STRIKES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND AMERICA.

Auckland Star, Volume XX, Issue 253, 24 October 1889, Page 4

STRIKES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM AND AMERICA.

Comments were freely passed durins1 the recent London Dock strike upon the fact that while Britain's colonies and dependencies contributed freely and largely to the fund necessitated to supply food to the strikers, and without which contributions the result could not have been attended with success, yet the great Republic of America contented itself with sending bald expressions of sympathy and nothing more. On the face of it this seemed strange. The great Republic is popularly supposed to be the paradise of working men, where of all nations of the world they are supposed to be best able to hold their own and exact satisfactory conditions of wages and hours of labour from their employers.

In perusinp late American papers, the very reverse of this would appear to be the case. There are at the present time several large strikes taking place in different parts of America, and it would seem that the strikers, who in many instances are as miserably poor as the London dock labourers, are being left almost unassisted to fight their weary battle with their employers. The strike of the coal-miners at the Braidwood mines, about 100 miles from Chicago, which by last advices had then continued four months, is a case in point. Upwards of 15,000 miners were then out of employment and reduced to absolute starvation, The accounts given in the papers are most harrowing ; but the most unaccountable thing to Englishmen is, that the heartrending appeal of the starving thousands appears to be met only with sympathy, and not with the necessary sinews of strikes as well as wars.

The immediate cause of this strike was the reduction made in the miners' wages. Ten years ago the miners were paid about six shillings a ton for getting out the coal; this has been gradually reduced, until now they are only paid at the rate of three shiflines, which the miners declare is absolutely not sufficient to enable them to live and support their families. A special reporter of the "New York' World" was sent to the spot, and points out how that after the strike had commenced, their Httl6 stock of food and hoarded dollars soorj vanished. Then an appeal, in the name of right and justice, was sent out—first so their more fortunate fellow townsmen, next to their working fellow miners in the north-west, and lastly to the outside world, in the all - powerful name of oharity and the common brotherhood of man. "Bufc,"be significantly adds, "practical sympathy was slowly aroused, and the appeal then changed to the cry of weakening nature, ' send us food,or our wives and Children will starve to death.' Even this was met without) response, and the appeal was changed to ' for the love of God send us something fco eat, we are dying of starvation.'"

There have been scores of deaths since the commencement of the strike, very many women having succumbed in childbed, being '■ absolutely without proper nourishment. The treatment of these miners by their employers, according to the result of painstaking inquiries made, . appears to have been abject slavery. They were compelled under pain of dismissal to deal at the employers' truck store. A commission had been appointed to inquire into the conditions under which these miners had been working, and it was hoped that they would- insist upon the abolition of the truck system. The Braidwood Company hit upon an ingenious plan, by which they secured that all the wages paid by them should return to their, store. They accomplished this by increasing tha number of men at work in the mines, and then by a carefully-devised plan divided the total amount of work among the men so that the entire wage fund would be ultimately expended in the store. The men seem determined to starve rather than give in to the old terms. On one* of them being asked by the " World " reporter " if he did not feel like giving in and going to work," he exclaimed "Never ;"I will die first. It ia slow starvation %o work on such wages,

and I would rather die in the free, pure air above ground than in the mine working in water and breathing bad air. White slavery has taken the place of black slavery. I was born a free man and as a freeman I will die." It was, however, generally supposed that the men would give in ; not on their own account, but on account of the sufferings of their women and children, and only permanent relief adequate to the great want could avert an ignominious and unconditional surrender."

Apropos of an important industry, a Russell correspondent writes: The Arawata, for Fiji, was the bearer of the first shipment of tinned mullet from the Bay of Islands to a port outside of New Zealand. Mullet has been more plentiful lately. On Friday one of the Auckland boats arrived with 130 dozen large fash. Both factories have been kept pretty busily employed this week, and the exports have been, Masefield Bros., 60 cases; Ewing Bros., 40 cases, which means quite an amount of money for the raw'material. Mr Hugh Campbell, who left for the South to-day, attends the Court of Appeal in connection wibh two important cases. One is the Calliope Dock dispute, in which the Harbour Board appeals against the decision of the Supreme Court in appointing an arbitrator in the place of Mr W. Ware. The other case is in connection with the claim made by the Official Assignee in Bankruptcy in the estate of H. M. Bradbury against the South British Insurance Company.

