TO THE EAST BY A JAPANESE LINER

Evening Star, Issue 17366, 31 May 1920, Page 2

TO THE EAST BY A JAPANESE LINER

[By Fuedekick Stubbs, F.B.G.S.] Yonder the long horizon lies, And there by night and day Tlie old ships draw to port again, And the young ships sail away; And come I may, but go I must; And if men ask me why. You can Lay the blame on the sun and the stars And the white road and the sky. I often ask myself, and am sometimes asked, why I, whose youth is long since passed, and who have already seeh much of the world, should continue to wander. Une ought to have sown one’s geographical wild oats by this time. Why do I not settle down in the suburbs of some pleasant New Zealand or Australian city to a quiet, ■respectable, if somewhat dull and unevent- - ful old age? I find it difficult to answer ■ the question satisfactorily. I know that i that is the course dedicated by reason, ■ and yet somehow cannot stay ray wandering footsteps. There are people on earth, as' Gorky says, who seem to be descended ( from the wandering Jew—never able to . find a single spot upon the earth whore ‘ they can make up their minds to settle, , consumed by a restless longing, by the j love of novelty, by the desire to know j more 'of this wonderful planet and its . strange burden, and I fear that I am one 1 of them. I sailed this time from Svdnoy, and for j the first time by a Japanese liner, the Aki ! Mam. We started on Christmas Day, ‘ very early in the morning, in order lo j avoid labor difficulties, all passengers, • cargo, etc., having been stowed on board . the previous day. The first tiling that . struct one s sens-? of humor rn going on - board wag a notice- on the lop of the i stairway • “ Passengers are requested to - bold themselves: in readiness for passport inspection at 6 o’clock in the morning. ! •They shall not bo needed to properly dress on, but wearing a night-gown will , 08 enough.” The consideration expressed ■ for sleepy _ travellers in the latter part ] of the notice is sufficiently obvious, and yet strange to say, no one took .advantage ( of it, or, if they did, the nightgown was i decorously hidden under another garment. J.he above is, of course, only a sample of \ many funny _ attempts to write English, and yet while one is quite pardonably ■ amused, one cannot help , reflecting how j m.tny mere absurd mistakes we Britishers , would make were we to attempt to write i Japanese, or. indeed, almost anv other language. " 1 CHRISTMAS AT SEA. j This being a great Christian festival, j and m compliment to the majority of the . passengers, saloon was decorated with < the flags the allied nations, and with i greenery and flowers. On the dining table ■ "vvas placed before each passenger & packet i of post cards exhibiting quaint Japanese | i views-, and a souvenir menu card, lavishly < decorated; a beautifully printed passenger list had already been given to each passenger. The menu comprised a great variety of dishes, and on the sideboard : was displayed in old English fashion a ' roast turkey, a huge piece of beef, a roastsucking pig, and other substantial dishes. 1 On the dining table was a plum puddin-r in the guise of a burning Yule log. Only 1 once before have I spent Christmas Day ! at sea, and that was on an American vessel, and I must say far less homage done to the occasion then than cn this heathen” ship. JOHNSON AT SEA. IT Johnson, of dictionary fame, heartily disliked the sea. “ Ho man will be a sailor,” he once remarked, “ who has contrivance enough to get himself into *u 1 gao ; for . being in* a ship Is being in a S a °l. the chance of getting drowned/’ During the two days which ho and Bosw.cll spent together at Harwich, whence ms friend was to sail for the Continent they chanced to enter the church, and Johnson was moved to say: “Now that you are going to leave your native country recommend yourself to the protection of your Creator and Redeemer.” But I fear that not many start on a voyage in this spirit to-day, though some do Passenger ships to-day are so well built, so well found, that it is seldom one comes to grief, though they sometimes do, and one feels as safe in stepping on to the deck of an ocean liner as when stepping on a train. And, notwithstanding that we are “cribbed, cabined, and com fined,” within a space that we would not deign to sleep in on shore, and nothwithstanding a few other discomforts ns well, I hfe at sea is not without its pleasures.! Euripides told the world more than 2,000 ' years a{jo that “the sea washes off all the : cares of .men,” and liberated from office I and household worries, and the dally post, 1 and maddening attempts to attract the attention of the telephone girl, the tra- j veller does certainly feel pc'cuiiarly care- i fiee. And then there are the positive ] p,ensures of reading, of conversation and games. Nor must one forget the pleasures of the table which begin at sis* o'clock I in the morning and lasts (with brief inter- ! yals) all day. And on this Japanese ship j it is only just to say that the food is i excellent and abundant, not quite eo good | as on a first-class European liner, and some of the dishes are unfamiliar to the English paalte, but still both good and liberal Rerhaps one may mention here fiome features which are not always found on British ships, and which appeared to me wertny of adoption. For example, only two persons were nut into the two-berth cabins • in crossing from New Zealand i there were three, in other words we were I made -to pay for half a cabin and received I one-third. Then the porthole lights were ' made to swing round upon a pivot, and 1 , were thus more easily moved and regulated | than when they have to be raised horizontally and hooked to the ceiling. As is well known to travellers the ordinary porthole light is very heavy and sometimes causes accidents' to tlie fingers. The Japanese porthole also does away with the necessity for wind scoops and the amount of air admitted can be regulated at will. Another improvement I noticed on the vessel was that instead of -the usual full-bath there was ft three-quarter bath, which took up less room, took less time to fill (an important consideration) and was more comfortable, giving support to the shoulders,- Both baths - and library were free, as they are not always. A further innovation was a notice conspicuously posted that from 1.30 to 3.30 no deck sports would bo allowed. This regulation permitted both officers and passengers to obtain rest. I observed also that during the lunch hour a sailor went round the decks wiping the rails, etc., on which j a lady might soil her dress, and the decks were awept anew. The only other features of the vessel that call ior remark are that the ship, laden almost to the limit, was exceedingly steady, and was kept : extremely clean and tidy. The sailors, ' though short, were strongly built, always cheerful, and every afternoon indulged ‘in athletic and military sports, sword and bayonet drill, etc., much to our entertainment. I had never seen sailors amuse themselves in this way before. No wonder Japanese soldiers endure fatigue belter than Europeans. The captain told me that he never had any difficulty with them, and that they never came aboard drunk or disorderly. On my last vovagi round the Australian coast one fireman was killed on coming aboard late at night, and another seriously injured. Our first port of call was, as usual, Brisbane. Then we went on to Townsville, which seemed to consist chiefly of one long, hot, dusty street crowded with idlers, but on inaniry I found that the Christmas holidays were not yet over, and so most of the mm had not returned to work. The town appeared to me prosperous, but unattractive. THE GREAT BARRIER; A USEFUL INVENTION. Then we passed inside the Great Barrier. thus immense reef 1.000 miles long, with gaps and channels between, that is said to be built of madrepore or limestone coxal, forming a solid mass that protects the islands and mainland. Within this barrier, as is well known, repose numerous islands and islets, most of them too small for human occupation, but some of them large, and nearly all of them beautiful. It has always been a wonder hot? tasaneis manaae to sdess thaa l .

