BLACK SHIP

Grey River Argus, 1 August 1934, Page 5

BLACK SHIP

FROM PACIFIC COAST Crew Kept Aboard BY AUCKLAND UNION PICKETS. (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, July 31. The first cargo vessel to reach New Zealand after loading at Pacific Coast ports of America during thc longshoremen’s strike is the Golden Coast, which arrived at Auckland from Los Angeles to-day. Her present crew are those wh”o replaced the men who had left the vessel at San Francisco in sympathy with the strikers. As her cargo was loaded by nonunion labour, the Golden Coast has been declared “black” by thc Watersiders’ Union, and her cargo is being discharged by the crew by means of tho shore cranes.

The vessel is expected to sail tomorrow for Wellington. Later she will proceed to Australia. Tho gates at the King’s Wharf were guarded by police and Harbour Board officials and entrance by thc public was not permitted. Outside of the gates a number of Unionist pickets kept, a close watch on all those who passed on to the wharf. A passenger on the vessel -was stopped by the men, but on producing his passport, he was not detained. Trouble occurred in thc evening, however, when two members of the crew attempted to visit the city. They were stopped by some of the pickets, who now numbered over fifty, and in a scuffle one of the crew bad his tie torn from his collar. Tho two men then returned to their vessel. Later in the evening, the majority of the crew came ashore, dressed to visit the city, but they were persuaded to return to thc ship, where they remained for the night. The crew consists chiefly of young men, anxious to see this part of the world, and it includes five University students. Four of the latter are from American colleges. The fifth one is a Cambridge University student, whose intention it is to continue his studies at Cambridge next year on the completion of three years’ service at sea. Wheat Ship Ashore ON SOUTH AFRICAN BEACH. (Received July 31 at 10 p.m.) CAPETOWN, July 31. The British motor vessel Winton, of 4388 tons, loaded with six thousand tons of Australian ‘wheat, which went ashore on Saturday on the northern beach’, is now threatened with complete loss. She is embedded deeply in the sand. The captain and crew have left the vessel, owing to heavy seas breaking over her. Considerable quantities of cargo already have been salvaged.