THE MAPOURIKA.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1651, 18 January 1913, Page 6

THE MAPOURIKA.

NOT A HARD SHIP TO WORK.

SAYS THE COMPANY MANAGER.

A FEW FACTS AND FIGURES,

The trouble about securing firemen for the steamer Mapourika, which led to the laying up of the vessel, is getting near to being forgotten now, except by thoso who are unlucky enough to have business in Nelson. It was alleged at the time of the trouble that the ship was a hard ship to firo, and it was to answer this- allegation made by tho secretary of tho Seamen's Union that Mr.-W. A. Kennedy, manager of tho U.S.S. Co. in "Wellington, made the . following statement!. to a Dominion reporter yesterday:— "I desire to emphasise the fact," he said, "that, until tne Mapourika was arbitrarily 'hold up' by tue firemen just before Christmas, the company, had not received' the slightest indication, either from tho Seamen's Union, or from the men themselves, that the conditions of firemen's work aboard the Mapourika, during all tho years she has been in commission, were otherwise than ordinary. "The Mapourika has.been engaged in her. prcseut-trade for nearly fifteen years, with the saimv complement of firemen as she was carrying up to the time the demand was so arbitrarily made upon the company for three extra men—a demand which, at that' time, was professedly condemned by the secretary of the : union hiidelf. . ' ■

"The Mapourika is usually ih:Welling- \ ton from Saturday; evening till'the fol- c lowing-Tuesday (sometimes Wednesday),- J and 'the crew has, therefore, plenty of "-. leisure, including every Sunday off duty, so that her running .may be.regarded as an ideal one for those of : the ship's com- - pany resident in Wellington. . ' .),; , ■ i "The hours 'of labour -.of. the firemen of the Mapourika are ordinarily limited ,to - eight in tho twenty-four, .any time work- ] cd in- oxcess of this being paid: for - at , overtime rates. These eight; hours ore . .divided, into watches of four hours on duty and hours off, ..The- average i amount, of coal - handled' by.- the , firemen on. watch during" .all tho timo 5 the vessel has been running, l and the. labour'involved in connection therewith,'is, to usß a. local analogy, hardly, comparable with;tho arduous work of delivering coal to the upland residences of Wellington', which entails .tho, 'carrying .of it in ■ sacks, on ,incn's'backs,; up steep, paths, and steeper steps. ■■ .' . f "The secretary of tho union, has 'endeavoured, to mislead the public by. suggesting that, by reason of their.age,' the boilers of the Mapourika : .have, got 'ii'ut of repair, and consequently made harder the work'of keeping a fujl'head of'-.'steam. My,reply to'this is that the boilers of • the'Mapourika ,are in first-class' "-order,' the' fact*that her average coal con-, sumption has varied only to a fractional extent'over 1 a :period of. many years, is* sufficient proof that; the. work of, maintaining steam ,is no harder than .it, was tcn'years ago.'; ' '~. .'.,, ' • ,_, ; "By resolution of .the. Seamen's, Union, a deputation; consisting of, the secretary ■ and" two ex-fireriien' of the Mapourika, waited on mo in /order to convinco hie regarding ; the conditions in-the'Mapou-rika. stokehold. One of the firemen acted as spoWman; ,and although requested to ■spo'cifically state the exact nature'of these conditions, he' .only •- com-plained in -a general way of the; hard work -the' firemen had to perform, 'but appeared to be quite unabld even-to estimate .the amount of coal; handled by - them during their watches. He, however,, dwelt specifically upon the fact that their duties were made the harder by reason of the heavy doors on the furnaces ''of -the vessel, which required a deal of exertion in opening and 'shutting them;, but, seeing 'that''. tlitse, 'doors are those which were in the Mapourika when she was first built;, tho work of handling- them certainly .could not hare'increased in fifteen vyenis! , "Tho remarks cover ■ the entire argument advanced, by tho. deputation in .favour'of their' demand for three extra 'firemen, and the public will bo ablo to estimatd.it nt its proper value. _ It should be noted, in this connection,' that although' the .fullest' 1 opportunity was afforded the deputation of. endorsing the statements mado by. tho secretary of .the union as to the heavier work entailed by tho escape of steam owing to tho ago of the boilers, not a single suggestion <n this direction was made. ' - \ '"If tho work of 'the firemen in the Mapourika .is. of such; "an 'extremely, a'rduous character as the men so suddenly, discovered it to be, is it conceivable that several of .their immediate'predecessors would have remained continuouslyv.in,the vessel, 'under exactly; the same conditions as.at present, for periods; ranging > from 1 year 5 months up to 2,years*9 months? ?'ln order to. show, that steam.can bo' consistently maintained oh the boilers of the Mapourika without, any increase in- ■ her average coal, consumption, I quote 'the .following particulars extracted from the chief engineer's log book:— ~ ' .Average ', >.-_ Average . ';,'•• steam Mile-' speed on , ,-'.' pressure. - age;, voyage.. :D fS[ e^: ito.' : 5i : .'12:2 toots , ; ica ; :: 12.1 knots : 1C0 ; 12J0 knots