At Papeete

Sailing Ship “Joseph Conrad”

Arrives Safely

ALL fears for the safety of the small British full-rigged ship Joseph Con rad, which had been reported missing in the Pacific Ocean, were dispelled on June 20 when she arrived safely at Papeete, Tahiti.

Commanded by her owner, Captain Alan J. Villiers, the vessel left Lord Howe Island on May II for French Oceania, and on the 41 days’ voyage was sighted and identified only once, near New Zealand on May 22. Alarm was felt in certain quar ters on May 24 when an unconfirmed re port from Lord Howe stated that she had been lost with all hands.

On May 27 flares were seen off Maat suyker Island, the most southern Austra lian lighthouse, and it was thought that they might have been from the Conrad.

A search was conducted by the lighthouse steamer, Cape York, without result, and the rumours regarding her fate continued.

On June 4, a sailing ship was reported off the east coast of New Zealand, and, as no other such vessel was known to be in that area, it was assumed that it was the Conrad. Following a severe storm, wreck age, supposedly from a sailing vessel, was found at Poranghahau, and once again it was rumoured that the little British sailer had been lost. Shipping authorities, how ever, proved that the wreckage was not from the Conrad, thus deepening the mys tery of the vessel’s whereabouts,

Never In Serious Danger

In a cable message from Papeete to the Sydney Sun, Captain Villiers stated that the vessel and its crew were never at any time in serious distress after leaving Lord Howe. The only difficulty had been on the voyage down from Samarai (Papua) when the Conrad in a calm touched Wari Reef. The crew managed to hove the vessel off undamaged with their own gear.

Before reaching Tahiti they encoun tered eight days of heavy gale, resembling the “Roaring Forties.” The Conrad weathered the strain beautifully, standing up well to the repeated buffeting. A boat and a few deck fittings were lost. None of the crew was hurt, except Captain Vil liers, who received a few broken ribs during the height of the storm.

The sailing ship will remain at Tahiti for some time, repairing minor damages.

She will then sail south-eastwards to attempt the winter passage to New York via Cape Horn.

The Joseph Conrad is 188 tons gross register, and in addition to the master, carries three mates and 12 professional sailors, all men with sail experience, in cluding a carpenter, a sailmaker, and a boatswain. Twelve cadets, of English and American birth, complete the ship’s crew. She was formerly the Danish train ing ship Georg Stage, and has been in commission for more than 50 years.

Mr. Herbert Thomas Kienzle, manager of Yodda Goldfields Ltd., of Papua, married Miss Meryl Elma Holliday, of Croydon, N.S.W., at St. John’s Anglican Church, Port Moresby, on June 4. After a short honeymoon at Rona, they left for their new home at the Yodda. Mr.

Kienzle, who has been in the Territory for some years, was engaged in the plant ing industry prior to going to the Yodda field to take up mining.