A STRIKE INCIDENT

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 625, 6 December 1913, Page 2

A STRIKE INCIDENT

MAHENO'S VOYAGE FROM S V P N E Y. AN AM ATI', UK CREW. Shortly after S o'clock un Wednesday morning the Union Co.'s steamer Maheno arrived in the stream at Auckland after a voyage across the las man Sea from Sydney which is unique in the history of (he vorscl and in the snnals of the inter-colon;;'! service. The Maheno was manne.i on deck and below by what was practically a volunteer crew. In the stokehold tl;<! work of firemen and trimmers was carried out by saloon and steerage patsengers assisted by the enc i-ir-Tf. Vvork was done in four-hour shifts, 14 or lfi forming a watch instead of the customary 10. Naturally, the amateurs found stoking a strenuous occupation, and in a few cases, alter the first day, men decided that t hey were not physically fitted for the work. Sea-sickess accounted for a. number of others, but there were always plenty of volunteers forthcoming to fill any vacancies that arose. An excellent spirit pevailed all the way, and those doing the work were inclined to treat their unusual job as a sort of adventure. A friendly spirit of rivalry prevailed between the various watches, and the distances logged during each shift were closely watched. Two interesting people in the stokehold were Messrs Mounier and Franz, billed in the anticipatory notice at the Opera House as the "Modern Hercules." Both are of almost gigantic stature, and on the voyage across they turned their energies to good account. "The work down there was fierce," said a sturdy looking young man whose accent, clothes and hair-cut indicated that he hailed from the United States. "You see," he went on, tell" ing a reporter all about it, "I have been over on the other aide for quite a while, and, having heard a lot about your country, I was anxious to get across. 1 waited about in Sydney for a whi!e ; but there was nothing doing, so to help things along, I made one of a big deputation of would-be passei-'uers to wait on the manager of the Union Company. We volunteered to go aboard as anything he liked, iroin captain down. He said that such a course would be unusual, but seemed inclined to hustle along, and after a bit we were told that if the passengers would help in the stokehold and elsewhere the Maheno would l-.-avo. I came across in the stoiiiiioiri. and hnvu now got a lot of sympathy for the fellows that do that sort of tiling all thtir lives. We all found the heat something terrific. After n man had been down there for a while ho got wise to the position, and knew how to get back from the mouth of the furnace as soon as the con! left his shovel. The air comes back in hot scorching blast'', and it's advisable to miss as many ot them as you can. Still everybody did i what he could to help the other fellow, i and we all came throneii all right. ( "Mo."' he said, finally. 'Tw not goj ing back that way." | DISTANCES LOCOtEP. On the first day cut only miles ' wore covered, 171 were logged on the second, and after that an average of about 27d miles. The voyage, allowing for the difference of time be- ■ tween Auckland and Sydney, occupied J 5 days hours, and the average ' mileage per day over the whole trip j was 225, A number of the stewards remained loyal when their companions left the | ship, and some others wer-: secured. | But: still there was no!: enough to cope j with the e.xeeptionily iaree numbers [ to be cared for, and lady passengers j came to the resell", and lent every ! assistance. | On deck the hands worked with a will, and w-ero able to keep things going as usual.