H.M S NEW ZEALAND.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXV, Issue 10713, 22 April 1913, Page 5

H.M S NEW ZEALAND.

A DESCRIPTION OF THE WARSHIP. (By Our Special Reporter.) The first impression of the vessel itself is the -sitato of ordeiliness and oleanlin.ss that prevails on board. The whole vessel is spick and span throughout, and hears the appearand ' f a huge ivlute bird in the' wilderness. The iir.-i: j>>fnt noticeable about th.- New Zeala. .d is the irregular placing of.her thr.v funnels. The foremost runs up high above the rest, close behind the conning tower; then there is a clear cLek space, out of which comos a big smoke stack, square, with rounded edges, while further astern is a smaller funnel. The front view is most- impressive. The great 12-:<ii guns, with their heavy armour, project not only from tho centre line of the ship, but from turrets on either side, leaving a clear outlook. Directly ahead the foredeck is high out of the water, and there is a big freeboard pier two-thirds of the ship's length. The high freeboard so noticeable has an important bearing on the comfort of the men and officers. It enables the roomy main deck to be devoted entirely to the men, leaving the forecastle deck, as the deck above it is called, to give ample accommodation for officers. A noticeable feature of the "New Zealand" is the perfection of its mechanism. The turret iy, in a manner, of speaking, only an enlarged upper and revolving storey of a lofty four-tiered steel house, containing a mose bewildering array of levers, wheels, valves, pip:s, tubes, wires', switches, boxes," shafts, telephones, speaking.tubes, and indicators, and the most miscellaneous collection of complicated mechanism that has ever been devised and arranged by human brains and hands. The first view of the inside of the Dreadnought's gun turret gives a picture which stamps itself on the memory, and creates a feeling of awe, and bewilderment. To grasp the meaning of it all, one has to descend by diver? perpendicular long ladders, duckin;. and diving from side to side, past rods and shafts of polished brass and glittering- steel, lit up with electricity, down into the very bowels of th? ship, and always within a magic round tower, whose white-painted steel walls reflect the glow of numerous lamps. There are thousands ot devices and pieces of mechanism for working the turret and guns, but not a single one is superfluous, Each turret requires sixty-six men to work it, from the magazine and shell-room to the firing platform. The method of loading and firing the guns was explained to the Age reporter by an officer of the ship, who also gave our representative a brief description of the trip from Australia. He stated that no record-breaking was attempted during the run from Melbourne. A 15-knot speed was the general rule, with one exception—a day's run at 17 knots—although, the battle-cruiser can steam, if her full power is utilised, at a rate of 27 knots an hour, whrlch is equivalent to 3H miles. Fine weather was experienced, but a heavy swell .showed, as the officer put it, that somebody had been getting a big blow. Thirty tons of coal are nf >" del hourly to run th:- cruiser at full speed. One gathered that the shin's company are delighted with her as a sea boat, and for her roominess. When questioned as to how the men had been treated, the officer replied, that-, they had been splendidly received all along. He stated that the newspapers suggested that their- reception in Melbourne was chilly, but ho held a contrary opinion. He then, showed, with pride* a fine collection of presentation silver which the ship received from the South Africans, and he took the Age representative to the spacious deck amidslr.Ds, where, high up between two of the funnels, swung a great illuminated crown, the ship s crest, specially given to the New Zealand because of its being the first of the Imperial ships'. The ship's company are not disoosed to jest about the battleship's name, so the curious trio of funnels already referred to have been christened, Faith, Hop?, and Charity. "We call that Chanty," explained the officer, pointing to the big fore funnel, "because ,of course, the greatest of these lYCharitv."

THE SCHOOL EXCURSIONS

Tlie school excursions to Wellington for the purpose of seeing the battlecruiser H.M.S. .Now Zealand, took place from Masterton and the FortyMile Bush yesterday. A special train left Masterton at 6.30 a.m. and conveved 825 scholars, parents, and guardians from the Masterton, Fernridge, Tinui, and St. Patrick'* whools. Excellent arrangements had been made bv the headmaster of the Masterton District H'.gh School (Mr W. H. 'Jackson), and he and the members, of the various school committees were instrumental in making the whole day's outing a huge success'. Oct arrival at Wellington the children and parents were conveyed, free of charge, to the Zoo at the Newtown Park, and here refreshments in the way of- tea. cakes, pies and lemonade were served out to the big crowd of visitors. After an hour's inspection of the Zoo. the members of the excursion were conveyed to the wharf and placed safely on- board the Government steamer Tutanekai, by which they were taken to the side of H.M.S. New Zealand. The children simply thronged on boaixl; but soon disappeared from sight, and in charge of members of the ship's company were conducted throughout the whole vessel and shown, by obliging sailors and officers, the workings of the various mechanism. Children were present in all quarters, and the members of the ship's company appeared to he quite at home with the young New Zealanders, and the parents were specially well treated. The return journey wasr very successful, and the children* were handled in a most capable manner. The only mar to the day's proceedings was the way in which people, who re.-. turned to the train early to get good seats, were turned out of their carriages, several of the latter having boon previously 'reserved. This matter was finally settled, however, and the journey hack to Masterton. was most enjoyable, the children all apparently having a big "birthday." Enough cannot be said of the capable

manner in wKich Mr Jackson, the supervisor of the excursion,' and the teachers and officers controlled the children^. A special traim conveying adults and children from the various schools in the Forty-Mile Bush, and also from Matahiw!, Lansdowne, Kaituna, Te Ore Ore, Wangaehu, Taueru and other outlying schools, numbering about 600 and'malcing a total of 1315 in all) had a verv successful journey, although the train .timed to reach Maoterton at 10 p.m. on the return journey, was I delayed for an hour. The train arrangements for the day were all that could be expected, considering the heavy tax on the rolling stock. * Tho conduct of all who made the trip, both om the trains and on the battleship, was all that could he desired, and special mention must be made of the good behaviour of the .school-children generally. .;