DARING YOUNG SWEDE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4731, 10 August 1935, Page 6

DARING YOUNG SWEDE

VOYAGE IN A BATHTUB. SENTENCED TO DEPORTATION. Sydney, July 29. The lures of tales of the fortunes made by pearlers in the northern waters of Australia was the chief reason why Karl Hjelmstrom, a 21-year-old cadet on the Swedish barque C. B. Pedersen, risked his life in an improvised craft to desert from the vessel in the Torres Straits. Hjelmstrom dreamed of an easy fortune as a pearler, .but his dreams have been shattered. As reported in a previous message, Hjelmstrom left the C. B. Pedersen on July 10. He fitted on outrigger to the captain's wooden bathtub, improvised a sail,, and reached Darnley Island after six hours. He was brought to Thursday Island in a native ketch on July 24. Hjelmstrom is a native of Sweden. It was the sight of the old wooden bathtub, belonging to the master of the C. B. Pedersen (Captain Dahlstrom) that gave Hjelstrom the idea of deserting under cover of darkness when the barque was becalmed off Darnley Island, the largest island in the vicinity. Seeing the bathtub lying among a pile of lumber, Hjelmstrom packed all his belongings into it on the night of July 10 and fitted it with an outrigger- made of pieces of wood. He lashed the outrigger to the top edge of the bath, which had a square end, and also made a small mast and a sail. At night when the ship was anchored, he managed to get his remarkable craft over the ship's side without being noticed. With two broken oars, he got away from the vessel far enough to hoist his little sail and set out for Darnley Island, about four or five miles away. The old bath was leaking badly, but' Hjelmstrom, by energetic bailing, managed to keep it afloat, although at times it was half filled with water. After a perilous journey of six hours. Hjelmstrom reached Darnley Island in daylight. The natives did all they could to help him, and sent him in a sailing dinghy, manned by natives, to Yorke Island. From there a native ketch took him to Thursday Island, which is about 100 miles from Darnley. The day after his arrival Hjelmstrom was given a dictation test in French. He failed to pass. A charge of being a prohibited immigrant followed, and the young Swede was sentenced to six months' imprisonment pending deportation. This decision, made under the inexorable immigration laws of the Commonwealth, has aroused considerable sympathy for Hjelmstrom, whose hare-brained exploit won the admiration of a continent. Hundreds of letters have been received by the Swedish Consulates in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, assuring public support for any movement designed to retain Hjelmstrom in Australia.