Silence Is Lascars' Gold Rule

Northern Advocate, 27 May 1940, Page 7

Silence Is Lascars' Gold Rule

Is the Lascar seaman unacquainted with'the English language, or is he the perfect embodiment of reticence in wartime? That is a question which arose in the mind of a “Northern Advocate” representative who endeavoured today to converse with Indian seamen on the overseas boat at Port Whangarei. First he tried a hatchman, responsible for seeing that reels of paper were not bumped against the hold as they were lifted. The bearded hatchman was delightfully vague. He directed all the questions addressed to him to a Scotch mate who was overseeing the work. Two uniformed men dabbing camouflage paint on the ship's side appeared to be a little less disinclined ti talk. One of them had been 25 years at sea, with experience of both British and German boats. He declined to draw a comparison. Mohammedans. “I’m a Mohammedan; just like Turkey,” his mate, who was wearing a fez, said. He also volunteered the information that the 52 Lascars on the ship gathered every day in their fo’castle for prayers. One of their number, in addition to his duties as A. 8., was also the priest. The men, who are small, but wiry, hail from Calcutta. Their staple food is rice and curry, with which they are well content. Another knew enough English to complain about the wages, which, he said, were about £2 per month. Hardly Aware cf War. Apparently the Lascars were well behindhand in their war news —in fact, the general impression they gave was that they are hardly aware a war is on. One of them was at sea on British boats during the last war, and has been through the Atlantic recently. However, apparently, it is all in the day’s work to them.