BLUFF HARBOUR.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 49, 29 February 1864, Page 2

BLUFF HARBOUR.

February 25. - TIDES. High water at Bluff Harbor at full ami change. 1*40; range four to eight feet. High water at New River Heals one hour sooner ; there is, however, very little difference between the time of high water at the- head of the Bluff and the jetty at Invercargill. DAILY TIDE TABLE.

Sigxai Station. February 21 — a.tn., moderate breeze W, and very hazy weather. — p.ra , ditto wind and weather,"; a steamer to 35, distaut five miles; s,s, Omeo arrived from Porr Chalmers, and left same evening lor Melbourne. February 22 — a.m., moderate breeze N.W.. ■with slight rain and very thick weather to the westward — 8 a.m., moderate breeze N.W, and very thick weather ; impossible to see anything passing the station — p,m., fresh breeze S.W., and very thick weather occasionally; clearing up slightly ; a sail in sight W., distant nine miles ; a steamer in sight W.. from In vercar grill ; s.s. Titania, arrived from InvereargzH, and sailed for Dunedin; a ship arrived from the W, did not make her number. .. February 23 — a.ra,, light breeze "W"., and fine ■weather; hazy— p.m., light variable breeze, and fine weather. February 24— a.m , light breeze W., and fine ■weather; a steamer in sight, distant eight miles; s.s. Hero arrived from Port Chalmers, and at 8 40. a.m. sailed for Melbourne — p.m., light breeze S.E, and thick fog — A p.m., moderate breeze S.E., an 6 dense fog occasionally clearing up very slightly — 7.50; p.m., light breeze E-, and dense tog. February 2-5 — a-m., light breeze W, and very hazy weather; a sail to W, for Invereargill ; a schooner to W, tvrelv-e miles distant — p.m., light breeze N.W. ; a schooner passed to B — i pup., light breeze S.E , and dense fog — 7.30 p.m-, light breeze and thick weather; a schooner arrived from' the W. February 26 — a.uv, moderate breeze S.W., and very thick weather, a brig passed to E ; a barque to ditto — p.m., fresh, breeze \V, and dull gloomy weather, with s.'ight showers of rain — i p.m., fresh breeze W, and dull thick weather; a large ship passed to the E — l2 a.m., moderate breeze S.W« and dull gloomy weather, with rain — p.m., moderate breeze, and dull weather. INWA.BD3. February 26— Yarra, Tulloch, from Circular Head. Carey and Gilles, agents. February 28 — Commodore, from London, 106 days out , railway plant, and nineteen passengei's, all well. Dalgety, Battray and Co., agentsOOTWAED3. February 29—^N'ilixwakds coastwise. February 2S — Nil-octr-aBBs coastwise February 28— NilVESSELS IX POET. ~ John Temperley New.Gt Britain Yarra Uruguay Electric Vortigern, at Heads EXPECTED ARRIVALS. : City of Hobart. s.s., from Dunedin, hourly Alhambra, s-s., do, do Sans Roman, from Melbourne, hourly Xady Milton, from London ' The Commodore, ship from London, arrived at the Bluff yesterday, bringing nineteen passengers and a large cargo, consisting of the plant for the Invereargill and Bluff Harbor Railway. The barque Isabella, after a rather lengthened stay at Lucas and Jeffrv's Slip, was yesterday brought round from there to the Franklin Wharf, ■where she was berthed, and although the whole of the alterations and repairs are not yet completed. to anyone abk to judge of such matters it will be clear that she is now in first-rate order. Besides new decks and new hatchway, she has received new lower wire rigging, with patent topsail yards, and seTeral improvements in the cabin. She is on the- birth for P/unedin. — ILobart Town Advertiser, February 16. BaixisH Ships of Wau~ at New Yokk. — After a fortnight's stay in this port Viee-Admiral^ Sir Alexander Milne took his departure for Halifax on Wednesday last in his flagship, the Nile, 78, accompanied by the Nimble, 5 ; the Immortalite, 35, going out at the same time, but shaping her course for Bermuda. It has been a source of some little pride and much gratification to our countrymen here resident to see these ships at anchor in the Hudson ; for fTthe Nile be a somewhat old-fashioned specimen of the two-decker, and 'remarkable only for the high order in which ahe is kept, the Immortalite is in all respects the perfection of her -class —as noble and sighfJy a frigateas ever 'swam/ It would indeed be difficult to improve upon her, were it not oriiaincd for the future that Jack is to munceuvre and fight cooped up in an iron safe. The jaunty little Nimble looks as though she well merited her name. But we do not allude to this subject for the purpose of pointing" out \vhafc is obvious to the least experienced eye, even viewed from a distance, and still more to those who have tried the decks of the several "vessels— our object is to pay a little debt of gratitude to the first admiral of the British Navy who, £smce the days when the United States were parts of a colonial empire, has come here on a, friendly errand and cast her anchor within these waters. ■3?or it required no slight amount of moral courage on the part of Admiral Milne thus to come uninvited and possibly unwelcomed, into a country which' he. was well airaie was deeply prejudiced against his own. Conscious, however, that he had done his best to soften unhappy asperities, and so to exercise his official authority as to prevent collision among., .-iiotheads afloat, the -Admiral could see no sufficient reason why he should pass atid-~-"fepass the chief seaport ot -.this- republic,/and yet bold himself aystcniatieaDy aloof from it/; He had exchanged mti|rnatjqnat courtesies with' American na'vaf officers" in- all quarters of the globe— why flhouHi^e; harbor of New York be banted to binf? J?^tis^r6nipteiVbjrcu^iosity, and thtts argMng ;in^|b'i|,'ssinple?spirir that- benefits tb'e s®)oT-mm6^|^^Alexander; wrote, home ; to the Admiralty^forfp^missioft tojearryjrat his plan*

