A Shearer's Observations.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XIX, Issue 5905, 29 March 1894, Page 4

A Shearer's Observations.

SOUTH CANTERBURY DURING THE SEASON OF 1893 W. (Bt S. Borei-a-h.} On the 25th of October. '93. in company with one of the fraternity. I left Oamaru in que.it of shearing. Arriving is Timaru, I had no trouble trt obtaining employment, and at once proceeded to Albury to commence three months of the hardest and mo«t trying claw of labor the working man of this colony ban annuity to. perform in order that he may b<* abte to keep body and Mai together daring the dull. cold, wintry season of the year. On arriving at the placer where we were to. shear the proprietor showed us our place of abode daring «or stay In his employ. The miserable, dirty pigstye that had to answer the purpose of sheltering us from the wind and rain, is too novel in its construction and general surroundings to be passe* by without nock** here. It was, by [ts appearance, originally intended for a feed house for pigs, dogs, and horses, there being, on our arrival, the different Sorts of food usually eaten by the animals above mentioned stowed away inside. W« removed the pigs* slush tub and the remains of a few partly decomposed old crawlers and shovelled some of the filth Intothe muddy, malodorous cow-yard which took the place of a Lawn at out front door. This done-, we proceeded to make our beds. Some of us took up our quartets in a large oat bin ; others " shook down " on the ground floor of the hut, as the Iwiss was pleased to call it. We were now, so far as our sleeping apartment was concerned, prepared for the night, and were told by a tallow-faced, greasy-looking boy —who answered the purpose of a cook — that tea was ready, and that we could go and get it, and. although we had n«t broken our fast since the morning, I can assure yna our appetites were not improved by the appearance of the food and the dirty deal table that metoor gaze on entering the cook-house. We had. _h»>wever, to live-, and as to live necessitates the replenishing of the inner mart at intervals, we proceeded to do so without delay. Imagine our disgust on finding that everything laid on the table for us to eat was only half-cooked, and so. smoky owing to tha cracked and dilapidated state of the colonial oven, pots, and kettles. that, hungry a? we were, we could not satisfy ourselves with the mess before us. Dissatisfied with everything and everybody we retired to our lodgings for the night, and at once sought comfort in the folds of our blankets. But we were not to be permitted to enjoy in peace the refreshing qualities of gentle steep, for shortly after going to bed, and when on the edgw of this world and the world of dreams, I was startled by the dull thud of a boot striking the manger whef) I was sleeping close to my head, and the vox*of Clancy sinking out, "What the th-vil is thatl This confounded placv must bhaunted " Although f am not a ht-tiever in ghosts I was harf inclined to think that something from the land of spirits was close at hand. Alt doubts were cleared up by my mate explaining that the ptve was infested with rats. I struck a match on hearing this, and to my surprise my gaze felt on a large rat looking down on Hlo from the edge of the manzer and many others dodging up and down on to the oat bin, where Clancy had esconced himself. This army of rats was quite sufficient to rouse the warlike spin; of Clancy, with the result that he brought Into requisition alt the old boots and other missiles available, and proceeded to let drive at every corner of the hut where he thought a rat was likely to be. This process became so> dangerous, not only to the rats bat to the shearers also, that my mate thought it prudent to strike matches in order that Clancy might see what he was driving at, and so not hit one of ua a belt on the head with a boot. And thus, between wafcmg and sleeping, rats, fleas, dogs, and the occasional grunt of the pigs in the sty adjoining the hut, our first night was spent. With such a state of things existing. *ho shall say the Hon. the Minister for Labor has no right to interfere with the state of accomodation shearers have to put up with dnring three months of the year. However, eight days and nights of rats, fleas, dogs, pigs, horses and cows for our sleeping companions with an abundance of hashed up smoky tucker was quite sufficient to satisfy the most curious and 1 proposed to seek " fresh fields and pastures now,'* and accordingly acquainted the boss of my \ intentions. Having, as above stated, been in his employ for eight days and only earned Lt 13* 4d (my mates not so much) yon will understand that there is not so much to be made out of shearing as some people m:%y suppose, when one takes int»> account the loss of time, and the- disgusting state of all the shearers surroundings. 