TWO STOWAWAYS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 429, 10 May 1937, Page 5

TWO STOWAWAYS

Steamer From Antwerp Press Association—Copyright. Auckland, May 9. A Russian Jew from Odessa, who has been on a hunger strike for the last eight days, and an ex-artillery-man who has fought against Germans, Austrians and Bolsheviks and spent nearly .two years as a prisoner of war in Russia, Germany and Poland', are two unusual passengers on the steamer Brandon, which arrived from Antwerp to-day. Both are stowaways who came ou-t of their hiding place inside the bunkers four days after she had left Belgium. They were put to work soon after they were discovered end the ex_ artilleryman, Jan Romanoofk, who is a seaman, was detailed to the stokehold, where he worked for the rest of the voyage. The Russian Jew, Michael Levinsky, who claims to be a painter, peeled potatoes in the gnlley at first and then began a. hunger strike, it is believed with the object of being -taken ashore to hospital when the ship arrived, thus 1 forcing the authorities to permit him to land although he is a prohibited immigrant. Both men spent to-night locked in a embin in the crew’s quarters,