ARREST OF A STEWARD.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20710, 7 May 1929, Page 6

ARREST OF A STEWARD.

TAHITI DELAYED FOR TWO Houks. AIMUSING INCIDENT AT PAPEETE. (Special to Daily Toots.) WELLINGTON, May 6. ' “A rather amusing incident occurred at Papeete resulting in the Tahiti being delayed for a. couple of _ hours or *6, stated one. of the passengers to a reporter this morning. . “The difficulty arose from the difference between French law and British law. We hold an arrested man innocent until he is ,proved guilty, but under French law—and Tahiti, of bourse, is a French colony—the man is held guilty until he proves himself innocent. One of our -stewards was arrested for the theft of two shirts, and the captain and the chief officer went up to thepolice station to bail him out, but bn account of the law the authorities would not allow bail.

,c We were supposed to sail at 5 p.m., but could not do bo on account of this man being in gaol; and all the stewards went out on strike on thr Papeete vttiarf. They tried to get a. car to no to the ’ gaol and get their matd out, out about : 20 French gendarmes came down with loaded rifles' and surrounded the stewards, refusing to let them go into the city. The stewards, for their part, refused to go on board the steamer and; held the ship up for about tiro hours. ; Ultimately, however, someone proved the steward innocent. He was released, and ■. so was the Tahiti.” \

with the New South Wales Union ooveis • ing the visits of a New Zealand team to Australia in 1929 and 1932, and return visits of an Australian team "to New Zear land in 1931 and 1933. In order to enable the New South Wales Union to obtain the use of the Sydney Cricket Ground, and > to resuscitate the game in Queensland, it was deemed necessary to ■■■■: send a team to Australia' this seasons .We are glad to know that Rugby,Js again being played in Queensland, and the prospects for the'future are very bright. The • sending of a team across this year may to some extent inconvenience some of the Unions and interfere somewhat with club games. Tour committee feels that in the general interests of 'the game the sacri* flee is small ■ compared with the amount of good our visit ia= going to do for-the Rugby game in New. South Wales, Queensland, arid Victoria at the present juncture. The New Zealand Union will un- - doubtedly reap the reward of the pioneering effort byre-establishing those unions - both financially and in the estimation of . the generaL public, which is surely in tlit. spirit and.best interests of our game."- -