SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 12, 15 April 1871, Page 10

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

(:"n':I?V- ; ARRIVED. ■ j:. ; apbil. 9, Alarm, ketch, 15 tons, Callow, from Rangitikei. 11, Alhambra, s.s., 497 tons, TJnderwdod, f rom Melbourne via West Coast. Passengers : Cabin—Messrs Cordon, Fraser, Hoskins, Hill, Riley, Coote, Lloyd, Dudgeon, Lankins, Robinson, Davis, Brundell, and Mrs Lucas. 11, Huon Belle, ketch, 42 tons, Saunders,, from Manawatu. 11, Wanganui, 9.8., 164 tons, Linklater, from Nelson and Wanganui., Passengers—Cabin : Mrs and Miss M'Kenzie, Mrs C. Crawford, Miss Anderson, Mr Stobo, 34 excursionists, and one prisoner. 12, Lord Ashley, s.s., 296 tons, Andrews, from Napier and Auckland. Passengerß—Mr and Mrs Cord, Messrs Donald, Thomas, Lewis, Taylor, Axup, Guin, Williams, and nine for Lyttelton. 12, Enterprise, brigantine, 84 tons, Mow--1 em, from Sydney. 12, Lady Denison, brig, 129 tons, Fernie, f rom Melbourne. Passengers—Messrs Taylor, Campbell, Seaton, Carson, and Crushon. 12, Falcon, ketch, 37 tons, Morrison, from Waivau. Passengers—Messrs Mackay, Turnnell, Marks, M'G-ee, and Hales. 13, Amateur, ketch, 25 tons, H. Norgrove, from Kaiapoi. SAILED. 8, Jane Anderson, 93 tons, Falconer, for Havelock. 9, Glimpse, 38 tons, Croucher, for Napier. 9, Ruby, 24 tons, Fraser, for Kaikoura. 11, Alhambra, s.s., 497 tons, Underwood, for Melbourne, via the South. Passengers: Cabin—Hon. Mr and Mrs Sewell, Mr Huntley. 12, Lord Ashley, 296 tons, Andrews, for the South. Passengers—Cabin : Rev. Mr and Mrs Morley, Mr Buller. 13, Wanganui, s.s., 165 tons, John Linklater, for Nelson. Passengers: Cabin—Mr Waters, Miss Flyger, Mr Gore, Master Etaveanux, 3 children, and 34 excursionists. The brigantine Enterprise, imder charge of Captain Mowlem, late master of the Eleetra, arrived at the Queen's wharf on Wednesday from Sydney, which port she left on Monday, the 3rd inst, and entered the Straits on the seventh day out. She made the run in. eight and a half days, and is in every respect a capital vessel for the coasting trade. The Enterprise underwent a thorough overhaul in Sydney on the patent slip there, and Captain Mowlem has the satisfaction of knowing that she is as pretty a vessel as there is among the small fleet of New Zealand. Captain Mowlem hands his ship over to Captain Sedcole, who takes her on to Dunedin, where she has to discharge about 70 tons of bark from Sydney. The Enterprise is owned by Captain Mowlem and Messrs Levin & Co., and we hope and believe she will prove a fortunate speculation. • She will leave for Dunedin on Friday first. By late advices we learn that the new Graving Dock at Port Chalmers was near completion. We also hear that Mr Martin has made arrangements with the company for placing his steamship Phcebe in the dock on arrival this trip, for the purpose of a thorough overhaul, and for scraping, cleaning, and painting her bottom. The Phcebe is the largest steamer owned in New Zealand, and will probably be the fust handled by the new dock, and from her dimensions and weight will prove a good test of its strength and capabilities.. The s.s. Go-Ahead, which left here on Friday last, arrived at Manawatu on Saturday. Besides the Danish and Swedish immigrants, the Go-Ahead took up a number of intending settlers. Mr Snelson, so long in tho employ of MrE. W. Milis, was also a passenger by her. He goes up, we believe, to open a branch estabishment for Mr Mills. From the well-known capabilities of the Manawatu district, where fine soil and excellent timber so abound, and now that every facility for communication is presented, we expect to see this rapidly growing district soon make still rapider strides in the way o£ progress, as considerable attention is being directed to the various advantages presented by the district as a field for both trade and settlement. In connection with the growth of that district the little steamer brings to it at least a name of good omen — Go-Ahead. The annual, descriptive list of the steam vessels registered in the United Kingdom at the beginning of the year, prepared by the Board of Trade, and laid before the Parliament, has been issued. It shows that on January 1, 1870,* the number of vessels was 2955, an increase of 39 over the number on January 1, 1869; the amount of registered tonnage is 946,736 tons, an increase of 42,545 tons; the amount of gross tonnage is . 