CO-OPERATIVE LABOUR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16847, 25 September 1922, Page 8

CO-OPERATIVE LABOUR.

MR SEMPLE'S UNDERTAKING. An AUSTRALASIAN RECORD .Mr Robert Semple, head of the cooperative party which is driving the big water wot ks tunnel at Orongr.rongo, which is to augment the city water supply, was in Wellington on ports that exec Me nl progress is being mad© with the work. The heading ur the TVaimu u-tnMta end lias-- now-Aver c driven a distance of 2680 feet, and :-t the Orongorongo end. where onhr hand This is a remarkable r*suit for about rwe I months of rciiuv: boring The total length < i ih© tunnel, when com - Mr Semple estimates that the whole job will be completed in another fifteen month:*, j “■ ■ ;i;!5 rate of progress ; s “ it- will have been one c r the fastest jobs of its kind carried out in the hiscorv of New Zealand or a>.otiuir country. iiy our performance of the last month, in which 2ho fort have been driven in . the \Yhi •■<..: face. w«* have cverv reason t~> believe that w•> have ©stah'.i-hcd an A us<rr. in sian reend. Inquiries which l sn: making m Australia u »!I . orcbe il.’t- point wi'Jvu the next few cays.” At present hard, bin© rock is be.n-.; penetvaicu a* the Wainm end. so that no tinibering is required. The tunnel is being carried in a 7ft by 7ft face and is being continuously manned, with five men in each of the three shifts-—four in. the face and one trucking. As to future operations. Mr Semple reported that at the Orongorongo end. which has hitherto been worked by hand-drilling, the rock-drill machinery will be installed and in operation within the next fortnight. From that time onward the job will he fully manned, with three shifts at both ends. The task of getting the machinery ready at- the further end has been one of great difficulty, and has been made the more trying by the winter weather. The requisite plant bad to be conveyed up the •Orongorongo River from Rutherford's Station. Palliser Bay. a distance of fifteen miles, and Mr Semple pays tribute to the energy displayed in this .regard by Air Ballonce, engineer-in charge of the works, and hie staff, during the last few months One important feature of the working scheme is that the pipes for the permanent water supply are being: carried along with the tunnel as the face advances, and are being utilise 1 for ventilation purposes. “ The great advantage of this plan to the city observes Mr Semple, “is that within twenty-four hours after the two ends of the tunnel are connected the mains can he coupled up and the water can be allowed to flow into George’s Creek, thus augmenting + he supply of the Morton Dam. But for this arrangement for carrying the mains along with us, the city would probably have tc wait several more months for its additional supply, and a cost of several hundred pounds would be entailed. As one of the advantages to ourselves. our employment of the water pipes for air-supplyme- purposes has given us the best-ventilated tunnel V have ever worked in.” “ Do the men of your party work harder than usual to attain the excellent result? they have shown? ” Mr Sample was asked. “ Not necessarily fio,” he replied. “ "We are not adopting any sweating or speeding-up system. The results are simply due to organisation. Each man knows his work, and tackles it with a will. Under our co-operative plan he gets all that he earns : no man on the job gets an " more, than he earns or any less. All hands are on an equal footing, have comfortable accommodation. good food, and a splendid hath to turn into at the end of each rlav's work. Everything has been done to bring out of each worker hi? best, and this without resorting: to any method of force. Ours is the best kind of co-operation or team work. We are endeavouring to demonstrate that this is (he principle that should be applied to all large undertakings in a young country like New Zealand Comparing the present operations with those at the Otira tunnel Mr Semple said that the great railway tunnel, with a heading of the same dimension'' as that at Oronrorongo. took twelve rears to drive. c> At our rate of driving.” he adds. “ we could complete a similar tunnel in about five years and a half.”