TAINUI INCIDENT

Hokitika Guardian, 23 February 1926, Page 4

TAINUI INCIDENT

A I.l.ivoATifiXS OK DiSDi! DKK iiKXlivii. A l'Cd\ I.A.N'D. Feb. Id. ( olllj JnilU.s lilllt!,- 10 ! uri-lchni'l II by steerage pu-i-etigeivi i.l' 11-i I aim:; regarding I l*c alleged di-orderly behavir,i,. cl i lie New /.calami returning volunteer seamen v.civ (i it iri-ani by one nl i ! . ■ volunteer men wh > ml limed on the sU-amer. 4*1:.. .sc’.r Zealanders. lie said, tame } .n*ic iii .v. (•..nlitncv* v. iiii Jijiivi’iuriii iis ti;i. I class passengers. 'ldle Taimii cari|e | ii j pas.-enger- in this class, and. aitii ii:. l exc.pthni nl tile eighty-nine Nc,\ Zealanders, these passengers were inunierants. i 11,, heiiavitinr of the men was stated hr him to be of a nature to which no nne could take exception. 01 course, in a number ol young men there Mine always one nr two wilder spirits, but, ;rencrai!v speaking, there was no cause j... i- i ~me!nnit as to the men’s bcluivi-

d he impression aroused by the statement made in ( liristeimn it was <|Uite misleading and unlair to the men eoncoriicd, it had Irecti stated that the men had assaulted an ollieer because' be upheld tile mfthorit.v ol the mill roil in charge of sixty girls who were Cuming to New Zealand as domestic .servants. The facts as described by the representative of the men were that a dance was being held one evening, and it was a. rule ol llie steamer I Inti all v.omen should lie below by ten o clock. At five minutes belnre that hour the third steward came on deck and shouted out for all women to go below, and ho actually pulled one girl, who was dancing, in Ids eltcvls to omorcc the order. All the girls went below, and no objection was raised by the New Zealanders, and no attempt was made to prevent them from going below. At the same time the New Zealanders resented the precipitate action ol the steward, and remained on deck ami "booed” him. He was. however, not tom bed by any of the men.

The chief oJlieer later explained the rules of the ship to the men, and after he had spoken to them the New Zealanders went below quietly at midnight. Another misleading complaint had been made regarding the last night at sea. Apparently, said the volunteer seaman, the last night at sea is always nil occasion tor a celebration, and thole certainly were some lively doings. In these, however, the N'ew Zealandeis pin ved a very minor part, and 99 per lent of those who were charged with the breaking of the furniture and crockery were immigrants and not N'ew Zealand men at all. -Much ot the trouble was due to drink, but the New Zealanders could not be blamed in tms respect. They were all broke, and had no money to spend on liquor.