1,414,729, tons, an increrse of 73,623 tons. The oldest date of build is that of the Industry, registered at Glasgow in 1814. In size the Great Eastern, of course, towers above all with its großs tonnage of 18,916 tons, and 2,660 horse-power. The "Newcastle' Pilot" says, a somewhat novel boat race took place in the harbor. The proprietor of the ferry steamer Nelson (the fastest boat of her class in the harbor) backed his vessel to steam from the Market Wharf to the Waratah shoots against a waterman's skiff, pulled by a waterman named Michael O'Brien, an allowance in distance being given to the latter. After an exciting race, which was witnessed by a goodly crowd of spectators from the Market Wharf, O'Brien won by about a length. Yesterday two- out of the three steam launches which arrived by the Caducous got steam up and took a run round the harbor. These boats are very similar to the steam launch Polyphemus, belonging to H.M.S. Galatea. Such boats must be of very great .service for very many purposes about a large and busy . harbor like that of Auckland.—" N.Z. Herald" March 31.

An Invercargill paper. says:—Along the beach towards the New River Heads are scattered portions of a teak-built, iron-fa9tened vessel, of perhaps 400 to 500 tons burthen. They show marks of fire, and apparently have not been exposed more than a few months to the action of the sea. The breaking away of the torpedoes (says the Melbourne "Telegraph") which the Signal and Torpedo Corps had laid down in the Bay, is attributed by the authorities to an accident arising, it is believed, in consequence of some steamer fouling the mooring chains. As they were calculated to withstand a strain of some tons, no ordinary casualty could have removed them. It is intended to institute an inquiry, with the object of clearing up this point. An interesting ceremony took place recently at the Government offices. It was the presentation by his" Excellency the Governor, in presence of the • Executive Council, of two of the bronze medals of the Royal Humane Society to two boys—Alexander M'Lelland, of the Reformatory ship Deborah, and Alexander Downie of the Reformatory ship Sir Harry Smith for gallant conduct in saving lives in the bay. M'Lelland, on the sth February, 1870, while on board the Deborah, saw a boy named Joseph Richards accidentally fall into the sea from the gangway platform. Without the least hesitation he plunged into the sea, and saved Richards's life. Downie, on the 9th April last, saw a comrade named John M'Leod, who could not swim, fall overboard. Downie, though small, waß full of pluck, and jumped overboard with such promptitude and skill that he rescued the other from a watery grave. —Melbourne " Argus," March 27. A singular discovery was made on board the schooner Thomas and Joseph just as she was about leaving Yarmouth Harbor the • other day. It waa found that one of the crew was a young Russian female in man's clothes, and from subsequent inquiries it turned out she had shipped as cabin-boy at Wilburg some months back, whilst the vessel was at that port taking in a cargo of deals. She had performed her duties satisfactorily during the voyrge, and had escaped detection till the other day, when her sex was discovered and «he was put on shore. It appears that the captain had induced her to leave with him in his vessel, and that it was only when he wanted to get rid of her that the deception was discovered. The matter was disposed of by the master giving the girl £3. It was somewhat singular that an hour or two after the vessel left the*barbor, and while proceeding north, she missed stays and got upon Caistor Beach, where she still remains.—English paper. From the London " Mail" of January 17, we take the following :— ■' A severe gale from the south-west, accompanied by heavy showers of rain and hail, blew over the metropolis on Sunday nighfcj January 15. Considerable damage was done on the Thanhs. Several bailing and coal-laden barges were sunk ; three went down above London bridge. One which was moored opposite St. Thomas's Hospital had two men on board when she sank. Numerous shipping disasters have already been reported. The barque Eleutheria, which was dismasted by collision with the brig Geoi'ge Andrichard * off the Eddystone on Sunday, drove off Yealra Point (.Stoke Head) during the furious south to south-west gale at two o'clock yesterday morning, and five of the crew were drowned. The carpenter, whose legs were broken by the masts falling, and four others of the erew were drowned. The pilot Glinn and the remainder of the crew, 12 in number, saved themselves. The barque is a total wreck.