SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 52, 20 January 1872, Page 10

SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.

ARRIVED. 13, Go-Ahead, b.b., 84 tons, Doile, from Manawatu. Passengers —Mrs Home, Mr Shaw, and Mr White. 15, Jane Elkins, schooner, 25 tons, Leslie, from Kaiapoi. 15, Wanganui, s.s., 165 tons, Linklater, from Wanganui. Passengers: Cabin Mr Eorder, Miss Grey, Mr R. Mason and child, Mr 3 Wilkinson and two children, Mrs Burnett, Mrs Hogg and child, Mrs Powell, Miss Chiene, Mrs Weston and three children, Mrs Martin, Mrs and Miss Linklater. 17, Keera, s.s., 158 tons, Carey, from Napier. Passengers—Mrs Caldwell and three children, Mrs Knowles and daughter, Miss Baker, Miss Munro, Miss Jervis, Miss Malcolm, Mrs Reading, Mrs Bedford, Miss Russell, Mrs Blundell, Mr St Hill and son, Mr Hickson, Mr Johnston, Mr Blundell, Master Pearce, Mr Drew, Mr W. Bishop. 17,. Ealcon, ketch, 37 tons, Morrison, from Kaikoura. 17, Ruby, schooner, 24 tons, Eraser, from Kaikoura. 18, Rangatira, s.s., 185 tons, Renner, from Lyttelton and Otago. SAILE D. 15, Esther, brigantine, 46 tons, Campbell, for Castle Point. 15, Enterprise, schooner, 84 tons, Gathercole, for Kikerarrga. 11, Wanganui, s.s., 165 tons, Linklater, for Port Chalmers. 15, Electra, ship, 648 tons, Sellars, for London. Passengers —Miss Curtis, Messrs Reach and Gell. 15, Heversham, barque, 489 tons, Yule, for Newcastle, N.S.W'. * 15, Go-Ahead, s.s., 84 tons, Doile, for Wanganui. Passengers—Miss Nixon, Major Nixon, Mr Morgan, Miss Morgan, and Mr Mathieson. 16, Elizabeth, schooner, 33 tons, Short, for Blenheim. 16, Camille, barque, 365 tons, Tucker, for Newcastle, N.S.W. Passengers —Messrs Able, James (2), Fa Fou. 17, Keera, s.s., 158 tons, Carey, for Napier, Poverty Bay, Tauranga, and Auckland. 18, Ealcon, ketch, 37 tons, Morrison, for Wairau. Passenger—Mrs Ward.

The clipper ship Electra, Captain Sellars, was moved from the Queen’s Wharf on Saturday morning last into the fairway, previous to sailing for London. Her cargo consists of 2834 bales wool, 308 bales flax, 93 packages of tallow, and sundries, the estimated value being £57,018. The Electra arrived in this harbor on the 17th October last, since which time she has discharged a large inward cargo ,- loaded again, and cleared at the customs on the 12fch instant. She would have got away earlier, but for the breaking of her wool press, which caused some delay. The despatch used is alike creditable to Captain Sellars and her agents, Messrs W. and G. Turnbull and Co. Captain Sellars, during his frequent visits to Wellington, has by his courteous and affable manner secured many friends, and they will with us, no doubt, wish him a pleasant passage to the mother country and a speedy return. She sailed on Monday afternoon at 2 p.m. The fine barque Malay came up the river this forenoon in capital style, with all her flags flying, in tow of the s.s. Wanganui. Clear and bright, with lines as fine as a pleasure yacht, it was cheering to look at our first English vessel. A large crowd of people turned out to welcome Captain Peters and his ship, and when he got opposite the Government wharf and dropped anchor, a gun was fired from Taylor and Watth wharf to signalise the event. report followed by-and-bye. Captain Fairchild, fancying perhaps that our gunnery did not reflect too much credit upon us, then awoke the echoes of the slumbering hills by firing a salute of six guns in quite a masterly way. By the time the vessel had got up, the tide was turning, so that no attempt was made to bring her to the wharf. This will be tried to-morrow, and if there is not then sufficient depth of water, a jetty will be run out from Taylor and Watt’s wharf at the front of which the Malay will be able to discharge perfectly well. We congratulate Captain Peters on the complete success so far of his voyage to Wanganui, and we have every reason to congratulate all those who have an interest in the town and commerce of this district upon so auspicious a commencement of direct trade with the home country. It only needed a beginning, under a shrewd and enterprising shipmaster like Captain Peters, to insure its continuance and increase.—“Wanganui Chronicle,” 12th inst. The awful hurricane which swept along the South American coast on the 16th and 17th of August has caused some very disastrous shipwrecks, which have been accompanied with loss of life. The steamer Lodona left New York on August 12, bound for New Orleans, with one lady passenger, and a crew, it is believed, of about thirty men. The commander was Captain W. R. Honey, who was part owner of the vessel. He had with him his son, a lad of about sixteen years of age. After leaving New York nothing was heard of the Lodona for some days, when Messrs Mallory and Co, of New York, received the following despatch: —“ St Augustine, August 22. The Lodona was wrecked seventy-five miles south. Twenty persons were drowned. The mess hoy picked up yesterday. He brought the news. A total wreck. The survivors are, the captain’s son, the first and second mates, chief engineer, first assistant-engineer, fireman, four sailors, and the chief cook.” The Lodona was a very fine iron screw steamer, of 800 tons register, and was built at Hull in 1862. She was intended for the Mediterranean trade, and made several passages to the Levant. She was then purchased, in consequence of her high rate of speed, by the Confederate Government, for the purpose of being turned into a war steamer to run the blockade, but she was eventually captured while makiug the run into

