POLICING SOUTH SEAS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19916, 9 April 1928, Page 10

POLICING SOUTH SEAS.

LIFE ON THE CASSIOPEE. ~ ./v. v . v > . ; 1 ._ • - " UNIQUE, ARTISTIC WARDROOM. FOREIGN SERVICE POPULAR, Even though the reward be but from 200 francs a month upward, naval service on a French patrol ship in the South Seas possesses a subtle appeal which keeps the tide of recruits on the flow. "Yes, we do not lack for recruits for this branch of foreign service; there are always more thaq are required," said an officer of the French sloop Cassiopec, in discussing service matters in the quaintly-adorned wardroom of the little vessel yesterday afternoon. France's sailor sons eagerly accepted an opportunity to spend two or three years, perhaps more, on the Cassiopee, which, with Noumea as her western base and Papeete as the eastern, annually steams many thousands of knots through tropic seas, patrolling the republic's scattered island possessions in the Pacific. Her officers and crew are now enjoying to the full their first spell in a temperate climato since the Cassiopee was last in Auckland a little over a year ago. Sailors from Brittany. Brittany and the South of France have supplied most of the ship's complement, with a leavening of Loyalty Islanders—: happy, woolly-haired natives, seamen born, and thoroughly enjoying their service under the tricolour. "Most of our own countrymen among the crew are recruited at the age of about 20, signing on for a term of about three years, after which they may either be repatriated or remain in the navy as petty officers,''.the officer said. Islanders were paid from 50 francs a month upward, and the French seamen from 200 francs. It was not much in English money now, he commented with a gesture, but as service conditions went, and as it spelt a term of colourful life in the tropics, it was sufficiently attractive. If French has its difficulties of pronunciation to a European speaking; a more or less composite language with a strong grounding of Latin roots, how much more difficult it must be to the Islander, with his peculiar liquid tongue, may be imagined. "They are taught French on their own island home—but by native teachers —and when they first come aboard they can hardly be said to speak the language, although understand it," said the officer. However, a working knowledge was gained, and albeit the Loyalty Islander's "French" often remained very much "pidgin," no difficulty was experienced after a month or so on the Cassiopee. Early Meals on Service. The French sailor dines early. French coffee and ship's bread, sometimes with "butter,, are served for breakfast. Lunch and "diner," though, are more epicurean meals than on a British warship, comprising three c6urses, and always, at each meal, there is the issue of a quarter of litre of "vin rouge." Much appreciated is this product of the grapes of France. "When the crew are doing their work—what you say—'perfectly,' they are given 'la double' as a reward," smiled the officer. Occasionally, a little fum was doled out after strenuous work, perhaps after .a wettißg in a surf-boat in ill-weather, hot sugared wine was a firm favourite with men working under severe conditions. « < ; The inherent artisti-y of. the Frenchman has made play in the snug little wardroom encircled by-a frieze of travel pictures—a unique panorama to which officers who have seen service in many quarters of the world have made their contributions. The eye travels from a sketch of the African desert to a representation of men shooting bears in the Baltic, fioui a setting in Morocco to the bold outline of a lighthouse at Brest. Ranged about the walls is a medley of quaint and barbaric trophies, secured in odd corners of the Pacific. Spears, clubs, idols and obiects of savage warfare, lacking common names have their place in this _ ensemble of travel. Some of the collections have quaint utility. Curtains from Java screen the ports, for instance, and lounges are made more comfortable by the disposition of cushions of Eastern manufacture. On the shelves of the library are works of standard French authors and, fittingly enough in a ship restlessly patrolling the tropical Pacific, the Tusitala edition of R. L. Stevenson's " In the South Seas. A striking painting of an eighteenth century sailing ship of the line, in oval frame, arrests attention. "That, m'sieur, explains the officer,, "was taken from a German submarine during the war. "Valeur et Discipline." On the bow of every French warship is affixed' the motto, "Honneur et Patrio, and at tho stern, "Yaleur et Discipline. During the Great- War the Cassiopee played her part in honouring them, acting for a while as a convoy unit to French and British transports, chiefly in the Mediterranean. \ - Leave was meagre in the days when the Cassiopee was hurriedly commissioned, but in peace time the French naval ratings have really quite a liberal annual allowance of relief from service—4s days. As.it may not be taken in foreign parts it is allowed to accumulate, and upon returning to France is taken en bloc. Quite a handsome compensation is thus pro- ' vided for the fairly lengthy terms of exile from "la patrie." Probably the only Eiglish lettering on the ship is on the burnished brass plate on the engine-room wall, which bears the name of the Glasgow shipbuilders who constructed the vessel, to the order of the British Government, for France, during the war. Stray Shots in China. Since the Cassiopee was last in Auckland she has seen duty on the Chinese coast" during the civil strife there, being despatched to protect French concessions in the war region. Happily her two "75's" and pair of 14-centimetre guns were never fired. As she was returning from duty down a waterway one night some of the opposing factions fired a few wild shots in ignorance of her identity, but with the break of day withheld fire. That trip to China is unlikely to be reEeated, for now the French Government as commissioned new vessels which will be available for emergency servico in that quarter. To-morrow the Cassiopee docks for cleaning and painting and on Saturday sails again for Noumea to resume her long "beat" of the South Seas occasioned by the policing of the French Republic's Pacific interests.