tfhai estebts ihafc rhoutdjf ; feaiablfeHffieni; fras perturbed bysbuiaiusual a demand w eKiya no infor-mationj'-at'lesisi;, ifc had the the good; grace to"«uv3ede to the: request^ The jresult of the iAdmiral'sivisit shows tWs was wlsftj .Tor' It ia no'flattery to sar that he hna left behind him a ;niosi;'fiayorab]d.impressiohV ; 'duerto;tbab:ialixture of Jtindlino9s, simplicity; striiiffhtforrfardness, and dourteoua being; which immediately wins its wav to all men's liking. During his two ov .threo days' stay at Washington <he Admiral was the objeofc of vory marked attention on t^p payt of the ?mideßt anatho vayioua membPra of his Cabinet | and wj hew iVfm tnany ArhDvicnnjoui'OPß thai tbo Uttlo intoPOOßvafi, oißoiaVftttd social, which then ondth'VO took phoa pa?e oooasion fov the menfc aafPWftW* ■•»»mevle»t iis Sß ; -l»fl9lt^9n'hCT6M9ft»'''''\f.Hfi'A.«w>aV' the hfiioera of Wa esdrtpfci sti ilio mtta w less 6?" civilities %'Weh thay hava feeeived, haw wan tha esdd«ill of all wttli whom the?, have qotW9 -ifl contact* A«d, ' now tho ioois buoketii'we tfuetthat hereaffiov anrl in hntt« pier times' the Bntish Admiral eiifflynaiidiflsf ontae ;adjfle6Dii stntioh may tflakd fre<ju«afc'vseitHo thi^ ;Qovk. jHe i thai as 'itiaay, we b\'g leave,- la eon. liision. to remind our American, no less than our British readers, thai we are all indebted to Sir Alexander Milne for something «iore than the confidence he showed in coming hifber, and his pleasant demeanor while among us. Let it be borne ia .mind that during these past two years, ( [ and aniid the multitudinous pei'ple^ities of blocki ade riinniiigf, ; and c eifrehin(j neutral ships, and I naval etiquette, the preservation op peaoo;botween j two proud and sensitive peoples haa been mainly .owing to., the discretion, ;tnet, w forbearance, and firmness of the Admiral. What Lord Lyons has been at Wflshington, he has been at Bermuda and Nassau. In the rush of events this great claim ,to respect tnny be overlooked. We are glad of an opn.ortunity to put it on record.— .jfojfl "Stork Albion. The Nrcw Steam Ram Ma&enta. — The Opinion National gives an interesfinff description of the new steam ram Magenta, •which has just sailed from Brest for Cherbourg: — "The Magenta is a ship — that is to say, it has nothing in common with those curious machines, those Monitors invented by f he American — and, a* a distance, amid a squadron of other vessels, one might take it for an " ordinary ship of the line, but on a nearer approach one feels that something new is at hand. She is higher out of the water at the bows than at the stern,- her masts are short and thick, and the bows culminate in a gigantic spar or ploughshare. The upper deck is flush, and with the exception of two bow-chasers there are no guns upon it, Close to the smoke pipe is a. shot-proof turret •whence orders can be communicated to every part of the ship. In action the crew are all below, and the captain, bis signal officers, and a few picked marksmen occupy the turret. The Magenta has two gun decks, each armed