LANDING DELAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 257, 31 October 1933, Page 3

LANDING DELAY.

MONOWAI PASSENGERS GRANTING OF PRATIQUE. MILD DEMONSTRATION. Annoyance and inconvenience were caused to passengers who arrived by the Monowai yesterday from Sydney owing to the delay that occurred in the vessel being granted pratique. The liner berthed promptly at 4.30 p.m., but half an hour elapsed before she was boarded by Government official;;, and later there was further dolav owing to several passengers neglecting to pass the Customs. No passenger was allowed to leave the vessel until all had been examined. The initial cause of the delay was the late arrival of the port health officer, Dr. G. Graham Russell. When he put in an appearance at five o'clock the passengers on deck made a mild demonstration, and the large: crowd on the wharf, many of whom had come to meet friends and relatives, joined in. Dr. Russell said this, morning that it was the first time he had been late in a period of eighteen years. The time of the arrival of the Monowai had been misjudged by him. He received no official notification of the. time ships arrived, he said, but the Harbour Board informed him "as a courtesy" when vessels were expected to berth or arrive in the stream. Passengers on the promenade deck, leaning over the rail, shouted sarcastic comments to friends on the wharf concerning the port regulations that permitted such unwarranted dday. The vessel's dance band meanwhile played lively tunes. The medical inspection was carried through expeditiously, but as some of the passengers did not report to the Customs officers, there was a."hold up" at the gangway until the officials completed their work at 5.30. The loss of half an hour was serious to passengers who contemplated going •South last night by the Limited. It g&ve them very little time to book their seats and make arrangements after getting their luggage- from the wharf. Several business men who were on board complained of the delay. "Medical inspection of intercolonial liners a farce," said one passenger. "There is a fully-qualified medical man on hoard each vessel, and his word should be taken at Auckland as to the ship being 'clean,' the same as at other important ports."