OFF TO VALPARAISO.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 202, 27 August 1931, Page 9

OFF TO VALPARAISO.

TRAINING SHIP SAILS.

EARLY-MORNING FAREWELLS.

THREE SAILORS LEFT BEHIND,

With her complement three short, the Chilian naval training ship General Baquedano sailed out of Auckland, bound for Valparaiso, shortly before seven o'clock this morning. Efforts by the police to trace the three sailors who slipped ashcre against orders on Tuesday evening and caused the corvette's departure to be postponed until to-day, were not successful, and Captain Alvarez, commander of the ship, had no other course than to sail without the mfseing men.

Our Chilian visitors could not have wished for a better morning on which to bid "Adios" to the friends who had made them so welcome during their two weeks' stay at Auckland. Doubtless the younger officers and men would have preferred a departure later in the morning, in order that there might have been more fluttering handkerchiefs to wish them bon voyage. Kali-past six was the time announced for the corvette's departure, and punctually at that hour the gangway, up and. down which so many young Aucklanders had passed during "the ship's stay at this port, was lowered to the wharf. A final supply of fresh water was taken on board; and as soon as the hose was disconnected the mooring lines were cast off. Farewell Salutes.

For ten minutes before the time the ropes were thrown off the, corvette's screw had been turning slowly, and as soon as she was free she moved slowly astern without the assistance of a tug. Those members of the ship's company who were not engaged, in essential duties were mostly on the fo'c'sle head and quarter-deck. The only person on the Central wharf, with the exception of Harbour Board officials, was Mr. E. A. Craig, Consul ror Chile, but at the stern of the steamer Rangitoto, which was tied up at the Northern wharf, there was a handful of waving handkerchiefs. As the corvette glided out into the stream. Captain Alvarez, who was on the bridge, saluted Mr. Craig, and the compliment was repeated by Captain

Merino, second in command, who was at the bow.

It was a brilliant morning, with a warm sun shining out from a cloudless sky, and the General Baquedano looked well as she drew away from the wharf. The harbour was like a millpond, and the corvette's propeller made so little fuss that even at the stern the water was hardly disturbed. When clear of the wharf the ship, which had been berthed with her bow facing inshore, swung round as if she intended to proceed up the harbour, but then described a half-circle, which put her bow toward North Head. As the ship turned, the bright rays of the sun struck her hull broadside on, and she appeared as a ship of dazzling white. Her single funnel was sending up a very important-looking billow of smoke, but there was hardly sufficient wind to give life to the flag of the Republic of Chile, which flew from her peak. Once facing downstream, the corvette got quickly under way, and was soon so far away that her sailors mustered on the quarter-deck appeared only as a dark blur. By the. time the city clocks struck seven the ship, which is expected to occupy the. best part of eight weeks on her long return voyage to Valparaiso, was almost round North Head. "The Girls They Left Behind."

Although no shore -leave was granted last night, it may be taken for truth that the thoughts of not a few of the sailors were with their new found sirl

friends on shore. A number of farewell notes were written, and this morning were given to a Harbour Board official with an earnest request that he should not forget to post them. Of nine letters thrown from the ship to the wharf a few minutes before the vessel sailed all but one were addressed to Miss Someone-or-other. The exception was a letter to be delivered to "Senora " in Valparaiso. Some of the envelopes addressed to Auckland girls will probably be treasured as curiosities as much as for sentimental reasons, for the Chilian sailors showed a quaint way of using the pen. In several instances the word "Miss" was written in the top left-hand corner, with the name and address scrawled near the bottom of the envelope. That not all the letters will come a3 a surprise to the recipients was evident from the fact that at least tw% of the envelopes had been addressed by the girls themselves. Flowers for Luck.

One gild in her early teens arrived at the wharf gates before half-past six with a bunch of flowers for "her" sailor. She was bitterly disappointed

when she was not allowed on the wharf, but gave the flowers to a photographer who was making for the ship and hurried round to the Northern wharf. The flowers were addresed to one of the sailors, and it was he who caught them when they were thrown on board. As he read the note he' grinned broadly. Acting under instructions from the Chilian Consul, the. police are no longer looking for the three sailors who broke bounds on Tuesday night. Reports were received yesterday afternoon that the missing lads had been seen at Oratia. If instructions are received from the Chilian Government efforts will be made later to have them returned to their own country.