GERMAN "MISSIONARIES."

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 213, 6 September 1916, Page 2

GERMAN "MISSIONARIES."

THEIR PRESENCE RESENTED. REMARKABLE SCENE ON (LESTER TAINUI. Quite an unusual incident, and one of more than passing interest in shipping circles, marked the departure on Saturday, August 12, from Sydney, New South i Wales, of the Shaw, Savill, and Albion liner Tainui (10,000 tons, Captain Moffatt), which left Wellington for Africa , on August 5 (writes ilr. J. F. Hirst, en route to the <_a;>e). it had been freelj- j rumoured that a number of CJenuan priests were to be shipped first-class to the <-'npe, and rumour was no less per- ; sistent that if the priests were shipped ] the crew would "strike." It appears tliat the prie3ts were scut abroad for t passage to tin- Cape by the Australian i Minister for Defence, acting under in- 1 structions from the Homo authorities. One the morning of departure the priests, some of them of venerable appearance, joined the vessel while iinsl arrangements for the sailing of tho Tainui were being completed. Tho ermv. together with the stewards, assembled for'ard: it was evident that trouble was brewing. The lhier was navigated into the harbour, but the firemen, greasers, stewards, and others of the crew declined to "turn to" until the unwelcome "gue»ts" were towed ashore. Captain MoiTatt, one of the most popular and experienced skippers on the run from the <Jld Country to Australasia, addressed the men in a tactful and pacificatory speech, and enumerated the steps he had taken to solve a delicate situation. Hut the <-re\v were politely firm, and demanded that the Huns should either be removed 'bag and baggage, or that they should be treated as prisoners of -war and placed under military guard. In this they were supported by the passengers, who expressed strong resentment at the presence of the Germans, and unanimously signed a petition to the skipper in terms of the crew's protest. In the meantime the priests perambulated the deck of the first saloon, the cynosure of all eyes. Tbe stewards and others of the crew, in order to cause the passengers no inconvenience, other than that which they were cheerfully prepared to undergo, resumed their ordinary duties, it i)eing understood in the meantime 1 that tho vessel should not sail with the Teutonicelement aboard. .So the engine-room fires were banked. In the afternoon t'be military boarded thr liner and discussed the situation with ' the skipper. Tho crew, to while iiway the time, sang patriotic airs, and coon songs, and balanced ships' brooms on their corns, while the dulcet strains of the mouthorgan—so dear to the heart of tlie East Knder—floated across the sunlit waters of the harbour. Night came: there was no sign of departure, and the military left. An impromptu concert for'ard in the evening, the musical instruments of which were a Jew's harp, a month organ and a tin can, was a pleasing diversion. When morning broke it was reported that we might sail next day, and visions of eiin-bftked kopjes, an illimitable veldt and kraal lires Hashed across the imagination. But by S o'clock on Sunday morning a tlij; drew alongside the Tainui. and a little later the priests and their impedimenta were transferred to the tug, which steamed Sydneywards. As the men made their way down tho gangway the sides of the liver were crowded with passengers. One cannot help paying a trrbute to all on the Tainui. The presence of i '"missionaries" had aroused deep resentment. But their humiliation was relieved, and they were allowed to depart without any of those unseemly incidents that one naturally associates with the elemental passions and brute primitive instincts of the Teuton, but which are fundamentally at variance with the traditional sporting spirit of the British stock.