NEARLY A RIOT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 52, 3 March 1930, Page 7

NEARLY A RIOT.

QUARANTINE STATION.

Aorangi Passengers Attempt

to Rush Entrance.

CHAOS AT SYDNEY.

(United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright)

(Received 12 noon.)

SYDNEY, this day.

According to Mrs. Walsh, who was released from quarantine to hasten to the bedside of a dying brother in Victoria, a riot was narrowly averted at the quarantine station yesterday. An attempt was made to rush the entrance on Manly Road by some of the inmates, but it was frustrated by the other passengers pointing out the folly of such an action.

At a massed meeting of the passengers the authorities were condemned for the treatment meted out and general dissatisfaction was expressed at the detention of some and the release of others. Further complaints indicate that the position in the station is chaotic. ;

The golfer;, Kirkwood, said: "I and the others would 1 like to know why we have been specially singled out for this inconsiderate treatment in Sydney," Kirkwood is not expected to be released before March 10, and as a result only two of his five golfing engagements in this State will be fulfilled. Bitter Complaints. Some of the passengers bitterly complain of their treatment at the quarantine station. , They say the food is inferior, asserting that they have been fed on corned beef and tomatoes.

Other allegations are that . the crockery is cracked, the linen dirty, the > rooms ill-ventilated and the buildings so old that they should be replaced. Also these passengers say there are not sufficient beds"at the quarantine station, that the telephone facilities a: e inadequate and that there is no stationery or stamps. One passenger says: We had to carry our luggage from the beach up a hill by a rocky path which was.badly lighted. The elderly women in the party had an unenviable experience. Sweeping Denial.

A sweeping'denial of these charges is made by Dr.; Me*tcalf. He says the chief complaints come from Auckland passengers because of their detention. There are 1200 beds at the quarantine station. The telephone facilities are sufficient, but: everyone wants to use them at the same moment and some talk so long that others have to await their convenience. !

Dr. Metcalf 'says 30 stewards are attending to the'wants of the 250 passengers at the quarantine station. It is nonsense to say the crockery is cracked and inferior. This is pure' imagination.

The food consists of four courses for those who want that number, says Dr. Metcalf, and is.;the same food -as supplied on board the A oran lP ! Vaccination Regulation. A message was received from Auckland saying that Dr. T. J. Hughes, medical officer! there, was unable to ' understand the, statement emanating from the chief quarantine officer at Sydney on Saturday, to the effect that passengers on the Aorangi were found to be not vaccinated in accordance with the Australian regulations. When questioned about the matter to-night, Dr. Metcalfe .'said the vaccinations at Auckland were carried out along the lines approved all over the world, but the pi ..sengers were unable to understand that the Australian regulations required that at least 14 days must elapse befoi-e they could be released subsequent to the New Zealand vaccination. ~ This had caused the misconception. ": .-.

Dr. Metcalfe added, with reference to the complaints against the quarantine station, that a committee of those detained was preparing a statement completely repudiating the allegations.