MAORI SERIOUSLY DELAYED

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2608, 2 November 1915, Page 8

MAORI SERIOUSLY DELAYED

-FIREMEN HOLD VESSEL UP. Passengers for Lyttelton by the ferry steamer Maori last evening, and tho busies community generally, were put to much inconvenience on account of the actions of eight, firemen. It was payday, yesterday for those people in tho Union Company's employ, and pome of the vessel, who lmd been ashore, /felt disinclined to proceed to sea in her. . On arrival here on Sunday five firemen gave the required tweinty-four liours' notice of. tlieir intention to leave, and an endeavour was made to replace them during Monday without result. Olio man wns obtained, however' but at. the appointed sailing hour there were still eight men short. This was accounted for by tho fact that four of the stokehold crew, who had not signed off, did not turn up, to tune, and the other four would not sign on unless' they were granted special conditions. At 7.45 p.m. the Maori's, passengers were all on board, and there were a- fair number of people on the wharf. At about 9 p.m. two men liad .been procured, and.they were sent on board. Quite a crowd of firemen were waiting von the wharf to "take on the' job," but they demanded £2 for the run to Lyttelton and back. Mr. "VY. T. Young, secretary of tho Seamen's Union, did his best to get tlie required number, :but the men would not listen ;to reason/ Eventually, however, six men wore obtained, and this left {-wo to sign on. Although die Maori could have proceeded to Lyttelton with two men short, the remainder of the stokehold crew, it is understood, refused to sail 1 unless tho full complement was made up. After another' twenty-five minutes' searching two more men were obtained, and they shipped at the rate of £2 for the run. down and back, and the Maori got away an hour and' thirty-five 1 minutes- late. It was thouglit that as the vessel's bunkers wore filled with good steaming coal she would make up the extra time to Lyttelton, and .an endeavour will bo mado to catch 'tho.first express to Dunedin this morning. Of lata, firemen and trimmers havo been" causing trouble in Wellington and elsewhere. . A statement was recently made by the secretary of the union to tho effect that there is a shortage of men on account of the number of members of the union who have enlisted or arc doing duty in the Navy ,as members of the Royal Naval Reserve, but judging by the number of firemen and trimmers who offered to. take the Maori' to Lyttelton and back for £2 last evening, there does not appear to be any shortage of men.