating dock from Newcastlc-on-Tyne round Cape Horn to Callao.. The Lilla was a Norwegian barque which put into Adelaide dismasted while on the passage from Delagoa Bay to Newcastle. - She was subsaquently purchaaed by tho Union Steam Ship Company, who -will convert her into a coal hulk at Wellington.. Th* Kaiapoi is a collier of 2003 tons register, . cMned by the Union, Steam Ship Company.