FROM LONDON TO LEVIN.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 16 March 1910, Page 4

FROM LONDON TO LEVIN.

A WORKING PASSENGER'S STORY. (By a Levin Resident.) " How fine it must be to work one's passage to another part of the world," wa.s an expression I often heard in London a few months ago. But is it so pleasant? Have you ever worked your passage. That it is a 11 experience, I admit, for the old saving still holds good, "«xperientia i docet." Apart from that,.a little jostle and tumble never did anyone any harm. The journey from the ltoyal Albert Docks to Wellington is accomplished in. six weeks, but six weeks of rough, seafaring life tossed about 011 the briny, at times in the grip of n cold nor'-easter in Biscay's Hay, at times in the torrid bent of Guinea's Bight—into the tropics and past the Equator—is 110 small task for an ordinary, sedentary, land-lubber. Stewarding and be-fore-the-mast is by 110 means an unhealthy life; the hours are not oppressively long, and an occasional tete-a-tete with a passenger contributes in 110 small degree to vary the monotony of the voyage. Let the would-be passage worker harness himself for the first week prior to sailing. 'Sorting out the linen, making the bedrooms ready for 1 their occupants, scrubbing the | floors are all very well in their way. In fact, it is an interesting diversion from one's ordinary vocation. But just start climbing the slippery, greasy gangway, struggling along a crowded deck with 112 lb tubs of soap for the store | 011 your back, or carry along the alleyways frozen carcases of sheep —nearly all from New Zealand— for the refrigerat/ing department, and then one begins to realise next morning that a ship hand's life is not all beer and skittles. And what linexhaustable supplies are deposited in the refrigerator! It seems an endless stream of hands that perambulate in a monotonous regularity, the alleyways, carrying huge boxes of hares, rabbits, wild ducks, gee.se, pigeons, and poultry of all kinds. Heavy orates of fish find their way there, too, not to mention sacks of vegetables of almost every description. Immense barrels of flour are packed in the bakery hard by, and then think of the thousand and one articles that have to be transferred from the quays to the store to satisfy the appetites of over (iOO hungry souls for nearly two solid months! The stewards' heaviest task is finished when this work is completed. They have not, however, an idle time during the voyage. But it is the occupants of the kitchen upon whom the heat and burden of the day fall. From daybreak till late at 'night the galley resounds with the clang of poker and tong and shovel, "the scraping of frying pans, the scouring of huge stock pots, and the firing of the big kitchen stoves. Life in the galley does not improve one's temper; it certainly does not improve one's appetite! SETTING SAIL. I well recollect the 7th of January, 11)10. It was one of Lonown "specials," as they are familiarly known. A dense' fog bun!!; over the broad reaches of the river Thames, shipping was almost at a standstill, and the brazen noise of log horns and syrens sounded weird in the shroud and gloom. Klectric lights struggled faintly here and there; but the rough, coarse voices of labourers on the quayside, the hum of factories and workshops, and the shrill shriek of trains, denoted that neither gloom nor fog could interfere with' the regular and appointed course of London's busy life. On the vessel all was bustle and excitement. The passengers had taken to their cabins, the officers were cm the bridge, and the skipper bestrode the deck giving final instructions. Mine Peter was hoisted, and a few minutes later we swung down the Thames, the propellers cleaving the water with a swish, swish! ' One need not weary the reader with details. Fairly good weather was experienced in the English Channel, but in the Bay of Biscay and tor some way past the Canaries mountainous waves dashed against the port side of the ship, which rolled violently and many passengers paid a heavy toll to Father Neptune. In the galley, however, one had little time to think of stormy skies and tossing seas. The vessel would roll from side to side, and the huge stock pots and cauldrons, full to the brim of boiling liquid, would sway in harmony with tho motions of the ship. At times .1 hissing noise, followed by a column of oily vapour, announced that either one or the other had lost its balance, and scattered its contents over the red hot stove. Of course, one lost one's temper when these occurrences happened, for the sculleryluan is only human after all, and do not forget it falls to his lot to polish up the stoves at break of the following day. But in spite of accidents, meals were served to time, and as the hours sped 011 one could always say with legitimate satisfaction that " something attempted, something done, had earned a night's repose." Only those who have actually worked in a galley in the tropics can. realise tho demands it entails on one's physical and mental capacity. If the kitchen is hot enough in a cold climate, what must it be in the torrid heat of the Equator? Stoking the fires every half-hour necessitates one enveloping one's arms in swabs, and even then the heat penetrates. All the decks have to be thoroughly washed and scrubbed with boiling water, soap, and soda before the skipper's morning inspection, and bags of carrots, turnips, and potatoes are washed and peeled before noon. Pots amd kettles are polishe.. up till they shine like brand new goods. Then one morning we anchored outside Capetown, and we "land lubbers" even began to have once more a sneaking regard for sunny South Africa, with its majestic." mountains and wind swept veldt. The few hours we weighed anchor allowed passengers to land and enjoy a rapid excursion round the sleepy city and take a hasty survey of Table Mountain, which stood boldly out, shimmering in the heat. IN SOUTHERN SEAS Once more _ we wore cutting through the briny at 10 knots an hour, and the blue, crisp waves dashed up .against the portholes as though vainly endeavouring to stand between ns and Tasmania. Seventeen days f'-oin leaving the Cape we sighted 1.-.nd, and within a few hours we were safelv nmchored in a pretty bay in Hobart. For the first time since leaving London the crew; got sanction to tread Mother Earth once again, but it was only for an hour, for the passengers' dinner had to be prepared, and four more days lay between us and the "sea girt isle." But, sure eniough, land was sighted on the evening of the third day from leaving Hobart, and _ by noon we were well in Cook Strait, heading at full steam for Wellington. There was not one of ray mates on the boat who was not thankful for a short respite from long hours and pretty heavy work, and oine may guess that when permission to land was given there was not one who refused the offer. We were glad to reach New Zealand. We had read much of it in the Home papers, the beauty of its country, and the hospitality of its people, and although ten years had passed by one had lively and grateful re-

collections of the prowess of her Nonfl in far away Soitth Africa. It is premature yet to form nn opinion of you islanders. But I doubt not in the not distant future wo shall find that what the people in the Old Country have told us of you won't be altogether untrue. . . . So we parted" from our mates at Wellington—some to seek Dame Fortune far from our native hearths —others to com tin ue their ship's duties till Blue Peter should flay again from the masthead, and the vessel set sail for Home, sweet Home. A good distance already separates us from our mates, and they say that some faces are missed. They tell us, too, strange as it niuy seem, that the galley fires still burn brightly and that the words, "all's well," are still hoard from nloft in the watches of the night., M—