way through this labyrinth of rocks especially at night; but I am informed that there are automatic lights all along the route, the invention, of a Swede. Compressed gas is placed' in cylinders, which are so constructed that the sun’s light i the valve, whilst when, the eun’s hght is withdrawn, as at night or in foggy weather, the valve reopens and the li.ht reappears. The a gas lasts about 12 months, and the invention does awav with *the necessity for human care and labor. It was while in the sheltlr of this great reef that wo passed from the old year to the now, and on New Year’s Eve the dining saloon was profusely decorated with dags, whilst -cakes of rice dough, called muckie calces, and straw coronets were placed on the sideboard and over the entrance to the captain’s cabin as symbols of luck and abundance of food. There were also gold and silver pine leaves and flowers, symbolising wealth. In such fashion the Japanese wish one another 3 happy New Year, and at 10 o’clock the Japanese officers and passengers had a ceremonial feast all to themselves with strange Japanese! dishes, and the sailors were similarly regaled in the forecastle. THURSDAY ISLAND, At last we reach Thursday Island, anchoring a couple of miles from the town, and after wasting an hour- on the passport farce were allowed to go on shore. It is prettily situated, almost surrounded bv bilk, and with the fleet of pearlers lying in the harfcox’, painted white, with white sails furled, the bright eon above and the bine water below made a very attractive picture. The Japanese divers, I learn, cet £3B a month, besides the pearls ami other perquisites, the shell going to the owners. Most of the money is sent home to Japan, and thev pav no Income Tax. Why this latter provision should obtain passes my comprehension, for the young clerk, earning but £IOO. is taxed m Australia. I suggest that the Federal Government should look into the matter, Rut though the situation is attractive, one cannot say as much for the town, which is ill-paved and badly cared for, with wretched-looking little stores. There are two well-built churches, however, the Episcopal and the Roman Catholic, a hospital, ice works, and a few pkasant-look-mg dwellings on the slope behind the n ‘ surprise, I learned that lining is not expensive, hotels charging only £7 a month for board. The populiv tion is a. very cosmopolitan one, comprised of powerful black Torres Strait Islanders, New Guineamen, Australian natives, Japs., Chinese, Malay boys, Filipinos. Dutch East Islanders, Europeans, and half-castes. I think I never saw so many nationalities represented in a. town of this size before, unless it was at Hilo, in the Sandwich Islands. Anyone coming from the East and landing first at Thursday Island would get a rather ooor idea of Australia; but I am told the climate is by no means unbearable, being tempered by the ocean breez.es. One curiosity boro is the newspaper, ‘ The Daily Pilot/ a single sheet 10 x 5. printed on one side only, and costing 6d. HUMANITY AT SEA. I don’t think woman looks her best at sea. In bad weather she is jpt to disappear altogether, and even in good weather many ladies find it difficult to make their toilet satisfactorily. And then, after the first week, little "jealousies and enmities are apt to emerge. In the case of the Aki Mam seme of the Indies formed li|tle coteries of their own, having their own. card parties, etc., and sometimes indulging. I fear, in gossip, for- [ noticed considerable coolness and even rudeness on the part of some to fellowpassengers. I witnessed an amusing scene in the smoking room one evening.' Four bad arranged to play” bridge, and one of thorn placed bis rug and, cards upon a table, -and then left the room for a few moments. Immediately four ladies took up the cards, and were proceeding to transfer the rug also to their own tiiUlc, when the gentleman returned, and, catching the culprits in the very act, insisted on their returning his belongings, which they reluctantly did. There wore, of course, tue usual deck games and the usual little party of gamblers, but a good oeal less than the usual amount of drinking. I saw only one man plainly under the influence of liquor, most of the passengers preferring soft drinks. Rut wbetner soft or hard, the drinks were pretty expensive, even a half-bottle of soda water costing 6d. A big thirst is an expensive luxury in these days. On the whole the voyago was an extreinelv pleasant one, the weather rather hot. but. otherwise perfect all the way; the captain genian and obliging. There were no aecidents, and only one case of sickness ; and at length, alter a voyace of 18 days, we were safely landed at Manila, the capital of the Philippine Islands,