0a squaring up with our employer he docked the odd money off our cheques to compensate the rich company he was managing for the tucker we had eaten during the wet winter. My fellow shearers, who may read this, will hardly believe that I would sub mit to this without trying my fortunes with that manager in the Police Court. This I did n»t do, nor d>y I consider it my place to have done so, but I do think it the duty of the Union, of which I am a member, to take up cases of this sort, and enforce the payment of members' wages in full. The Union executive can offer no excuse for the wilful neglect it has been guilty of in not paying more attention to the interests of the members generally. Another case of this sort came under my notice some time ago ; it was that of a boy, also a member of the Union. That* boy was enirasjed to do a man's work at 8s per week. After being engaged 14 days in the sheep-ownerV employ, but only having actually worked five and ahalf daysv through wet weather and other circumstances entirety beyond his control; his employer had the barefucedncss to take advantage of his youth and ignorance and pay him only for the time he actually worked. The boy was told to acquaint the genera! secretary of the Uniurr with the facts wf the case. Whether-he did so or not I cannot say. At any rate, I have heard nothing further of the matter as. yet. So much for my start at the shearing of '93-JM. A little bad luck for a start, now. is it not 1 However, to earn a tivingin New Zealand one must not stop at such obstacles as I have mentioned above. I, therefore, after paying for a week's board and lodging, and leaving myself .race again a "stone-broker," setootforSpringbank, t« fulfil my engagement there. Things did not pass off so smoothly as in previous years, a misunderstanding having arisen over the price to be paid per JOO. The boss informed us that he intended to» pay only Ife 0d per 100, whereas in previous years he had paid IBsw A strike took place, ant* the. secretary of tht» Union was acquainted with the facts. He instructed us to go on at the bos*' terms and further, that no strike could take place without the sanction' of the executive. We went on a« directed, but I can assure the- secretary that hm executive must be very ignorant of the many impositions shearers have to contend with, when he states that a strike cannot take place without the official consent of the eieoativev Shortly after the above little dispute jama Battled wet sheep were driven into the she'd, and we were told, that they woald have to be shorn. We refused, with the result that we packed n»--oar~ bJneys,- got- our cheques, and jcjeared. 'Thus end* my term in the second shed. Aft*r this I determined to leave the districiiand give the Mackenzie Country a trial. Over one hundred tuifcs having:.been traversed in company _with myfife*s preserver and boon companion—"Bfeey—lwaa again successful irrob-

tuning employment at Messrs Seddon Bros.*, Ash wick Station, I have nothing to complain of as to the way in which Mr Seddon treats bb employees. The accommodation, too, is far and away above the average of the other stations ; a new hat and cooKh"Use (detached) having been built since Mr Seddon purchased the station from a company, thus proving, to my mind, that individual owners extend to their employees more consideration than managers for companies dare do. _ I cannot p.iss hy Ash wick without saying something of the manner of my engagement. When I arrived at the station, it «ra-i not my intention to go on shearing there. However, on second thoughts, I decided to ask for one of the empty pens. For this purpose my brother and I waited on Mr Seddon, and asked him for the vacant pens. He asked our names, and, on being told, he informed me straight that my brother could go on, but that he could not think of patting me on, owing to my extreme advocacy of trade unionism. This put me on my mettle, and I determined to convert Mr Seddon to my way of thinking or be orderea off the station with short notice. I consequently started off with all the incontrovertible arguments in support of labor unions at my command. Mr Seddon chiming in whenever opportunity arose. The result of the debate between us was that he told me to go to the store and get what I wanted and make * start. I did so, and shore through Ashwick nnder strictly Union rules. The wet weather during the present season has been phenomena!. Never during the course of my shearing career have I experienced such wet, cold, foggy weather. From the 3rd of November up to the present I have not shorn four clear days. The unsettled .state of the weather has been the cause of creating no end of conflicts between shed managers and shearers, managers as a rule constituting themselves sole parties to judge whether sheep are wet or dry being the chief cause of all the disputes. To my mind I cons'der the shearers, and thny alone, are the persons to say whether sheep are wet or dry, seeing that their interests are most affected. There are some who cry " wet sheep " for the purpose of cetttnz a spell, but as it is, as a rule, decided by a vote of all the shearers concerned, there is not much show for such men, who arc generally lazy professional swaggers wanting to put in the time, or habitual drunkards sodden from the effects of bad whisky, and consequently unable to work two days in succession. However, enough of wet sheep tor the present. The ''ringer" has causht the Ashwick "cobbler " after seven weeks chase; whereas, had the weather been anything near the mark, that "cobbler" would have been shorn in less than three wcks. However, Ashwick is cut out. and as I have no further engagements at present I will fill in the time at my disposal by paying a visit to M»unt Cook, and thus afford myself the opportunity of cdlins at most of the shearers* huts Ivius between Albury and Birch Hill, a distance of over 107 miles. 