MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9306, 5 August 1908, Page 1

MIDLAND RAILWAY WORKS.

THE POSITION AT BROKEN RIVER. i THE LOT OF THE NEW MEN. COLD AT FIRST, BUT COMFORTABLE NOW. Broken River is a place of complicated geography,' and it .hides a little population, most efficiently. The name is in. v everybody's mouth just now, as the name of a place wliere men are sent to be punished because they had no work in town, and where the punishment consisted of an unavailable plenty of work, a scarcity .of food, and, a prospect of very poor pay. Apparently the complications of the geography have concealed the punished if there are any. The first thing a reporter heard among the regular workers when he arrived at the Government works yesterday was this : ' ' I see in the paper a bloue's been gassing about the works. Some fellows would yap about anything." / There are points for and against, of course. In the first place it is stated that the men who have been complaining arrived in Broken River in the worst weather for some time past, when the place was loosing least hospitable and when nearly all work was impossible. Then it is usual, when possible, to meet arriving workmen with drags to convey them to such places as they are to work in, but in the case of those men who came on Tuesday last the telegram from the Labour Office in Christchurch was received at 4 p.m. The telegraph office is at the railway station, and the message arrived just at the stationmaster's busiest time, and he was unable to forward it until next morning. The men arriving at 9.30 a.m. came almost on the heels of the telegram, and no provision had been made for them. With more notice the storekeepers would have been advised of the invasion, and would have laid in extra eatables, and the tents would have been erected, or, at all events, have been well forward. The resident engineer stated that /had the men been delayed until Thursday, they would have arrived in better weather, and could have been housed and set to work in the minimum of time. Under the circumstances the best possible was don© for the men and they were accommodated in two empty houses, a mile or so out of Broken River. These places wore in good repair and in fine weather, at all events, looked comfortable. A good supply of fuel was sent to assist immediately towards their comfort. With such a large invasion of men there were shortages in food and other supplies, but it was stated officially that all the [ men would or could have been put to work in three days, and that wag the tiire a man usually took to get settled in the camp and ready for work. With regard to the hardships of

camp life, it is admitted' that the nights are cold, and when the snow was on the ground it was unpleasantly cold, but many of the men laughed at the idea that a small tent, well erected, was a cold house ; in fact, the opinion was freely expressed that the men who complained of the circumstances in which they found themselves were too impatient to wait till they settled down. A memory of ten years ago was quoted, and it was stated that then railway construction work at a camp was regarded as an estimable and grateful relief. A phase, which from the official view-point was importr ant, was that among, the late uneja-. ployed were an unusually' large percentage quite incapable of looking after themselves in their new circumstances' being strange to tho work. In an interview the resident engineer (Mr J. H. Lewis) stated that the men had certainly no. poorer treatment than was usual on the Otago Central work, where he was occupied ten years, and with the exception of the temporary discomfort for a short 'while, due to accidental circumstances, they had no real hardships to put up with. There were some to whom discomfort was for a time inevitable, such, for instance, as one young draper, but he was sticking to the work, and though it was heavy for him he would probably hold it down. All the men from Christchurch were until yesterday working by the day at Bs, in order tvsee how best to apply them, and out of them fully one hundred would turn out good workmen. Those who were working were nearly all shaping very well. The newcomers have now started on contract, with a few exceptions, and it has. been estimated by several persons capable of judging, that those among them who would earn 8s a day in private employment at such work will be able to make 9s a day. It will depend upon their progress, however, for only a small percentage seem to bo used to navvying. , The gana that worked yesterday were certainly not unduly exerting themselves, and if they were able to make a living wage at that rate there was ample to come and go upon, if profit was desired. In\ the case of men who, while quit© unable to earn good wages themselves, try their best, they are drafted into competent gangs, and are generally being decently treated by their mates. Tho engineer stated that a gratifying privilege had recently been grantedby the Department in allowing a good man to be put in each ordinary gang and paid a shilling a day extra. The actual expenditure .of each of the men was roughly assessed for the first month as follows: — Fare, 3s 6d; tools, 10s; fuel, average 15s; stores, maximum credit allowed. £3 ; total, £4 8s 6d, or allowing a liberal margin, £5. The earnings mkht safely bo placed at £9. In a few exceptional cases, and these were most distressing, the men. had nothing but what they stood up in. Tho prices of table commodities as quoted tola reporter, were: — Bread, 7d a 41b loaf; bacon, lid and Is per lb; i potatoes, 161 b for Is ; butter, Is 6d ; 1 flour, up to 6s lOd per 501 b; condensed milk, 7d and 9d; other perishables at corresponding small increases upon town prices, while tobacco and a large number of other items are at town prices. The only bottle of whisky ever sold here cost £5, and the police took tho matter up. The storekeepers do I very good business, and their only trouble seems to be that occasionally a man leaves before he has earned enough to pay off his debt. That was the case of several of the recent imi portations who came in the latter part of the month. 1 The new arrivals are engaged upon • work which would not otherwise have been touched for some time, that of a large number of men who were making cuttings for a dozen miles beyond the present; terminus and were withdrawn to assist on the main trunk line. Tbeii work has now been reopened, and the amount of cleaning-up necessary explained why the men have been working by the day. , On the whole, it appears that, the accounts of the conditions have -been n good deal exaggerated. At all events, those responsible for them have been regarded with some amusement when they have not been pitied for their bad luck in striking wet weather and in {getting away co soon. Of one of them

it is related that he left the worts by applying for sick leave, and asking to have his job kept for him. The next thing heard of him was the publication of his experiences. There are many men on the works who have had long experience on other work, and they all say that the conditions compare very well with others in the dominion, especially with those in the North Island. The. erection of the tents was a privilege that had not been granted before, and the workers generally are very satisfied with their luck. During the last few days, the overseer on the relief work stated, he has received no complaint at all from the new workers, while many have definitely expressed their entir.e satisfaction now that they have settled down. The first few days were trying owing to insufficiont accommodation and short supplies, but when the tents were supplied the men became comfortable and Mr Lewis told the reporter, as a matter of which he was fairly certain, that those men who lasted the first fortnight would be likely to stay on for the next two years.