DEFACING IN ENSIGN.

Otaki Mail, 13 January 1922, Page 4

DEFACING IN ENSIGN.

INCIDENT on STEAMER. i Sydney, December 29. ( i-or having turn the Union Jack out j of a red, ensign (lying at the stein oi a steamer, one of the passengers lias just been imprisoned in Adelaide. The incident occurred on the British India steamer sealda, just alter sue , had ieit Port Adelaide in continuation of her voyage from Calcutta to Meioourne. Captain .Timble, master oi the .Sealda, told the Court t(iat when uie vessel left Port Adelaide there was a Bed Ensign flying aft. Later, in eon-,? sequence of something said by one oi * tlie officers, lie noticed that the Union Jack was cut out of the flag produc-i ed. He valued the flag at Lo, but n ■ would cost L 6 13s to repair. The defendant, a fireman named Hatty, was being conveyed to Newcastle tree ot charge with other members of the crew of another oi the company’s steamers, who had been discharged ui Calcutta. I Kali Basar stated that he saw Hatty I haul down the flag, tear out the Union ' Jack, and haul the reel portion up . again. ' The defendant, who was a ship’s fireman, and a returned soldier, pleaded not guilty. He said lie übtrained his discharge from his last vessel in Calcutta. He and oilier {members of the crew were returning to their homes by tlie Sealda. His L shipmates sang “The Bed Flag” the • night before the Sealda left Calcutta, but he had not joined in. f The magistrate said there was no doubt that the defendant was the man who committed the offence. In his I opinion tfie act of- tearirfg out the 1 Union Jack from the Ensign and leaving the red flag of anarchism floating was a heinous offence. Defendant was sentenced to one month's imprisonment.