TROUBLE WITH FIREMEN

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 221, 6 June 1918, Page 4

TROUBLE WITH FIREMEN

PATEENA'S STOKEHOLD CREW LEAVE IN A BODY. How an apparently trivial incident can culminate in serious inconvenience- was shown yesterday by the action of the stokehold crew of the steamer Pateena in leaving tiie vessel as a result of one of tho complement receiving his discharge for alleged disobedience. The facts of the trouble aro said to bo that a trimmer on coming out of tho stokehold wiped his boote on a new carpet in ono of the passage-ways of the ■steamer. Tie wn.s reprimanded by a senior officer for his action, and was told to clean up the dirt, an order lie treated with contempt, saying that it was "only a joke." The man's conduct was reported to the second engineer, who gave him 24 hour*' notice: Tho other members of tho stokehold crew—five firemen and ono trimmer—subsequently handed in notice of their intention to leave tho ship ftt Wellington yesterday morning.. The reaeon they 1 gave for this that as one of their number wns leaving they' had decided to go also. •

An inquiry .into the matter was held, and while the discharged trimmer maintained that the second engineer had used bad language in his order to clean the carpet, iris statement was not borne out by a witness of the whole incident.

Officials of the Union Steam 'Ship Company set'about to sign on a new crew of firemen at 9 a.m. yesterday, but their efforts had been only partly successful late in the afternoon. Although between 30 and 40 firemen were open for engagement, only four would accept employment at the ordinary daily wage of Bs. 4(1., the others to whom work was offered either refused it or wanted £1 a day. Three men were still waiited nt 4 p.m., and tho company decidod to engage them at £1 a day rather than pay off the remainder of the crew and lay up the ship. The , Pateena, which, as is usually the ease, had a long passenger list yesterday, eventually sailed for Picton and Nelson at 5.5 p.m., after a delay of 4 hours 20 minutes.