On Monday morning last a slight accident happened to the 6.55 train from Auckland to Helensville, the connecting rod of the engine having broken near Waimaukn. The consequence was that the carriages had to remain where the accident occurred till mid-day, and one passenger for tl c Kina came on to Helensville on one of the railway tricycles, the steamer being delayed only about an hour. Considerable anxiety was felt in Helensville as to the safety of the train, till the engine working with only one cylinder arrived and the delay was explained. When any accident occurs on the line, there is no convenient mean? of communicating with headquarters or Helensville; as none of the stations north of Avondale are connected by wire with Auckland, and the spare engine has been run over from Helensville.

During: a reeenfc morning the four-masted ship General Gordon was floated .into the Alfred Graving Dock preparatory to cleaning and overhaul, and the work of pumping out the dock commenced. As soon as this became generally known (says the " Melbourne Argus") the dockyard became thronged with men and boys, in anticipati6n of a good haul of fish. They were furnished with every conceivable contrivance for collecting the fish as the water went down. As soon as the water was reduced to between 3 and 4ft, men and boys plunged in'fully clothed,'and commenced collecting the fish. By this process baskets and bags were rilled, and such a babel from nearly 2,000 voices in and about the dock as is rarely heard. When the water had fallen to a few inches in depth the lower end of the dock floor was found to be a seething mass of mullet, salmon, trout, and silver bream, estimated to be between one and two tons in weight. Two men stationed themselves in a boat with a net in front of the discharge pipe from the centrifugal pumps of the dock engines, and secured by that means nearly half a ton of fish sucked up and thrown' out by the pumps,

The new Lord Mayor of London (Sir Henry Isaacs) has abandoned the usual procession in the golden carriage, and postponed the festivities for two days, because November 9th falls this year on a Saturday, which is the Jewish Sabbath. _ Sir Henry Isaacs decided to walk to the Law Courts in private, and thers to take the oaths, and to leave all the show part of the ceremony till the Monday. # The adjourned meeting of the Jubilee United Temperance Festival Committee was held in the Temperance Hall on Tuesday, when there was a good attendance of ■ members and,delegates, Otahuhu and Onehunga being woll represented. Mr C. G. Hill was elected Chairman, and it was decided to endeavour to obtain if possible the services of the Secretary of the Blue Ribbon Army (Mr Ross) to take the post of Secre tary of the festival. It was resolved to invite Mr Frith to prepare a choir of members of Bands of Hope to sing at the evening meeting on the 28th of January, and a committee was appointed to draw up a programme for the 29th of January and to consider ways and means. Mr R. J. Souster was appointed a deputation to visit the various societies to lay the scheme before the members.

Last evening a very enjoyable social under the auspicies of the Caledonian Club was held in the Foresters' Hall, Newton, to open the season 1889-90. There was a very good attendance of members of th& club and a very pleasant evening was spent by all. The first part of the entertainment consisted of a concertof the following items: —Pianoforte solo, MissFortzer; song,.'' Mary of Argyle," Miss Morrison ; song, " In Old Madrid," Mr Criglinton; song, "My Heart i 8 Sair for Somebody," Mies Harris, who, in reaponse to an encore, gave " The Land o' the Leal;" song, " Annie Laurie," Mrs Wright (beautifully rendered), and in response to an imperative encore, " When Other Lips ;" song, " The Longshore Man," Mr Simpson; song (in character), "Nobody's Child " (encored), Miss Steele ; duet, "A.8.C.," Miss Harris and Mr Simpson ; song, "Coming Thro' the Rye," Mrs Wright; song, " Anchored," Mr Criglinton ; song, "Jessie's Dream," MrsCotttngham ; pianoforte duet, the, Misses Fortzer. During an interval in the concert the President, Dr. Walker, in a few well-chosen words presented Mi&s Fortzer with a handsome gold watch in recognition of her valuable and gratuitous services as pianist of the Club. Mr W. Hobsen responded on behalf of Miss Fortzer. Votes of thanks were passed to those who had assisted in the evening's entertainment, and Dr. Walker mentioned that several of the members of the club would take part in the approaching Hallowe'en concert in the City Hall on the 31st inst., to raise funds for the Newton Rifles to send representatives to the rifle meeting. He intimated that the old Hallowe'en games would be introduced with appropriate scenery. The room was then cleared for dancing, which was indulged in till about 11 p.m., when the company separated with "Auld Lang Syne."

