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Kaikoura Star, Volume LVI, Issue 91, 19 November 1936, Page 3

A hospital superintendent telephone* one day to a placement officer for tw* suitable men “to sit by the bedside <»t a man who was a bit queer,” one ol the men to take the day duty am the other to relieve him for the night watch. The guardian during the da a had a restful and uneventful day. but when morning dawned after the othei man’s first spell of night duty, h< bore evidence of having been in a fre<> for all “scrap.” His clothes were ir shreds, and his face and body bleedinp from scratches. When he again reported at the placement office his ad vice to the officials was: “If they ask you again for an attendant up then you had better make a deal with George Walker or “Lofty” Blomfield to take on the job.” State placement officers are nothing if not thorough in their enquiries on behalf of an applicant for employment, and once a search is begun the od« •> are in favour of a suitable position b - ing discovered. An interesting example of this persistence in a good cause is supplied by the New Plymouth placement officer. One of the men enrolled in the Taranaki capital is a fully qualified member of a highly specialised pr - fession, and the institute to which h • belongs had. made diligent but unsu-.--cesful efforts to place him. When the man enrolled the placement service began a systematic search in the districts covered by the 22 placement offices, and within a few days advices from various localities indicated the possibility of an opening. Finally a definite and satisfactory offer arrived from Auckland, and this was accepted by a very grateful man. wholeheartedly appreciative of the effectiveness of the service’s organisation. The placements made recently by th* 1 Auckland office of the State placemen* service were notable for the wide range of occupations represented and for the fact that of the total of 203 men for whom work was found 109 were taken on permanently. Carpenters, farm hands, builders’ labourers, and various classes of workers that are needed in the wool and grain stores accounted for a good percentage of the total from the forty trades and callings on the list, but the following each contributed its quota:—Accountants, barmen, blacksmiths, boot-finisher, bootmaker, box maker, bushman, butcher, cane seagrass worker, clerks, cooks, dairy factory workers, motor and stationary drivers, engineers, electricians fencer, firemen, fitter, gardener, glazier, linotype oper ators, labourers (six classes), married couple, motor mechanics, metal workers, iron moulders, painters, metal polishers. pressers, radio technicians, sales men, sawmillers, share-milkers, shop assistants, slaughtermen. stewards (ship), stonemason, storemen, yardmen. Positions were also found for 12 youths, five of whom were assured of permanent work if they proved suitable. The relative merits of North Island farm workers as compared with those in the South Island formed the basis of an argument between two runholders in North Otago a few days ago. One was from the North Island, and was paying a visit to his Otago friend, who contended that the southern farm hands have a better all-round knowledge of their duties, and are more dependable than the men of the north. The visitor was impressed, and as he was in need of a farm foreman, a teamster, and a ploughman, he agreed to give the southern men a trial and asked the local placement officer to select the men required. They are now giving good sei vice in the Poverty Bay district. An official closely concerned with the Native land development activities in the Bay area noted how these imported men tackled their jobs and opened negotiations with the place nient officer at Oamaru for the supply of four expert ploughmen, at a wage of £2 15/- per week and found, plus a bonus. These men also are giving evidence, in their new surroundings, oi special ability in their particular line but the question of superiority as be tween North and South still remains unanswered.