ON THE WANGANUI RIVER

Otago Witness, Issue 2810, 22 January 1908, Page 13

ON THE WANGANUI RIVER

■ - n-: WORDING JJHE RAPIDS.. w? . . (By vVeot. Lawson.) The paddles of the little steamer are beating the water of the placidly^fiowing rivefe-mto foain.-JrShe-asuStill-jinjthe lower Jrea«&€s, ?/where .the/^tfeafii^is^'deep c find wide. T4ie -vessel fe a "stiamer : in a shell, compact.. and complete in every ' detail. 'Hej» ( registered <4onnage -is about -50 v tons,t aSd ler side [pa^dfe-wgeeg^re ■driven b"y "Ilxi /engine ofr.JgO *h<3^e^awer nominal, which means that at a pinch sbe will develop six or seven times that energy. She has astuch beam and little , depths-drawing only^fteelrmcfiei of water,?] and on a low river,' during a dry- season, ; ehe will be fortunate to % get that "depth on i some -<jf- the. rapids. So^jtlJajb^^rfEulr^na.y , 6tiffSr no Samage in tumping '^bver such ', ehoals, she has a false bottom of mild , eteel, which will bend without breaking? j Her engines being of the non-condensing j type— similar to a, locomotive— -she snorts.! -her wayTa'long the water to the steadyVl rhythmical patter of her paddles. Each i wheel occupies only a. portion of the large .paddlerbox coye^hg -it£-, In the remaining : space" of the port paddie>-box is the cook's ' galley, which 2 however hot it becomes, has ' at least a cool floor, for the water from ' the -revolving floats .dashes "against it. }the 'jtarbjoa-rd pa^Jcirerbox is the, lavatoiy?' ■On a Mcl witfi^ttfe tops "of *m v patol*T boxes js the - bridge, rwbich, extending right a-ftf -forms the /promenade deck. This deck is covered by aii awning. Forward I •wHere -Tvinch has ife^quarters: Beneath the deckj and havings entrance'from this 'maiifi ?Beck, is- a "saloon v to* seat about 30 people*, the benches or tables I , being against the walls, so that one may j .watch the panorama slip past as he satisfies J his .appetite. , - ' j The ca>ptain>. controls ' the ' engines > directly by means' of "sT lever reachipg i from : the throttle of the engine uj> to the . bridge and placed alongside the steering ' wheel. m. * _,-',-.- " "■» • "JRuiming' on" l^vel water (the expression seems ■ tautological/ yet here, it ha? distinctive-, meaning) the exhaust? in - the funnel has a' soothing, • sobbing beat, i the wheels drum along — 'river "metr- always call the paddles " wheels, "-^a. Maori woman 1 j squatting on the main deck .waves a handi 1 to a friend on the river jbaiik, and cries her greeting^in! a 'weird,' highly-pitched, wailing voice. ,The steamer swings- round a bend, and there before her lie" the first rapids. White water "is boiling down between groynes built of timber and)stonesbound together .with wire, and designed' to maintain a fair depth of water by a pro- I cess _of scouring. The. skipper, a full-,] blood Maori, moves his,,lever, letting - her out a little; the exhaust hardensquickens ; the whirr of the wheels is ?*■* intense note of sound. These rapids will be climbed without the 'assistance^ of the wire* rope which is used' in- the upper , reaches of . the river. Two deck hands appear, armed with stout poles, and take up positions -on either bow. Now the itoise of the rolling gravel beneath the water can be heard ; the captain gives her all the steam, and, as she responds, he points - her ribse ' into the psychological ispot — where the eddies from either side meet and ,;boil^and' shouts'- to the men with the poles to keep her there. - like a freight engine rushing at an incline, thelittle 6teamer shoves her nose into the | galloping- water ; the shrill note of her wheels, the sharp blast of her funnel, and the grinding, roljing sound from the water' and .the gravel' making a fitting accompaniment to her supreme effort. In the centre of the down-rushing ,X, X water for sevferal minutes s^ie hangs. Then, ,by watchirig an j object ' ashore, it;is seen that she moves.- J It is the old,' old fight of steam" and stream, I and now, as ever, steams wins. The deck Tij».nA<i lay down their pales ; the .engine is " linked up " ; the soft sobbing of -the j exhaust , telta that she His on level -water once more, and following- the beautiful winding river, on whose surface there is never a ripple till the "sharp prow juts' it asunder to be' .torn to ribbons by the wheels. * At midday the steamer approaches the point where the up and the down steamers meet, and presently ' the down boat sweeps round a- f bend, and the .-vessels hail one another on the whistles. The other boat's wheels' are reversed, as the-foam tossed forward attests, and she glides <to the. river, lies in the channel of the rapids, and has its termination at a stout tree above' -the! rapids, Tound the, stem of which it is bank, where grow overhanging trees, and ; is tied up.. Then the' up steamer is laid j alongside her, and the captains and crews proceed to exchange ships. Every skipper j has his "beat" on-tlie river and his own crew. Only the steamers and the pa&sen-' . gers go right through. The. exchange ifesoon effected, and the vessels proceed on their different ways. The new captain j is a pakeha possessed of great energy and power of inetoric ; his crew of deck • hands is composed of three Maori youths whose agility and activity are only equalled-^-by their cigarette-smoking propensities. It j is on these upper reaches that the rapids • v are numerous and difficult. When the ; first of these appears in view a Maori t takes a long pole with a crook at the end t of it. He . stands in the bows, looking backward now and then; to the restless skipper, who is eyeing the water intently. | "There you are, quick and lively," shouts the skipper. The pole sweeps through the. ( "water, grating on the stony bottom. The t hooked- end reappears, clutching nothing. t The voice of the skipper rises above the , snarl of the rapids. He tells "Rewa, the' , decs hand, something which occurs to him ' at the moment — something interesting. Again the pole plunges, and this time it brings upa^snakyJooking wire rope/ which 'securely fastened. Rewa 1 turns/ * "

