SEAMEN’S COMPLAINT

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 274, 9 February 1928, Page 12

SEAMEN’S COMPLAINT

THROWN INTO IRONS FRACAS BETWEEN DECKS A statement has been made to The Sun by members of the crew of the steamship Dewey, which belongs to the same company as the West Togus, about which trouble originated some time ago while the vessel was at Auckland. Insanitary conditions are alleged by the crew, and one member declares he was thrown into irons on Tuesday evening and chained to a stanchion, which he declared was contrary to the rules of the ship while in a foreign port. The names of the crew associated with the complaint are: L. Compau (fireman), Fine Evans (ordinary seaman), W. R. Crawford (oiler), B. Greuder (oiler), J. W. Collins (oiler), M. H. Miller (fireman), Morton Auerbach (a.b.), L. E. Cudahy (a.b.), Stanley Sokouski (wiper), R. Spencer (wiper), Stanley Reaves (a.b.), R. Rusko (a.b.), Clyde Falmar (a.b.), J. Wilkins (a_b.), D. Sheehy (deck boy), T. McSweeney (fireman), C. Kearney (a.b.) and B. Labimer. Their complaint is that the sanitary system on the vessel is drained into their sleeping quarters in the forecastle, and they have taken their grievance to the Board of Health for Inquiry. The statement of Compau is that he was thrown into irons on Tuesday evening because he was drunk. He admits that there was a ‘‘bit

of a dust-up’* between decks, when the mate threw him six feet, and later placed him in irons and chained him to a stanchion. Yesterday mornirons, so he got a companion to file through the chain, and he visited a machine shop in the city to have the irons finally cut from his wrists. He alleged that this was contrary to the law of the ship when it was in a foreign port. The food —particularly the meat—and water were also complained of. The American Consul also is to be visited by the complainants. FROM DRY TO* WET When the complaint was referred to the fficers of the Dewey, it was explained by the chief officer, Mr. W. A. Maybaum, that any trouble that occurred on Tuesday evening was brought upon the man himself through his own folly. “The same law prevails on the ship in port that prevails on shore,” the chief officer said, “and if a man runs amok and does a great deal of damage, then it is the duty of every decent citizen to assist in his apprehension. This man has been punished, and he has been fined; now he has to pay for the damage he has done. . . . He said himself that the sudden change from a dry country like America to a wet one like New Zealand caused the liquor he had here to take greater effect than it otherwise would have done. We are not going to stand aside and watch a man kicking up a row on the ship—whether he is a sailor, a longshoreman, or anyone else.” Questioned in respect to the food and water, the first officer said there was no ground for complaint in this respect, and added that the water secured on the Pacific Slope was bet-

ter than that procurable here in Kew Zealand. The men had the same water as the officers, and there was no reason to complain of its quality. As to the sanitary conditions, the ship had been passed by the Board of Health, and this was considered to be of sufficiently high standard to suit general requirements. ‘‘lf the men do not keep their quarters in the forecastle clean,”. Mr. Maybaum went on, it is their own fault. I have not got a. room as big as I would like, but I do not expect everything on ship. If a man was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he should never come on the ship at all.”