Overcrowding Passengers and Emiguants on the Northumberland.

Thames Star, Volume XV, Issue 4743, 20 March 1884, Page 2

Overcrowding Passengers and Emiguants on the Northumberland.

The ship Northumberland, which arrived in Auckkrd on Tuesday, brought 186 passengers and 159 Government immigrants. All apeak highly of the caplaio and officers, but complain of the acccmmodatkra, which appears to hare been totally '.insufficient. List night's Auckland Star thus describes the immigrants' quarters:—Descending the main hatchway, we were ushered into wh: t may be described as a large hall with two rows of sleeping bunks ranged a'ong either side. This is the place set apart for married immigrants and families. The two rows which front the sides of the ship are rot so badly off as the others, for in these the occupanfs could maintain a little privacy by stretching a shawl or blanket between their space and (hat of their neighbors; but so far as the arrangements of the shippers wei'e concerned there was absolutely no attempt made to secure privacy. The berths which fronted the central spaces, thirteen in number, were a'l completely open to each other, except that when going to sleep a curtain could be drawn in front of the nrrrow bunks. The central bunks, besides, were only separated from the side rows by thin boards, with crevices between. 1 The bunks being low and narrow, people could not dress and undress in them. To live under the^e conditions, with ia some cases fire or six persons in one comp rtment, mast have been very jarring to all ide .s of proptiety, and decidedly uncomfortable to the many re°pectable people on board. Down ihe after-batch in a dark ard dingy slip of accommodation, there are 14bertus laid off in two rows, one above the other. By actual measurement, aa taken by' one of the passengers, thi3 pla c measures 12 feet 9 inches in length, by 8 feat 6 inches .in'breudth, while it is 7 frets inches high. The bunks are ranged breadthwise, that is, there are seven io the length of 12 feet 9 inches, and from the brerdth about 3 feet have to be subtracted for passage. This leaves only 5 feet 6 inches long for the bunks, and it will recdily be believed that one of the passeagers had to knock the end board off and hang his feet over the eige when he went to sleep. This place, when its 14 occupants were packed into it, like herrings in a barrel, must have been a veritable counterpart of the Black Hole of Calcutta. When the door communicating with the steerage quarters was closed, there was no ventilation save what got through some chinks, and that air would be only vitiated atmosphere from the exhalations of the steerage passengers. There was no light save what struggled through two semi-transparent squares of thick glass fixed in the deck, and when it rained, or when the deck was being washed, the passengers got soaked when lying in bed. The carlying of passengers in such a frightful _ place constitutes a crying scandal, and for the, credit of the colony a thorough inquiry should be made into the complaints which have been lodged. The quarters set apart for st^ergge passengers who paid fqll fare are of a most unsatisfactory kind, and complaints were freely tflade to, ou,r importer. Except io,

the matter of privacy the steerage passengers were much worse off than the nominated immigrants. The steerage quarters were very badly lighted, and the ventilation and cubic spacie were very far from being what they ought. There was an air of squalor and dirt everywhere ; dirt and noisome odours assailed one at every turn. Speaking to the" married women of this, several who were busily engaged cleaning up their cooking utensils, informed our reporter that the place was clean and wholesome now in comparison with its condition when they came on board. The floor then, they alleged, was covered thick with the offal of sheep, cattle, and pigs, which animals had evidently been carried in the fore deck space fitted up for the steerage passengers. Here also there was overcrowding. Four young men occupied a single berth, and a married man with a large family was crushed but of his berth, and slept on the dining table, The berths were of every limited dimensions, but they had doors which ensured privacy while dressing.