1 am not going to describe the bad accommodative provided for men on all the stations ctfled at during my journey, but wilt be satisfied with giving you some idea of the fitness of two. The first is situated about six miles from a railway station, and only something over 29 miles from Timaru. You will see by this that distance from material and high charges fur carriage cannot be accepted as an excuse for the neglect of the owner. The hut used at present by the shearers is so perfect in its utter inability to afford that comfort a man deserves after hard work, that I think it a disgrace to the Government of any country to permit such wrecthed.places of habitation to exist. I am not going to enter into all the horrid, disgusting, inconveniences of this place, as it wonld take up a column of your space to do tt justice. I will, therefore, be satisfied—in order to give you some idea of its disgustedness and the horror men have of going to work there—by asserting that food is cooked, dished up, and eaten in the same appartmet.t. In consequence of this, the men sleeping in the top bunks have to roll their bedclothes in order to keep them dry, as the steam from the cooking utensils ascended to the iron roof, and there accumulates into large drops of wa*er and falls on the bedding of those ; who are unlucky enough to have missed the opportunity of securing a lower bunk. Again, the place is so small that it is amusingly disgusting to see the men dressing themselves on the breakfast table amidst knives, forks, pots, plates, teapots, dishes of steaming mutton chops, potatoes, bread, and other eatables. This sight could often be seen this season, as owing to the wet weather the shearers who could stand the smoke from the fireplace would, as a rule, sleep in till breaki fast time. The fireplace too, is so slopI made—l suppose with a view to cheapness —that the smoke, instead of going up the chimney, comes out into the hut, and as the only exit for it is by a door at the ! opposite end you can easily guess the effect lit has on the men. This season, in particular, owing to so much wet weather, tlie shearers lodged in that hut have come out into the light of pure day "smoked " as brown as one of your Oamaru fishermen's smoked blue codfish. And such is the accommodation Mr provides that enables him to sport his bulky for the men who earn the money figure at every race meeting enumerated in the calendar, and build veritable mansions for the accommodation of his more favored horses, while the human servants of this epicurean god welter before his very eyes in all the attendant horrors the hut I have described is capable of furnishing. The second hut I have to deal with is "situated at the end of my journey, or about six miles from 3rount Cook. This hut is equal to the one described above. There is, however, about it one additional grievance. That I*3, that in wet weather the water courses through it as freely as it does down the Waitaki. It is called by shearers "The Tin Canister," and it is owned by a respected Oamaruvian, a gentleman whom I am surprised to learn can, with a clear conscience, house his employes in such a miserable tin box, and so close too to perpetual ice and snow. I may say, in conclusion, that sheep owners have made wonderful improvements to shearers' huts during the last four years, owing, I have no doubt, to the determined-efforts of one or two Labor leaders to expose inconsiderate squatters through the Press. Some credit is also due to Mr Buick, Mil R., for exposing in Parliament the miserable accommodation provided for shearers. I noticed during my journey no less than twelve new huts. There arc, however, ten still standing that an old weather-beaten collie dog, hardened from the effects of many a bitter cold night spent during his latter days boundary keeping in the region of Mount Cook, would disdain to enter. Some of my friends have advised me to leave to others the task of letting the world-know how the working men of this colony are sweated for the purpose of augmenting the already accumulated" riches of those whose superior cunning has .placed them so high above their fellows on the .-financial ladder. If I were to be frightened by the "boycott," quibblesi quirks, or paper bullets signed by a J.P., perhaps T would take their advice, but considering as I do that itis-part-of my duty to try* and make life in this world tetter fbr.ihe worker than I fbnotf' ft I-cannot" permit myself .to .be, ncrsuaded.to nlay_tho crawfish. Ah! even now~T see iir^th'e'dark future the bright rays of that moraine sun chat must soon arise to lighten the darkdays to come. Aud with such hopes as these fairly within reach, what would my boys" think of their father I to give up the 'battle, just on the point of'whining. ■• v ° ! - •'• ■- : ' : - ,'■' '-■ ' ]