“A HUGE JOKE”

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19801, 17 May 1934, Page 8

“A HUGE JOKE”

RE-COMMISSION OF MAHENO REFERENCE AT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Reference was made at last nights annual meeting of the South Canterbury Chamber of Commerce by Mr C. E. Kerr, to the recent Dunedin deputation to the Hon. Adam Hamilton, when it was urged that the Maheno was so unsuitable for the proposed MelbourneSouth Island service, 'chat it would prefer no service to one provided by that vessel. Mr Kerr said that during the year the South Canterbury Chamber had supported moves for the lestoration of the Melbourne-Bluff service, and some comment might be offered regarding the latest developments. He did not know how the Chamber would regard the matter, but one suggestion pointed out by the deputation which he thought should be supported, was that Hobart be included as a port of call. “I journeyed across the Tasman in the Maheno 28 years ago, and I can tell you that she is a pretty old ship.” The deputation in Dunedin had pointed out that if the Government was going to grant a subsidy to the Maheno, and the vessel were run, it would mean the death-knell of the service. In his opinion there was a good deal of logic in the deputation’s contention, and it would be along right lines if the Union Company was asked to put on an up-to-date vessel. The chairman (Mr A. P. Greenfield) said that he was in Dunedin last week, and he did not think that the meeting would get anywhere by discussing the matter that night. The Union Company, which was a private concern, would put on whatever vessel it wished. He had gathered wjien in Dunedin that the proposal to restore the service with the Maheno was a huge joke, and that the Maheno should have been scrapped years ago. The Dunedin people were really disgusted with the propornl, and could not believe that the Union Company intended to do such a thing. In his opinion the position would be decently adjusted between the Union Company and the southern people. ‘‘Lying at Port Chalmers at the present time the Maheno looks a dirty old ship that would be very hard to give away,” Mr Greenfield added.