THE OPAWA'S STOKEHOLD CREW.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1922, 3 December 1913, Page 8

THE OPAWA'S STOKEHOLD CREW.

FOURTEEN IN COURT,

ALLEGED ACT ON HIGH SEAS,

I'Oiirlreii of the stokehold crew of thAew A,,1a,,d Shipping Company's Opawa (nine firemen and live trin me"rs> appeared be ore Mr. W. ff. K ; d ,, clJ ; s.M., yesterday alternoon. If wrs th-i'r second appearance this week, as only oil .Monday they had been ordered to V placed on board the ship prior to her sailing tor London. The men were >)hc - od on board the vessel, and she put' o'lt to sea, but had only got a short d ; '<- tance on her voyage whe.i tbo nrcu«"d men again refused duty. Tho ship was then put back, and the men ;dven in charge of the police authorities"'' Tho chargo preferred against each of th" men yesterday, afternoon was as follows :—

"That on December 1, on the hiVh seas, being duly articled seamen on the s.s. Opawa, he did combine with all tho others of the abovenamed seamen to disobey the lawful commands of the master of the said steamship, and to neglect duty and to impede the navigation of the said steamship and the progress of her voyage, contrary to the"form of ihp. statute made and provided. (Shipping and Seamen Act, Section 13,3 Sub-Section Id).'.' ' '

The names of the accused arc ?s follow.—William C. Tilly, Harrv Horn Jolm Hanmorc, Edward Sullivan Janes Mulholland, Anton Slmlters, Axel Horlig, Wm. Wilkios. James Barnard, John Larton, Henry Totliam, James Ch-"I----wick, Alfred .Stevens, and David Cook Mr. H. S Evans appeared for the Now /calami Shipnina Companv. Tlio men wero defended by Mr.'P. J O'Regan. The Captain's Story. Archibald Hamilton Pivlov, roaster of tlio s.s. Op.wa, said that' tlio vessel was to have left Wellington for London ■at G a.m. on November 30. The accused men wero tinder obligation to serve from London to Nov.- Zcalnr.d cu the New Zealand coast, and back' to London. The accused included nmo liromen out of twelve, and five, trimmer* out of nine. He had interviewed the men in the Lambton Quay police station on the previous day, prior to their coming before the Court on another charge. Tiie men then, as a body, refused "to fulfil their obligations, and'do their dunon tlio ship. "One man—he thought it was tlio accused Horn—said. "I'm" done with the ship." Later on during the fame day (Monday), the men were taken cut to the vessel, which was lvjng out in tho harbour. When the men got on board, after a refusal first to do so. the i ship was still at anchor. Subsequently tho men camo to him on tho upper deck and again refused duty. Their excuse for declining "to return to their duties was that they wore not going to carrv a "scab" cargo to sea. The vessel got under weigh almost immediately, and proceeded'to sea in tho ordinary course; of the voyage. He took the vessel out for a distance of-3.{ miles, E.N.10., and Pcncarrow was then about iive miles oif. When they reached this situation tlio accused men were mustered and commanded to go to their duties. They again refused individually with tlio ox'ception of ono man, who' decided to return to his work. It would have been impossible for him to havo proceeded to sea with the remainder of his firemen and trimmers. The ship could not havo been navigated with them. When warning the men to resume duty, he told them that if they refused they wouUl probably suffer twelve months' imprisonment. Proceeding, the witness said ho hoped to get his ship away by noon today (Wednesday), and it would probably be 4.V to o monthsi before theVhip returned to New Zealand. In regard to tlio accused Hcrtig, tho shipping company was under a bond of £100 to see that he was taken out of the Dominion, as lie was a restricted immigrant. To Mr. O'Regan: Ho thought when the men camo on board first that they might refuse duty, but he thought it might bo different when they got outside, as was often tho case, and as instanced by the fact that one of the men had gone back. Ho took no legal advice as to going outside the 3-niile limit, so that tho men might be rendered liable to twelve months' imprisonment for refusing duty. Ho was absolutely sure ho had gone outside the harbour "limits, as he took cross-bearings, and unquestionably ascertained the exact position of tho vessel.

Officer's Evidence. Wilfred Lcs.lio Goddard, chief officer on the Opawa, gave similar evidence to that of Captain ltyley. 11l rcplv to Mr. O'llegan, he denied having said to the accused men, when going out to tho ship in the launch, that if ho had his way ho would shoot them. George Thomas Hartwell, second engineer of tho Opawa, corroborated the evidence given by Captain Ryloy as to the men's refusal to return to duty. To Mr. O'Kogan: Although the'men had refused duty ashore, he thought that they would not persist in that attitude when tho vessel put out to sea. Committed for Trial. In each case the accused reserved their defence, and were committed to tho Supremo Court for trial, hail being allowed eneli accused except one, in tho sum of £50, with one surety of a like amount, or two of £25 each. The exception was in the caso of the accused' Heiiig„tho restricted immigrant, whoso bail was lixed at £100 and one surety in a similar sum,