There was a good attendance in Robson's Rooms last evening to'hear Mr Browne's lecture on " Why I Believe in Man's Immortality." The lecturer referred to the many good points of the Bible, but condemned what he called the superstitious and impossible portions of it on which the priests usually relied. In his study of religion, he had found a spirit of truth running through all; but he had also found that they were overloaded with rubbish by the priests. Spiritualism was the only belief that rested on scientific data, and the truths of which could be demonstrated like those of any of the physical sciences. Mr Browne mentioned the tenets of the spiritualistic philosophy, and showed the good in them and their eminent "practicalness" and freedom from superstition. He mentioned many remarkable instances of his personal knowledge of spirits, and stated that in spite of the fraud and imposture connected with the subject, he was firmly convinced from the experiences of himself, his family and friends, of its truth. At the close of the lecture a number' of questions were answered, and the meeting broke up very much impressed with the lecturer's earnestness, if not with the truth of spiritualism.

Shareholders in the North New Zealand' Woollen Company who have nob paid un outstanding calls would do well'to attend to the matter at once, as no less than 137 summonses have been issued from the R;li Courb. Of these, 23 were set down tor hearing thia morning, and all but one were * settled out of Court. In the other case judgment was given for the plaintiff.

David Maxwell Heron, a respectably dressed young man, appeared on remand at the Police Courb this morning, to answer to the charge of having embezzled certain snms of money the property of his employer, Michael Briggs. Fifteen sums were stated in ths charges, but the whole did not amount to more than £4 16s 6d. On the application of Mr S. Hesketh, who appeared for the accused, the hearing of the case was further remanded until next Tuesday. Heron's hail was enlarged.

Clark's district belt will be fired for on Saturday afternoon, when a good number" of the best shots are certain to compete. s Last year there were 47 entries, Private* Hay proving the winner with a score of Ml points. This year the entries are expected to be much larger as during the last couple of months many of the young shots have made good scores. ' ■

Mr R. Logan, shipbuilder, of the North Shore, is just completing, to the order of his brother, Mr James Logan, late of the steamer Wellington, a handy little Bteam launch which is intended to ply upon the waters of Lake Rotorua, in the tourisb passenger traffic. She will undoubtedly supersede the present unsatisfactory modeof ' exploring the shores of the lake and visiting the historic Mokoia Island in small sailing boats or canoes. The launch will accommodate about 30 persons. She is 36 feeb long overall, 7 feet beam, and draws only 3 feet 4 inches. Her engines, by Messrs Warks and Co., are expected to give her a speed of about nine knots per hour. Mr Seagar supplies her boiler, which is of steel,; on the tubular principle. i

The directors of the Kaiapoi Woollen Factory Company have replied to the circular from the Trades Union of Tailors and' Pressers, to the effect that they have no in-; tention of opposing the Union, as they recognise that the members are justified in' uniting for the protection of their rights. On the various points at issue they concur, except the one in which the Union desira that none but Union hands be employed. This the directors think open to serioua objection, and they will not pledge them* selves to it. With reference to the proposed logs they have no objection to the* classification suggested by the Union, In conclusion, they trust that should any! Question arise between themselves and1 their employees they would be able by the exercise of common sense to adjust such differences amicably. The annual meeting of shareholders will be held next week, when a dividend of 7 per cent, will be declared, and £2,802 carried forward.

A general meeting of the Auckland Yacht Club vras held last evening ia the Harbour Board Offices. There were a good number of members of the Club present, Mr J. Waymouth presiding. The annual report and balance-sheet, which showed a very satisfactory state of affairs, wete adopted, and officers for the ensuing season were elected as follows :—Commo. dore, Mr J. Waymouth. Vice-Commodore, Mr J. Wiseman. Secretary, Mr W. Lind. Assistant-Secretary, Mr W. MacCormick.

Committee, Messrs Gibbs, Reynolds, Gra-

mond, Henderson, Waymouth, Mace, Buchanan, Beavan, Haines, Kilfoyle, Bin-" don. Auditors, Messrs R. Reynolds, 0. B. Waymouth. Measurers, Messrs G. Goldie, G. Mccol. Votes of thanks were passed,to Mr Feathefstone for the use of his steamyacht during last season, and to the Secretary and' Assistant Secretary for their* Tiluable services to the Club. ' ■

The annual athletic sports of the Auckland College and Grammar School will be ■ field in the Domain to morrow, when thes* first race will start at 10 a.m. Post entries will be received for Old Boys' Handicap Hurdle Race (120 yards), and Old Boys' Handicap Flat Race (440 yards). If to-day's fine weather continues, as is likely, there is r sure to be a fine attendance to-morrow, and ■ some good ap'ort. . ;.'•

