SEARCHING FOR WORK.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 201, 26 August 1930, Page 19

SEARCHING FOR WORK.

AUCKLAND BOY'S "JAUNT."

EXPERIENCE IN AUSTRALIA.

'•QUEUE WAITS FOR EVERY JOB."

'•'Yes, I have 'been getting round a bit" said a young Aucklander who recentlv returned from Australia. He had an idea that a young man should '•'knock around" before he settles down, so he gave up a billet in Auckland and started out to see other places. The storv of his wanderings was of the experiences of a man who tramps round hunting for work in Australia at the present time. He once "humped his bluev" for 760 miles across Australia, and "then managed to get a ride back in an empty boiler on a train without asking the guard's permission. "The firemen knew we were there," said the wanderer, "and gars my mate and myself a share of their food, but doing a ten days' trip across a desert in a boiler is not "an ideal way of seeing Australia, as we were nearly cooked. Of course, -whenever the train stopped, if the guard was not about, we used to sneak out and get a breath of fresh air.

"When you are tramping in Australia every settler will give you a feed and a shake-down for cutting firewood or doing other odd jobs. They were all very kind to me when I was hoofing it. At one town I walked into the hotel and told the proprietor that I -wanted a meal and was prepared to earn it by doing odd jobs. He provided me with a good feed, and for a few days I was behind the bar pulling beer. That publican was a real white man,,for he paid my fare to Sydney and handed me £1 as well. I (rot a little work in Sydney, and was able to send him back his money with a letter of thanks for his kindness. He returned the money, saying I might want it yet, and that he had not expected to" have it repaid. "Up Against It." "In Sydney I was right up against it. I even had to pawn my shirt. My socks were worn out, but an old pair of spats I had found covered up that deficiency. At last I was told to go to a certain lady, who would help me. I called on her, and she sent her secretary out with me and he fitted me up with £4. 10/ worth of clothes and she got me a fbillet. I was able to call and pay her hack all she bad spent on me. Things are so hard in Australian towns now that a queue waits for every billet advertised. There are some sharks there who advertise for a traveller, and when a man calls offer him goods to sell on commission, but demand a deposit of £2. I was in one place of that kind hut, of course, had not the £2 to deposit, and from the look of the office I would Dot have paid a deposit if I had the cash. As a matter of fact I had scarcely left that office when the police raided it. The manager and secretary were wanted for .obtaining money by false pretences, and although I did not get a job, the Government found them both work for a period." "I have chopped wood, washed bottles and dishes, been bandy man on a sheep station, and in fact tried most things cxcept clerking, which was what I had learned before I left Auckland. A chap has to be careful that he does not get caught by the love of the free wa'ndering around Australia, sleeping in the ibush, and getting meals at farmhouses. I have seen men, who had 'been at Oxford, who had caught the habit of humping a swag through the country districts. If they were asked to chop wood to earn a meal, they considered that part of the game. There seems to 'be a fascination about that free and easy wandering life. Once it gets them they seldom settle down to a steady job, but just tramp on, year in and year out, till they make their last camp and perhaps die alone. Selling on Commission. "I, tried several jobs selling li'nes on commission. At one place I had to attend ah instruction class, where I was given lessons on how to approach a housewife, and secure a hearing. One time I was selling photograph enlargements ia a mining district. I can tell you my firm were artists. If I sent them a photograph of a man collarless, with his shirt open at the front, the picture would be returned with an enlargement, in which the head had ibeen fitted neatly in a stand-up collar above a frock-coat. The wiyes would shout with delight: "Why, you've made Tom quite a gentleman!" I always found the manual-working people the ibest to sell photograph enlargements to.

"Before I "went to Australia I got a job with a party making a road through the Urewera Country. One night "vve camped at Eua's place, a'nd he got up a dance for us. It was very cold in the Urewera Country,. as it was the middle of winter when I was there, and the hilltops were covered with snow. At times we were working 5000 ft up. I came out from the Urewera Country ■with £150, and after such hard work "was very fit. I got to a town on the East Coast, where there was a boxing tournament on, so I entered for the show. I had no experience in the ring. As I said, I felt very fit, and, of course, at* night we had amused ourselves in the camp with boxing, and I rather. fancied myself." ''Did you win your bout?" '"Win my bout! Why, I "was put to sleep by the first blow, and hever woke up till some time after I had been counted out. I am certain my mother never got me to sleep so quickly. _ I bought a motor car, and used- to drive around the country getting work on farms. When I reached Wellington, I decided to ship my car across the Strait and get harvesting work in the South. At last I reached Invercargill, where I sold my car for less than I gave for it, and worked my way on a boat across to Australia. "Now I am thinking of trying to get across to Canada, where, if I g et steady work, I hope to settle dowfc. If a chap is ready to work, he can generally get along. Since I got here I had one week's work"'gardening. I knew nothing about it. When I started I created a good impression by saying that the ground wanted lime. I have since learned that the correct advice *as given. When I apply for the next job J win be able to say truthfully that I have do'ne gardening."