A PACIFIC ROAMER.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 174, 25 July 1928, Page 11

A PACIFIC ROAMER.

MAN THEY COULD NOT LAND. A "DEAD-HEAD" TOURIST. PROBLEMS AT APIA. (From Our Own Correspondent.) APIA, July 10. Western Samoa is at present entertaining, rather unwillingly it must be. confessed, a tourist whose sea mileage must have cost him a good deal less than that of most tourists who grace these shores. Mr. N, we will call him, is a proper globe trotter, but while he has always travelled legitimately, it has to.be admitted that he has not always paid his own fare. Also, his voyages have involved more than one shipping company in unprofitable business and caused many port authorities to scratch their heads in perplexity. For Mr. X is in an unfortunate position: he does not want to return to his original country, and no other country wants him. The first we know about Mr. X is that he lived in Chicago and went from there to Canada. Then he went to the West Indies. Although it is not known what he did there or how long he stayed, it is surmised that before he drifted into South Pacilic Seas lie saw many parts of the globe. Suva, Fiji, reports that he arived there from Hongkong, via Honolulu. He stayed at Suva some time and then | booked his passage for Pago Pago, American Samoa. From there he booked a passage on the Lady Roberts to Apia, Western Samoa. He did not, however, possess the necessary cash bond to land, so the Lady Roberts departed without him. Those who have travelled by this j nasty little boat—Auckland knows it— will appreciate that he was not alto-1 gether unlucky. Round the Pacific. j Pago Pago then decided that its climate did not suit Mr. X —and placed him aboard the Ventura, a ship of the line, which brought him to American Samoa. At the Matson Line's expense, he was then conveyed once again to Suva, no doubt keenly enjoying the excellent cuisine and music supplied by the line to its passengers. Suva expected him and sent a representative to see that he did not land. The Ventura, still providing excellent cuisine and music, pursued its course to Sydney, and tried to dispose of liini there. Sydney however, wasn't having any, and regardless of Mr. X's feelings, declared him below the standard of mentality required for intending "dinkum Aussies," and flatly forbade him to land. The Ventura, still carrying its "old man of the sea," returned once again to Suva, which Mr. X surveyed from the decks he was not permitted to leave. From Suva, he completed the round trip back to Pago Pago. Here tlie Matson Line turned him from a floating debt into an undoubtedly bad debt by purchasing his fare to Apia, and producing £2.") for the landing bond. Apia could produce no reason for not] accepting Mr. X—and perforce bad to' let him land with his goodly pile of lug-j gage, and £2"> bond which, so far, was clear profit to the Samoan Treasury. However, Samoa had enough troubles of its own without acting as nurse to him, so £13 of the bond money was expended in a ticket to Auckland, Now Zealand, and Mr. X departed per the Tofua. Fiji Yet Again. It is not hard to believe that at this time Mr. X was becoming somewhat tired of sea travel, and no doubt was beginning to despair of ever settling on land again. A further blow was in store for him. Auckland refused to accept him. and consequently the Tofua had to retain him as a passenger back to Apia. The return trip enabled him to include Tonga in his itinerary and see Fiji once again, a place which was probably becoming monotonous to him. When the Tofua arrived at Apia, Mr. X was promptly placed on shore and left to his own devices. The Union Steamship Co. appear to have got off very lightly. It now remains for Apia to clear itself of the travelling liability. Their balance of the landing bond, about £12, and a good bit more, will surely go in the attempt. Mr. X is still out of work. , and living more or less in the native manner, a thing which is frowned at in the Pacific Islands, so the authorities will probably have to take charge of him shortly. Mr. X states that when he can find a boat going to Canada, he will produce the passage money.