Accuses Wharfies Of ’Barefaced Blackmail'

Northern Advocate, 8 March 1947, Page 8

Accuses Wharfies Of ’Barefaced Blackmail'

BY demanding danger money for handling some goods New Zealand wharf labourers are guilty of “barefaced blackmail,” alleges a New Zealand author in a recently published book. The author is Charles M. Wheeler, an officer of the New Zealand Engineers, who has written the story of the sappers in Greece. T-fis book is “Kalimera Kiwi,” published by A. H. and A. W. Reed, Wellington.

Mr Wheeler will not gain .popularity with waterside workers when he launches on the subject of explosives and their handling, but his comments will undoubtedly be of great interest to other workers.

"He could drop it, jump on it, even spread it out in a thin layer on the ground and burn it.”

Undoubtedly a valuable addition to the growing library of books by Dominion authors on war experiences, this record is always interesting, even for those without any knowledge of military engineering. It is written from the viewpoint of the serving soldier and its characterising of actual participants adds to its appeal.

‘'The whole matter of explosives is. as tut! of popular misconceptions as a medieval midwife,” Mr Wheeler writes.

"Fortunately, perhaps, for our wharf labourers, who can get away with the barefaced blackmail of demanding 'danger pay' for handling these dangerous goods—about as dangerous under ordinary conditions as so many cases of bricks.

From a literary standpoint the book alternates between excellent presentation and faulty construction, not however, sufficiently so to detract from its value a‘s a record of some of the exploits of the New Zealand Engineers. and as a narrative of more than passing interest.

"A man could go through the greater part of a lifetime with a case of high explosives under his arm with no reasonable trepidation.