Messrs, Farnham, Boyd and Ca. be singularly unfortunate in the d chose for launching their ye-sel very long ayo the Mindanao, built fo Government, was launched on a rainy and yesterday when the Chiang Hsing first"took to the water the weather ually unkind. The ceremony was to take poe at the Pootung works at 1 p.m. Is causes, it was delayed until! nearly two o'clock those present on the launching stage wer e: Mr. RE. Bredon, Deputy Inspector customs; +r. J. R. Hard Chief I. M." Customs, ug; Mr. G. TT. B. J. Const Inspector; Mr. Win. Acting Harbour Master, Mr. John Prentice, Mr. H. von Rucker, Directors of the Dock Company; Mrs. von Riteker, and Miss Lay, and several others. supervised the luunch, When all.
Mr. Mackenzie, Works Superintendent,
ready a whistle was blown, and after afew seconds' delay the vessel began to slowly move towards the in the unavoidable absence through indisposition of Miss Bredon, the christening cere-many was performed by Mrs. ft. E. Bredon. At the first sign of movement Mrs. Bredon broke a bottle of champagne over the stem, at the same time naming the vessel, The' Ching Hsing slid" gracefully with ever increasing speed down the way until she reached the river. Steam was up, and directly she floated, she proceeded alongside the jetty under her own power. She will remain there until the end of the week, when her speed trials will be carried out. As far as the launching as concerned everything went most successfully, and it only remains for her to fulfil expectations by going through her trial trip satisfactorily.
After the launching an adjournment was made to the staffs quarters, where light refreshments and champagne were ed. Mr. John Prentice, Chairman of the Company, proposed the health of the new vessel, cordially coupled with that of Mrs. Bredon. Mr, von Rucker, after a few appropriate remarks, presented Mrs, Bredon with a lovely bouquet. Mr. Bredon thanked Mr. Prentice and the company for the cordial way in which he and his wife had been received. Ho wished the Company every success and proposed the health of Mr. Prentice. In a brief reply Mr. Prentice said that he hoped that next time the Customs authorities wanted a large vessel they would not have to go to Japan for it, a remark that caused a great deal of amusement. Altogether in' spite of the wet weather the launch and subsequent speech-making were pleasant.
The Chiang Hsing is a Customs tender, and she is built for the special purpose of buoying the Yangtze Channel. Her name is an appropriate one; Chiang Hsing, literally translated, meaning River Star.
She is 95 ft. lenz overall, 90 ft. long between perpendiculars, 16 ft. wide and 7 ft. deep moulded. The engines are of the
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.