TO THE EAST BY A JAPANESE LINER.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XLIV, Issue 14701, 31 May 1920, Page 2

TO THE EAST BY A JAPANESE LINER.

(By Frederick Stubbs', -F.R;G.S.) • "Yonder the lons horizon lies, i And there by night and day, ■ The old ships draw to port again, ■* , -And-the young -ships sail away; And come I jnay, but go I must, And if men ask me why, Ilou can. lay the blame on the sun and the stars,. v And the white road and the sky. I often ask myself, and am sometimes asked, why I, whose youth,is long since passedj and who have .already ■seen much of the world, should continue to wander. One ought to have sown one's geographical wild oats by this time.- Why do I not settle down in the suburbs of some pleasant New Zealand or Australian city to -a qjiiet, respectable, if somewhat dull ana uneventful old age? I .find it difficult to answer the question satisfactorily. I know* that that is the course dictated by reason, and yet somehow cannot sfay my wandering footsteps. There are people on earth, as Gorky says, who seem to be descended from the Wandering Jew-—never able to find a single spot- upon the earth where they can make up. their minds to settle, consumed by a restless longing, by the love of novelty, by "the desire "to Know mdse of this wonderful planet and its strange burden, and I fear that I am one of them. I ■ sailed this time from Sydney, and for the first time ,by a Japanese liner, the Aki Jtfaru. "We started on Christmas Day, very early in the inoi ning in order to avoid labor difficulties, all passengers, cargo, etc., having been stowed on board the previous day. The first thing that struck one's sense of' humor on going on board- was a notice on the top of the stairway: "Passengers are requested to hold themselves in readiness for passport inspection at six o'clock in the morning. They shall not be needed to properly dress on, but wearing a nightgown will be enoug'i.' The consideration expressed for sleepy travellers in the latter part of tne iwv tice is' sufficiently .obvious, and yet stranjge to say no one took advantage of it, or, if they did, the nightgown was decorously hidden under another garment. The above is, of course, only a sample of many funny attempts to write English, and yet while one is quite pardonably amused, one cannot help reflecting-how many more absurd mistakes we Britishers would make were we to attempt to write Japanese, or indeed almost any other language. CHRISTMAS AT SEA. This being a great-Christian festival, and in compliment to the majority of the passengers, the saloon was decorated with the flags' of the Allied nations, and with greenery and flowers. On the dining table was . placed before each passenger a packet of postcards exhibiting quaint Japanese views, and a souvenir menu card, lavishly decorated; a beautifully printed passenger list had already been given to each passenger. The menu comprised a great variety of dishes, and on the sideboard was displayed in old English fashion, a roast turkey, a. huge piece of beef, a roast sucking pig. and other substantial dishes. On the dining table was a plum i pudding in the guise of a< burning Yul<log. Only once before Have I spent Christmas Day at sea; and that was on an American vessel, and I must say far less honiage was done to the occasion then •than on this "heathen" ship. JOHNSON AT SEA. Dr Johnson of dictionary fame heartily disliked the sea. "No man will' be a. sailor, Jr he once remarked, "who has contrivance enough to get himself into a gaol; for being in a ship is being in.a gaol with the chance of getting drowned." During the two dayS which he and Boswell 6pent together at Harwich, whence his friend was .to sail for the Continent, they chanced .to enter [ the church, and Johnson was moved to | say: "Now that you are going to leave your native country recommend yourself to the protection of your Creator and I Redeemer."

Bub I. fear that not many start -on a voyage'in this spirit" to-d&y, though some do. Passenger ships to-day are so ■> well built, so well found, that it is'seldom one comes to grief, though they sometimes do, and one feels as safe in stepping on to the deck of an ocean liner as when stepping on a train. And, notwithstanding that we are "cribbed, cabined, and confined}" within a space that we would not deign to sleep in on shore, and notwithstanding a few other discomforts as well, life at sea is not without its pleasures.. Euripides told the world more than 2000 years ago that "the sea washes off all the cares of men," a:nd liberated from office and household worries, and the daily post, and maddening attempts to attract the attention of the telephone girl, the traveller does certainly feel peculiarly care-free. And then {here are the positive pleasures of reading, of conversation and games. Nor must one forget tile pleasures of the table which begin at six o'clock in the morning and last (with brief intervals) all day. And on this Japanese ship it is only just to say that the food is excellent and abundant, not quite so good as on a first-class European liner, and some of the dishes are unfamiliar "to the English palate, but still both good*and liberal. Perhaps one may mention here some features which are not always found on British ships, and which appeared to me worthy of adoption. For example, only two persons were put into the two-berth cabins-; in crossing from New Zealand there were three, in other words we were made to pay for half a cabin and' received one-third. Then the porthole lights were made to swing round upon a pivot, and were thus more easily moved and regulated than when they have to be raised horizontally and hooked to the ceiling. As is well known to travellers, the ordinary porthole light is very heavy and sometimes. causes accidents to the fingers. The Japanese porthole also does away with the necessity for wind scoops, and the amount of air admitted can be •regulated at will. Another improvement I noticed on the vessel was that instead of the usual full-bath there was a three-quarter bath, which took up loss room, took less time to fill (an important consideration) . and was more comfortable, giving support to' the shoulders. Both baths and library were free, as they are not always. A further innovation was a notice conspicuously posted that from - 1.30 to 3.30 no deck sports would be This -regulation permitted both officers and passengers to obtain rest. .1 observed also that during the lunch hour a sailor went round the decks wiping the rails, etc., on which a lady might soil her dress, and the decks were swept anew. The only other features of the vessel-that call for remark are that the ship, laden almost to the limit, was exceedingly steady and was kept extremely clean and tidy. The sailors, though short, were strongly built, always cheerful, and every afternoon indulged in athletic and sports, sword and bayonet drill, etc., much to our entertainment. I had. never seen sailors amuse themselves in "this way before. No wonder Japanese soldiers endure fatigue better "than Europeans. And the captain told me that-he never had any. difficulty with them, and tha-t they never .came-aboard drunk or disorderly. On my last voyage ground the j Australian coast one fireman, was killed on coming aboard late at night, | and another seriously injured.-■ Our first port of call was, as usual, Brisbane. Then we went on to Townsville, which seemed to consist chiefly _of one long, hot, dusty street crowded with idlers, but on enquiry I found that the Christmas holidays were .not yet over, and so most of. the men had not returned to work. The town appeared to me prosperous, but unattractive. THE GREAT BARRIER: - A USEFUL INVENTION., Then we passed inside the Great Barrier, that immense reef 1000 miles long, with saps and channels betwgen, -tliat is said to be built of madrepore or i limestone coral, forming a solid mass that protects the islands : and _ mainland. "Within this barrier as is well known repose numerous islands and islets, most of 1 them too small for-:hu-man occupation; but some' of them largo, and nearly all.of thei# beautiful. It lias always been a wonder to-me how mariners manage to steer their way through this labyrinth, of rocks, especially at night,/but I am -that there are automatic.lights all along the route,' the invention of a Swede. Compressed gas is placed-in cylinders, which *

