BY STEAM AND SAIL

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8361, 22 February 1913, Page 9

BY STEAM AND SAIL

“The garrulous sea is talking to the shore; lot ua go down and hoar the graylioard's speech." The owners of the White Star Line have decided to adopt a more northerly route for the voyage between Soutn Africa and Australia. Although the change necessitates a slightly longer distance to be travelled it is anticipated that the more pleasant weather conditions to be secured by the alteration will add to the comfort of passengers. Heretofore it has not been considered that the steamship offers much scope for lady doctors. A case has, however, just occurred in which the medical welfare of a vessel conveying to Australia, among other passengers, a number of emigrants, was placed in feminine hands. The steamship in question was ready to sail from the Clyde. All that kept her at the Tail of the Bank was the lack of a surgeon. A qualified lady doctor, the daughter of a member of the Institute of Marine Engineers, heard of the difficulty, and was disposed to offer her services. Her father was at first inclined to veto the plan, as the young lady was on holiday, and jvas not very strong. Finally, however, he withdrew his objection, and the Board of Trade officer, for the first time in his life, certified that a ship with her surgery in charge of other than a male doctor was duly complying with the law. It is hard work for a ship surgeon if the vessel carries any considerable number of emigrants. The lady doctor must, therefore, have had a busy time. She took the appointment, however, for the outward voyage only, and is possibly now on her way homo, resting agreeably after a decidedly unique experience. Whether this lady doctor’s experiment will encourage others tq follow her example may, perhaps, be doubted, more particularly in _ longvoyage ships of the class chosen in this instance. The case is interesting, however, as showing that under the Merchant Shipping Act the male doctor has by no moans an exclusive right to practise on shipboard. The German steamer Javorina, flying the North German Lloyd flag, which arrived in Sydney harbour recently, direct from Antwerp, reported a wild experience in a hurricane while crossing the Southern Ocean. The vessel was in latitude 43.44 south and long. 177.47 east, when the hurricane burst upon her from the south-west. Lashed by vicious squalls, the seas rose mountains high, and swept over the vessel, flooding decks fore and aft, and jeopardising the lives of the crew. While the hurricane was at its height, the steering gear carried away, and the vessel was at the mercy of the wind and sea for a time. Big green seas meanwhile broke all over her, washing away one of the boats, and doing a lot of damage about the decks. According to a report received from Noumea by the last mail, a syndicate is to .he formed for the purpose of whale-fishing in the waters to the north of New Caledonia. Operations will be carried on within an area bounded .by Balade and Anatum and the Chesterfield Islands. The promoter qf the company is Captain Ring, who is said to possess considerable experience in whale-hunting, having been for some time at the head of a largo whaling concern which had its headquarters in the Kerguelen Islands. He states that while he was in charge of the latter place over 150 whales were captured in the first season, _in the second 90. and during the third only about 60. In consequence of this falling-off he was forced to abandon the Kerguelen Islands, and go south to New Zealand, where the whales are numerous at all times of the year. Unfortunately, however, the cost of labour and registration were so high that he was not able to carry out his plans there. Consequently he turned his thoughts to New Caledonia. It is said to be over fifty years since the last expedition was organised for the exploitation of New Caledonian waters. That venture was highly successful, and the number of whales captured by far exceeded the estimates of the company. Since then no attempt has been made to revive the industry until Captain Bing visited Noumea. The capital of the proposed company is to bo 500,000 francs, or £20,000 in English money. It is stated that a large amount of the capital has already been subscribed. The decision of the White Star Line to equip the Olympic to burn partly oil fuel, was due to the problem with which they are faced of now to utilise the three feet of space between the outer and inner shells; a matter of 7600 tons cubic measurement, in the new Britannic. This decision marks a momentous departure in the history of transatlantic traffic; for it means that the possibilities of oil fuel, as a substitute for ooal, in the propelling of the giant liners of to-day, has at last been realised. It has, therefore, been decided to utilise the 3ft of space in the inner shell in the forward and after bunkers for the storage of oil to be used in one of the boilers, for which purpose all provision is being made in the way of pipes, etc. i Assuming that the Olympic will be ready for sea again at the end of March, there will be at least three months for extensive experiments with the oil fuel before the question of type of boilers for the new Britannic requires to be definitely settled. Already tentative steps have been taken to utilise the whole of the 3ft of space in the Britannic for the storage of oil. By using all that space on the vessel now being built she will be able to carry sufficient oil, with a good margin, for the voyage, so that the enormous amount of room now being used by the coal bunkers would be saved. Moreover, on the Britannic there will be a good deal more space than in the Olympic. This is due to the fact that the frames in the new ship are being placed in position simultaneously and with no obstruction, the plates being fixed at intervals for the supports. This is a contrast to the Olympic, where the decks run into the outer shell aud waterways.