The Sydney Morning Herald, Tue 24 Apr 1928 ¹

LAW NOTICES.
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Tuesday, April 24.
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QUARTER SESSIONS.

No. 1 Court.—Ivanson Morgan, sodomy; Leonard Edwards, stealing; Richard Blandy and Walter Edwards, embezzlement; Ernest Lyle Connelly, stealing in a dwelling.

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The Sydney Morning Herald, Wed 25 Apr 1928 ²

QUARTER SESSIONS.
No. 1 COURT.
(Before Judge Cohen.)

    Crown Prosecutor, Mr VH Treatt.

ACQUITTED.

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    Ivanson Morgan, 28, fettler, was charged with having committed an unnatural offence with John Maxwell Church, at Brooklyn, on some day in April, 1927. The accused was acquitted and discharged.
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IRON CHIEF.
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MASTER SUSPENDED.
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“FAILED IN DUTY.”
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    The Commonwealth Court of Marine Inquiry, comprising Mr Gates, CSM, with Captains Osborne and Mercer as assessors, yesterday found that the charge laid against the master of the Iron Chief, Captain Eric John Barron, of having failed in his duty in the navigation of his vessel, as a result of which she stranded on Mermaid Reef at 8.35 pm on April 1, subsequently becoming a total loss, had been sustained.

    The Court ordered the suspension of Captain Barron’s certificate of competency as master of a foreign-going vessel for a period of six months from the date of the stranding of the vessel.

    The Court found, said Mr Gates, that the master showed carelessness in the navigation of his vessel, in that he did not take sufficient precaution by taking bearings of known and visible objects, to ensure that the vessel maintained a safe course after passing Crowdy Head at 8 o’clock, and did not make allowance for the set inshore, which had been experienced between Cape Hawke and Crowdy Head during the afternoon. It also found that he failed in his duty in not altering his course to seaward when Crowdy Head light became obscured by rain squalls at 8.15 o’clock, thereby failing to keep the ship in safe waters.

    It was considered by the Court, continued Mr Gates, that the navigation of the vessel generally indicated over-confidence on the part of the master and lack of appreciation of his responsibility.

    The Court further found that the vessel was well equipped in every respect, and that all possible measures were taken to save the vessel after the stranding.

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INCREASED WAGES.
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POSTMASTERS’ CLAIMS.
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    The Fourth Division Postmasters, Postal Clerks, and Telegraphists’ Union submitted a list of claims to the Commonwealth Public Arbitrator (Mr Atlee Hunt) yesterday for determination. It was asked, that the minimum rate of pay per annum for postmasters, grade 1, should be fixed at £300, increasing over a period of six years to a maximum of £360, and that these rates should be supplemented by cost of living adjustments, Service Regulation No. 106(a). Additional demands included the provision of first-class fares by rail or steamer when travelling, and that a special allowance of £54 per annum for married men and £39 per annum for unmarried men should be paid to officers stationed in the Federal Territory.

    The case, which is part heard, was adjourned to Melbourne.

 

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¹     The Sydney Morning Herald, Tue 24 Apr 1928, p. 8. Emphasis added.

²     The Sydney Morning Herald, Wed 25 Apr 1928, p. 8.

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