THE REEFTON DEADLOCK

Greymouth Evening Star, 18 June 1912, Page 8

THE REEFTON DEADLOCK

[to the editor.]

Sir, —Would you permit' me space through the columns of your paper to correct the many misleading statements Mr Winter Evans made to the public in Wellington last week. Mr Evans first of all told the public that the men went on strike. That is not so. Not a man left his work without being told by the bosses that if he would not work ’the Waugh drill single-handed he could got his time. The next item Mr Evans told the public W'as that the Company was never approached by the Miners’ Executive. Now, why should the Executive approach the Company? Wo were not looking for am new conditions. Therefore, it was the duty of Mr Evans to approach the Miners Executive. This new machine is getting advertised throughout the Dominion as a popper drill. It is not a popper drib at all. A popper drill is used for popping big boulders of ore, and can only be used by one man. This new machine is much bigger than a popper drill, and is much more dangerous than the big machines. You can only bore uppers .with this drill, which creates a lal’ge quantity of dust; that is dangerous to the miners. He also said a number of the men were prepared to work the drill single-handed. There was not one member of our union win. offered to work the drill single-handed. Re the working of low grade ore that Mr Evans talks about, I might point out to the public the difference between the cost of working t}je mines now and when*under the management of Mr E. W. Spencer. Two to three years ago the cost of treating the Blackwater ore was 17s 6d per ton, without any Waugh machines at all. Since the new African manager has arrived, the cost is something like 23» per ton. Ihe Koep-It-Dark Company, which is locally owned and managed, pays dividends on ore that is only worth 18a per ton, but there are no highly-paid officials there. This is where a lot of money is wasted in the Consolidated group of mines. Mr Evans is misleading the public in Wellington bv giving them a demonstration of the Waugh drill in the Lasin Reserve. I here are no miners

there and no dangerous ground hanging over a man. Ho hasn’t got a bottle of the foul air that the men have to work in to give the public a sniff of ,and the tem?nnnt Uro wi 1 hardI >’ 1)e as high there as IOOOIt below the surface. Nothing but starvation will drive our members either to stope on contract or work singlehanded in any way underground, and we think the shareholders will be tired ol its management before there will be a man, woman or child hungry in Reefton. We are willing to work under the agreemerit that we have worked under for the last two years till July, 1913, the time it expires. I am, etc.. ... . 4 ’ -MINER. \vaiuta, June 17th, 1912.