WOMAN WRITER

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 66, 11 December 1930, Page 12

WOMAN WRITER

Sequel to Dismissal CLAIM FOR £2OO Judgment Reserved Judgment was reserved in the Supreme Court yesterday in the case in which Mrs. Nellie Digby Smith claimed £2OO damages for alleged wrongful dismissal from the Radio Publishing Company of New Zealand Ltd., publishers of the weekly "Radio Record.” Mr. A. J. Heighway, managing editor, spent all the mornin,? and part of the afternoon in the witness-box, and there were several other witnesses, mainly from the staff of the journal. The case concluded with re-examination of the plaintiff. Mr. Justice Blair was on the bench. Mr. C. G. White appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. C. A. L. Treadwell, with him Mr. James, for the defendant company. Resuming his evidence, A. J. Heighway traversed the pages of many numbers of the “Radio Record” published at the time that Mrs. Smith was in charge of a section. Not long after plaintiff had begun, witness had seen that she was not capable of much originality. The ultimate history of the section was that Mrs. Smith provided very little matter and it became necessary to rely on outside contributions. Witness himself wrote many paragraphs for the section. Over one period witness found from a count that 10 paragraphs had been written by Mrs. Smith, 13 by witness himself, and 44 were contributed from outside. Witness had been very disappointed when only 18 typewritten lines came from her after a special visit to the Winter Show-. He had wished particularly to have a special Winter Show article printed in the next issue after the opening. Defendant had been dismissed on a Tuesday and witness got into touch with a writer who began by doing an excellent article on the show and then carried on for four weeks until the writer now in charge of the section was engaged. Witness sent for Mrs. Smith originally in June. They were always short of copy from her, he said, and things were not satisfactory. The associate editor had told him t,hat morning that there was no copy in from Mrs. Smith. Witness got into touch with her at once and asked her why there was no copy. She replied that her typewriter had been out of order. In succeeding weeks he watched the section rather closely and it seemed to him that Mrs. Smith was not putting her heart into it at all. Analysing her work, witness would say that she had had no experience in practical everyday journalism. To Mr. White, witness said that on the editorial page he expected live, original matter dealing in the main with electricity, although opportunities were allowed for the introduction of items of interest to women, in order to give the page personality.

Responsible for Eight Pages. Colin Wallace Stewart Smith, associate editor of the “Radio Record.” said he knew from the plaintiff that she had to be responsible for eight pages and that she was to fill them with original matter when advertising and contributed matter was below level. He had been frequently short of matter for Mrs. Smith’s section late in the week, and had often had to make adjustments of size and sometimes to introduce radio matter into the section. This spoilt the “make-up,” he said. John Aloysius Galvin, advertising manager of - the “Radio Record,” said that Mrs. Smith had co-operated with him, and they had, with his assistant, Mr. Gray, drawn up a schedule of articles to be written for the paper. Mrs. Smith had done these articles well and the copy was always received on Wednesdays, when it was due. He never had any difficulty in working with Mrs. Smith, and he could not remember advertisers having made complaints. To Mr. Treadwell, witness agreed that a Mr. Mackay, who made contacts with electrical advertisers, would be more likely to hear such things. Mrs. Smith, witness continued, had always been willing to co-operate in advertising “tie-ups” and articles, and tested apparatus that was submitted to her. Witness had found her obliging and considered it an advantage to have an expert on the staff. Stanley Smith, now in business on his own account, said he had been on the “Radio Record” while' Mr. Galvin was in Australia. Mrs. Smith’s duties at the time he was there seemed to include visits with Mr. Gray to electrical firms with a view to securing advertising and arranging for “write-ups.” This, witness understood, she did satisfactorily.

Always Enough Copy. Called again by Mr. White, plaintiff said that the cookery article was invariably in by Tuesday and the main article on Wednesday or Thursday. This referred also to the week in which defendant had said that only the cooking article was to hand on Saturday. Other stuff would go in on Thursday or Friday, and she always took care that there was enough material for the section at the office bv Friday night. Until the last two weeks,'she said, the greater part of her work was accepted and published. When the “’What We Women Think” column was introduced, the arrangement was that witness had to choose the stuff and prepare it for the printers. There was no question of her having to write all or part of it herself. Gradually, however, fewer contributions came in, especially as only short -items were printed, and the remuneration consequently only barely covered postage and stationery. She had then to write more herself, and waited generally, as a matter of practice, until late in the week to see what had been contributed. Witness denied that she kept no material in reserve, and asked how in certain issues in July and August it had come about that much of her material was used. This was after she had been dismissed. After brief cross-examination by Mr. Treadwell, counsel intimated that they did not propose to address the court. His Honour reserved his decision.