AFFAIRS IN AUCKLAND.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XVII, Issue 5864, 8 September 1890, Page 3

AFFAIRS IN AUCKLAND.

The following items are taken from the N.Z. Herald of Thursday last :— ' One serious feature of the present strike is that the great majority of the unions whose members have struck have little or no reserve funds on which to fall back in the present emergency, as they have only been recently formed. The Seamen's Union has a large fund, bub that is only available for their own members. In a week or two some of the strikers so situated will be in great straits unless aided by the levies how. being made by the unions, and outside support. The Australia completed the loading of an extra large shipment of sugar at Chelsea about midday on Wednesday, and came down the harbor, and berthed at the Queen-street Wharf. Here she shipped a good quantity of general freight for the East Coast ; besides taking in the Arawata's southern shipments of Fiji fruit. She Siras fairly. patronised with passengers, and gpfc away late on Wednesday night. Owing to the labor troubles and consequent "difficulty in securing the regular supply of coal necessary, we regret to hear that the directors of the Onehunga Ironworks Company, Limited, have reluctantly decided to blow out Che blast furnace, and let it cool down gradually. The company have enough coal for, the other part of the works, and intend resuming the operations of the blast furnace when arrangements are completed for further supply of the fuel and a good stock of all material required is on the ground. It is a pity that such a promising industry should be checked by influences altogether foreign to the people of Onehunga and Auckland. Owing to scarcity of coal the s.s. Clansman will not leave for Tauranga on Friday, the sth inst. Though the Northern Roller Mills did not employ any outside free labor to convey goods, the fact that flour had been supplied to the Union S.fcS. Co.'s vessels involved it in. the general strike, and the carters were yesterday called out. Their places were supplied by some of the olerks, travellers, and others in the employ of the firm, and the majority of the orders were executed, a good quantity of flour being forwarded to the Waikato, in case a strike of railway servants might atop traffic and preclude the sending of supplies. In consequence, however, of the non-arrival of shipments of grain from the South it is almost certain that the mill •will not be able to continue operations, and to-night grinding will probably be ' stopped for an indefinite period. The action of the Unionists in not declining to , ■work the Arawata's fruit because of its perishable nature, and their refusal to aid in forwarding supplies of grain by the Union Company's vessels hns been severely commented upon by the management of the mill, who consider that as their only wish is to keep up the supply of bread for Unionists and non-Unionists alike, they might have received some special consideration from the Unionists, whose action has caused the stoppage of the regular channels of import. A meeting of the Auckland Employers' Association was held yesterday at the roorasrof the Chamber of Commerce, when delegates representing the various trades were present. It was decided that the business of the meeting should be private. By the manifesto which this body has issued, it seems the merchants and importers of the city are fully alive to the seriousness of the present crisis, and are determined to take combined action to prevenfc the community from sufferingfrom the scarcity of supplies of the necessaries of life/as well as protect those who loyally support them in carrying on operations. A monster meeting of all interested in tho provision trade is to be held to-day in the Harbor rooms, and the whole question of the strike, particularly in its Wring upon the city's food ■ '•: supply,- will be considered, and no doubt ? some impbrtajnt steps taken in the direc- . tion of preventing distress, .; The general management committee of #>the?TaariUme federated bodies in AuckX land Resolved -last evening that the carters 'were not tojnterfere with coal cartage for % the city.jwajer supply, or meat for local : conJunSption, but no carter will be A; allowed .to supply the Union Co's boats. ■d VThe night-soil darting is also not to be in-

Mr Bust, secretary of the Trades and Labor Council, informs us that if Messrs Hellaby Bros. , the contractors for meat for the Union Company, go on fulfilling their contract, their slaughtermen, &c. will be called out at once, and a similar warning is to be given to the master bakers at Auckland. The Kauri Timber Company, owing to the paralysis of trade, h tve determined to .work their mill, in Custom street, halftime. The mill is in two divisions — east and west — and the divisions will be worked alternate weeks, so as to give all an equal amount of work. The Auckland Herald of Thursday says: —Good progress was made with the discharge and loading of the s.s. Wairarapa for Sydney. She took in a good cargo of grain, produce, and sundries, and left with about her usual number of passengers at an early hour this morning. Moat has risen Id per 1b all round in Auckland in consequence of the labor disputes. A Malvern correspondent of the Timaru Herald writes :— Consequent on the striko at the Brunnerton mines a constant and plentiful d emand has sprung up for local coal. Both at Sheffield and Springfield the collieries are kept busily engaged, and a good supply is being seat from Whitecliffs. '