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Grey River Argus, Volume IV, Issue 269, 3 October 1867, Page 2

' . A telegram 'u^K-ecc.ivcd by the agent of the P.-N. Z. a^^A. IJ-. M. Co. yesterday, . elating that, ifl^miscquencp of the fresh in the Hokitikj^Efer and the inability of the harbor steaj^Byto communicate "with her the s.B. Aii^H \jirocceded direct to Nelson, ;% leaving and freight to be g^roughtj^^B^Ts. Egmunt, which is anIt "2U|^^HPWp . JiTC to-day for Sydney via ■<m S' JC w^'* transMy her l^caitgo to tlic Airedale, and 'f rc '-1t to Sydney, an arrange- )' c given to understand, 1 a f 11-V °^ra expense upon the r £ v rle '■ lc Airedale called off this 'would have been impossible ? Je with her as there was too on the bar to allow any i >c- HeroES- "s therpis a gold waiting fprconveytile Egmont will be detp the latest possible morning a fireman on Phoebe, being half intoxicated, sea after his cap, whiuh had jP^^^F^g^Eile^was able to swim, and a rope his ;inn by which he ji^9<iV t.!- l _ After being brought ''-.^Sueck,"l»/ Ml into a~staLo of insensibility, and contused so until the arrival of Dr Ousack, who had been seiit for. Dr Cusack applied Sylwator's^metbod of artificial respiration and Hetion to the limbs, and after some perfo erance natural breathing returned, an he was able to proceed in the ship. —Ncl* n Qolmihit, September 2G. Referring to the wrecks of the steamers Queen, Sot h Australian, and Star of ib,3 Evening, r Balfpuv, the Chief Marine jV^Engineer 0 the Colony, says :—The wrecks fcJl^BJßil^Bi'eß^nt-fionT^^etaivt rl to htvve been move or less ciiruetly, to compass Courts of Enquiry, and I see dispute the accuracy of the it v. paid seem most important mariners that owing to the nature of the currents on some (HPfftsof the Hew Zealand coasts, compass pourses should not be top i i-plieitly relied on, under any circumstances, cv n when a vessel ha 3 bqeu successfully sailed on the same course on previous occasions, anct that every possible inea.ns should be emplpyed to check the accuracy of a ship's' position from time, to time; and that the fact of a vessel paving been swung for compass correction in harbor, does not exonerate a master pf a vessel from being bound tp take every op^ portunity of ascertaining the errors of his compass by actual p.bservation whun at sea. With a view to test the accuracy of the not unfrequent assertions of extraordinary variations in compasses, in certain states of the weather, it has been suggested by the Harbor Master at the. Bluff that the various lighthouses }a the Colony should be supplied with comia'ses.of moderate ■ (JeHcacy, and that the lightkeepers should be instructed to. recordfi'iieir reading? at certain hours daily, Ifc, afid'inore frequently should any abnormal yariation be. elicited, aud the idea seems worthy of consideration, as, though Jightkeepers anight not be competent tp make ■* delicate magnetic observations, they could easily detect any abnpjmal observation which could endanger a vessel. ,-,' The race, of tca^h'ppers from Foo-chpw-fop $0 London,, this season, promises to be a very closely contested affair. We observe that the Taeping passed" Ang«r on the 27th of June, followed by the Fiery "Cross-on the .Ist of July. The Ariel came next, on the 4th of July, followed by the White Adder. The Taitsing, which sailed from Poo-chow on the 10th of May, and the Yangtze and 'BJack Prince, which sailed together on the 12th, all passed Anger on the 14th of July. The Chinaman followed on the 18th of July. — Argus. In the third annual report of the Marine Department, the ftlarine Engitieer, Mr Balfour, offers the following suggestions relative to a general code of JSarbpr .Regulations for the Colony :-- Several series of harbor" regulations for different provinces having been submitted to vie during the past yearfor revision, ! have remarked that the bulk of rules are identical', and mai*y of the differences Qf.no moment j and as it would be a great coriVcnienceif one set of regulations could be made for the whole colony, I haye frame such a set, on the priu■■ißMtha^ all variable waiters should be as appendices. These regulations and; I would strongly recir" 7 adoption, with, of course, corrections, as in that case '-the; New Zealand Harbor Regulabe sent to Great Britain and to colonies, so that shipmasters about a voyage to our shoves could procure I should propose to piib--1 the regulations,* all inforrna-.

