Capt, Daniel on Great Exaggeration of Whole Affair Suez, July 6.
Commonwealth vessel which The Jervis Bay, the Australian
figured so prominently in the news two weeks ago, arrived here to-day.
Captain Daniel, interviewed by Reuter, said that' the whole affair had been greatly exaggerated. All had been well on board since the vessel left Colombo. There had been further incident. He explained that the ship was delayed an hour in Colombo merely because two firemen had been absent without leave.
Captain Daniel declared that he had appealed for a warship because] the liner had been full and there had been no plac" for the detention of the eight stowaways and the consequent nervousness of the passengers. He was mystified at the message of the oil-auxiliary Slavol that it had not been able to locate the Jervis Bay: his vessel had picked up the Slavol very easily.
The passengers, likewise, seemed astonished at the "exaggerated reports." They applaud the Captain's handling of the situation.
Four hundred of the passengers have signed a letter attesting to the crew's loyalty.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.