The genial Maccabe had a good house a the Opera House last evening, and gave hi<3 audience a good two hours' fun. Assisted by Mdlle.. Minnia, the bogus "Magic Statue," with her pretty dancing, the veteran care-exterminator kept the house in a chronic state of calm satisfaction with themselves and - the show right through, and sent them home feeling that they had veritably had their full moneys worth of laughter and amuse* merit. It was, perhaps, in his inimitable representation of the modern type of.thSh London " Wandering Troubadour" thab Mr Maccabe appeared to his greatest advantage, and he certainly succeeded 'in set-

ting the audience in roars of laughter. The / general make-up of the forlorn troubadour, his graveyard cough, his little flute (otherwise tin whistle), his hysterical discourseon" the all-important necessity of " 'avinai good top-note," and his fearful and wonderful' music, tickled the most staid old parties present immensely. He had " a werry good voice," the troubador was careful to eje-

plain, only he." couldn't always git at it," like many of our amateur vocalists. Some-. tsiine3 the top-note wouldn't come, which

was very aggravating, but folks shouldn't be too " scrumptious " in their demands oft the "musical profession." The consump« tive.troubadour was rather more considerate of his audience than most other instrumentalists, for he was caiefut Jn

his playing to give the original tune first,' and the "wariations" separately. The clarionette variations—on a tin whistle-

were a specially good imitation of- |a wheezingbandinstrument. Thetroubadour'a definition of '• wariations" in music is, inter* alia, " the worryin' of a toon." In his other songs and sketches Maccabe full]?

bore out his old reputation, and was very

entertaining throughout. He appears again, to-night. . ;

We hear a good deal at-different times about the remarkable productiveness/>£ this colony, and certainly Auckland doea not lag behind the other provinces in this respect. There is to be seen at the Stab office a singular curiosity in the shape of a double egg. It was laid by an ordinary-size

hen belonging to Mrs McKinney, of Victoria

Avenue, Eden Terrace. The oddity con-. sists of a large outer egg, measuring eight inches round at the thickest part and nearly eleven inches round longitudinally. With* in this is another full-size egg, with per« fectly-formed shell, and lyjng in the midefc

of the yolk of the larger egg. The inner egg is also full. If the hen responsible, f for this anomaly were like human

[ kind, she would probably have taken on. airs and treated her neighbours with, , disdain; but being a creature of instinct liv; she has taken no notice of the phenomenon, and is still mixing with the common flock. One man who saw the curiosity said ha presumed Mrs Hen would consider she had done all that could reasonably be expected of her, and was now entitled to be pensioned off. The egg (or eggs) should be sent W the Dunedin Exhibition, where it would be a conclusive proof to the visitors from " the other side " as to the grand resources of New Zealand, and the value of the colony as a field for investment. The parent or a boy attending the Sydenham Borough School summoned Mr Baldwin, headmaster, yesterday, for assaulting the lad with a'stick. Lengthy evidence . was given, which showed that four of the boys at school had mobbed an old woman, and had taken articles from her basket. The master, seeing this, had punished the four as an example to the school.^ Ine Bench strongly condemned the action of the boys, and considered they had nob had severe enough punishment. Thecasawaft dismissed with costs.

Attention has been drawn many times in these columns to the foolhardy practice that obtains in passengers by the ferry boats jumping on to the wharves before the gangway has been placed in proper position. Indeed, numbers of the younger travellers, in their hurry to be first ashore, perform most astonishing feats in this direction, their evolutions being watched vritb keen interest by their jess agile . yet sympathetic confreres. A case in point occurred last evening during the five o'clock trip of the North Shore ferry boat from town, when a young man named |Yank Burgess, in attempting to jump from the boat to the North Shore Wharf, fell \ an d wrenched his foot so severely that for gome time he was reduced to unconsciousness, during which he was quickly placed in a conveyance and taken to Dr. Parkinson's residence, where his sufferings were alleviated by prompt treatment. Ib seems that the captains of the boats are powerless to stop the practice alluded to, and notwithstanding last evening's accident, numbers of youths were found to be carrying on " the same old game" this morning, and will continue so to do until another and probably more serious accident leads to prompt measures being taken.

Mr Phil. Robinson, speaking before the Royal Colonial Institute, said: After having gone the whole round of the Australasian colonies, I found none really more admirable as places of residence, or sounder aa financial investments, than New Zealand .-which you are led to believe is bankrupt _-end Tasmania.

Colonel Humfrey, Under-Secretary of Defence, Colonel Hume, and a detachment bf 38 men of the Permanent Artillery, who have been told off to do duty in Dunedin during the Exhibition, were passengers by the Takapuna going South from Wellington yesterday afternoon. These men are to be employed in preparing and protecting the armoury court.