umphant look to the bridge as he takes a -couple of turns of the rop-e round the drum of the winch, and gives the machine '£ ■ little^steaniv?' '.Two»" poles -ixr> ther..handsof the other lads keep her in. the channel. The engines are sent full speed ahead, the "wJieeltTcrhfle - m^b_eu^eJiOJ^t?>Vi .g-Stg^gooch pvychase wher;^f^feefiftfe^re.dKS^glcife to be had <at ai|J*ot Is3??iftj^^>eis"^Ke^^.€>.^1 s3??iftj^^>eis"^Ke^^.€>.^ rush do^vnstre'a^^apo? :^^^vpinch^fi£^?jt(® voice to swell the steamer advances ciStovthe^j^sl^^tnef slack end of the TO^&^^^Se^di°^ofo'po , by a man standing oh-^.^ddle-boi^Jo;;*?' to throw it clear of the\ -wheel."' OfliastS^pris used merely to WpiiEliie^yesgel^tfeaa,.to the stream, an.diJ^^.ia^^SA'pro'pelling'" agent. The wheete'^^^a^.Bfel^StW power. Vagarie^~. r of' : " i fthf!i' v -'cui;r,4nfS"*lSs|a' ; eddies necessitate "tfcftc^ii^aji<AU^^cff?ii6j^^ , for once,, „ the ', centfjs 'pt/'the 6j^Xift^Wttter s she ; >Sl|nos^' ;" inevitably swings*:oS£fco^ther.6h|iig3^e, J >.an<d, I very often there is ' onTy^tie :4eay;,itoV gefci ' 'sof&tffr send her astern, and make • anouier attempt to climb the Tapidfi. The [ captain, being, ,an earnest man with his } mind setr^oix "level running ;t a^ c soon as possible, keeps ,* constant fire' of | i caustic comment directed on the toiling j deck han^s. And he moves restlessly j about, tugging af the regulator, which is ' already at its limit . of movement. His , remarks causeij'tlje^. rM^ui'- ijgw^stp^grin,^ ; appreciatively.- - •I'ney liKS-fneatricaL' effect, ' i they love the superlative. With their , skipper, to climVthe rapids is' an heroic I thing to do. So they grunt at fheir,>poles &ahd i;opJeV' turning occasional glancesi to- . rtrard^-twatching passengers" as though, to" j say:" "It is fearful -vrork^fet, .seeji'/we do it. Thanks to our captain, whom you" ! see pulling ""his ship along by the lever. I He is all right." . ftd^te^fc^i^fesj^ jn.cb-s.the river, is roonqugigxi.j vthe,'^ water that ..is Tushing down 'to destroy ner' being' actually used' to" float propel the steamer in her passage 'ripsf ream. At _last she , reaches, smooth I water, the rope^' is "cast off^the- noise and | tumult is over.; Passengers-offer ■ the per- ' spiring Maoris; cigarettes.', ,and f are^ told [ strange -stories-/^half-mythical, * halt-true, wholly- artistic and .entertaining. | -.Coming down i^e'^riyer.vthe. rapids "Vitfi "wheels 'motionless, > sweeping down resistlessly, no one speak-ings-even the steamer, holding'^ her bijeath ' tifl the passa%%- isTo^efUAAt ififel.place she comes down v sterri first with paddles .moving half-steam -ahead, so that she may . have steerage way to make the tyrn in » the rapids. .' When she swings , about* bej foTe taking the rapidsAshe" Executes ? a (graceful waltzing movement, flier; stem", and stexn almost grazing the- banks on eitheT side. Having negotiate^ the broken . water, the same manoeuvre id gone throiigh before "ehe resumes her journey down the Tiver. This swing, back down, and" counter-awing mark the high-water, mark^ ' of river navigation in a gSipper," andfifcw a pretty motion to watch. ™~ It is as though the river said to the steamer, - " Our dance^ " Then intakes -'her gently <> and firmly f the river backs ' her' down ,the rapids while .she'holds:her, breath, and " Shall we reverse? " the river gallantly inquires. So they reverse, and the wheels, tafejap^affWt^eAu^defl^th^ song the -nvier^tau'ght them. -•■" - " - r " i .