Men of West Togus Deny Master’s Story

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 248, 10 January 1928, Page 9

Men of West Togus Deny Master’s Story

ALLEGATIONS AGAINST MATE THREATS OF VIOLENCE So far as the dissatisfied members of the crew of the steamer West Togus are concerned, the trouble which occurred on board at the week-end on account of the men’s conditions, is not yet over, and in a statement to TH E SUN this morning two members of the crew registered an emphatic denial to the statements of Mr. G. R. Watson, manager of the Victory Engineering Company, who had declared the food and drink on board to be everything that was desirable. Two men from the ship, Curtis Norris, who has been discharged on account of illness, and John Walsh, who left the ship according to agreement between the master and himself on Saturday, stated to-day that their complaints were not a try on, as alleged by Captain Hans Wilhamsen, master of the West Togus. On the contrary they repeat their previous allegations and supplement them by alleging that the chief mate issued orders for violence to be used if orders were not sufficiently promptly executed. CHICKEN FOR OFFICERS In replying to Mr. Watson, Norris and Walsh said he had not investigated the conditions sufficiently to form an adequate opinion. Why did he eat with the officers amidships, and not go down to see how the men fared? The food was not the same as that given the officers, and whereas the captain indulged in roast pork, chicken and nice pies, the crew subsisted oh hash, corned beef and mutton, with an occasional taste of pie, and rare bacon and eggs. The allegations of bad water were repeated. “Why did they put four men on for three days to clean the tanks as soon as we got to port?” The water deteriorated at sea because the tanks were not cleaned before we left America, and had not been properly since the ship was taken off the mud fiats at ’Frisco after being laid up for six years out of commission. “The captain and chief engineer knew that the steering gear was not right, and that the hydraulic appliance was not in order. The chief engineer said when it was pointed out to him: ‘There is no need to tell me that; I knew there was a leak in the line before we left port.’ The steering was bad, and this threw the course of the ship out frequently. “Before we left Vancouver complaints were made to the Shipping Commissioner about the state of the vessel, but this was overlooked somehow, and the lifeboats were not fixed up as they should have been. The blocks were 'stuck, and with one exception, the boats could not be moved. This endangered the lives of the crew if anything happened to the ship.’’ VILE NAMES In preferring their charges against the chief mate, Mr. Springbaum, Norris and Walsh said: “On December 14 orders were given by the mate to the boatswain that if his orders were not carried out promptly enqugh to suit him, he was to beat the men for it. In addition he abused and insulted us at boat drill, and called us vil© names. Now this wounds a man, and a wound takes a long time to heal . . Speaking of the condition of the water, Norris said the captain did not have the same water as the men, because he had the benefit of an ice plant, which made the water for the skipper’s table during the voyage. “Why did Mr. Watson and the other visitors to the ship not investigate the position thoroughly before saying that everything on board was spick and span?’’ he asked. “I will have £IOO coming to me before I get back to the States, but I will forfeit it if it can be proved that what I say is not true.” Walsh denied that he was at the bottom of the trouble, as alleged by the skipper, and said since his discharge he had not been near the ship.