LIKE CHINATOWN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 283, 30 November 1931, Page 9

LIKE CHINATOWN.

ShiOPS ON SHIP'S DECK.

SIX HUNDRED COOLIES TRANSPORTED.

MOTOR VESSEL'S: "CARGO."

Much blood was spilt:on the deck, of the Danisli freighter Astoria a few months ago, /but it was riot the kind that flows when a crew, rises iri;mutiny. The victims of the killings were chiefly pigs and cockerels, and the voyage on which the wholesale; slaughter occurred was one on which the motor ship took 600 Chinese coolies home to Hongkong. Details' of. the doings of the Astoria's jabbering "cargo" were..given when the ship arrived at Auckland from Ocean Island on Saturday.

For the past two years tlie .'.Aetoria, which is a typical modern cargo carrier of 4454 tons, has been under charter to the British Phosphate Commission, and the Chinese .which she transported to Hongkong , were mostly coolies who had been engaged on the phosphate fields at Ocean and Nauru Islands, whence comes most of the phosphate which is put into New Zealand farm lands. The Chinese had been away from Hongkong only eighteen months, and the first excitement occurred when they refused to go on board the ship. The coolies who had been engaged on the "phosphate fields before them had been kept at the islands for a period longer than eighteen months and apparently they considered that they, were entitled- to' : the same term of .engagement,/although the. excuse they made for refusing to leave the islands was that.eight of their number 1 were,being left "behind. The eight that the .others: declared were receiving preferential treatment were wanted to go to Suva as witnesses in a murder triaj at which a Chinaman accused of killing a woman at Ocean Island was subsequently acquitted. Eventually the six hundred Chinese weve persuaded to;2o,aboard the ship and the two weeks' trip-.to Hong:.

Live Pigs and Poultry. Strange .indeed were the sights presented by the Astoria as she set her bow I for Hongkong. Chinamen. were . everyi wh'ere and her main deck appeared as .a corner in-real. Chinatown. A number of the passengers were Chinamen who had been in business on the islands and these set up 'their the motor ship's deck. There was the "shopkeeper" who sold lemonade and other drinks:, more, potent, another who displayed greens and fruit, a third who had beside his stall crates of live pigs and poultry, a fourth who probably called himself a "grower," and so on, there being seven or eight "shops" all told. The Chinese were responsible for all their own cooking, which they did in four big steam boilers on deck. Chicken and pork were much in demand and the Chinese butcher, who did his own killing, made good money. When the Celestials were not eating, sleeping or preparing their food, they squatted down for cards, man jongor other games, and, as far as the officers of the ship could see, high stakes were more the rule than the exception. "It was just like Chinatown and it certainly smelt like it," said one of the officers this morning. "Man Overboard." When the Astoria was half-way towards Hongkong, one of the coolies caused great excitement among his follows by climbing on to the ship's rail and jumping overboard. The alarm was immediately given and a lifebuoy was thrown to him. The man had. been affected by the intense heat, but his dip acted as an instant cure,-and he grabbed, the buoy. The Astoria was running at full speed at the time, and it was half an hour before she could be put about and. the man picked up. After this excitement the voyage was completed without incident, and. the Chinese all landed safely at Hongkong. When the Astoria left Copenhagen nearly six years ago she was a new ship, and she has not been home since. For the first four years she was engaged chiefly in carrying lumber from America, and Canada to China and Japan, and since. December, 1929, she has been under charter to" the British Phosphate Commission. She visited Auckland in July of last year, and since then she has made a number of trips to Australia from Ocean, Nauru and Makatea Islands, with .phosphate.s.-Tawards the-md-oiiast^fea^

she nosed all round the Gilbert Group, returning the islanders 'who had been, engaged on the phosphate fields. . Six Years Away From Home. Four of the Astoria's officers —the first and second mate, the wireless operator, and the second engineer—have been on the vessel continually since she sailed on her maiden, voyage. "We almost forget what home looks like," said one of theiru "Fortunately, none of us are married, but we don't know whether we still have the sweethearts we had when we sailed," he" said: It will be another fourteen months before the motor ship's phosphate charter- expires, and even then there is no guarantee that the ship will return to Denmark.' The observant visitor to the Astoria notices two small white-painted gates at the head of the ladders which lead to the captain's quarters. The object of these is to keep ''Jack," a fine Alsatian, from breaking the immigration laws of the countries visited by the motor ship. "Jack" has been the keeper of the captain's cabin for several years, and he' has never fallen down on his job. As companions "Jack" has a Scotch, terrier which is at present proud of. a young family, and a fox terrier that is the property of the second officer. There -is also a cat that has' a free run of the ship, so that the motorship boasts, more than the usual number of mascots.