“TORRENS.”

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“TORRENS” at Port Adelaide.

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Indeed, hardly was the Beltana on her course again before Angel’s trembling mate approached his captain with a request to be allowed to shorten sail, only to be met by the scornful order of:—“Get the royals on her; and then, if you can’t find anything else to set, go below and ask Mrs. Angel to lend you her petticoat.” Such an order was worthy of Bully Forbes himself.

Captain Richard Angel lost the command of the Beltana on the voyage that she raced the Yatala. On his passage out he ran the Beltana ashore on Kangaroo Island, but got her off and did not report the accident. He loaded wool at Port Augusta, but on getting to sea the ship leaked so much that he had to take her in to Port Adelaide. Here the wool was discharged, and the Beltana hauled up on the slip and repaired, whilst Angel got his dismissal and a Captain Blanch took his place. Beltana caught fire when loading wool in Port Lyttelton, and her end was one of the biggest ship fires in New Zealand.

The Wonderful “Torrens.”

Of other ships managed by Elder & Co., the most noteworthy were the Glen Osmond, Collingrove and Torrens. Of these the Torrens requires special mention, as she was without doubt one of the most successful ships ever built, besides being one of the fastest, and for many years she was the favourite passenger ship to Adelaide. She was built in 1875 by James Laing, of Sunderland, and launched in October of that year, her chief measurements being:—