TELEGRAPH BOYS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1752, 17 May 1913, Page 6

TELEGRAPH BOYS.

IN SHORT SUPPLY. At tho present moment the telegraph offices in Wellington require tlio services of ten boysjas messengers. Tho reasons for their requiring so many boys at ono timo wero stated locally yesterday, but some prominence was given also to somo alleged reasons purporting to have been collected in interviews with telegraph boys. The latter statements wero referred to tho officer in charge (Air. C. 11. M. Hawlc) by a Dominion reporter yesterday. It had been stated on behalf of tho boys that they wero paid only 12s. Gd. a week i'or tho lirst year, 15s. for the second year, and that then they might have to wait three years before getting their next riso to «CI. It was said also that senior boys wore kept on delivery rounds, wliilo new bovs were given work indoors. It v, as further alleged that tliero was talk of a strike. All these statements Mr. Hawlc declared wero absolutely untrue. _ Boys wero not leaving the service, as had been alleged, he said. Only two boys had rosigned In tho last three months, and two had been dismissed. These were tho only vacancies created by untoward causes; the other six vacancies were due to promotions rendered possible and necessary owing to tho rapidly-increasing work of tho Department. Ten boys were therefore required at once, but if suitable bojs offored tho Department could probably absorb more than that number. Ho added that t'lio talk about the striko was "so much twaddle." , Ho further pointed out that an allegation that boys had to wait years before getting JCSO a year was not true. In actual fact tliero was not a boy oil the me«enger staff who had been two years on tho stair.- Ono boy. who had actually received promotion was still doing messenger's work because lie could not be spared. Boys joined »a ,E3l per yd.iT, then received iiiO u. the second year, and in tho third year tliey could rely on getting a cadetship at <£50 a Tear. As boys they received an ample allowance of uniforms, so that they wero practically kept in clothes, and they liKm all their tram fares to and from work (ranging from Is. to is. per week) paid by tho Department. A new retiringroom, where they could take J unc ,, or rest, was also being furnished for them, and a gymnasium land club-room wero also supplied by tlie Department free of Cll When promotion to the staff came a bov could, by passing th« examination' necessary* filter th© clerical division, iiud the fact thbfc it was a very large division of tho service showed that it was no difficult matter to enter it. Tliero his increments were at the- rato of £lo a year until he reached JCISO, and then by annual increments of XlO to .£220. If a boy passed the senior Civil Service examination lie gained a double increment:, ,£3O, in one year. Having reached £220, he could, by passing tho senior Civil Service and "other special Departmental tests get into higher grades with higher maximum salaries. On tlio other hand, if a boy did not go into tho clerical division his increments were at flio itato of .£lO a year up to about £170. The boys weTe given every opportunity to practise the use of instruments, and special instructors and correspondence classes were made available to "them. Charges wero made for the correspondence classes only, land thoso charges wero very low —only 10s. Gd. per year. If the boys worked their riso might bo comparatively rapid. Instances wero .casv to find of men who wero receiving ,£260 a, year nfter 14 years' service—men of about 80 j-ears of age. ITo did not think that the lack of inducement the service offered wl.is tlie Teal reason why boys could not bo obtained. Tho real reason was that most of the best boys went to secondary schools until they wero 1G years of age, and the Department couid not take them when they had prissod that age. It was h strict rule of tho service that all cadets must enter it through tho messenger ranks. This ensured the delivery staff being- kept up to strength, and also ensured fairly quick promotion for tho boys themselves.