tions, all information as' to coastal and harbor lights iv the colony, local signals, reported rocks or shoals, character and depth of water of ports newly opened up, &c, publishing new editions from time to time, so as to make the information as complete and useful as possible, and to make the publication a supplement, as it were, to the ".New Zealand Pilot," which is- au admirable production, and correct as to all essentials. One difficulty iv the way of issuing such a general code of signals wouid be the cumbrous nature of the preamble required to embrace the powers of the Governor ann 1 all other authorities who are by lavr entitled to make some portion oi the regulations ; and I would suggest, as one way of overcoming this difficulty, that they should be passed by the Legislature of the colony, after the consent pf the several I authorities has been procured. If the general principle be approved much time might be saved and much correspondence avoided, were a congress of the principal harbormast tggs summoned to consider the regulations in a spirit of mutual concession, as the differences even now existing between the regulations of the different provinces are in reality comparatively trifling. The p.s. Cleopatra, which was recently advertised for sale by the General Govern- ' ment, has, we observe, been purchased "by | Mr J. Paul, of the 'firm of J. and E. Paul, -.late of this town. As it is intended to place 1 this vessel on the West Goast trade, the following general description of her and her trial trip may not bp uninteresting. The j Nelson Colonist, of the 27th ult, says ;— Yesterday afternoon, the Cleopatra was taken outside on a trial trip, with a very numerous company on board. Having lately come into tlje hands of Mr J. Paul, whose tender of purchase was accepted by £he General Guveiiiment,'that geutleman was desirous of testing the qualities of his very favorably purchased steamer, and the occasion was made one of hospitable entertaiument to the numerous friemls and well-wishers who had assembled on board. Although several light showers were experienced curing the two hours' steaming, the.trip was a pleasant and satisfactory one, the vessel proving to be of good average speed, and possessing a large aniouiit of deck room ar>d a really spacious saloon, where between fort}' and fifty persons sat down at one time to partake of tho exhilerating cheer which the owner had very handsomely provided for his gue3ts. The Cleopatra is diagonally constructed, having been built in ISG3 by Mr Hntchinson, of Qnehunga, at a cost of LSOO . She was in the first place used as a tender for Commissariat purposes on the Waikato river, and subsequently an excellent engine, by Russell, was put into her at a very large oufcify, alterations wereelFccted which some have stated at an aggregate cost of five thousand ponnds, 4nd she was then found to be very serviceabljj for the uncertain depth of the water which characterised the navigation of the above named river. Her dimensions are ]00 feet in length ; 14 feet beam, 5 feet 3 inches depth of hold, and her draught is between 3 aud 4 feet. The engines are direct acting high, pressure, 25 horse power, noniiuul, butcapable of working to 50. On being tested with the measured mile on the Boulder Bank, the result was 7 minutes 17 seconds, or eight and one-fifth miles per hi ur, the fuel being inferior Waikato ccal. On returning the visitors were invited into the saloon, and Mr M'lntosh having been voted tv the chair, and assisted by Mr Bentley in tie vice-chair, the toast 3 and speeches usual to such occasions were duly performed, and from these it was gathered^that Captain Palmer would be appointpd to her, and that should the o\yner get commensurate assistance from the Pro f vincial Government, the peculiar capabilities o.f the pleppatra for entering several of tha smaller rivers 011 tho West Coast, such as the Litde Wauganui, Heaphy r and others, would be available to open up streams that were k lown to contain gold, but which reuuiined utiworked in consequence of want of money , to convey provisions to the diggers who would . otherwise gladly test them ; in the meantime we believe the Cleopatra very shortly will take her place in the coastal service of We3tland.