THE MAORI'S FIREMEN.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVI, Issue 263, 6 November 1912, Page 3

THE MAORI'S FIREMEN.

—. -»* WERE THEY TO BLAME?

MR W. T. YOUNG IN THEIR

DEFENCE.

Concerning the statements made by the Christchurch Press on October 30 in regard to the conduct of some of the firemen and trimmers on board the Maori, Mr W. T. Young makes an exceedingly lengthy written reply, the essential points of which are as follow:—"That facts go to prove that both drunkenness and desertion have been reduced some 30 per cent, during the past eight months, and that has been brought about by the warnings of the Seamen's Union and the infliction, of fines on members misconducting themselves on board ship. . . Re the Maori's articles on October 25— "It is asserted in the press report that the signing was not completed till 7 p.m. This is absolutely incorrect. . . . When the Maori left

the wharf there was not a full head of steam on the boilers, as there had not been time to raise same. It is stated that many of the firemen were drunk on leaving Wellington on Friday night. This I know to be quite untrue. The ship carries fifteen firemen, nine trimmers, and three greasers—total 27—and out of that number three were under the influence of liquor. ..." It was further stat-

Ed that tho fifth engineer manipulated all the furnaces in the fore stokehold. In answer to this it might be stated that the Maori has twelve furnaces in that stokehold, and it would be. a sheer impossibility for any one man to operate more than six v furnaces and keep steam on the boilers. . . "Whilst adverse references are made to the men on the 12 to 4 watch, it is a peculiar coincidence that the men .on the 8 to 12 and1 4 to 8 watches were' apparently capable of performing their duty, and did so, and it js equally a coincidence that the adverse comment on the 12 to 4 watch covers the run from Wellington to Lytteiton, and does not apply to the time they were on duty at the Wellington wharf, from 6 to 8 p.m. on the Friday in question, when the liquor, if they had a,ny, would1 be more conspicuous than it would be 'between midnight and 4 a.m. on Saturday." . . .No mention is made of the return trip from Lytteiton to Wellington. The Maori sailed from Ljsttelton at lier usual time—B.3o p.m. and was alongside Wellington wharf at 7.25 a.m. on Sunday (10* hours 55 minutes), which is equal to her ordinary steaming time. "Regarding tlie excursion on Labor Day, the ship was advertised" to sail from Wellington at 7.45 a.m. At 8 a.m. on Monday there was a full head of stsam on the boilers, and the engineer then gave the order to 'close up.X At .7.55 there was again a sufficient head of steam, arid the engineer on duty ordered the men to cease firing. At 7.4s—advertised time of sailing—all hands were on board, and the, ship sailed at 8 a.m.. A point is made of the fact of the Maori being fifteen minutes later in leaving than the advertised time, and .the inferences are that the men are to blame, but the records of Picton excursions go to show that in nine cases out of ten the ship does not get away till about fifteen or twenty minutes after the advertised time.

"It is admitted that four of the men were under the influence of liquor at the time of leaving Picton. On the return journey two men out of eight on,the 12 to 4 watch did not turn-to, their places being ; taken by two other men, and therefore all the men on duty were sober. . . . Regarding the 8 to 12 watch, it may be stated that out of five firemen and three trimmers, four of the former and two of the latter are temperate men, who hardly ever touch intoxicating liquor. One fireman and one trimmer on this watch, were more of less intoxicated, and did not turn to, and their places were filled by men from the other watches. If the ship made a lengthy run over of 3| hours, it could not be attributed to the four intoxicated men, because they were not on duty; and the remaining 23 men were all sober. It is also alleged that some of the men made themselves objectionable to passengers on the foredeck of the run from Picton, and that some of the firemen took a truculent attitude^ flourishing: bottles of beer, etc. lam advised by the union delegate,on the Maori that sober members of the crew were ori the foredeck conversing with pasenger friends from Picton to Wellington, and none of them witnessed any objectionable conduct.

It is also alleged that owing to her late arrival from Picton—-7.5 p.m. —- the ship was forty minutes late in leaving for Lytteiton, was forty mintues late in arriving at that port, and, a*, a .result missed the first south-bound express. The cause of this delay was that racehorses were being shipped; and this was not completed till about 8.30 p.m. On the run down she averaged 16 miles per hour."

Reference is also made to the wages the men earned for the day, and Mr Young states that the 27 men in the ■engineroom and stokehold were paid a total of £19 165., as against the Union Company .having received £250 for the trip—looo passengers at 5s each.

"As to coal, the men who had to handle it and get steam state, without hesitation, that it was the worst the ship has had for some time. Beyond this the coal in the bunkers was a long way back, with the result that the trimmers could not trim sufficient into the stokehold.

"In connection with the Maori episode, I have received a letter from the general manager of the Union Company, dated,Dunedin, October 29. In that letter, which is the result of telegrams sent to him from their Wellington and Lytteiton offices, he puts forward three points of complaint only, and they are these:—

"1. Action of men in claiming additional day's pay.

"2. Ship detained forty minutes at Wellington Monday night through alleged trouble with firemen.

"3. Ship forty minutes late in arriving at Lytteiton on Tuesday morning through alleged drunken firemen.

"There is the head man of the concern involved speaking as the result of official advice tendered him, and he has no complaint against the men except those three items, which have been dealt with."