NORTHERN MINES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVII, Issue 15322, 18 September 1920, Page 2

NORTHERN MINES.

_ ~ «» . REPLY TO UNION STATEMENT. AUCKLAND, last, night. A reply to the statement issued on Tliursday on behalf of the Huntly Miners Union was made by Mr E. hi. "Wight (managing diiector of the Pukemiro Collieries, Ltd.). Mr Wright said ho was pleased to know the company had no dispute .with its men, and ho endorsed the statement bj Mr Liudwull, secretary to. the .union, anc Mr Smith, a member of the. Rotowarc branch of the union, that the cessation oi work at the mines was owing to v dispute between tlu*. Railway .-Department and. the union. With reference to the statement that » the Pukemiro township, was three utiles from the mine and tlie road was one of the worst it was possible to imagine, Mr Wight said the oxtrcnic distance was one -and a-hdlf miles, and could be walked, m from 20 to 25 minutes. Thero was a .well-totmed foot-pa-li"a!l the, way, which had been metalJed,, and covered with ashes. 10. became a little "sloppy" m places m bad weather, but improvements were being effected al: the time. The union representatives said 40 per cent, of the workers resided at the township and the balance at Huntly. The correct figures were -27 per cent, living at Huntly. As had been stated before, the company was prepared, to carry on without this, but many of them had preferred working at Pukemiro, owing to better pay and conditions prevailing. It Was admitted by Messrs Lindwall ant Smith that many minors own_ their own homes at Pukemiro. Mr Wight said that to enable the miners to do this the company surveyed tho township and sold qua_ter-acre sections at -330 each, anc also assisted tho workers with mone* loahs tb build. Five availed theih'selye? of this opportunity. The purchase of laud for the township and the sui vey o. sections, the formation aud dedication of the streets had cost tlio company a great deal more money than the sale of sectfrms would ever produce. The company had provided; 20 houses and three moro *were m course .of construction. ! There were also six coinf or table "bach' huts for single men, built m tho early days of the company. lit addition to this, the, lessors surveyed the .ehtirc property into f armlets, which had been acquired by thfc workers and houses built on them. In regard to"* the allegation that a fair percentage of boys were travelling by train and working for, 5s a day, Mi Wight said that at Pukcihirb tho lowes' wages paid to any boy from 14 to IF years old was 7s 4d a day*, ami at thif rate there were only two, both of their. living at Pukemiro. The , next highest rale was 8s 6d a day for boys from 15 te 16 years old, and bpys. of that age .work ing .underground were paid 10s a" day Only a month ago, Mr Wight added, c j new scalo of payments came ftito opera tion, which made coal-hewers' genera' average earnings for tho fortnight aider August 27, 30s 6_d per mail per shift. Th lowest average for a pair qf men for th' fortnight wns 23s 7d per , man, per' shift and the highest 40s H.d.— Press Assn. '_£! «—»«—- ■*■■■ *■'"■■ ■: - _