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Telephone 25 9088
No. 1941. PERTH. THURSDAY, JULY, 24, 1975_
Registered by posting as a NEWSPAPER Category "A" (II)
Price: 20 Cents
Haven in port for 70,000 men of the sea
If the sound of 70,000 pairs of feet crossing the threshold of the Stella Mans Seafarers' Club does not make an impression on the casual enquirer, then the thought of an annual phone bill well over $10,000 ought to say something.
It's not that the club has to foot the bill but it reveals the amount of telephone traffic to overseas points that is being handled by the club. Father The Director, O'Shea, said that the total phone expenditure was probably double that amount since a lot of the calls were reversed charges. The telephone switchboard •lt.ad been , a revelation to Brother Mark Loader, a Carmelite seminarian from Adelaide, w ho is doing a three-month pastoral period at the Frementle centre before his ordinationj to the priesthood -next year.
LINK WITH THE FAMILY
Helpers I needed This Sunday is Apostleship of the Sea Sunday. The Stella Mans Seafarers' Club, 12 Victoria Street, which is not normally open to the public will be open to visitors from 1 p.m. onwards. Father O'Shea, the club director, said that it would be merely a matter for anyone driving past to stop for twenty minutes to call in and the inspect various amenities and accommodation that the Club offers. He said that the building and amenities, however, were only secondary to the need for people who .would be prepared to help, especially in providing social contact at the Club.
"The record recently was 16: calls overseas on one •night," he explained. "Of these. 16 went to Japan; there was a queue .tvaiting in the club foyer. "It is almost unbelievable -bow a seafarer's face lights up after a phone call. . "Their anxiety about getting in contact with their families is visible if the call IS delayed through faulty connections and the like. • "Although l had had a little contact with the AposBrother Mark says that *ship of the Sea in Melbourne, I did not know the he has come to see the seawork was so big until I farer as a "class above" the became involved here. average person.
PORT'S 2,000 "It is not that he is isolSHIPS A YEAR ated from other human be"It is a parish within it- ings on board ship, but he
self, made up of parishion- has to live with his lonelers on the 2.000 ships a iness from his family, esY ear that pass through Fre- pecially if he is a -married mantle. . man," he said.
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"Having lived in a Christian community myself until now, it was a new experience to see how these men looked for a homely community in which to share their time of relaxation ashore," he said. "All sorts of people here at Stella Mans have to cooperate as a Christian community of service — the various committees, the kitchen and house staff, the management and .others. "A spirit of charity has to produce a Christian community _in which the seafarer feels at home. Sign language is the order of the day for Brother Mark; merely being able to say hello in Japanese or Chinese was a breakthrough for the visitor who possibly spoke no English at all.
THE TAIWANESE RETURN Typical of a da s influx for Father O'Shea was the return of a group of Taiwanese fisherman who had left earlier the same morning to catch a plane but were unable to board because of diplomatic holdups. They would spend a few days at Stella Mans and the way they marched in t he door it was clear that t he club was home to them. A few minutes later, one of the Taiwanese was having a monosyllabic conversation with another seafarer waiting for transport to Teheran. -It's literally a 24 hour phone service," Father O'Shea said, "although in the interest of a good night's sleep we don't like to advertise the fact.
NO "ROMANTIC" IMAGE
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"We often get a call from t he airlines or the Commonwealth Police to take in a seafarer who has got stranded between points on an international trip." The "romantic" image of t he seafarer had gone today, Father O'Shea remarked. "They are professional workers, often flying in and out joining or leaving ships," he
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"Yet by the same process he has become subject to new strains and stresses and there is n danger that they become a forgotten race in today's mobile world.
( • Continued Page 2)
'*Q1
• Father O'Shea, chaplain of the Stella Mans Seafarers' Club, points out to Carmelite Brother Mark Loader, some of the improvements he hopes to achieve in a facelift of the club premises on Queen Victoria Street, short(
More hostels and resiting in ()land - 500,000 plan
n& ntry u ay you
p 10% interest
ROCKHAMPTON. — New St. Vincent de
Paul Society hostels are being planned for Mackay and Gladstone and the present Rockhampton hostel is to be resited. The Society's recent State conference in Rockhampton — held for the first time outside of Brisbane — decided to move the present hostel in Alma Street, Rockhampton, to a new site at a cost of $500,000 and to provide the hostel with a full-time 'welfare officer. from all Delegates parts of the State attended the conference. The society's St at c president, Mr. Frank Cushing, said the resiting might not take place for 12 or 18 months. "Inhiany we will install a welfare officer in the present hostel and look for a suitable property," he said. In Gladstone the society had already bought a building, -which was now undergoing alteration, he said. Overall' 'cost of the land,. building and alteration was about $20,000.
In Mount lsa, the so. ciety has transferred a house — n gift from Mount Isa Mins Ltd. — to another site, and raised it up on stumps. The house will be used not only as a men's hostel. hut as a base for a daily meal service. It will also provide accommodation for a limited number of women and children. . Mr. Cushing said the Mount Jsa project would -cost about $30,000. -The gift by Mount ka Mines has meant a tremendous saving," he said.
ON INSIDE PAGES Calendar 4 Classified Advertising 10 Education File 9 Letters 9, 11 Music News In Pars 4, Sister Philomena Earle 9 Sport 10, 12.: TV, Radio 91
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