THE ROYALIST.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue XXIII, 8 May 1901, Page 4

THE ROYALIST.

The tomd eteimor Roya'is I', 1 ', which was lately discharging her cargo of Amerc n railway rolling stock for tin Government at tha Railway Wharf, attracted considerable attention in Wellington. A ghnce at the strange type of vessel, in whish the utilitarian idea his practically disregarded all lawi of symmetry, conveys the impression that the cargo-carrier cf the future will be almost as ogly as a coalbulk, and certainly less plctureEqne than some of those r lies tf oth'r davs, when seen ncder certain conditions. The Royalist is in no way cocnected with the whale-backed lake boats of Americ*, bat was bnilt by an English firm on an English patent —Doxford's, She wis con&tructei by the raSentet's firm—Sir William Doxford and Son?, of Sunderland—in 1895, for ib.9 Anji-r liae. Her chief feature is a huge d?ck turret, which accomodt-tos about one-tbird as mush cargo as the ordinary hold, t he dead weight capacity oa the regi<tcrr:d tonnage being thus gieitly itcreasrd At present tha Royalist'* '' harbour " deck, on either side of the turret, is filed with Cilifornitn redwood timber for Sydreyl —IBO,OOO ffe 1 -, while 120.000 feet of the tarn? timber is below. In the harbour deck are smaH hatchways, which are very useful for the sperdy leading of coal and balk g;raio. Ht peculiar construction giv.es the vtsiel great carrying capacity over be? regis tend tonnage. With a neb tonnage of 2024 she can carry 5300 tons dead weight and has carried over 11,000 bales cf cotton on ote trip, an average of 5J bales to the toi, cna bale per ton better than is curried by the ordinary cargo boat. Notwithstanding her i enormous c«ryiog capacity, the Royalist exhibits great bnoyancy, and Captain Tierney speaks highly cf her sea-going capabilities. She has only a tingle screw, but her diminutive masts ctrry fore »nd aft sai's. The vessel was chartered for her present work on accosnt of the large s ; z3 of some of the cases contaiciog parts of the railway carriage l , and was said to have b' eh the only vowel on the Pacißc capable rf taking ia the material, some of th i curs nn»siring 30fb long by 9ft square. 11 t >rk fi re hoars alone to get one package- i .to position. The Royalist i- manmd ly Chinese, wi"h a Chiueie qua-termabwr and boatswain. It is a ii that the torret type has proved its If such a valuable cargo carrier th»t the patentees and builders are unable to fi 161 ail t>e ; r orders. The New Zei'and Sh'ip'ng Company are local fa for tbo Rrya'ist— Times.