TEMPORARY HALT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 386, 31 March 1932, Page 9

TEMPORARY HALT.

Work on Waimakariri Stop-Bank. MEN CLEARING GORSE. A halt has been called in the construction of the stop bank at the Waimakariri River which was to have been undertaken by the relief workers drafted there. In the meantime the thirtythree men who have reported for work at M Lean s Island are engaged in clearing gorse land, preliminary to an afforestation scheme being embarked on. The work is all part of the general scheme of river protection undertaken by the trust.

The work has been advanced further than was originally intended. It was to have been done out of rates within six years, but it has been speeded up through the necessity to provide relief work. A noteworthy fact concerning the construction work is that under ordinary circumstances seven men with

a drag line would have been all the labour and plant which would have been required, and not 300 men, as the present scheme involves. In order to spread the work as much as possible, the drag lines have been dispensed with and men with barrows employed. This makes it more laborious and slower, but on the other hand the ratepayers’ money is saved and the work itself will be completed well inside the original cost. 100 Men at Work. But for the strike among the relief workers 300 men would by now have started work, and on April 11 another 300 would be due to start. Other work would require 100 additional men, such as clearing ground for tree planting and so on. As it is, there are only 100 men at work at M’Lean’s Island and Stewart’s Gully. The men wishing to join the work were given a last chance this morning, when a bus left for the camps, but only fifteen responded. Two constables were stationed at M’Lean’s Island last night to assure protection for the relief workers who refused to join in the strike.

At M’Lean’s Island, where arrangements are similar to those at the other camps, the men are housed in two big huts. The huts are divided off into compartments holding twelve men. Two mess rooms with fireplaces at either end are provided and there the men can spend the evenings if they so desire. Reading material can readily be procured. Day Begins At 6.30 a.m.

The day begins for the men in camp with breakfast at 6.30, and work begins at 7.30. Lunch is sent out to the men at midday, and the popular item of the day is dinner at 5.30. The men work in sections of ten, each section being allocated to two chains of the embankment. They do not find the barrowing work as heavy as would be expected, and they prefer it to clearing gorse and odd jobs on the trust’s property. When work is over, their time is at their own disposal and, apart from meals, they are not tied to any particular hours. The camp serves a four-mile front, and none of the men have to walk more than two miles to work. As the construction of the bank proceeds, the distance is narrowed down and the men who were working on the farthest point take the positions nearest the camp. When the section has been completed, the camp is shifted four miles along and the same rule applies.