LIFE ON A FARM.

NZ Truth, Issue 133, 17 August 1907, Page 5

LIFE ON A FARM.

A JUNGLE AT EYRETON.

What Married Couples Put Up With;'

How Prime Pigs are Fattened.

Farm slaves are treated m a mo.3t. wondrous manner, and it is only new anl again that their grievasccS are brought before the public, because they d a re to open their mouths. However, so long as "Truth" is the medium of communication of solid grievances, arid those grievances are Correct, everything is all' rigbt, because the daily papers hate to tamper, with vested interests. Married couples are worse treated than single men or single women, and the system by which married couples are engaged and kept m at least one place is simply scandalous. There is a josser : 'down m the Eyreton district who owns three stations, which, if cut up, would give a living to a great many families. He is unmarried and is as mean! as a Chinaman. That doesn't matter ; what matters is the way he treats his people. A Christchuroh couple were gulled into taking on a billet at Eyreton a while back, and they regretted it most distinctly, and aren't likely to forget the experience. Eyreton 19 five miles from Kaiapoi, and this particular job was arranged on these lines : The man was to look after the farm and all tbereon m the boss' absence. Also, he has to travel to the two other stations which the boss, so it is said, bought at the expense of the sweat of the employees. Well, the married man's duty was practically THAT OP GENERAL FLUNKEY, and the wife had. to cook— and! . cook damn , well— and do general house work. Also, she had to make yeast and bake bread, and her's was the only bread', although a baker. passed the doors a f£w times a week. There are no conveniences- about the show, which is. old, -and dilapidated, and suffering from footrot and a bellhole ; that was all it was. The accommodation for servants is of the most primitive ; the mast disgraceful condition., and it shouldn't be tolerated m this cursed colony. They say that Inspectors see about the ac-

(Ohineniuri.) He's a bit of a socialistic lad Is this boy from Ohinemuri, But not a roaring, ranting Rad, Nor the bigoted son of a canting cad, Nor a mug with a wild fanatical fad, Whose eternal jaw would drive you mail, . ' And drivelling humbug make you sad, But just a common-sense socialist " lad, Is Poland, of Ohinemuri.commodation provided on these stations ; do they ? Well, writer disbelieves it ; they don't do their duty to the country or, the people themselves. However, His Lordship, m this particular instance asked a married couple to provide their own furniture. So they carted their own furniture up there, and as they only stopped ten weeks things were only middling ; they had" to cart it back again. They had even to provide bed and 'bedddng. and oilcloth for the floor. What next. No wonder this middleaged sooner should ask for a married couple—people who would bring their own utensils along and run his show for them with their money, so to speak- The I>edroom which was allotted to them on their arrival was SO INFESTED WITH FLEAS, that they got aio sleep until a couple of kerosene tins of dilluted sheep dip were sprayed around the room inside and out, and it was beautifully spreadi round their, tedding, and as it was brand new the stuff was spoiled. The only, thing m the house that existed was what the gentleman flunkey was to buy, and that was Keating's Flea Powder, and he got it from a passing grocer. Their little two-year-old child was almost devoured by this pest. She was only two years old., and it was scandalous. She became covered with flea spots, one of the results of the rough fare on which she and her parents were forced to partake. The oatmeal they had to swallow every morning had to be overhauled because it was found to be over run with mice. And, like the absent-minded be?prar mice aren't particular what they leave behind them. The housekeeper for this joint once saw the boss mixing oatmeal and water for some men working m a field, and when # it was thoroughly, mixed lie skimmed the little black things off the to" of it. However, what the eye doesn't see the heart doesn't grieve about. The diet of everybody on that station was mutton— old mutton— and it was" so old and tough that one's teeth couldn't chew it, AH the '

nutton killed there was picked ouU —old, toothless, eyeless— by this mean' miser and served up on table. All the sheep were old culls who were killed m time TO SAVE THEIR LIVES, cronk as the Dhrase might seem. As a matter of fact, so old were the sheep that they were too old to take to the boiling-down works; and that is hell. If they were too old to walk to the boi'lin- down, they had to be smacked on the head right away. On one occasion, the man who is mentioned m this article (it doesn't matter who he is, but he only stayed there ten weeks) found two sheep blind m one eye, and one just able to walk. It appeared that while the sheep had been "cast" the eyes had been picked out by hawks, and m the other cases, the pigs had torn their entrailsoovat — a horrible sio-ht. However, the last three that were ordered to be slaughtered while "Truth's" informant was present were something terrible, and it can't be repeated m newspaper phrase. • One sheep that was killed for Christmas dinner was so green and ' putrid two days after death that- it had to be tfeown away. The mecs, some twenty or thirty m number, 1 made away with it, as they used ,t(>: do with any sheep that were drown- y ed m the drains, ( or found dead. ' A poor old horse died one day m ■ harness, and it was towed out .of« sight of public gaze. The pigs did' this rest. There was , also a sheep and a cow shot on a Sunday . who didn't deserve to be livinr. and they; were towed along to the pigs. Well, the cow SUFFERED FROM TUBERCULOSIS. and the pigs who. ate the cow were sold m Christchurch as v the best dairy fed m the country. Perhaps they are. They look fat. One sheep that was killed, was so [bad physically that it ouickly became fly-blown. It was really all ,alive oh ! There was even masrgots on the meat, and he started to scrape them off, did the boss, and sent the tucker to the other station. The shearers declined with thanks. What do you think ? A cow that was dying from tuberculosis was fed to pigs— prime dairy farm pigs— but as nothing was said it was very evident that some supervision is called for on the part of the Government. This coot, who has three stations, doesn't cure bacon himself, but he has an itfea how to intimidate people. H« has three estates, and he has .actually asked the woman m question io bake for the three estates, and also t« make the butter from the cows t« sustain the whole show, m additUn to paying groceries. Well, h«vr* much does a coot like that want ? Well, this farmer kept «,. gig, ard one day when sickness happened the man borrowed the neighbor's gis (not his bosses'), and there was considerable comment thereon. He wanted to go to Kaipoi to see Dr. Crawshaw, and he saw him all right. The chap was suffering from muscular rheumatism, and was treated therefor. But prior to this the boss HAD A HELL OF A ROW with the employee about engaging a neighbor's gig to go and get medicine and advice, instead of having his. There was some sultry ; language used, and the boss said that he was only shamming, and didn't need medicine at. all. He also added that if the sick man didn't turn out to work after mid-day, he would kick him off the place. To this the man replied that if the medico should report him m a fit state to work, he" would be at his post. There was a visit to Kaipoi to Dr. Crawshaw, and he gave the necessary certificate, and he wasn't m a fit state to work for a few days. How the man milked those three cows that night and got wood fo» the bouse, isn't exactly known, and the next mornine; the beautiful demon made -him rake hay. He did it. He got sick of this job, and gave the boss a month's notice. They grew terrible tired of working for £1 11s 6d a week, their hours being about 16 hours daily ; vet married men who lived at Kaiapoi, and who hiked it up to work and back m the evening only. got 30s a week. One chap used to actually walk from Kaiapoi to Eyreton every morning and back again at night, for five bob a day. How the BACKBONE OF THE COUNTRY, as it is called, runs the show, and that such treatment as this . should be meted out to workers, is almost beyond believing, but such is' the case.