GERMAN “MISSIONARIES.”

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 145084, 8 September 1916, Page 7

GERMAN “MISSIONARIES.”

THEIR PRESENCE RESENTED. REMARKABLE SCENE ON LINER TAINUI. . Quite an unusual' incident, and orlo of more than passing interest in shipping circles, marked rho departure on Saturday, August 12, from Sydney, New South Wales, of tho Shaw, Savill and Albion liner Tainui (10,000 tons, Captain Moffatt), which left Wellington for Africa on August 5 (writes Mr. J. F. Hirst, on rout© to tho Capo). It hadi been freely rumoured that a number of German priests were to be shipped first-class to tiro Capo, and rumour was no less persistent that if the priests were snipped the crew would •‘strike.” It appears that tho priests were sent aboard for passage to the Cape by the Australian Minister for Defence, acting under instructions from the Home autinjHcies. On tho morning of departure the priests, some of them of venerable appearance, joined the vessel while final arrangements for tlie sailing of tho Tainui were being completed. The crow, together with tho stewards, assembled for’ard; it was evident, that trouble was brewing. The liner was navigated into the harbour, but tho firemen, greasers, stewards and others of the crew declined to ‘‘turn to” until the unwelcome 1 “guests” were towed ashore. Captain Moffatt, one of the most popular and experienced skippers on the ran from the Old Country to Australasia, addressed the men in a tactful and pacificatory speech, and enumerated the steps he had taken to solve a delicate situation. But the crew were politely firm and demanded that the Huns should either bo removed bag and baggage, or that they, should be treated as prisoners of war and placed under military guard. In this they were supported by tho passengers, who expressed strong resentment at tho presence of the Germans, and unanimously signed a petition to the skipper in terms of the crew’s pretest. In the meantime tho priests perambulated tho deck of the first saloon, tho cynosure of all eyes. Tho stewards and others of the crew, in order to cause the passengers no inconvenience, other than that which they were cheerfully prepared to uudergo, resumed their ordinary duties, it being understood in tho meantime, that tho vessel should not sail with the Teutonic element aboard. So tho engineroom fires were banked. In. the afternoon the military .boarded the liner and discussed the situation with the skipper. The crow, to while away the time, sang patriotic airs and coon songs, and balanced ships’ brooms on their chins, while tlie dulcet strain of tlie mouthorgan—so dear to the heart of the East Under —floated across the sunlit waters of tho harbour. Night came; there was no sign of departure and the military loft. An impromptu concert for’ard in the evening, the musical instruments, of which were a Jew’s harp, a mouthorgan, and a tin can, was a pleasing diversion. When morning broke it was reported that we might sail next day, and visions of sun-baked kopjes, an illimitable veldt and kraal fires, flashed across the imagination. But by 8 o’clock bn Sunday morning a tug drew alongside the Tainui, and a little later the priests and their impedimenta were transferred to tho tug, which steamed Sydneywards. As the men made their way down the gangway the sides of the liner were crowded with passengers. One cannot help paying a’tribute to all on the Tainui. The presence of “missionaries” had, aroused deep resentment. But their humiliation was relieved, and they were allowed to depart without any of those unseemly incidents that on© naturally associates with rho elemental-passions and brute primitive instincts of the Teuton, but which are fundamentally at variance with the traditional sporting spirit of tho British stock.