A FINANCIAL WRECK.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19785, 10 May 1926, Page 11

A FINANCIAL WRECK.

BARQUE GDY O. GOSS. HARDSHIPS OF THE CREW. “’rom Odb Own Correspondent.) AUCKLAND, May 9. No arrangements have yet been made to unload the remainder of the lumber cargo of the American barque Guy U. Goss, which is still lying at anchor in the stream. The matter has* been discussed at a number of meetings of the consignees, but nothing definite has been re Ac b co d rding to the ruling of the Supreme Court, the captain and crew own the barque, and the consignees owl the cargo. The ship is to be sold to pay the wages owing to the master and crew, but the sale cannot take place until the cargo has been unloaded. Another factor is that the Harbour Board has a hen on -he ' essel for £l2O port charges. Until this amount has been paid and arrangements made for further payments of dues the shi.< cannot obtain a berth at the "barf. The Vessel may well be described as a financial wreck, and her crew as financially in distress. Fortunately, the vessel was well provisioned with over six months foodstuffs before sailing from Vancouver in January, otherwise the predicament of the ciew would have been worse, J\o money has been received from the owners or charterers to pay current expenses. After the ship reached Auckland the local agent arranged for fresh provisione -.o be supplied to the crew, on the understanding that he would be repaid later. The Guv C. Goss, after about a fortnight in port, became virtually bankrupt owing to the non-arrival from America of credit notes to pay the current expenses, lie wages owing to the captain and crew by that time totalled £B2O, and a further £6BO was owing for disbursements. io saleguard the interests of the crew and himself the captain stopped any more cargo from being unloaded. Then the Harbour Board, to safeguard its claim, ordered the removal of the barque into the stream. She has now been near y a mouth there, and it is indefinite when she mil lift aD \Vhen it was certa : n that no funds would arrive from America, supplies ot provisions for the crew came to an end. Since then the men have been using their sea stock of food, and they have sufficient on board to last for some months. ihe food consists mostly of salt meat, beans, flour, tinned provisions, and cotlee. in. Auckland branch of the Seamens Union has come to the aid of the men. and is keeping them supplied with fresh provisions. The crew, in accepting food, made it understood that they would refund the amount expended, >i possible, when they were paid. The crew numbers 15. all told. There are eight Canadians, four Americans, and three Scandinavians. An extreme case of hardship is tha* ox a member of the crew who has a wile and three young children in Canada. His xwie received only half a month’s pay in January from the Vancouver agent, and then the allotment was stopped. The allotment for the captain’s wife was stopped at the same time. Should orders be given for the barque to berth, the crew say they are determined not to lift anchor until they have received some of their wages on account. Apparently. even if the captain wanted to, he could not order the men to lift anchor owing to a clause in the articles of agreement on American ships, which states t.iat the crew is not bound to obey the master s orders unless half the wagep have been paid. How the difficulty will be surmounted is a matter of conjecture. It has been stated that had consignees offered to advance about half the amount of the men’s wages in the first place all the cargo would have been discharged by now, leaving the ship to oe sold to the highest bidder, and the amount received could have been used for final settlement, except for keeping the barque clean. The members of the crew are doing no other work.