ARBITRATION COURT.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1303, 5 December 1911, Page 4

ARBITRATION COURT.

GAS WORKS AT MIRAMAR. SHOULD COMPANY PAY TRAVELLING TIME? ■ A spccial sitting of tlio Arbitration Court was commenced yesterday. Mr. Justice Sim prcsidpd, Mr. W. Scolt. sal as employers' representative, and Mr. J. A. M'Cullough as workers' represenlativo. An interesting question was submitted by tho Inspector of Awards, Mr. It. A. Bolland, in referenco to tho Wellington Gas Company,' and .tho Wellington Carpenters' Award. Tho case was a friendly action, in which both parties approached tho Court for an interpretation. The caso was stated in August last, but the Court would not give judgment without evidenco being offered.; No ovideiico was "called yesterday, but a statement of facts agreed upon was handed into Court. Mr. E. A. Bolland appeared for the Labour Department, and Mr. E. Balcombo Brown for tho Wellington Gai Company. Tho question the Court was asked to answer was:—' 1 "When an employer has two places of business, one within the city of Wellington and tho 'other outsi'de of the two-mile radius from To Aro Post Office, at each of which workers aro engaged and employed, should the employer regard tho place of business at whicli the worker is engaged and employed as his place of business for tuo purposes of this clause?" .The clause referred to is in the Carpenters' Award. It deals with suburban 'km' ar "* P rov " les " iat travelling time shall be allowed to men required to work at a distance from their employer's place of business. The Wellington Gas Company is building works at Miramar, and in order to, do so employs carpenters Mr. Bolland contended that tho works j ""ere not tho company's place of business. .Thev were a Ion" distance from the town, and most of the men employed there had to travel frbrn the city, to their, work. Mr. Brown submitted that the award -was never intended to apply to'employers not m business as building contractors, and that therefore tho Gas Company had , been ■ wrongly joined. Their case was (entirely- different- .from that' of 'a bunder who wight havo -occasion to send his men from-time to time to-work at different places in the suburbs. Tho company had a permanent ollico at Miramar, whore all business connected with tho building work there was transacted. The company ought not to bo required to ask the men where they lived. If thev t-li ei . Miramar they would not be entitled to compensation for loss of time, men-applied for work at Miramar, and they got it. They were permanently employed there, and they were never rcquired to work away from there.' Why should tho company be compelled to say: "We will employ only men living within two miles from Miramar." . Tho Court reserved judgment. CLAIM FOR INSURANCE. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. A case that was interesting mainly from a medical man's point of view was disclosed iu the compensation claim Joseph William Jacob v. tho. .Marino Institute of Australasia. The real point at issue was whether inguinal hernia could be wholly tho result of an accident, and -the respondents, or rather the Insurance Company behind the respondents, defend-ed-the afction as a test case. Mr. Oswald Beere appeared for tho plaintiff, and Mr. A. W. Blair for the respondents. Respondents havo rooms "in Aitken Street, somo of which they let 011 occasion for tho holding-of Meetings and entertainments. Praihti(F. r fras- ! cmpT6} : ed' by the institute, and it was pa-rt of his duty to prepare rooms for meetings, and,, to restoro them to proper order after meetings had been held, ll was alleged that; on August U, 1911, while engaged in -re 1 - . storing'a room, he had occasion to move a piano from a somewhat insecure stand down on to the floor level Through some mischanco the staging slipped or gave way slightly, and ho had to take most of tho weight of the piano. He alleged that lie felt sick, that he felt pain all next day, and that two days later, when 110 went to a doctor, ho was informed that he was suffering from rupture. Plaintiff claimed compensation by payments of £1 per week, or in tho 'alternative by payment of a ldmp sum of ..£'33o. This ho claimed because, as ho alleged, he was permanently partially disabled as the result-ol injuries rcceiv-' cd in tho cours° 01 his employment. His wages were «E2 per week," with free lodging, fuel, and light, but ho stated that jrith outside work .which 110 was permitted to do, and with gratuities and payments received from lessees of tlie rooms, ho used to earn ,£3 10s. per week. Sinco tho'accident ho bad been compelled to refuse outside work, and ho had had to pay other men to do somo of tho heavier work ordinarily included in his' regular duties. He therefore a» ; essed his weekly wages since tho accident at about .CI 10s. per -week. Dr. Mason gave evidence that Jacob had come to him suffering from hernia. Jpeob said that he hnd hurt himself lifting a piano, and this account was quite consistent with his condition. The . proximate cause of the hernia was prnl> ably the lifting of a heavy weight. Tho result of it would be that Jacob would bo "a less useful working animal" for the rest of his life. Certainly.he ought not to do heavy work likely to cn use sudden strain, on the abdominal wall. To Mr. Blair: Witness did not agree that'liernia could be the result of accident unless accompanied by intense pain. Witness had examined plaintiff sodii three months prior to August, and found no siens of hernia. Work such as plaintiff did—lifting pianos and other heavy weights—would conduce to hernia. Mr. Blair, for the respondents, sub.that the mere fact that the. runturo had not been accompanied by acute pain was conclusive evidence that it had been long-standing in some of its 'phases, mid he called medical cvidencc in support of tint opinion. Dr. D. M'Gavin said he had examined Jacob a month after Kip rupture was apparent. He believed that tho hernia in Jacob's case was caused , by frenuont reneated strains. A radical cure could be effected by an operation, which would necessitate lyinsr up for two jr three weeks, and avoiding laborious work for three ninths. To Mr. Beere: The hernia in Jacob's case had existed perhaps long before it nnpeared outside.the external wall, and when it finally becamo patent Jacob | might not have-suffered acut». pain. If upturns most often grew gradually; they were not tho result of immediate striin. Tho case stands adjourned until this morning. THE PAINTERS' AWARD. Application was. made on behalf of the • Painters' T7nion to have _ths Wellington Harbour Board, tho Wellington City Council, the Union Steam Ship Company, tho Gear Meat Company, and the Wellington Meat Export Companv, joined as parties to tho Painters' Award. The City Council did not appear, but the Harbour Board and the companies all objected. The Court heard all tho objectors, and roserved judgment.