Wilmington by a United States cruiser. After the cessation of hostilities she was put at auction, and bought by Messrs Mallory and Co. When the Lodona was lost, she had on board a cargo valued at about 200,000 dols„ and the vessel herself waß worth 100,000 dole. Captain Honey, who has gone with his ship, was for many years a commander in the service of a first-class London firm, but for some time he resided on a pretty piece of property in Essex, Connecticut. Just towards the close of the war, and when he was about to retire into private life, he was reduced to comparative poverty by the operations of the Alabama, and in his old age he was again compelled to go to sea for a living. The American schooner Selma (hailing from San Francisco), 86 tons, Captain Lendal, arrived in Auckland harbor on the 10th, from Tahiti, after a passage of twenty-three days, during which period she experienced light winds and calms. She brought a full cargo of cotton, consigned to the agents, Messrs Owen and Graham. The steamer Hero, on her last voyage from Melbourne to Sydney, struck a large sun-fish off Wollongong. It was necessary to stop the engines to enable the ship to get clear of the fish. \ The performances of the Nebraska have clearly proved that she is quite equal to the services which are demanded of her in connection with the present mail service. Her passage down to Honolulu of fifteen days, and her upward trip of fourteen days, have been sufficient evidence of her capabilities. Unforseen delays, such as have caused the detention of the mail lately to hand, cannot be avoided ; and it is especially satisfactory to note that in each case of the late delivery of the mails at this end of the line, the cause has been found to have been at the Atlantic end, or during the overland transit. In the present instance the terrible snow storms which blocked up the lines of railway, as well as the fact of the Atlantic steamer being two days behind time, contributed to the non-arrival of the Nebraska at the contract time. It is well that this should be clearly understood, in order that an impression may be removed, which we are aware has gained ground in the public mind, that Mr Webb’s boats are not equal to the service. As soon as the Dakota has been placed on the line, these fine vessels will run right through without any change at Honolulu, and will, we believe, work well up to time as far as their share of the business is concerned. —“ New Zealand Herald,” January 9. When ocean cables were first submerged, various apprehensions of probable injury were entertained. It was supposed that worms or mollusks would burrow in the substance of the envelope, and ultimately penetrate to the centre of the wires ; or, again, that the attachment of barnacles, mollusks, &c., on the exterior would invite the attacks of sharks, rays, and other fish of powerful jaws, and induce them to subject the bunch of matter to such a mastication as should produce serious harm to the cable. To what extent any. accidents have happened from this source it is perhaps difficult to say ; we now learn, however, that the Florida cable has been injured in numerous places, as supposed by sea-turtles biting through or crushing it in their teeth, to such an extent as to destroy its continuity ; but it is quite as probable that some ray or other fish has attacked it, and for the reasons already A private letter received from a member of the Arctic expedition under Captain Hall, in the Polaris, gives account of the movements of the expedition since last heard from through the officers of the Congress. The letter is dated Upernavik, September 5, and was carried thence to Copenhagen by a_ Danish vessel, whence it was despatched to its destination via Hamburg steamer. After leaving Disco, where he received his extra stores from the Congress, Captain Hall sailed nearly north until he arrived off the harbor of Pi oven. He there went ashore, and was well received by the Danish authorities. His principal object was to obtain dogs, but he succeeded in securing only eighteen, about half of which were at the time unfit for service, but may by care be made valuable. After leaving Proven, the Polaris sailed for Upernavik, whei’9 she arrived on the 30th of August. Here he tried to secure the services of some Esquimaux hunters and dog-drivers, but was unsuccessful. He, however, obtained some dogs and furs, which will prove of great value while in winter quarters. Captain Hall sailed from Upernavik on the sth of September, going north. Of course he has not since been heard from, and will not probably until winter, when he may send down from winter quarters to Disco for supplies. All on board are reported well, and confident of success. On September 11, about half-past eleven o’clock a.m., her Majesty’s training ship, the Racer, ran aground on Ryde Sands, about six miles from Portsmouth Harbor. She sailed past Ryde Pier from the westward in the morning. There were only a few airs of wind—hardly more than a draft —blowing from a northerly direction, and she had spread every inch of available canvas, and was making the best of what little wind there was, sailing very free. The tide was ebbing rapidly. After passing the pier, she fell in with a strong current running in the same direction as the wind was blowing, and drifted on to tlie sand, taking the ground about midway between the pier and the Roman Fort. Here she stuck tight, in spite of every effort to get her off. The accident was observed from Ryde Pier, and the Duke of Edinburgh, a new and powerful steam-packet belonging to the Port of Portsmouth and Ryde United Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, which was lying there with her steam up, was at once despatched to the assistance of the stranded vessel. She reached her a few minutes after she touched the sand, and making a hawser fast, tried to tow her off. Finding the task was too much for her, the Duke of Edinburgh hung a flag of distress in the rigging, and the authorities

