Shipping.

Evening Star, Issue 3420, 6 February 1874, Page 2

Shipping.

HIGH WATER. (To-morrow. Heads I Port Chalmers | Dunedin 6,1 p.m. I 6.36 r>,m. j 7.21 p.m. PORT CHALMERS. arrived. February 6.—Claud Hamilton, s.s,, 529 tons, W. J. Bowden, from Melbourne, via West Coast and Northern Ports. Passengers : Hon. J, Bathgate, Mr and Mrs Boyd, Mrs Campbell, Messrs Chappen, Everitt, M‘Kay, Margrie, Euston, Buckarran, Mears, Harvey, Waldie, Allan ; and twenty-three in the steerage. Isabella, from Molyneux. SAILED. February 6.—Defiance, 26 tons, Burke, for Moeraki. Claud Hamilton, 531,t0n5, Bowden, for Melbourne, via Bluff. Passengers : Rev, Dr Cameron, Rev. A. Webb, Mr and Mrs St. John, Mrs and Miss MTntyre, Mrs and Miss Muir, Messrs Engel, Belcher, Rowland (2), • Maryat, Tighe, and 10 in the steerage. PROJECTED' DEPARTURES. Alhambra, for Northern Ports, Feb. 7. Christian M'Ausland, for London, Feb, 20. Dover Castle, for Sydney, Feb. 9. Phoebe, for Sydney, Feb. 15. Paterson, for Lyttelton, Feb. 9. Samson, for Oamaru, Feb. 10. Wanganui, for Bluff, Feb. 10. Wallabi, for Bluff, Feb. 7. The barque Cesarewitch has nearly finished discharging her piles for the new jetty. The steamers Samson, for Oamaru, and Maori, for Lyttelton and intermediate ports, sail this evening. The ship Christian M'Ausland is fast filling up with her cargo for London, and will sail on the 20th instant. The storm-signal system has been reduced to such a nice point in England that when the storm ball is run up at Greenwich,' it is telegraphed to every port in the kingdom. Any vessel that leaves the port after the ball is up forfeits its insurance. We (‘South Canterbury Times ’) learn with regret that a private telegram was received in town to the effect that the barque Amateur, owned by Messrs Gedye and White, of this town, has been wrecked on the Kaipara bar. She was insured in the National Insurance Company for LI,OOO. Further particulars are not as yet to hand. Messrs M'Meckan, Blackwood, and Co.’s s.s. Claud Hamilton arrived at 6 o’clock this morning from Melbourne, via West Coast and Northern Ports. She left Sandvidge Railway Pier at 3 p.m. on the 24th; passed the Heads at 6 p.m. ; had fine southerly winds till arriving at Hokitika at 7 a.m. on the 30th; called at Greymouth, Nelson, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Timaru, and arrived as above. We thank her purser (Mr Read) for reports and files. She left again for Melbourne, via the Bluff, this afternoon. . The pilot boat’s crew gave notice a month since, of their intention to leave the service unless their wages were increased to LlO per month. This demand was not at all unreasonable, considering the arduous nature of their work, and the general increase of wages; but the authorities did not seem to believo in the nse, and refused it. The consequence was that yesterday the men packed up their traps and left, and their places were filled up by men en.gaged at the port, who went down to the station yesterday.

TRIAL TRIP OF THE S.S. OTAGO.

The s.s. Otago, lately purchased and refitted by Messrs M'Meckan and Blackwood, and intended for the intercolonial service, made a trial trip down the Bay yesterday. The Otago was built originally as a blockade-runner by Mr Lawrie, of Port Glasgow, and certainly her lines and contor suit, admirably for such a purpose.. She is constructed of iron, and is 250 ft m length, with a beam of about 25ft. Prior to completion she was purchased by the New Zealand and Panama Steamship Company, and in 1863 was brought out to this Colony, making one of the fastest voyages on record. By the combined aid of steam and canvas she was enabled to reach Melbourne from Glasgow in fifty-one days. For several years she was engaged carrying the mails between New Zealand, Melbourne, and Sydney in connection with the Panama and New Zealand Steamship Company. When that unfortunate company was wound up she was purchased by a number of Chinese merchants, and for a time traded between Hong Kong and Yokohama. Ibe service however upon which she was engaged did not prove altogether successful, and at last she was allowed to lie up for a considerabletime at Hong Kong. Messrs M'Meckan and Blackwood having heard of this, and being well aware of her excellent sea-going qualities, despatched Capt. Underwood to China in 1871 for the purpose of negotiating her purchase! After a good deal of difficulty, Captain Underwood succeeded in making a satisfactory arrangement, and brought the Otago under sail from China to Melbourne, arriving here in ± ebruary last. She was then docked, and underwent a thorough overhauling: and, with the exception of the hull and engines, she may now be said to be entirely new. Her engines are direct acting, 160 horse-power nominal, with a 30-inch stroke, and a cylinder of 45 inches. Iwo new boilers have been fitted up, and the engines have been thoroughly overhauled. The engine-room has also been enlarged and improved in a variety of particulars, and the saloons reconstructed and decorated. The ordinary saloon presents an extremely handsome appearance. The woodwork is painted light oak color, with gilded cornices and brackets. The seats are covered with green velvet pile, ShL iSf jn 9‘ ai ?4 c ° r P ets being to match. ~~e cabin is fitted up with the moat exquisite taste and elegance. There nff s+°L Ut r\f doZen v bertbß ’ each screened off with light muslin curtains. The floor is covered with a crimson tapestry carpet and the seats with velvet-pile Y of the same color, the woodwork being of highly ttf 6d ,i Ced m’v th a bangings, with richly ej toroffiereclgolcl borders corresponding. An ovalshaped table of polished cedar occupies a convenient niche, and altogether neither pains nor f*£!“ f \ seeni t° bave b een spared in contributcomfort and convenience of passengers. Ihe accommodation provided for steerage gf®nf® rs 18 very superior description. The Otago cames eighty saloon and 120 steerage passengers, together with 700 tons of cargo bhe has also accommodation for twenty-six homes. The quarters provided for the officers a ?l aeamea are very superior, and the fittings tttcoughout excelient m every respect. The trial trip fully answered expectations. Shortly after eleven p clock the ship steamed away from fe I w U,gß «? t ?® railwaypiw at Saudridge. rtii,-H VaS oc cupied mrunning from the Gellibrand fight-house off Williamstown to ahm l 7 e +L Cl i an £? l bght-house, a distance of about twenty-two miles. This she accomplished in one hour and fifty-eight minutes against a pretty strong head wind, with a steam pressure of about 25 pounds to the square inch Un the return voyage up the south channel she IrS ?H-f Bta ? C v M™ 6611 No -15 perch buoy and Gellibrand light-house, twenty-seven miles in two hours 29| minutes. The vessel went smoothly and well, and the engines appeared in splendid order. _The Otago is intended for the Melbourne and New Zealand service, and will be placed immediately on the berth, under the command of Captain John M‘Lean.~-‘ Argus.’