with twenty-four breach- loading guns, throwing a sixty-pound shot with six pounds of poivdw. All the guns arc protected by irou plates, but the iron casing stops short nt the bows nnd stern. The great innovation of the Magenta is, that the quarters of the officers and crew arc spacious, and well ventillateil, tlie sad experience of the Norraandie (on hoard which ship the crew were decimated ia the G-ulf of Mexico, in consequence of the stifling atmosphere between elects) having shown thab the mortalitj' among the crew more than compensates any advantages fhat might be derived from" those invulnerable vessels. Tl/e engines {1000 horse power nominally) can he worked up 2,700 horso power." Her speed on an even keel is from thirteen to fourteen knots, anfl her consumption of coal 100 tons \)av diem. She can ship 800 tons of fuel. He" length all over is ninety metre? (about 395 feet) ; extreme breadth, about 57 feet; her displacement 0,000 to 7,000 tons' The spur weighs Gftcen tons ; and her crew on the war footing 700 men. The Great Ship. — On Tlursdav, the lvr§t meeting in connexion with the affairs of the Great Ship Com pan v since it has been consigned 1 3 the custodsrof the Court of Chancery for the purpose of investigation and winding up its nfFairs was held before Mr. G. Whiting, chief clerk to the Muster of the R'>l!s, at the Rolls' Chambers in Chancery Lane-, London, the object being to appoint an official liquidator under the Joint Stock Windinp-up Act Mr. ITutchins. of the firm of Murray, Son, and Hure'iins. said be h«d to propose Mr. Lliiwes, the late chairman of the shurohoWer^' committee, merchant 1 , of Skinner's Pineo, Size Lane, to act as an official liquidator on behalf of the company. The total number of shares in favour of Mr. Hawes's appointment amounted to 80.900. The total number of shares in the company was 800 .G00 ordinary and 10,000 preference shares. There were creditors to the extent of L 20,000, the total amount of debis being L 35,000 excluding a first mortgage of LIOO.OOO, and a second mortgage. The total debts of the company, including unsecured creditors, were 1i14r2,550. Mr. Dant/iger, the assistant secretary of the company, in his affidavit, stated that the nominal capital of thn eompanv was originally L 330.000 in shares of LI, bur. only 303.304 sharps vrcve taken up ; 100,000 preference shares of LI each were subsequently issued, making the aggregate subscribed capital IAQSAOL- The assets of the company consisted of the great ship, her stores and appurtenances, the office furniture in London, and the arrears of calls due, amounting to L 530, which were believed to be irrecoverable. After a good deal of debate, Mr. Hawcs was appointed official manager, giving L 3,000 ns security, it being understood that an appeal against the appointment would be made in favour of associating with the official liquidator either Mr. Harding or Mr. Cooper — two rival eaudklates who were proposed. — Some Paper. Djc. 10.

a.m. p.m. Feb. 29— High water 5.15 ... 5.35 March 1— do 6- ... 6 20