ELIMINATING THE FERRY FIREMAN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17159, 1 October 1923, Page 6

ELIMINATING THE FERRY FIREMAN.

The delays incident to strikes of firemen and poor steaming coal will be eliminated, when the regular ferry steamers between the. two islands are. converted into oil burners. The Maori has just been converted at Port Chalmers. and it is to be. hoped that the \Vahine will be converted as well. The Union Company did a good service to New Zealand in building these fast turbine. steamers for the inter—island service. but Whenever labour troubles occurred with the stokelioltl crew it seemed to Show lamentable weakness in handling the situation. and serious delays were constantly occurring. To the. layman it has always appeared a strange thing that the firemen should enjoy the. privilege of giving twenty-four hours’ notice of their intention to leave the ship when it would be much more. reasonable and less likely to lead to the dislo—cation of the service if they were on a weekly engagement. However, the abuse of this privilege has not been the only cause of the trouble with the firenlen. and the introduction, of oil burning is welcome from every point of View. The refuelling of the vessels will be. effected quickly and cleanly, and there will be no more cf the delayed passages due. to the poor or uneven quality of the coal. The. announcement of the company’s policy in this matter comes at an opportune time, when the miners are again attempting to impose their will on the industries of the Dominion by a general strike. It may be worth their while to reflect that with the development of water power and crude oil burning, and in View of importations, the strike weapon is not as effective as it used to be“ .