DEFACING AN ENSIGN.

Shannon News, 10 January 1922, Page 1

DEFACING AN ENSIGN.

INCIDENT ON STEAMER. | Sydney, December 29. j For having torn the Union Jack out' of a red ensign flying at the stem ol' • a steamer, one ol’ the passengers has j just been imprisoned in Adelaide. ! T-he incident occurred on the British j India steamer Sealda, just alter she j had left Port Adelaide in continuation j of Tier voyage from Calcutta to Mel- t bourne. I . Captain Timblc, ■ master of the Sealda, told the' Court that when the : vessel left Port Adelaide there was a j Red Ensign flying ah. Later, in con- j sequence ol something said by one ol j the officers, he noticed that the Union Jack was cut out ol the flag produced. lie valued the flag at £5, hut it would cost £6 13s to repair. The de- ; lendant, a fireman named Hatty, was being conveyed to Newcastle free ol' charge with other members of the ; crew of another ol the company’s , steamers, who had been discharged in Calcutta. Kali Basar stated that he saw Hatty haul down the flag, tear out the Union Jack, and haul the red portion up again. The defendant, .who was a ship’s fireman, and a returned soldier, pleaded not guilty. lie said he obtrdined his discharge from his last vessel in Calcutta. He and other members ol Abe creltHwere returning to their homes by the Sealda. His shipmate's sang ‘’The Red Flag” the night before the Sealda le'lt Calcutta, but he had not joined in. The magistrate t said there was nodoubt'that the defendant was the man who committed . the offence. In his opinion the act.'of tearing out the Union Jack from the Ensign and leaving the red" flag of anarchism floating was a heinous offence. Defendant was sentenced to cue month’s imprisonment.