THE OLD "WIND-JAMMERS"

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 22, 18 May 1914, Page 3

THE OLD "WIND-JAMMERS"

The fleet of sailing ships is rapidly dwivdiing, and in a few more years it will be a rare sight to meet a winddriven vessel at sea. Mr .). J. Craig, who is on a holiday visit to Sydney, chatting with a press reporter, said that a few years ago he had owned 15 large sailers, barques and barquoiitines, the best known in Australian waters being the, Joseph Craig, Louisa Craig, Jamy's Craig, and Maijorie Craig. Most of the rest had also family names. Ho had had to get rid of them all, with the exception of the Louisa Craig, which was trading between New Zealand and South Australia. The Hazel Craig had been sold to a Victorian firm. All the other* had bben converted into hulks. "We clung to them, as long as wo could," exclaimed Mr Craig, "but at last the shipping laws got too hot, and, as 1 say, wo had to turn these beautiful yachts—for that is really what they were -into hulks. It seemed a sin, but what were we to do? The laws were such as to make it impossible to cany on a lino of sailing ships at a profit. They increased our wages and increased our manning, but we could get practically no increase in freights. People won't send cargo in sailing ships unless the owners of the ship are aMo to quote a great deal cheaper than the steamer owners. Then, as there are fewer and fewer sailers each: year, the tugs are dropping out of the losing business, and we often wanted it, and when we did get it we frequently had to pay exorbitant rates. Another experience we had was that users of ports invariably pushed the sailer aside as if delays meant noth- ' ing to the owners of sailing slips."