P. AND O. COAL CARGOES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14240, 10 December 1909, Page 7

P. AND O. COAL CARGOES.

t MEN LOSE £1750 IN WAGES. Mr. E. Trelawny, the superintendent in Australia for the P. and 0. Company, who has been desirous throughout of giving the work of discharging the Palermo's coal cargo to members of the Coal Lumpers' Union, was forced last week to adopt other means for coaling the mail steamers of the line. Referring to the attitude assumed by the union, Mr. Trelawny remarked: "1 , extremely regret the decision of the men, because I, have no wish that the money they would have earned should go in other directions. There will be 14,000 to as of coal to handle between now and the first week in January, and it is deplorable that the men and their wives and their families should lose approximately/ £1750 in wages as a result of refusing our offer."

OIL FUEL FOR LOCOMOTIVES. Throughout the present crisis numerous references have been made to the value of oil as a fuel. It is stated that, with a view of testing its efficacy in this direction, the Railway Commissioners are having several engines altered at the Sydney workshops so that they can take oil fuel. One engine has been completed, and has made a trial trip, which has proved satisfactory. But whether the experiment will be continued remains to be seen. The idea, a novel one to Australian railways, is certainly being watched with interest, but as one officer put it last week, "If we could get the oil at 2d per gallon it might pay all right. But with the present price for oil, and coal down to its normal price, there is no doubt the coal would be the cheapest. However, it is an experiment, and when coal is at a premium, the oil acts as a splendid substitute." _^_

SUMMER CRUISE ABANDONED. The Union Steam Ship Company have had to abandon the proposed summer cruise of the R.M.S. Makura from Sydney to the West Coast Sounds of New Zealand, owing to the Newcastle coal strike.