NEW STEAMER FOR THE PATEA TRADE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5376, 20 June 1878, Page 3

NEW STEAMER FOR THE PATEA TRADE.

We ■were yesterday shown specifications for > a new steamer for the Fatea Steam Shipping Company, to run between hero Fatea. At present there is no direct communication, and the settlers in that district are often put to » great deal of trouble and inconvenience through the transhipment of their goods, The ' town of Fatea is rapidly growing, and the inhabitants feel convinced that direct communication by a steamer would pay. _ The vessel projected.. will be something similar the Napier in appearance. She Is to bo built of iron, and have a twin screw. The following are her dimensions, &c.: —-Length of keel, 80ft.; length over ■ all, 90ft, ; breadth of beam 16ft.; 'depth of hold, 6ft. The main saloon will - be'fitted up with twelve sofa berths for * gentlemen. Abaft of this is the ladies’ cabin* fitted with 8 berths. Both saloons will bo elegantly furnished, the , cushions to be of claret-colored velvet. The captain’s and officers’, apartment will be built on deck, under the bridge. The forecastle is to ha arranged with bonks for seven-men. She is to bo supplied with, two pair of compound surface condensing engines. Her propellers are to bo 4ft. 6in. in diameter. The boilers will be high pressure, 7ft. 6in, in diameter, and Bft. long ; to be tested by hydraulic pressure of 1401bs. to the square inch. She will have two boilers, and • have, a registered tonnage of 50 tons, and a speed'd 9 knots an hour. The tenders are not^ yet accepted,, hilt according to the specifications she is to bo completed and ready for sea by the. middle of November,