GADGING ON SHIPS

Evening Star, Issue 21504, 31 August 1933, Page 7

GADGING ON SHIPS

ROT CASES OF STARVATION FASCINATION OF THE SEA FOR BOYS Following on the statement ma*ic by a social worker that there is no pc'son staiving in Dunedin, “ tine Facts ” asks in a letter whether or not the social worker has bee non the waterfront approaching meal times. Jf not, ho asserts, one need only go to the wharves to see not onl.y men, but children from the age of ten, climbing aboard the ships, which practice the writer alleges to he for the purpose of obtaining food left over by the sailors. “ True Facts ” also states, in accordance with the social worker’s theory, that any cases of real starvation me perhaps hiding, but not for the reason originally stated; rather so on account of the fact that they had been told that relief could only be given out of the mayor’s fund in cases bf sickness. Opinions gathered in regard to the suggestion of starving persons frequenting the boats in search of “ left overs ” do not confirm “ True Facts statement. A reporter approached several reliable persons closely connected with shipping, and, while they agreed that certain people often attempted to board vessels in the hope of being rewarded with food, they wore known to bo men who were not destitute. _ One man, whose connection with shipping extends over a period of thirty years, both on board ship and ashore, said that whenever a vessel entered port—any port in the world—there was always someone waiting to try to score a free meal Most of those who went aboard for this purpose were ex-seamen. ami very often they counted inends amongst the crews of the various ships. Their' visits to the boats were by no means a result of the depression, for the same type of men had made a custom of paying these visits even, in the most prosperous times. Ships had always had a strange fascination for children, who congregated on the wharves whenever possible, always on the look-out for any refuse that could he picked up as a memento. As far baric as he could remember, the experienced shipping men had watched small boys waiting anxiously for the ship’s rubbish to be taken ashore, and if a sailor on deck should toss the boy a biscuit, the latter would hurriedly eat it in the realisation that this would be his only connection with the sea until later years.