Outclassed!

An Incident of the "Vanora's"

Visit to Papua

Prom Our Own Correspondent.

Pt. Moresby, Apr. 29.

THE American yacht “Vanora” (40 tons), arrived here on April 22, on a world cruise which began in London in Aug ust, 1936.

Mrs. M. Hart, an American lady, is the owner and navigator, the master be ing her nephew, Mr. P. Perez. The ves sel will make a prolonged stay at Port Moresby for purposes of overhaul, and will th,en proceed across the Pacific by way of Samarai and Noumea.

“Satan” we are reminded, “finds mis chief for idle hands to do”; and the hands on the “Vanora” have not been neglected by his sable majesty. There are four sail ors, picked up at various ports of call; and three of them decided that Port Moresby was just the place for a little exhibition of “weight-chucking’’. They had a festive night ashore on the 25th, and at about 4 o’clock the following morn ing, feeling a little jaded by the gaiety, decided to go on board.

There was no boat available; but a search revealed a boat attached to the “Laurabada”, the Lieutenant-Governor’s yach,t. If it was good enough for the Governor, it was good enough for them; so they boarded Lie “Laurabada” and es sayed the delicate task of climbing into the boat. But Mr. Ritchie woke to the noise, and intervened.

Besides being an engineer of long stand ing, Mr. Ritchie is an Australian. It therefore may be imagined that in the •subsequent exchange of complimentary remarks, the strangers were outclassed.

They eventually retreated by the way that they had come.

Anxious to re-establish their honour, they called on Mr. Ritchie again at the following midnight, having apparently spent the interval in thinking up new words and combinations; but it was all in vain. Australia triumphed again, and the intervention of the police resulted in the three seamen appearing before the Magistrate the following morning. In spite of a voluble defence by the fourth member of the crew, they were sentenced to pay fines of £3 each or endure a Papuan gaol for 14 days.

When th,e “Vanora” was at Dar.u, ear lier in the month, she grounded on a shallow patch near the beacon. Fortu nately, with the rise of tide, she floated off.