Kaitangata.

Bruce Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 3030, 24 January 1899, Page 5

Kaitangata.

, ' (FBOMChmOwS OOB»K8PO!TD»HT.) ' t Truly. Mi; Editor, last. week, was > jdjbhaj #£ rjßij^ngi, of ,tfee ;,iPd^ffiatipDi; Board on Thursday, the miners^ meefc' ings 'iajv the ; evening,:, and s the^uvenilei steikfrdfSaturday,. one wasreininded capital ' and ■ labor was still* a" : : &etii ■ realite* l ©fi^^venmjr d£ Ttiuiteaaf lAr.^^^^a^'M^'^ar^l,; large aid entliusi:aßtip- : \ka^4nGe t ' i .--i^e > inaaejg^^^|h^^;;||p|e; present. Besides about tl2(> o member^, of the A^oj3oj^ were a large mimber. of sympathisers. Mi* Millar in his opehingremarks saidi that J he r ; had! not ■ come! before" theta -ta make a political'' speebh^'but he 11 Would edjafine himself ; principally to ahfeW; remark's ' wiic'ii nlftjtft : help' 1 ' fclfe 'm f e ! m i -' bers f pf w the ( Qjjago .Miners' JPnipn, in (their present" double,'^Jtt^ t ;J||li(i'ar 4 said^ that before, - leaying j)unediri • hej been informed that ; no technical. point, would be raised* which 'Oouldiretard>th«j progress 'oß^the l case before 1 >Ooncilliation Bpardi' and' therefore he'was 1 g^eWtlybuprteed'at .the' tS6lMcaT]p'oiht which, luml j&seipi rwseA by employers' at the sitting of the Conciliation Board that t day. ...However,.; he said it would only be a delay of about a week or ten days. He went on- to refer to laborlegislation and " the efforts of the Government to' improve the condition of the workers.' He 'said that it was* absolutely fte^j^ary : |h^at ( . the workers appoint men, froni, among themsely.es. Such men^fciiew the requirements- of: those they represented. > For proper labor legislation they wanted men from among the laboring" class. They could not expect a man 'who never knew what it was to rMgh' it and never knew what it was to gp witKout a meal to enter into labor legislation with as much earnestness as a man who had experiences in common with those he was trying -to help. These men could speak with authority. He went on to speak of his connection with the Great Strike, and said that he was probably at one time the best hated man in New Zealand, but a change had taken place and much of the soreness existing had worn away, and he hoped that in the near future an amicable settlement would be arrived at between the Kaitangata miners and their employers. Mr Ferguson addressed the meeting and made a few appropriate remarks reminding the vjniners of the necessity of being loyal one to the other. Altogether a very enjoyable evening was spent by those present. The meeting was brought to a close by very hearty votes of thanks being accorded to Messrs Millar and Ferguson. A JUVENILE STRIKE. On Saturday morning the inhabitants of Kaitangata were rather surprised at the novel procedure of a number of our juvenile miners or better known as " truckers." From what I can learn it appears that on Friday one of the lads had occasion to proceed towards the pit bottom with a truck of coal, but after a deal of energy being spent on his part he became exhausted and was unable to proceed further with his truck. The consequence was that two or three other lads proceeding behind him with their loaded trucks were delayed. The lads attribute the delay to the bad state of the road on which they had to truck. On Saturday morning three of the lads were informed by the underviewer that they had better go home again, whereupon a council of war was held, and no doubt the lads taking it into consideration that the adult portion of the miners seemed to have a rather protracted way of settling their grievance came to the conclusion that they would resort to old-time tactics, and at once put the idea into execution, whereupon they informed the underviewer that if he did not allow their other mates to work, that they would all go home together. Their request not being complied with, they were as good as their word, and as the miners were dependent on them to truck their coal, the portion of the mine known as " the stone drive " was thrown idle. In a conversation I had with one of the lads he informed me, and I'll put it in his own words, "we will go back to work when our three mates get started." A NEW DODGE. I learn that there is about to be a new system of insurance inaugurated in Kaitangata by W. M. Shore, junr., grocer, and James Jarvie, butcher. From what I learn it seems that if you become a customer and pay cash for your goods to the extent of 7s6d per week and upwards, you are insured against accident, so accordingly, any customer meeting with an accident fa. entitled to one pound per week ; whatr ever groceries or butcher meat you may get of course being deducted. I think it is a pity that every tyisinegs man^in the place does not become an insurance agent, then one could give them all a turn, and in the event of one meeting with a slight accident be would have a substantial sura of money to draw each week. TO COMPLY WITH THE AOr. On Saturday evening a meeting of members of the Otago Miners' Union was held in JVlr M'Yeigh's, Ha}}. About. iOQ members, wetie present, and it was decided unanimously by those present that the Dispute should, he referred to the Conciliation Board. AN ACCIDENT. On Wednesday morning last a trucker named Henry Duncan met with rather a nasty accident. 1 learii $&% h> was, breaking, an empty truck down an incline approaching the working place, and on which occasion the break Stack slipped, atricking him a nasty Wow wrogs (he Wtfk Re vaa

o^lioefc ai-ni. to "tifte residence <j£ Dr six stietjes hping required to close ; tlje .'WOUlldsP^*'' '■^•'(''"■•.■■••- :,:< v:».'~V- '■- ''- - 1 !; ' V :' •.■'■''■ ■■.■ .H ;w ,: j?l .-. 1 ».,.r ( v,, : i.,;.-. r ; .v, j;i : ; . _ -