directed the Prince Consort, the largest of the fine fleet of steamers belonging to the above company, to go to her assistance. The two vessels tried for some time to pull the Racer off the bank, but their efforts were fruitless, and the ship had to remain in her position till the evening tide flowed sufficiently to float her. The vessel remained in a disabled position till the return of the tide in the evening, when she gradually righted herself, and about eight o’clock she was towed off the sand-bed by a powerful steam-tug. She was then taken to Portsmouth to be overhauled. The “New York Times” says—“ Three steamships, the Baltic, the City of Brooklyn, and the Wyoming, arrived at this port from Liverpool on the 24th of September, each of which made the passage within nine days. The achievement and coincidence are remarkable, and remind us, in spite of a common opinion, that the Atlantic passage has become as short in the average as it is likely to be, that in reality the time is being gradually reduced. Improvements in model and in machinery, the sedulous care begotten of competition, and the advantages of riper experience, unite in bringing about such a result, and there is reason to think the time will continue to be shortened. Whether the passage will ever be made within a week or not it would be hazardous to predict ; but certainly stranger things havo happened.” Other American papers have the following paragraph: —“ It is asserted that when the European and North American railway from Bangor to St John is completed the ocean voyage to Europe can be made in five days.” A strange and sensational story of the sea comes from America. A pleasure yacht called the Jennie Lee, magnificently equipped for the private use of a wealthy gentleman —Mr O. B. Jerrolds, of Denver city, United States—was burned to the water’s edge on Monday night the 2nd December, at a point some ten miles off Montank Lighthouse, on Long Island Sound. In all there were nine persons on board, including the owner, his wife, and three children. At midnight on Monday, Mr Jerrolds rose to go on deck. “ Just at the instant he was passing towards the stairway, a sudden lurch of the vessel —caused by tacking —threw him off his balance. He fell against the centre table, with his hands thrown out. One hand grasped the chains on which swung the lamp, a kerosene pintal bulb, holding about a quart of oil. The chains then gave way, and the lamp was hurled with great force against the floor. The oil at the instant exploded, and a sheet of flame leaped to the ceiling. Mr Jerrolds shouted ‘Fire!’ and with difficulty aroused his wife and two eldest children, whom he dragged on deck. The smoke was stifling, and, as Mr Jerrolds rushed into it, he fell, choked and senseless. He was pulied out, and plunging into the forward hold, began to cut through an intervening partition to reach that side of the cabin where his child was. The volume of smoke poured out so densely that he and his men were forced to retreat, and abandon the victims (a child and nurse) to 'their fate.” The lifeboat was launched, and the survivors of the party deserted the yacht, which finally sunk in deep water. After an exhaustive pull the survivors reached land at a place about ten miles from Montank Point Lighthouse.