MAN OVERBOARD.

Press, Volume LX, Issue 18182, 19 September 1924, Page 13

MAN OVERBOARD.

FASHIONS IN SWIMMING COSTUMES. He was a big, raw-boned fireman, who hailed from the Clyde, as liis accent proclaimed, and lie . liad just enough drink in him to mako him fractious, And when ho was in tli&t mood lie was known to be dangerous. Had ho not,, in this vSiy port of Lyttelton, only a few months ago, fought two constables, his countrymen, too, for nearly half an hour beforo lie was finally put under lock and key. So when he announced that lie would not sail with the ship, there was none to contradict him, at least not among his own. ship-mates. A crowd of watersidsrs on the wharf watched his antics on the deck, as the. Ivoromiko was singled up, and waited in pleasant expectation. They had not long to wait, and their patience was amply rewarded. As the steamer moved out from the wharf ho put his determination into effect. Climbing nimbly over thtf raiL in the lightest of attire—,-i shirt ana .a pair of shoes comprised; his sole adornment—ho took a header into the sea. The dive was not exactly a neat ono. It commenced well, but by the tiuio tho diver reached the water it had developed into a flop, and that is exactly how ho hit tho water. f The ship was by this time moving quickly, and there uas soon some yards between tho swimmer and his vessel. Fortunately tho Union Co.'s launch was handy, having been assisting tho Koromiko away. AVith a vigorous stroke'that would have done ertfdit to "Boy" Charlton himself, and now under the sobering influence of cold water, tho swimmer quickly mti.de lor the boat., where he was hauled aboard. Evidently the captain of tho Ivoromiko wai; of tho opinion that they could scrape along without tho errant one, for tho shin did not stop, but put. straight to sea, while the man himself was dumped unceremoniously on the wharf by the launch crew. Tho sight of tho son ol Scotia standing shivering on tho wharf, struggling with his scanty shirt in a vain attempt to protect himr-elf -from tho vulgar gaze of tho now uproarious watcrsiders, what time lie called alond to tho Heavens for vengeance, was ludicrous in the extreme. At length, finding tho ship would not wait lor" him, he made a sprint for the Vanaka, in tho forecastle of which he chanced from tho /nproviscd kilts to the less picturesque, if more serviceable, '"blocks," an old pair, discarded by a fellow denizen of the stokehold. Later be was seen trt make his way quietly ashore.