WOMAN STOWAWAY

Evening Post, Issue 20, 23 July 1935, Page 11

WOMAN STOWAWAY

TEAPPED IN HOLD

FOUR DAYS WITHOUT, WATER

The woman who stowed away in the Marama. on. her recent trip from Wellington to. Sydney was brought back by. the ship today. A "Post" reporter was informed that the woman had not been placed under arrest, and it is understood' that, in the circumstance's of the case, no charge is to be laid against her. Trapped in impenetrable darkness in the hold of the Union liner Marama, and without ..food or water for four days, a middle-aged woman was dis■covercd in an exhausted condition by wharf labourers when the ship arrived in Sydney on Tuesday from New Zealand, reports the Sydney correspond-' ent of "The Post." I - The woman, who had been in the hold since .early on Friday morning was almost, hysterical with joy when she was discovered, and when she was released from the small space in which she .was found she threw her arms around the neck of one of the wharf labourers and tried to kiss him. When the liner' arrived -the No; .5 hold, which is-30 feet below the. boat deck, was "covered with several layers of 'cargo.' This was removed- and the hatch covers ■ were taken off. Wool, fibre, and lucerne hay were stowed in the hold leaving a.space of three feet from the top of the cargo to the decking. One of the wharf labourers saw the woman lying in the narrow space.. . "Oh, thank God!" she said when she saw her rescuers. She was then taken to the stewards' quarters and given stimulants. When interviewed, the woman,- who appeared to be about 50, had considerably recovered and talked brightly. , "It was terrible down there. I'll never forget it as long as I live," she said. "But you take my advice and always look before you leap. I was terribly foolish to do it.". '. She then explained how she had boarded the Marama in New Zealand in the early morning and wandered round , avoiding the ship's crew. "I looked down the hatchway, but it was too deep,- with only a narrow steel ladder leading down it," she said. "I could see a doorway : right ■at the bottom, leading from the store room, so I made my way down there. Even from there it was a drop of twelve feet to the cargo, but I took a risk and jumped. I had hardly done so when someone closed the door, and I'll never forget my feelings when I was shut ih. I had no food or water 'the whole time, but, strange to say, I was not hungry, although I was dying for a drink. It was pitch dark and I could not move around much. It seemed I had been; down there for years before I heard the men starting to unload the cargo. I'll never do anything so.silly again. Now. I suppose I'll be sent back." ~\ .-•-.,'.!. ■ ....

The woman.• said she had never been in Australia before, and all'her people were in New Zealand. She had just taken it suddenly into her head to come to Australia. The Boarding Inspector (Mi1., F.. C. Bragg)' said that the .woman would have to be returned to New Zealand.