—A melancholy case of wreck and drowning occurred yesterday morning off Deal, by which eight boatmen lost their lives almost within earshot of their homes. Shortly after six o'clock, in the midst of a heavy gale from S.S.W., and in a driving rain, a 'flare' was observed on the Goodwin Sands, which intimated that a vessel was in distress, and immediate preparations were made for launching two luggers to the crew's assistance. The former went on their voyage in safety, but, most unfortunately, the latter failed to clear the ' haul-off-rope''in getting off and drifted to leeward, the force of the gale and strong flood tide driving her violently against the pier. Ropes were at once thrown from the pier, but the boat sank before any help could reach them. Most of the poor fellows Clung to- the spars and sails, and floated away with the tide. The screams of the men as they were one by one swallowed up by the waves, were most heartrending. Notwithstanding the terrific sea a boat was launched from the Castle Inn, Sandown, and succeeded in rescuing three of the crew. —An Italian three-masted schooner, the Angelo Dodero, coal-laden, from Newcastle to Genoa, struck upon Filey Brigg, having dragged from the anchors in Filey Bay, where she was riding yesterday. Out of a crew of 13 only one man is saved alive. Three dead bodies fearfully bruised, one being the body of the mate, have been found upon the rocks. The rest are missing. The vessel has gone to pieces." The following is a description of a fogsignal invented by Mr Daboll, an American: —"The fog-horn is essentially of the same construction as the reed-pipe of an organ, but with all its parts maguified to colossal dimensions. The reed, instead of being a thin leaf of brass, is a thick plate of hard steel, 5 in. long, 2 in. wide, and i in. thick at the root, tapering dowA to £ in. at the loose end. The tube is of brass, 8 ft. or 10 ft. long, gradually expanding in diameter, till it finishes in a bell mouth 2 ft. across. The pipe is placed vertically, its upper part projecting through the roof of the building, and being bent into an elbow, so as to make the bell part horizontal, delivers its sound straight out to sea. The compressed air for sounding the horn is supplied from a reservior, into which it is forced by pumps worked with mechanical power. . In the experimental apparatus a hot-air engine, of American contrivance, is used for the purpose; but a small

steam-engine would probably be a more simple and trustworthy machine. A duplicate engine is required in case of any part getting out of order. The pressure of air required to sound the pipe itself; in an organ it amounts only to an ounce or two on every square inch; for a fog-horn it is from five to ten pounds, and the quantity of air repuired at this pressure is very large, but the volume of sound is immense."—" Cornhili Magazine." It appears from our Sydney exchanges that the repairs required by the Clio are of so extensive a nature that the commander will receive instructions from home before proceeding with them. The American whaling barque Matilda Seers called off Otago Heads a few days ago. She had 900 barrels of sperm, and 150 barrels of other whale oil and bone, the whole of which was obtained off the coast of Otago. The p.s. Duke of Edinburgh . still remains high and dry on-the beach in Freeman's Bay, and there she promises to remain firm unless speedy means are taken, by the aid of machinery, to drag her off before she becomes still more firmly imbedded in the sand. —Ibid. The Clyde correspondent of the " Hawke's Bay Herald" records the stranding, at Tahae Nui, of the cutter Charlotte, 40 tons, ef Lyttelton, bound to Napier. Captain Johnson, Who has arrived at Wairoa, reports that the cargo, consisting of 1200 bushels of oats and 10 tons of flour, is partially damaged. The vessel (uninsured) is not much the worse. The " Auckland Herald" of the Bth says that the schooner Emma Jane, from