SKELETON CREW'S BIG FEAT

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 196, 19 August 1922, Page 19

SKELETON CREW'S BIG FEAT

RUSSIANS DE.SKUT BRITISH SHU , . "A font unprecedented in the history of the mercantile marine," is how an ..tUr-iaJ <>f tiie Seamen's I'nlon speaks ,»f a voyage from An-hungrl to London by tlic steamer Lowlands, which recently berthed at Surrey Dorks, Uiutlon. The vessel, Leavily freighted with timber, has made ttie --ton miles voyage with uot a tlreuian or trimmer on hoard, and with a (Tew which rx-nlly consisted uf the bosun and the donkeyuiun. Tile LnwUnild was nearly destroyed b.r Jire at Archangel in January, and half of her officers and the whole of the crew of -I. with the exception of the bosun, Charles Hansen, of I'ort Barry, ami the eugluc-rooai doukeyman. T. Richards, of I'enarth, were returned- to London by another steamer. For live months the remnants of the crew kicked their heels while the vessel underwent repairs in ice-bound Archangel. and on June 10 sin- sailed with a Russian complement and a huse cargo of timber stacked high on the decks. Outside the breakwater the Russian* presented Captain J. Kirn with an ultimatum— "£SO a man (sufficient to make them millionaires in Russia) or no voyage to Engtand!" The captain refused the outrageous demaud, and the Russians slid over the side of the steamer Into a boat and left the ship. The remainder of the crew held a hasty consultation. It was courting death should hail weather come, lyit anything was preferable to an indefinite stay in Russia. "We'll take her across, captain, If you'll let us," said the spokesman. The officers consisted of the captain and the chief officer, two engineers, and the captain"s son us seco&d officer. A Norwegian and two Chinese, none of whom could speak English, were plcfcpil up at tne last moment. Yet throughout the voyage the six holler flres were kept going, the ship maintained an average of nine knots an hour, agalnii her usual nine and a-Quarter; and London wan made in ten days. Pense fogs made the voyage one of doadly peril throughout Its entire length. The ship was brought safely to port on3y by superhuman effort. Officers did their own stewarding, and took four hours on and four hours off at the wheel. The bosun acted as crew ami assistant navigator. In the stokehole the chief engineer, his assistant, the donkeym:\n, and a Chinese toiled for dear life, two men doing the firing and trimming for six flres in sU-bour spells. The eyes of the solitary look-out strained Into the foe; unceasingly for long weary hours. Sleep rame In brief snatches of an hour or so, when men dropped In utter exhaustion