are so constructed that- the sun's light; ' closes the valve,- whilst when the sun's light is withdrawn., as at ■•night or in ■ loggy . weather, the 1 valve reopens 1 and-: the light reappears. The gas lasts about twelve months,- and the invention .does away with the necessity of human caro and labor. .It was while in the shelter of this great reef that we passed from. . the Old Year to the new, and on New Year's Eve the dining saloon was profusely decorated with flags, whilst cakes of rice dough, called muckie cakes, ■ and straw coronets wero placed on the sideboard and over the entrance to the captain's- cabin as symbols of luck and abundance of food- There were also gold and silver ornaments and pine leaves and flowers, symbolising wealth. In such fashion the Japanese wish one another a Happy New Year, and at 10 o'clock the Japanese officers and passen- : gers had a ceremonial feast all to tliem--selves with strange Japanese dishes,: and the sailors were similarly;regaled in the 'forecastle. '.■■■■ . . THURSDAY ISLAND.

4t last wo reach Thursday Island, .yiehoring! a couple of miles from the town, and after wasting an hour on thd passport farce were allowed to go' on snore. It is prettily situated, almost, surrounded bv lulls, and with the fleet. of Pearlers; lying in the harbor, painted white, with white sails furled, the bright sun above and the blue-' water, belmv, made a very attractive picture. The Japanese divers, 1 - learn,'.; get £3B a month, besides the pearls ana otner perquisites, the shell going to the owners. Most of the money is sent home to Japan, and they pay no income tax. Whv this latter, provision should obtain passes my comprehension, for the young clerk, earning but £IOO, is taxed in Australia. I suggest the Federal Government should look ?nto the matter. But though the situation is attractive.; one cannot -say as much for t-he town, which is ill-paved and badly eared for, with wretchedlooking, little stores: There are. two well-built churches however, the Episcopal andr the Roman Catholic; a hospital, ice works, and a few pleasantlooking dwellings on the. slope-behind the town. To my surprise I learned that living is not expensive, hotels charging only £7 a. month for board. GThe population ris a-.very cosmopolitan one, comprised of Powerful black Torres iStrait Islanders, New Guineamen, Australian Natives, Japs, Chinese, Malay •boys, Filipinos, Dutch East Islanders, Europeans and half-castes. I think I never sa# so maily nationalities represented iiii a town of this" size; before, ■ unless it-was at, Hilo, in the Sandwich Anyone coming from the East and landing first at Thursday Island .would get rather a poor idea of Australia, but-'I am told the climate is by 'no means unbearable, being tempered •Ijy the ocean breezes. One curiosity ■here is the newspaper. The Daily.Pilot, a single sheet 10 x 5, printed on one side only and costing sixpence. HUMANITY AT SEA. I don't think woman looks her best at sea. In bad weather she. is.apt to disappear altogether, and even in good weather many ladies find, it -difficult to make their toilet satisfactorily. And then; after, the first week, little jealousies and enmities are apt to emerge. lii the case of the Aki Maru, some of'the ladies formed little coteries of their own, having their own card parties, etc., and sometimes indulging, I fear, in gossip, for I, noticed! considerable coolness an£ even rudeness on the part of some,-to fel-low-passengers. I witnessed an amusing scene in the smoking room one evening. Four gentlemen had arranged to play Bridge and one of them placed his rug and cards 'upon a table, and then left the room for a few.moments. Immediately:four ladies took up the cards and were proceeding to transfer the rug also to their own table when the gentleman returned, and catching the culprits in the. very act insisted on their returning -his- belongings, which they .reluctantly did.'There were of course the -usual deck games and the usual little party of gamblers, but jt good deal less than, the usual amount of drinking. I saw only one man ,plainly under the influence of liquor, most of the passerigfers preferring : soft drinks. But whether soft or hard the drinks -were pretty" expensive, even a. half bottle of soda water costing sixpence. A: big thirst is an expensive luxury in shese. days. On the whole, the voyage was an extremely pleasant one,, the weather rather hot, but otherwise perfect nil the way; the captain genial and obliging. There were no accidents and only one case of srickness; (and at length after a voyage of eighteen days we were safely landed at Manila, the capital of the Philippine Islands.