AMAZING CRUISE.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4598, 7 September 1923, Page 2

AMAZING CRUISE.

IRELAND TO NEW ZEALAND. IN 20-TON KETCH. Other subject of interest being absent, the Dublin papers are greatly intrigued over the proposed exploits of three men, who, when the last mail left Lpndon, were about to set .sail in a 20-ton ketch from Kingstown for a voyage round the world (says the Dublin correspondent of the London Morning Post). The papers refer to them as three intrepid Irishmen,, but ,as a matter of fact, two of them are English. The captain and owner of the vessel is Irish,, and his professed mission is to take the Irish flag round the world. As to taking tjie Irish flag round the world this mission has, says the correspondent, been somewhat impaired by the action of the Free State Minister of Internal Affairs, who has reluctantly informed them that, unless they carry the Union Jack, they may find themselves languishing unwept,, unhonoured, and unsung,, in some Latin-American gap], charged with attempted piracy on the high seas. Mr Conor O’Brien, the captain of the good ship Saoirse, was very indignant when he received this information, and demanded .that the Free Sit,ate Government immediately take steps to have the Irish flag formally recognized by all the foreign Government and mercantile marines of the civilized world. The Saoirse, which has no spare engine, will touch at Madeira, Cape Verde Island,, Cape Town, and Hobart. From there she will proceed to Wellington, where Mr O'Brien will formally present samples of Irish butter to the New Zealand Gbvernmemnt. One cannot help feeling,,adds the correspondent, that the spirit, in which this adventurous voyage is being undertaken, is what the Trish Free State really needs if it Is ever ,to come into its own. A later message from England states that tho port of destination is Lyttelton, where Mr O’Brien will go mountaineering. He expects to arrive here about Christmas.