DISTRESSED WAITERS

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7070, 11 April 1901, Page 2

DISTRESSED WAITERS-

THE EFFECT OF THE QUEEN'S DEATH. PROPOSED APPEAL TO THE KING, The casual waiter of London was in sore distress a short time ago, owing to the necessary postponement or abandonment 'of ■all public dinners and social functions at the West-end hotels, as the result of the death of Qufeen Victoria. Upwards of 3,000 men, ordinarily employed in this capacity, were thus affected, and the distress prevalent among them was keenly felt. The subject was discussed recently at a meeting of the Amalgamated Waiters' Society, which was formed in 1896 "for the benefit of all waiters, and is managed exclusively by waiters themselves." Mr Paul Yogel, the secretary, said the mournful event, which they all deeply deplored, had effected the casual waiters to a terrible extent. The members of their Society were sure that the King, who 'had by his presence graced so many banquets, would not fail to appreciate the difficulty of the situation and would do something for those in distress by promoting legislative acts in favour of tht> payment of proper wages— a matter of which the waiters had every legitimate reason to complain. Their Society would make this appeal to the King not only on behalf of the) members of their Society, but in the interests of two millions of workers in the refreshment line distributed over the United Kingdom. (Cheers.)