BACK FOR REPAIRS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 46, 23 February 1929, Page 11

BACK FOR REPAIRS.

HORORATA BERTHS AGAIN.

FIREMEN REFUSE TO SAIL. LEAK IN THE HAWSE-PIPE. PREVIOUS FLOODING OF FO'C'SLE. Alleging that the vessel was unseaworthy, the firemen of the New Zealand Shipping Company's steamer Hororata refused last night to take the vessel away. She la.y in the stream, and thi* morning berthed at King's wharf for repairs. The Hororata was to sail for Bluff at 5 p.m. yesterday, but it was not until 0 that the whole crew reported. They then refused to go aboard the vessel, declaring that the voyage had been ;i misery, and tliev were sick of it.

Hoping to persuade the men to return to duty, the master of the vessel, C'apt. Barnett, had the wharf gates closed to keep them from escaping up town.

With a few possible exceptions the 118 firemen were quite sober, and the spokes- ; men stated the common grievance clearly , and definitely. Their statement, which was confirmed by the engineers, was to ! the effect that a leak in the fitting of ] the port, hawse-pipe—the tube through which the anchor-cable runs up to the I winches—kept their quarters flooded whenever rough weather was cncoun- 1 tered. i The hawse-pipe is a new one, fitted at I Falmouth before the present voyage. Tim i iron rim on the outside did not fit to the j ship's side, leaving a gap of about half-an-inch, through which the water spouted into the fo'c'sle whenever a sea j rose to that level. Fountain in Fo'c'sle. ''We were loaded down to the Plimsolt, ; and we struck heavy weather nearly all j the way, so the fountain played pretty : nearly continuously," stated one of the men. "At first, when the fellows used to turn out of their bunks into three feet t of water, they made a joke of it. They used to sit on a chair and paddle with :j a bit of wood, pretending they were rowing on the Serpentine." ,j When the vessel reached Norfolk, Vir- j ginia, 19 days out from Liverpool, the '! men asked for repairs, and the leak was jj plugged with cement. This later cam# ij out, and on the way across the Pacific j! to Wellington the fo'c'sle was again :| flooded. j At Wellington the men again com- j plained. There were some spare room* lj on the starboard side which had accom- i modated the sailors before the vessel ;j was manned with cadets. These were ij filled with packages of cargo during the voyage, but at Wellington the men were ;■ transferred to that side. They still ji maintained, however, that the fo'c'sle is >' damp and uncomfortable. Last night on the wharf the firemen jj showed the salt water stains on tlteir go-ashore clothes in proof of their asser- jj tions, and the engineers gave a general 'J confirmation of the men's statement. A marine surveyor, who was called in by j! the local agents, examined the hawse- ;j pipe, and gave the master permission to take the vessel to Bluff, on condition i that it was repaired before she left New Zealand waters on her return voyage to England. While still standing firm on their demands, the men consented to two of , their number returning to the ship to ij keep steam up. At 11 o'clock the vessel !j was taken out into the stream, but the j ■ men announced their intention of stay- Ij ing ashore. ;j Somo of their number were sent . aboard to get warm clothes, but these •! jumped ashore before the vessel left th« wharf. "Shanghaied aboard your own ij ship ain't my idea of a joke," shouted one as he took a flying leap from half- j! way up the gangway. Repairs Commenced. Most of the men sat on the wharf and J smoked all night, and this morning word i' : was sent to them that if they would ij come out and .bring the ship in to the ;! wharf the repairs would be done. This ;i they consented to, and the Hororata ! berthed at King's wharf. A small "collar" .j. of iron is being put under the rim and ,j electrically welded, making a perfectly J watertight joint, and it is hoped to dis- ! patch the steamer for Bluff this afternoon.