Dannevirke Advocate [PUBLISHED DAILY.] OLDEST ESTABLISHED PAPER GUARANTEED LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE DISTRICT. TUESDAY, MARCH 24. AN IMPORTANT DECISION.
The decision of Dr. McArthur, S.M., that the Court has power to forfeit wages or impose imprisonment when firemen delay a steamer by absenting j themselves from duty without leave should act as a warning to the men who were concerned in a case heard at Wellington last week. The action was brought by the Union Steamship Company against two firemen who were in their employ. These men were working on the Haupiri, but owing to. their failure'to be at their posts last Tuesday evening,! the steamer was unable to Heave Ffcton at the advertised time. ;< The firemen were eventually found in a fetate of helpless drunkenness in a * Railway truck, rendering it necessary to lecure the services of a substitute, with ihe.r^sult that the Haupiri left Picton four hours'late. The serious outcome of the delay was that mails and passengers for Auckland, etc., arrived in Wellington after .the departure of the Manawatu train, which connected with the Auckland steamer at New Plymouth. The company naturally desired a remedy for cases of this kind, hence their action in having the men prosecuted. During an investigation of the matter in Court it was shown that nntil quite recently it was the practice of masters of ships; under a clause in their articles, to deduct from the wages of seamen, or firemen two days'pay for improper absence from a steamer. The Minister of Marine, however, insisted on this olauße being excised from ships' articles, and deductions from the wages of seamen who commit offences can only be made now by a magistrate. The decision of the Court is of considerable importance, and should tend to prevent a repetition of the experience lately undergone by the Union Steamship Company. ! j ! ■
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Bibliographic details
Bush Advocate, Volume XIV, Issue 303, 24 March 1903, Page 2
Word Count
306Dannevirke Advocate [PUBLISHED DAILY.] OLDEST ESTABLISHED PAPER GUARANTEED LARGEST CIRCULATION IN THE DISTRICT. TUESDAY, MARCH 24. AN IMPORTANT DECISION. Bush Advocate, Volume XIV, Issue 303, 24 March 1903, Page 2
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