“TROUBLE ANTICIPATED.”

Gisborne Times, Volume XXX, Issue 3564, 2 July 1912, Page 5

“TROUBLE ANTICIPATED.”

LAKE COLERIDGE ELECTRICAL SCHEME. SERIOUS ALLEGATIONS BY THE WORKERS. [PER PRESS ASSOCIATION.] CHRISTCHURCH, July 1. According to men who have been employed at the Lake Coleridge hy-dro-electrical installation works, the conditions under which the men are employed on the tunnel—contract labor—are far from being satisfactory. Jas. Ryan, a miner, who-has been < ngaged at mining all his life, stated to a newspaper reporter to-day that the conditions at Lake Coleridge are tlie worst he has ever known. He was working at the cutlet portion of the tunnel, and described the country being worked through as consisting mostly of a kind o-f sand with brudders in it. Three shifts after he went down to work in this portion of the tunnel two men were nearly killed owing to a fall of earth and stones from the roof. He alleges that with three men in a shift six feat per day is being driven. He further alleges that the timbering is a long wav behind, and contends that in such soft country the timbering should be kept close up to the men working on tthe face. There are, he states, chains and chains without timbering, and be anticipates serious . tro”hte unless somethin" is done when the men meet who are driving the tunnel from the opposite side. He took from the roof a boulder weighing twenty pounds, which had landed on a vital snot would have been sufficient to kill a man.. On another occasion two men had the tec's knocked from their hands by a fall of earth from the roof- When Ryan spoke to the leader of the shift on the subject he replied, “I think timber is wanted, but the boss thinks different.” Ryan, whose statements were corroborated by another man who-had worked on the works ■ G. A. Elliott also complains "that the men employed by the contractor for the tunnel are practically compelled to board at a boarding-house kept by the contractor, who is alleged to have laid it down that unless men hoard at his boarding-house they know what to do. It is further alleged that he will not allow the men to batch, and in. this respect the co-operative workers employed directly bv the Public Works Department are said to bo 1 totter off, as they are allowed to hatch in dents which can he made cosy. Ryan and Elliott stated that the fcod supplied at the boarding-hmise was not satisfactory, consisting chiefly of mutton, cooked in different ways, and potatoes. One woman is alleged to cook and wait on about 40 men. At “crib” time the men at work on the tunnel have to take their food in the open air under very cold climatic conditions. The-v state that the contractor has rro difficulty in getting men, 'but 'many ’leave as soon as they can, •owing to -the• alleged unsatisfactory /conditions.