Oamaru, arrived after a stormy passage of 12 days, in the course of which she encountered a succession of fearful gales, the vessel at one time being quite unmanageable. The barque Wandrahm, the last of the German vessels which were laid up in Johnston's Bay during the Franco-Prussian war, left on Saturday last for Petropauloviski. —" Sydney Morning Herald." A curious trait in the disposition of the British sailor was brought to light during the police office proceedings this morning. The men of a certain vessel now in harbor had been disturbed at their supper to perform certain work absolutely necessary to enable the ship to work off a lee shore, and consequently took a fit of the " magnificents," and refused to do what was required—preferring to drift quietly on the rocks, and probably to "fiddler's green," to compromising their dignity by postponing their meal. Fortunately the wind shifted, and the vessel was blown off the land and into this port, where the men were duly put into " dock," whence they emerged to operate upon different rocks at Mount Eden. —" Auckland News," 3rd vast. We understand that the barque Duke of Edinburgh- is not likely to be seen in this harbor for some time, at any rate under her present commander, who took the opportunity of the darkness on Friday night to cast off from the wharf, and clear out of the harbor for Newcastle, without leave or license, discharging all his obligations with his foretopsail. Several of our merchants and tradesmen have been losers thereby.—" N,Z. Herald." An Auckland paper says that during the late gales the whaling ship Eliza encountered the storm, and lost the whole of her boats ; had her bulwarks and a portion of her staunchions carried away. A fearful sea broke oyer her, carrying the mate, cook, and everything moveable overboard. The mate was fortunately thrown on the deck again, but the poor cook was never seen more. , The construction of the Bean Rock Lighthouse'is being pushed rapidly forward. The i foundation is quite completed, and is a solid,/ compact mass, braced together with bars of iron, and which no storm is ever likely to affect. The late heavy gale which committed so much damage a few days ago, passed over it harmlessly, and no fear need therefore be entertained of its safety in the very fiercest of weather. The tower and beacon are now about to be erected, and the whole will be completed in a very short time. It will be a very great boon to vessels entering this harbor at night time, for. they will then be able — even strangers —to come up in any weather.— " N.Z. Herald," 6tn inst. It appears from the " Leader " of the 21st March that Melbourne has been visited by a Russian frigate, the Haydamack, last from Sourabaya, and that it is expected she will visit New Zealand, where she will receive despatches regulating her future destination. She was built at Gravesend, and is 230 feet long, 31 feet beam, and draws when loaded only 14 feet; this gives her tonnage as 1,100. Her armament consists, besides patent breechloading rifles and other small arms, of three steel guns, breech-loaders and rifle bored ; they are termed 6-inch guns, and carry shot of 931 b. Besides this, there is a field-piece of the same make (Krupp'e), a 3-inch one, which carries a 121 b shot j this is intended for boat as well as field use. She is 250 h.p., and can command a speed of twelve knots against a strong breeze. A trial, says the '• Grey Argus," was made on Saturday at the shop of Mr Simmons, of an instrument constructed for. the purpose of weighing the cargo of a vessel, by means of an indicator which the inventor (Mr S. Ross) affirms can be placed in the cabin of the master of a ship, and tell him at a glance whether the vessel has gained or lost a ton of weight. The model was tested by weights placed in it up to 401 b, and every 51b was accurately indicated. It did not matter whether the weights were placed in the bows, stern, or amidships, the indication was correct. What the precise principle of the invention is we are as yet nnable to say, but from what we have Been, we believe that the invention is one of great imi portance, and will, ere long, be generally adopted. It is, we believe, the intention of the inventor to take out a patent at an early day. When a test is made on a large scale we may give a fuller description.