CORRESPONDENCE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19509, 8 June 1933, Page 6

CORRESPONDENCE

SHIPPING OP POTATOES. To the Editor of “ The Timaru Herald ” Sir, —A correspondent signing himself “Fair Play,” without being quite cognisant of the meaning of those ] words, has, I notice, been taking Mr £ I. J. Bradley to task, because he, at ] the last meeting of the Timaru Har- i bour Board, expressed the opinion that 1 “the principal damage to potatoes oc- 1 curred when they were bowled on to i the wharf from the top of high 1 trucks.” With his half-century of experience, as a stevedore at Timaru, i that gentleman did not appear to have < been trying to place the blame on the ] wrong shoulders, as “Fair Play” as- s serts, when he referred to the “prim- t ary,” and therefore “principal,” cause of the damage, because it is a well- ’ known fact, regarding potatoes, that 1 one bruised tuber will very often im- ] pregnate and rot the whole sackful. ; It is quite safe to maintain, that at ] least 10 per cent, of the damage is J caused when unloading trucks under - the conditions mentioned, and the \ amusing part of his attack is that ' “Fair Play,” whilst attempting to ■ chastise Mr Bradley for referring to the matter, at the same time, in a ; sense, frankly admits the truth of the ; statement, made under the given circumstances. Your correspondent may J not be aware of the fact, but there was that amount of truth about Mr ' Bradley’s contention, and the admission of “Fair Play,” that the Railway Department has, to try to save its own face against similar future happenings, since seen fit to place on the wharf stuffed cushions or dummies, so that the bags can be dropped on to them to minimise, if possible. the bruising that the potatoes would otherwise be subjected to. The mode of unloading the trucks has always been the trouble-breeder, and it is quite permissible to understand that if the farmer could be educated and induced to load each truck in a proper manner, that is with the bags in the twQ ends of the truck on their flat, and those in the middle section standing up, so that they could be easily handled at the ship’s side, the damage would “be negligible.” Otherwise the present ruling combination of adverse circumstances will continue to the end of Time. A badly stowed truck with the top sacks 10 or 12 feet above the wharf level, is admittedly a questionable joy to the worker on top who, if a new chum on the job, is, necessarily, more concerned about his own safety in attempting to keep his foothold on the slippery and uneven surface of the bags, than in endeavouring to “gently” slide down the top bags to the waiting man on the wharf, who has to hook and ease them on to the wharf. From my knowledge of the work, I would not like to be the man to stop some of those bags, and I am quite confident that a few hours of that type of gymnastics would satisfy “P’air Play,” that it would be preferable for him to keep his opinions in his pocket, rather than have them smirched by the daylight of newspaper publicity. It is also quite permissible to understand that slinging and stowage on board, when inefficiently performed, are sometimes conducive to slight “secondary” damage, and therefore would be incidents, which would necessarily assist the materialisation of the damage “primarily” caused, but perhaps not to the extent that your correspondent in his elusive reasoning would assume. “Fair Play,” as an onlooker, may possibly be in the “proverbial” position of seeing most of the game, but if he took off his coat for a few hours he would soon cry “peccavi!”—l am. etc., WHARFIE. Timaru, June 7.