THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 657

by this circular not to be entitled to relief as dis-
tressed seamen will be disallowed.

CONVEYANCE HOME OF DISTRESSED SEAMEN.
When injured in service. Sec. 228. Owners liable to send
men to certain ports only.

4. When the master or any seaman or apprentice
   receives any hurt or injury in the service of the ship
   to which he belongs, the owner is liable to pay not
   only his medical and subsistence (including necessary
   clothing) expenses but also the expenses of his con-
   veyance to some port in the United Kingdom, if
   shipped in the United Kingdom, or if shipped in a
   British Possession to some port in such Possession.

5. Cases will perhaps arise when it is desirable to
   send a man so hurt or injured, who has been shipped
   in the United Kingdom, to a port not in the United
   Kingdom, or a man shipped in a British Possession
   to a port not in such Possession.

6. In such cases, however, the owners are not
   liable, and a man must not be sent at Government
   expense to one port, however desirable, if the owners
   are liable to pay the expense of his conveyance to
   another.

If sent to another port must bear the expense.

7. If, however, the man desires to be sent to some
   port other than those to which the owner is liable to
   pay the cost of his conveyance, and is willing to bear
   the expense himself out of his wages, and the wages
   are sufficient to bear the whole expense, the officer
   should retain his balance of wages and send him to
   the port in the usual way under the new Order
   C. C. 14.

THOMAS GRAY.

CIRCULAR No. 498.

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFICERS IN BRITISH
POSSESSIONS ABROAD.

INDORSEMENTS UPON ARTICLES.

With reference to Circular 439.

The Board of Trade having had their attention
drawn to a practice adopted in Shipping Offices
abroad of employing a stamped impress for recording
upon ships' agreements the delivery and return of
the documents referred to in section 279 of "The
Merchant Shipping Act, 1854," have consulted their
legal adviser upon the sufficiency of such a stamp,
and are advised that it is not in accordance with the
requirements of the Act. The section in question
requires a certificate under the hand of the officer
indorsed on the agreement, stating when such docu-
ments were respectively delivered and returned.

These documents are the agreement with the crew,
and the indentures and assignments of apprentice-
ships and are not sufficiently described in the cer-
tificate above referred to by the general term
"papers" or "ship's papers." They should be
described specifically as agreements, indentures, or
assignments, as the case may be.

THOMAS GRAY.

CIRCULAR No. 500.

INSTRUCTIONS TO OFFICERS IN BRITISH
POSSESSIONS ABROAD.

REGULATIONS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS.

Ships' Side Lights.

The following is the substance of an opinion
recently given by the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-
General, and the Queen's Advocate, viz. :—

(1.) That side lights and lanthorns, otherwise
unexceptionable, fixed in such a position that
they may be obscured by the lower corners of

the ship's square foresail, cannot be considered
to be fixed as required by Article 3 of the Regu-
lations.

(2.) In the event of such side lights and lanthorns
being so fixed that the lower corners of the
square foresail can obscure either or both such
lights, the Surveyors or Inspectors may require
the master or owner of the ship either to move
the lanthorns further forward, and to fix them
where the lights cannot be obscured, or to cut
off so much of the lower corners of her square
foresail as causes or is likely to cause such
obscuration.

(3.) In the event of such master or owner neglect-
ing or refusing to alter the position of the
lanthorns, or cut away such portion of her lower
courses as the Surveyor or Inspector may direct,
such Surveyor or Inspector may report the fact
to the Collector of Customs for the purpose of
stopping the ship, and such Collector may refuse
to grant the vessel a clearance under section 30
of "The Merchant Shipping Act Amendment
Act, 1862," until he receives a report from the
Surveyor or Inspector to the effect that his
requirements have been complied with.

(4.) If after a vessel has been passed by such Sur-
veyor or Inspector as carrying properly con-
structed and fixed lanthorns and lights, the
master fixes them in such a position that they
may be or are obscured by the vessel's square
foresail, and are not under such circumstances
visible for a distance of two miles from right
ahead to two points abaft the beam, on the re-
spective sides, as required by Article 3, read in
connection with Article 20 of the Regulations,
such master will be guilty of a misdemeanour
under section 27 of "The Merchant Shipping
Act Amendment Act, 1862."

THOMAS GRAY.

Government Annuities Office,
Wellington, 12th December, 1871.

NOTICE is hereby given, that the following Offices
have been opened as Government Life Insurance
and Annuity Offices :—

POST OFFICE, Ross, Westland.
POST OFFICE, SOUTHBRIDGE, Canterbury.
POST OFFICE, PALMERSTON NORTH, Wellington.

W. GISBORNE,
Commissioner.

Government Annuities Office,
Wellington, 12th December, 1871.

HIS Excellency the Governor has been pleased to
appoint under-mentioned gentlemen to be
Medical Referees under "The Government Annuities
Act, 1869" :—

FREDERICK WILLIAM ARMITAGE, Esq., Tauranga.
ALEXANDER GROVES DUFF, Esq., Ross, Westland.
CHARLES ROBERT ENGLISH, Esq., Waipukurau and
adjacent districts.

W. GISBORNE,
Commissioner.

IN the matter of "The Friendly Societies Act,
1867;" Notice is hereby given, that a transcript
of the Rules of

"The Loyal Waipori Lodge, Manchester Unity,
Independent Order of Odd Fellows, (Otago
District,) Friendly Society,"

duly certified, has been lodged with the Registrar of
Friendly Societies, registered and recorded in his
office under the provisions of "The Friendly Societies
Act, 1867."

Dated the eighteenth day of December, 1871.

G. S. COOPER
(for the Registrar).