How We Fixed

A Leak

A Memory of Old Papua

By C. O. Anderson

IN the year 1917 I found myself master of a small steamer on the Papuan coast. She was the “Wakefield,” be longing to the New Guinea Development Coy., recently established in Papua as a planting and trading concern. She was very old, and had been trading on the North Queensland coast for many years before coming to Papua. Her bottom plates had been wearing thin, and patches had to be put on at every annual overhaul .on the slip before the inspector would let her off.

At the latter end of her career, in the middle of 1918, I had to take her to Cape Nelson (on the NE coast of Papua) to pick up some four or five dozen re cruits for rubber tappers in the Central Division.

At Cape Nelson I had to wait for the recruits to arrive from inland and, on the second day there, I had dinner with the RM, and I returned to the “Wake field” at the wharf about 11 p.m.

In passing the afterpart of the engine room, on my way to my cabin (which was situated on the bridgedeck), I noticed some trickle of water below and, thinking some watercock had not been properly closed, I told the No. 1 engine-boy (who happened to be about) to slip down and investigate, and I proceeded to my cabin.

While I was in the act of undressing, the boy arrived and reported: “No Tau bada all together cock he all right, but water he come over on top aft on top of wall.”

There was a bulkhead in the after part of the engineroom, some 4 feet high.

There must have been a lot of water in the afterhold to seep over the bulkhead.

I rushed down to investigate, then I got the crew out to lift off the hatches. I found some five feet of water in the hold, which was quite empty of anything else.

Strangest of all, I could actually see a hole in the bottom when the lower hatch was removed. It was a beautiful moon light night, but in spite of that I could hardly believe my eyes.

TTGWEVER. I told a tall Papuan who JX happened to be near me to get down and put his foot on it. He called out: “He hole all right, Taubada.”

I bade him keep his foot on it and I went to rouse the engineer, who had been ashore with the trader, and evi dently had dined well, but not wisely— he was unresponsive to my shaking.

When I tried to tell him that the ship might be sinking, he grunted out: “So and so let her sink.” There was no time to argue, so I just pulled him out on to the floor and left him.

We had no steam up, and fires were out until the recruits turned up. I wanted the engineer to get steam up and the pumps to work; but, as it was, I decided to try and get some help from the RM.

The boy, keeping his foot on the hole, stopped the influx of water for the time and, after watching the rest of the crew baling, I noticed the water going down a little. So I set off up the hill again to the RM. He had not retired, and he very kindly supplied 15 police, with buc kets and tins, and came down with me himself.

I was surprised to note that the water in the hold had increased again in my absence—until I discovered that the en gineer had got down in,the water, kicked the boy away from the hole, and was hugely enjoying himself swimming about

in the cool water, which served to sober him up.

We got some rags stuffed into the hole and, with the added manpower, we soon caught up on the loss caused by the engineer’s little joke. Steam was got up and the pumps set going, and by day break we were able to fasten the discs (which the engineer had got ready) to the outside of the hull by a boy swim mer, and she was a tight steamer once more. I did not report the occurrence, because I knew we were due on the slip on reaching Port Moresby.

The recruits turned up the following day and we left, and had no sign of more leaks. It became necessary to go another trip to the west before going on the slip; so we decided that, as I had not reported on the happening in Sam arai when passing through, we would still keep it quiet. We made a good trip to Daru and back, and then went on the slip—for the last time as it proved, as the old boat was then scrapped and is now acting as a breakwater at Stewart’s Slip, Port Moresby.

The shipping inspector must have got “outside information” about the whole thing. He one day called me to his office and, after listening to my explanation, he remarked: “And you did not think that a small hole in a bottomplate was of enough importance to report?”

I said: “No. We had it fixed up securely and safely, as our successful voyage without any sign of leak proved.”

He let it go at that.

C. O. Anderson.

Mr. A. Foster, of the Printing and Stationery Department, Fiji, who has been awarded a scholarship under the Colonial Development and Welfare scheme, has left for the United Kingdom where he will spend three years at the London School of Printing.

The Rev. R. L. Challis, formerly a missionary in Rarotonga, arrived at Wellington, NZ, from England in July. He will take charge of the Congregational Union’s activities among Polynesians who have come to New Zealand. His head quarters will be in Auckland.

Mr. George Weller, well-known foreign correspondent of the “Chicago Daily News,” has been on a brief visit to Fiji.

Mr. Weller was last in the Colony as a war correspondent in 1943.