POUT OF GREY.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1913, 23 September 1874, Page 2

PORT OF GREY.

HIGH WATER. This Day- -7. 57 a.m. ; 8.25 p.m. ARRIVED. September 22— Nil. SAILED. September 22—Nil. EXPECTED ARRIVALS. Mary Ogil vie. from Dunedin, Spray, from Lyttelton. Otago, from Melbourne. Jessie, from Nelson. Alma, from Melbourne. Alhambra, from Melbourne. Lizzie Guy, from Dunedin Gleaner, from Melbourne. Crest of the Wave, from Oamaru. Saucy Lass, from Lyttelton. VESSELS IN PORT. Cleopatra, from Wellington. Dispatch, tug steamer. Sarah and Mary, from Lyttelton. Ino, from Hokitika. Murray, from Hokitika.

There were no arrivals or departures at the , port yesterday, as the recent westerly weather prevailing has injured the bar. The ss. Murray ran down on last night's tide and attempted to get out, bub after receiving ' a severe dressing had io return to the wharf, i It is only a matter of a fews hours delay, as the bar is almost certain to be in good work- < ing order this morning, when the Murray will leave for the north. The s.s. Tararua, from Melbourne, did nob arrive yesterday as expected, at least up to the hour of closing of the Telegraph Office. The probabilities are that she will be in the Hokitika roadstead during the night and be tendered here this day. She takes passengers for Nelson, all other New Zealand ports, and Melbourne via the Bluff. An Auckland paper reports that Captain Kasper, of the steamer Lady Bowen, and the chief engineer, Mr D. M'Affer, report favorably on the result of the attachment of Mr Stevens'a new patent paddle-wheels to that vessel. Their opinion is that they are calculated to increase the speed of any boat that tries them, especially in rough weather, as the patent floats take such a deep hold of the water. The theory of the screw-pro-peller is applied to the paddle-wheel, by setting the floats at an angle of 45 degrees, and they thus, it is alleged, perform the same office as the screw; but with greater effect, being equal to two screws. The patent floats being attached to the paddlewheels, are said to have the effect of nearly doubling the effective power of the steamengines, and of increesing the speed to such, an extent, that if two boats of equal tonnage and power competed at sea, especially m rough weather, the one fitted with the patent paddles would speedily leave the other fitted with the common paddles astern. Captain Crawford, of the ship Oath-cart, has been committed for trial at Lyttelton for shooting and wounding three seamen of the ship, during tbe passage from London to that port. The particulars of the case are as follows : - "Some of the crew having during the night broken into the forehold, broached the cargo, and got drunk, one of them was brought aft and placed in irons ; another, having attempted to rescue him, was also taken in charge, but while securing him tbe first prisoner escaped to the forecastle ; and the captain and officers giing forward to recapture him, were prevented from doing so by several of the crew, who made use of threatening language. The captain, finding . that the mutineers would not listen to reason, came aft, and after deliberation with his officers, armed himself and went forward the second time, and finding the doors of the forecastle closed, demanded admission. Previoxs to this part of the crew had left the mutineers. Those within refused to open the duora, threatened the captain, and said that shortly they meant to be masters of the ship. Finding arguments useless, the door of the starboard side of the forecastle was, in spite of much resistance, partly forced open with handspikes, and the captain again warning the mutineers, fired three times amongst them; three of them being wounded by this means, an entrance was effected and the mutiny quelled, the ringleaders and two others being placed in irons " Captain Edgar, of the Oakworth, has been acquitted by the Melbourne«£upreme Court upon the charge of running down a fishing smack off the coast of Ireland, and neglecting to attempt to save the lives of the crew, and he is at liberty now to go wherever be pleases, although the Steam Navigation Board, having deprived him of his certificate for tbe same offence, he can sever again command a British ship. It may be tbat this punishment is a heavy one, and one sufficient to justify the nautical circumstance of the case. It is singular, however, that the Court which may be supposed to have the best technical knowledge of the offence Captain Edgar committed should have condemned his conduct, and severely punished him, and that a jury, with certainly no professional knowledge of maritime matters, have declared him free from the charge of criminal negligence. The Steam Navigation Board, composed of nautical men, and aware of all the difficulties and dangers of despatching a boat from a ship under sail in the open sea, must have thought that Captain Edgar could have saved the lives of the fishermen or they would not have cancelled his certificate for failing to make the attempt ; a jury of landsmen, on the other hand, have practically found that if he had despatched a boat it would not have saved one human life. It is a contradiction, and may well puzzle the wisest head for an explanation.