BAD BANANAS

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 65, 17 March 1915, Page 2

BAD BANANAS

LANDED BY THE TAVIUrU. ~ r -SERIOUS LOSS ALLEGED. AiN UNPOPULAR STEAMER. A .considerable, part of the fruit cargo brought -to "Auckland this week from the Cook and Society Islands by the Union Co.'s cargo steamer Taviuni was landed in a very over-ripe condition, a number of cases of bananas heing quite rotten. In some quarters it is estimated that the loss sustained by the. consignees is. in the neighbourhood of. £2000, assuming that the bananas ought to have been landed in green condition. It is stated that many lines are worth only 1/6 or 2/ a case, instead of 7/ or more. A number of fruit merchants have agreed that for the present they will take no I more fruit from Rarotonga until a better I vessel is substituted for the Taviuni. The employment of this steamer in the 'Island trade-has -been a sore point [•with Auckland fruit merchants : and traders, for. a" considerable time past. i A leading Island merchant, interviewed lon -the -subject, was very emphatic "It ■was bad enough," he observed, "when | the Union -Go.-abaadoned the direct service between Auckland and Tonga, but its action in putting t on the Taviuni in place of the Talune in the Rarotonga and Tahiti trade is a great injustice to all concerned. In-the carriage of perishable cargo, such as fruit, ,a suitable steamer is. required, with a reserve of speed that -/will enable' her to keep' strictly to timertable.. As it. was, the Taviuni arrived at Rarotonga on this "trip- "two "days late; and' lost another two days on the way from Rarotonga to Auckland. In other ways ahe was quite unsuitable. She is a small vessel, and flush-decked, so that in anything like rough weather the hatch-covers could not be left off to yentiis: *» the holds. Oh- fruit boats it was usual to rig up windsails for ventilation, but these were .useless if "the. hatch covers were on. Consequently on. a boat like thw Taviuni, the fruit suffered in transit. The timetable question was of especial importance, because at Mangaia, w.'iere much fruit was grown, no advice of the steamer's arrival could be retained, and the growers packed their fruit in expectation of her reaching them on the schedule date. Personally he had been a heavy loser, as most of his fruit turned out to.be worth _abont 2/ a case instead of 7/. "The Vaih'e' t-hihg, in a lesser degree, Applied to the previous shipment by the Taviuni.' On inquiry at ithe local office of. the Union Company the reporter was informed that .the delay cm the Taviumi's trip was due to had wea-bher, and bad coal. Since the war, the company contends, good steam coal has -been extremely difficult to obtain, either at Westport'or .Newcastle; consequen'f-ly the .Taviuni. had to he sent away with the best available.,, Again, a large quantity of fruit" waeshipped at Manga.ia and Rarotonga as either "fully matured" or as "over-xipe," the consignors agreeing t-o take the risk of sending it away in that state. Island fruit always carries badly in March, the company states, and this time the trouble was made,worse f>y packing of ripe omd unripe' "bananas in-' dißcrimina-te1y,.60 that on arrival the . Contents" of'thfe'eases ranged front green ■ rotten. Some complaint .was' -made ■ when the Tal'nrre onri-fed in March, 1914, and trouble of some kind is inevitable at .this time of year. With regard-to,the . : substitution of a. larger vessel, . this' is "stated to :be under consideration, though at present even.the Taviuni is declared to be showing a loss.' —I— -J