SHIPS AND MEN

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2188, 29 June 1914, Page 5

SHIPS AND MEN

STRIKE TIME

AN OFFICIAL RECORD

An interesting Tetum which was laid upon the table of tho House of Representatives the other day furnished a complete statistical record, of tho manning of Now Zealand ships during tho sbriko period, from October to December, 1913, when the provisions in the Shipping and Seamen Act relating'ta the manning scale wero suspended by tho Minister of Marino (the Hon. I>\ M. B. lusher) in order to meet , the position created by tho'defection of the regular orows who had gone on strike. In all som'o eightyeis vesscla large and small were manned at that time by emergency crews. Tho return gives detailed particulars of the. manning of eacli'ship under the ordinary scale and under tho emergency arrangements authorised by tho Minister during'the strike period. • One fact very cleurlv demonstrated is that no ship , was allowed to go "to sea under-manned. Although the emergency crews, in many cases included a 'voir -large proportion of ' deck officers a,nd engineers, they were in almost every case moro numerous than the ordinary crews/and on a number of ships the numerical - superiority of tho emergoncy ereivs exceeded fifty per-cent. Following" are some representative details extracted from the return: — . The Alexander, which ordiinarily carries two deck officers, one engineer, and eight hands, carried in strike time a crew of 15,-including four officers and two 1 engineers. The complement of tlio was raised_ from 33 to 44, the emergency crew including seven officers and five engineers. ' Tho Clansman carries at ordinary times a crew of 13. Her emergency complement numbered 20, including eleven able-bodied mfin with some yachting experience. . The usual complement of tlio Maori is 45. This was increased to 51. including 13 engineers. Later the Maori wa3 granted the alternative of running with a crew of 54, including twelvo'engineers. The crew of the Maheno was increased from 53 to 67, tho latter number including 13 engineers and 8 additional officers. The complement,,of tlio Mapourikn was raised .frprri 20 to 25, and that of tho Ataungamii from 52 to 75, the latter number including 12 engineers and six additional officers on deck. The. Pftteena, in place of an ordinary crew of 24, carried ,'a strike complement of 30, with ten officers working on deck.