LIFEBOAT SERVICE

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 200, 21 May 1931, Page 6

LIFEBOAT SERVICE

Meeting' Affirms Need

DIFFERING OPINIONS

Mayor to be Approached

COMMUNITY VIEW SOUGHT

Further stops to establish a lifei boat service to operate in the vicinity of Palliser Bay, and Cook < Strait were taken last evening, when '■ a representative meeting, held at Island Bay, decided to request the Mayor to call the citizens together , to discuss the question. With the .exception of Captain T. S. Foster,whose candid opinion was that next to the fishermen, the tugs were the most competent to deal with any future emergency, the meeting unanimously supported the proposed service; •

Mr. 0. F. Lethaby, who presided, stated that recently a deputation waited upon the Prime Minister, stressing the urgency of providing a lifeboat at Island Bay. The. Prime Minister had promised'that in the event of subscriptions being raised toward the cost of a boat he would be prepared to consider a pound for pound subsidy by the Government.

Whole City Concerned.

An appeal to the citizens of Wellington as a whole to take the matter was made by Mr. Lethaby. The movement, he explained, did not concern Island Bay alone; it concerned the whole of Wellington. He suggested that a boat could be provided by imposing a levy on shipping and marine insurance companies. He claimed that had one been available when the Progress struck it would have been possible to save the lives of all tfie crew. .

“Could a lifeboat have assisted ,in any of the marine disasters which have taken place in Wellington during the last fifteen years? That is the question I put to myself,” said Captain F. A. Macindoe, 'secretary of the Merchant Service Guild.

“In talking of marine disasters I am not alluding to what occurs in yachts or’ fishing boats, but simply to vessels trading between Wellington and other ports,” he said. “1 have come to the conclusion that there has not been one case I know of where a lifeboat would have been the means of saving life. This does not mean that a lifeboat is not necessary.” . ‘

The Recent Disaster. Captain Macindoe said he admitted that in the recent disaster a lifeboat would have been able to have made Communication between the Progress and the Tola, and it was safe to say the Progress would have been safely towed into port. In other words, he said, a lifeboat was designed to go into shallow water where .a'-?tug like the Toia could not venture on account of her draught. There was also the difficulty of having an efficient crew always available. He doubted whether this could be done unless a paid coxswain was employed who had the experience which would enable him to train a voluntary crew in the neighbourhood where the boat was to be housed. Captain Macindoe said that if all ships were required to carry rocket apparatus there would be no necessity for a lifeboat service. He had always advocated that all ships going to sea, irrespective of size, should be fitted —with wireless. It was the duty of everyone to insist upon this provision. Captain Foster’s Opinion? .• ‘.‘Leaving aside the question of recent iXjWfScks, the upkeep of a lifeboat, which i'/wfi.uld have to be of considerable power, /••/would be a very great expense,” said Captain Foster, who was asked by the Chairman to address the meeting. ; ' The water round the coast was deep •>*. ahfl permitted of steamers of heavy draft .■ 'approaching the Shore,” he said. “Can>;'.’didly,” he continued, “my opinion is that >' tli'e .fishermen of Island Bay are the best P, seamen we have around this coast” (Ap- ; plause.) “In a time of crisis they are the men. who will fill the bill every time. They .did ' very good work in connection witn •f.- tire '.rescue of the crew of the Progress, !,'as- they have .'done, in previous wrecks. They are thorough .seamen. They know the’coast, the winds and the tides. They are- the men who will give you the best service. Next to the fishermen I think our/ Wellington tugs give the best service.” .J ~

Captain Foster said that, speaking as a practical, seam-n; he could not recommend that the Government be asked to find theimoney for a lifeboat service. u : , The Fishermeii’s Viewpoint.

Mr. G. H. 'Baxter, of the Cook Strait Eishermen’s Association, said he appreciated the compliment Captain Foster had paid the 'fishermen, but did not think it was a 'fair proposition to ask them to use their own property in addition to the risk of losing their lives. The

Government had ’ promised a 'pound for j pound subsidy, but he thought it was up to the people to do something for themselves and not ask the whole of New Zealand to bear the burden. Mr. Baxter said there was every prospect of an order for a boat being placed in Britain within the next fortnight. His association was moving in the matter. He could not say anything more in the meantime. ; “I agree with . previous speakers , that this is not a matter for the Government. We all know, how much money the Gov-

ernment has hot got at the present time,” said Mr. T. Ricketts, amid laughter. The question, he said, should be placed before citizens generally.

Ex-Minister Speaks. Mr. G. Norman, of Ohiro Bay, in stressing the need for. a lifeboat, said that on three different occasions he had had to ask the fishermen to go to the rescue of boats in difficulties.

The Hon. G. W. Russell, at one time Minister of Marine, supported the movement for a lifeboat service and said he hoped it would extent! throughout the whole of New Zealand, If t'he movement was to be a success, he said, it should be a self-reliant one. The meeting was attended by about thirty people, including several women.