MINEFIELDS OFF N.Z COAST.

Hokitika Guardian, 3 December 1918, Page 4

MINEFIELDS OFF N.Z COAST.

INTERESTING STATEMENT BY THE AIINISTER. WELLINGTON, November 29. The minefields off the New Zealand coast were mentioned in the House of Representatives this afternoon, members complaining of the inconvenience caused by the restrictions on shipping. The Hon. T. AI.. Milford, Minister of Marine, made some interesting statements in the course of his reply He said that the way in which information regarding the minefields had reached the New Zealand Government was a romance in itself. A German raider had left its home port with 600 mines, and so complete was the British intelligence 1 system that it was known now where 1 all but two of these mines had been dropped. The sweeping of the mines was no simple matter. Directly information came to hand the Naval adviser secured the only two trawlers available in New Zealand waters, and the officers and crews of these boats had done marvellous work. The Dominion owed them a great debt of gratitude. It was impossible, however,for two boats to cover the whole of the mined area in a lew months, and at present the minesweeper that had been working in the north was away on another mission. The mines, continued Air Milford, had been moored in depths of up to fifty fathoms. A strong current would cause a mine to sink deep; then a change of current would bring that mine near the surface again, possibly after the trawlers had passed on. The danger was very much greater than some people believed. Some 35 mines had been destroyed, but there were others still to be accounted for. It was likely, of course, that some of the mines laid by the raider bad destroyed themselves. A mine drifting ashore on a rocky coast would be likely to explode Experiments which had been made with floats bad shown that certain areas of the New Zealand coast were dangerous, since the mines were liable to drift ashore there.