WOMEN DISAGREE

New Zealand Herald, Volume 79, Issue 24274, 15 May 1942, Page 6

WOMEN DISAGREE

f A MIDNIGHT AFFRAY TWO LOSE EMPLOYMENT , APPEAL AGAINST DISMISSAL Decision was reserved by the Indus- - trial Manpower Committee yesterday ; after hearing appeals by Mrs. Joyce ; Flathman and Miss Phyllis Olive Bar- ■ nett, former employees of the Colonial . Ammunition Company, Limited, against the permission given by the district i manpower officer, Mr. T. G. Fielder, to i the company, an essential industry, to dispense with their services. Mr. J. 0. Liddell, chairman of the board, had associated with him Messrs. K. Simpson and T. H. Mackv. Appellants were represented by Mr. Beckerleg and the companv bv Mr. Williams. Mr. Beckerleg said Mrs. Flathman was a leading hand in the bullet examining department, and Miss Barnett worked with her. A number of girls ! refused to work temporarily under the forewoman in another department, and these, including the appellants, were dismissed. After negotiations in which tb® placement officer, Mr. J. R. Elsbury took part, it was agreed that the workers should be reinstated. "Private Lives oi Worker#" Mrs. Flathman, said counsel, found, however, that she was no rated as a leading hand and the stringent conditions under which she and Miss Barnett were placed were such as to . make their employment unacceptable, i Some time afterward, an altercation between the two appellants and another employee after working hours was followed by the company's application to dismiss the appellants this application was granted by the district manpower officer on the grounds that it would be in the interests of the rest of the workers. "It is all a matter of whether the company is to exercise control over the private lives of the workers," said counsel. Kepoxt to Official Mr. Fielder said that on February 11 it was reported to him that an assault had taken place and on the following day he received details of the affray. Permission to terminate the employment of the two appellants was then given. Lan McKenzie Chambers, secretary of the Colonial Ammunition Company, said he had not agreed that all the reinstated employees should hold their original positions. After what had happened, between three women, it would have been a challenge to discipline when it was known in the works why one Worker had been away for a week and the other two had remained. Incident Described Anne Scott, a leading hand, gave evidence of being accosted by the appellants, who had emerged from a taxi parked on a road along which she was cycling home from work at 11.30 p.m. Witness had dismounted from her bicycle and a fight ensued. It was re- , sumed on top of the hill with Mrs. | Flathman. Witness went immediately ; to the police, and a doctor sent her ' home. The Chairman: You were pretty game to tackle the tWo of them, were : you notP "I did not say I would fight them ■ both at once," said witness. The taxiL driver did not get out of the car, but j drove it to the top of the hill and waited. 1 Counsel for the company said it ' could not go endlessly into the domes-tic ' affairs of employees, except if it was i felt that any particular hardship had 1 resulted from the company's actions, j Mr. Fielder had exercised his discretion i in the matter and he was still of the . same opinion. I > The board then deferred its decision. ' WOMAN FATALLY BURNED f 1 3 CRIPPLE'S DANGEROUS HABIT t SMOKING WHEN ALONE - (0.C.) "WHANGAREI. Thursday * The story of how an aged woman, 1 crippled for some years, was in the 1 habit of smoking cigarettes when alone and usually dropped them when fin--5 ished on to her clothes and the blanl kets around her legs was told at an in--3 quest concerning the death of Josephine Alma Kershaw. I Emanuel Francis Abraham, farmer, 7 of Kamo, gave evidence that his sister, 1 Mrs. Kershaw, had been a cripple for 1 18 years. She was 72, and had been in New Zealand for 52 years. \ Dr. J. W. Hall stated that the cause ' of death was heart failure following the 5 shock of extensive burns. ; A daughter of Mrs. Kershaw, Mary 5 Ellen Kershaw, stated that they lived on a farm at Aponga. Yesterday morn- ' ing, as usual, she had dressed her ! mother and placed her in her chair, [ then leaving for the milking shed. She ' had gone back to the house later, and as she was leaving to finish the milking I she had lit her mother a cigarette and 1 left her smoking. .Returning after ' milking, she had found the kitchen full ' of smoke, and her mother in her chair [ with most of her clothes burned off her. In reply to the coroner, Mr. G. H. ' Morrish, witness stated that her mother 1 was unable to handle the cigarettes. When she had finished smoking she usually dropped the cigarette from her mouth on to her clothes. She had done this frequently when alone, and the cigarette usually fell on to the blanket drapped round her legs. _ In the event of her clothes or wrappings becoming ignited, she had been unable to help herself. The inquest was adjourned. WEEK'S ARMY COURSE SCHOOL CAOET N.C.O.'S Enthusiastic non-commissioned officers of secondary school cadet forces in the Auckland military area are at present attending a week's refresher course at the Rutland Street drill hall. Although enrolment for the course was voluntary, 251 boys are attending it. For the first time the boys are learning the use of the Thompson sub-machine-gun. Instruction is also being given in squad drill, falling in, phvsical training, signalling, gas drill with respirators, weapon training, light machine-guns, first aid, heldcraft, range discipline and grenades. The course began last Monday and will conclude to-day. The boys have been attending every day from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and have shown the utmost keenness to learn. It is expected of them that they will pass,on the knowledge they have received tb other cadets of their "units when they return to school. INJURIES TO STOCK Injuries suffered by livestock through being frightened by Home Guardsmen and Territorials on night manoeuvres were mentioned by Mr. M. G. Hansen at a meeting of the Kairanga County Council. Two cases were quoted of valuable mares which had been ruined by running into fences after being frightened, and ratepayers, while realising that the manoeuvres were necessary, were of the opinion that more tare should be taken. It was decided to write to the authorities urging the use of discretion in manoeuvres, and suggesting that these take place in the less settled areas.