THROUGH PANAMA CANAL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 724, 25 November 1914, Page 7

THROUGH PANAMA CANAL.

FIRST BOAT ARRIVES AT AUCKLAND.

A great deal of interest attaches to the arrival-at Auckland Last Friday morning cf the steamer Parley, which is the first vessel to come to New Zealand waters via the Panama Canal.

The Furley has made a record Aoyage of thirty-seven steaming days. She left.New York on October 11th last, and reached the canal eight days later. Unfortunately she was then delayed by a fall of earth which had taken place in the Culebra Cut on October 18th. Captain Welsford described the passage through the great canel as one cf the most interesting experiences of his life. By the firat three colossal locks which the vessel traversed the Parley was raised eeventy-one feet above sea level, and then Bha commenced her downward journey to the Pacific Ocean. The' time taken .in traversing the canal was six and a-half hours. As evidencing the great gain in time which the canal enables steamera to make, it may be mentioned that the Bteamer Star of New Zealand, which left. New York fos the Dominion, via the old route, September 30th—that is, eleven days before the Purley—is not due at Auckland uncil the end of this month. Shippers and merchants have recognised the great prospects of the new route, and there are now some half-dozen steamers on the way to New Zealand, via the Fan»ma Canal. The distance from New York to New Zealand by the Capa route is 11,571 miles, while by the Panama route it is 8500 miles, .a saving of over 30P0 miles. Under "the old timetable the American cargo boats used to call at Australian ports before coming en to New Zealand, but since the Panama Canal route has beßn opened, lha Do minion ports are the first touched at,