Page 10 Advertisements Column 1

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21383, 10 July 1931, Page 10

The belief that a ship is the possessor of a soul is common among seafarers of many nations, but hitherto many have not been aware of the extent to which it is held in Japan. There the prosaic business of shipping would appear to be relieved to a surprising extent by this endowment of vessels with an ego of their own. which, moreover, is believed to survive the “ death ” of the ship, exactly as in the case of human beings. The ceremonies referred to took place in Osaka last December, and they consisted of a meeting of members of the Ship-, breakers’ Guild for the purpose of offering prayers, according to Buddhist rites, for the* souls of steamers broken up ,in their yards since 1923, and also for the souls of ten workmen who were accidentally killed in the course of their duties. Old as the belief in the existence of the soul of a ship is in Japan, this was the first ceremony of its kind ever held in that country, —British prisons are to cost over £50,000 less in the financial year just started; but there is an increase of £448,821 in the cost of the police force.