BENZINE CARGOES.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 September 1919, Page 6

BENZINE CARGOES.

COMPLAINTS BY SEAMEN'S UNION. By Telegraph.—Press Wellington, Sept. 20. A deputation from the Federated Seamen's Union interviewed the Minister of Marino (the Hon. W. Herries) and placed a number of requests before him. During the course of the interview Mr Young, secretary of the Seamen's Union, handed the Minister a resolution carried by the national executive regarding the carriage of benzine at sea. Mr Herries: What do you mean by the reference in the resolution to "glaring laxity?" That is an accusation against the authorities. Mr Young: "And it is well founded." He went on to say that he would illustrate this by oases 'at Napier. The Koutonui loaded benzine at the breakwater on July 4, but the petrol regulations were not enforced. He visited the men's quarters and found the benzine fumes so stiling that he could hardly stand up. A wooden bulkhead separated the living quarters from the hold. In the quarters were two chain pipes through which a medium-sized rabbit could crawl and benzine fumes were rushing up like a forced draught from a furnace. That bulkhead was neither watertight nor airtight. He got a surveyor to inspect it and told him the ship was unfit to go to sea. The surveyor replied: "We cannot bold up a cargo like this you know." But the speaker replied that he didn't care a rap of the fingers what was held up as it meant disaster to allow the ship to sail. Eventually the manager of the shipping company arranged to make a daylight trip to Gisborne and to board the men ashore. At the same time he found the steamer Kiritoa with a benzine cargo almost as bad. These were two glaring cases showing that the regulations Were valueless because it was useless to say a bulkhead should be airtight as the other, means of escape for fumes. "I will guarantee,'' continued Mr Young, "that is what happened in the case of the Tainui, and as I a result eight out of a crew of nine lost their lives."

Mr Young declared that all these small vessels were the same, as the bulkheads were valueless as a protection because they went down only to the flooring of the hold, not to the ship's skin. Thus the fumes ran along the bilges from one end of the ship to the other. There should be collision bulkheads right down to the ship's skin. Benzine was earried in fragile tins which were easily broken. Anyone could see benzine streaming from lorries as they carted it. from ships." There is something more than benzine to think about, and that is human life," continued Mr Young, "so far as we are concerned no more benzine has got to be carried until these 9hips arc properly constructed to carry it. We are not going to mince any words about it. Wo know there are certain War Regulations covering this mater, but that is your concern. Do what you like with them, but we shall stand up for life and limb " The Minister, in reply, said they would hardly expect him to give a definite answer, but lie w«uld go carefully into the requests, especially with regard to benzine cargoes, as that was most urgent. He would see what could be done to have the regulations carried out and if they were not effective what could be done to make them so. He knew they were intended to be effective from what his predecessor said in Cabinet. He would not make any promise that there would be a Shipping and Seamen's Act this session.