SOUTH AFRICA: Malignant Pigmentation

Acting Captain Chow Jockie brought his 5,000-ton British freighter into Port Elizabeth's bustling, cliff-rimmed harbor. A veteran officer in the British Mercantile Marine and a welcome caller at many a port, the sea-beaten Chinese skipper had never before been in South Africa.

He and four occidental fellow-officers dropped ashore to bunk at Henry Meyer's middling Palmerston Hotel. Chow Jockie went to his room, began to unpack. Ten minutes later came a message: the guest must return his key. The Palmerston didn't cater to colored people.

Next day angry, pride-wounded Skipper Jockie sued Hotel Proprietor Meyer for $800 damages. Magistrate Willem van Lingen...

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