MISCELLANEOUS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 338, 24 May 1877, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

ANOTHER MONSTER FISH. ; An extraordinary explanation of the : supposed explosion and disappearance., of a ship off Portland, without leaving any fragments of wreckage, is given in a letter , f.'om a correspondent at Portland, who snys :—" When on the look-out at Portland Bill, on the 14th of December, about I saw what at first appeared a long, low, dismasted ship, with short, stumpy, jury masts, about one mile S. S. W. of Portland. She looked like a vessel broken backed, as her stem and stern were all out of water, and with something like smoke or steam rising up in midships. W! r 1 vas my surprise when, on looking thrmgh my glass, I saw it was a n-onster fish, with head and tail rising high above the swell of the sea, and the back neatly down to the level of the water, and what appeared at first to be smoke or steam was large jets of water thrown up like a big whale blowing, like as I have seen them them in the Arctic Seas. The stumpy masts were immense long fins. All at once, with a tremendous bound, at least 30 or 40 feet high and down again almost like lightning, the huge monster disappeared." The Dorset County Chronicle has made inquiries respecting this monster fish, and finds Mr. Welldun's statement confirmed by Captains Cosens, Gibbs, and Mace, who were in the Commodore in search of the crew or fragments of the supposed vessel. They saw an immense monster of the deep throwing up jets of water as described by the writer of the letter. —Home Nev:s. ACCOMMODATION OF SAILORS. En experiment which is being watched with some interest in underwriting and shipping circles in London has recently been made. It is intended to effect an improvement in the accommodation of sailors in the merchant navy. The Inchgreen, a barque built by Laird and Co., of Glasgow, has been designed to accommodate the whole of the crew in separate cabins, each completely fitted up, the whole being a spacious deck-house. The meals are in common in a special saloon, and one of the ship's officers sits at the head of fie table. The vessel has already started on her voyage, and the men have engaged at less than ordinary rates. In previous experiments of this nature sailors have refused to submit to the necessary decipline. The present effort seems so far to have been successful.