[PRESS ASSOCIATION.] MEN AT MACOUARIE ISLANDS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXX, Issue 4, 5 July 1910, Page 9

[PRESS ASSOCIATION.] MEN AT MACOUARIE ISLANDS.

SENDING RELIEF. DUNEDIN, 4th July. Speaking to a reporter to-day with reference to the men on Macquarie Islands about whose welfare some concern has been expressed, Mr. Hatch stated that the repairs to the' Jessie Niccoll are almost completed, and he hoped to get her away this week, but a hitch which threatens to delay the departure of the vessel has occurred. The regulations in respect to the number and qualifications of the crew stipulate that the Jessie Niccoll, on the forthcoming trip, must carry as master, mate,and ' second mate, men with foreign-going certificates. Great difficulty is being experienced in procuring certificated officers. Mr. Hatch has secured the services of a master and only one mate, despite enquiries at various Dominion port 3, in order to overcome the difficulty. He is in communication with the Minister of Marine with a view to arranging that an experienced available man with a home trade certificate may be allowed to fill the vacancy. Mr. Hatch says he did not accept the Government's offer to send the steamer at his own expense for the men on the islands, because the charge for the steamer was to be £35 per day from the time she started to prepare for the trip until her return from the islands. There was no undertaking as to how long she would be getting ready, and the bringing back of the oil was to be left to the option of the captain. Mr. Hatch, who had also to insure the Government steamer while she was away, says he could not accept the offer, as he was already responsible for about £500 in connection with the Jessie Niccoll, and had to pay the eleven men on the islands upwards of £700.