To-day a number of the sailing vessels in port made a display of bunting in honour of the wedding of Miss Cammell, daughter of Mr George Cammell, wharf receiver, to Mr Bruce, of Auckland, which took place this morning.

In order that no misunderstanding may occur respecting the festival in connection •with the Scripture Gift Association to be held to-morrow, we are requested to explain that it is connected with the Society's day schools only, and that there is no admission excepting through the school tickets issued.

Arthur Clampett, alias Sullivan, has furnished the " Wanganui Chronicle with what amounts to a written confession that hid real name is Clampstt, and that recently he gave way to drink in Christchnrch. He gives a history of his career under the name of Sullivan. He states that he began evangelistic work in Auckland. O\ving to the attacks of the press while in Ohristchurch, and the hard work of missions, he broke down and subsequently fell info his old habit of drink, and forgot himself, though he had only a •week previously addressed a monster temperance meeting. Thia was the only time be says since hi 3 conversion that he has tasted drink. He. asserts that his one object since his conversion has been to do good and win others to live better lives. In conclusion, Clampett says that, taking everything into consideration, it is his present intention to proceed on a lecturing tour; including, among other items, singing, and subjects connected with athletics.

Within-- the laafc few days several persons charged mth divers offences at the Police Court hav>9 beeo offered the privilege accorded by Ahe new Act, of giving evidence upon oath. Hitherto the mouth of the prisoner has.* so to speak, been closed, but this new departure permits them togivetheir own version of the affair upon oath. There can belittle cloubtbut that this change will be in the in tercets of justice. Innocent persons are th us atTorded an opportunity of giving sworn testimony. »»d it is certain that guilty persons will n^squently criminate themselves in thteir ignorant Only recently a prisoner in h*s statement >8.6 furnished the one link that? was missing 1.7 the chain of evidence which was brought agains.fc ™m: Already some of the more expe."ien3eo--have realised this danger and dec'uned. to take advantage of the new i~Cu Another point that requires to be born^ in mind is that if persons accused enter the witness box. they are then open to cross-examination and liable to prosecution for perjury in the event of s"ach being committed. In offering the benefits of this law to parsons accused, Dr. Gile^ has been careful to fully explain these matters so that prisoners shall not ignorantly enter the' witness box, and expose •themselves to the danger of cross-examina-tion by the prosecutor.

A man named Henry Browning appeared ab the Police Court this morning do answer to the charge of drunkenness. He aaid he was not drunk, and looked so strange that Sergeant-Major Pratt asked the case might be remanded until Saturday, as the man did nob appear to be accountable for his actions. Col. Haultain, who was the presiding justice, granted the remand. "Atthe Wanganui Resident Magistrate's Court yesterday R. W. Skeats and his wiie sued'Cbas. Hugo, proprietor of the Buffalo Minstrels, for £26 lls r for expenses back to Melbourne^ The solicitor for the plaintiffs explained that the case was based on a written agreement.. Mr Hugo, the defendant, appeared in person, and offered to pay the plaiatifls' fares back to Melbourne via Sydney, as had been arranged by the plaintiff himself when acting as his (defendant's) manager. The Residenc Magistrate thought this a fair offor, but the solicitor for plaintiffs preferred to go on with the case, and not iely on a mere verbal promise. He would ask for the money nnless tickets mre produced. Hugo's Manager said he was prepared to give a guarantee, but this was declined by the solicitor, who asked for judgment for £26 10s, but undertook if they received tickets that day to forego all but £2 for board and lodging. Mr Hugo thought they should take his word, and that he should be allowed to get the tickets and nob be forced to pay for others when he had already paid their return fares to Sydney, find expected a wire from the Union Company saying that the tickets were all right. Judgment was given for the plaintiff for 'ifiß6. loa, to he reduced to £3 16s if the tickets from Wanganui to Sydney are Riven, or to £2 .if the tickets are made out from Wanganvd to Melbourne. Costs of Courb 30s, solicitors £2 2a, and witness ■Eli

matron of'fthe Jubilee Kindergarten, High-street, acknowledges with thanlis : — Parcel of clothing from Mrs H. Gorrie, Remiiera; supply *of jam from a friend ; milk, daily, from th»e London Dairy ComPj»iy; meat, once weekly, from Mr Sqllaby, Shbrtland-stfteet, Messrs Hambly and Kilgour, Newmarket; broad from Mr Martin ;• supplies of milA from the Remuera Dairy Company. "Vegetn tbles of any kind would be very acceptable' If any kind friends could help us in thi^t way we should »8 grateful.