CITY TRADE IN STRIKE TIME.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1905, 13 November 1913, Page 7

CITY TRADE IN STRIKE TIME.

THE PINCH FOR ALL;

RETAIL SALES FALLING AWAY-

LARGE FIRMS HAMPERED

It is inevitable in a time. K!;o tho present that trarte intis.t bo fipribUßiy ha ap wed in a variety of ways both in tl.lo City and tho country. With considerably ever 3000 people idle tho money that tliey would ofdiiiariiy cir-culat-o at once diminishes. There are, roughly, WOO watufsidurs out on. strike, tho hulk of whom would he earning good wage? at tin's time of year, with the wool clips coining forward every day. The members oi' tho Drivers' Union, numbering over 300, aro also entj and added to these are several hundied seamen: ai.d firemen. Every house* held Iras, of course, to be kept going, but nevertheless there is in many homes a strict wateh oh the purse, mote or less affecting everyone in business. Some inquiries wero made yesterday by a reporter as to the extent to which trade had been touched by file back. Ivasli of tho strike. All the warehouses were found to be suffering—firstly, be--cause they are unable to get their'goods itway to places that caii dirty b.p ireacli&d, by steamers, and, secondly, because of tho sudden and almost complete cessation of orders both from tlffi city and country retailers.' The hulk of the West Coast trade is in the. hands q.f tho WeiIliigton wholesale houses, and, '611100 the steamers stopped, orders that were'oil' hwid, .and travellers' orders which have stpee arrived, cannot bo dispatched. ■ i i Wnnoger of a. big hardware fir in stated that-lus firm had withdrawn their travellers from the West Coast until tlm stinko Was over, oi rather until communication fras re-established, and had put them on the railway arc'ii m an endeavour to get orders in placed whoßß tii.ei'G was a- chance of their executing them. There was nothing much even in that, as travellers wore following one another, and orders weio falling off m the country, Tlioy had a stoic full of orders packed up ready, for shipment to the coast, and he. libped thai; an attempt would soon ho made to put a boat en to load for Nelson and the Coast Tho Drapery Houses. . The drapery houses are cortainlv feel, jng tho pinch, though Wt. so greatly as has been reparted from elsewhere. Trade however, has diminished at least 10 per cent, during the list week. One draper., in a. large way of business stated .that'' had -pointed to a record sala th.e returns had not comij withm 33 per cofit., of anticipations. • ifcjg was directly attributable to ths stake. _ lie had received letters from the. '.vivos of strikers (oiie .produced) aiskiiig Jilm to ext'encl the sale. a. little ■\v.hilcj ag. they had had iio iaoncy fori some time-.' ' Staff Holidays. It has been reported that some of the drapery houses hairo been re(juest> v ing a proportion, of their employees to take a holiday until this strike is over.' that is not exactly. ; (lio «&». 'What lias happened is this': Some <jf the feniployens hntl commenced tho usual, rota of holidays in connection with their staffs. There was nothing abnormal in that, ua 11 j* c'jstomary always to .spread tho staff Holidays over a period CQinnieneing ill November _.an 4 : eii'diug iit .February;, and March. in the award under which uvapers' assistants work tircy. couldi Only give, theix,. .emp'loyeeis .a'it week's holiday (on full pay)'.' That is to say, they could not nsk them to go off duty for over the week, without pay without ! dismissing them., for,. .Otherwise') they could cOmo on the cruployer ip.r wages.. That left tho (rui])]oyer ill, the; pOsitio.il that he could not ask his employees to take a longer holiday than tho week, without crossing their names off tho books altogether, and reengaging them when trade revived Tlioy all felt reluctant to take' that step, and tho greater number (sneaking of tho larger houses) would hold their' hands until forced to do otherwise, , Town Travellers Unwelcome. "Business is dead," said a town traveller of a. fancy-goods firm to a reporter. yesterday. "1 navo now been travelling for ttfentythreo years, and linvo never experienced anything like ft, I went into a shop this morning, and the look tho buyer gave mo waa quite enough; hut, ho added, lie had ,-ji.Qt come to talk business but. merely to show li.inj samples of a few new lines. All the heads of departments seem to have been ■ instructed not to buy, for the present, so there is. practically nothing doing nave a few linos in to-' bacCo and cigarettes. ■■' Some .pf tlie ,iobacconists judge that tlioy might run ■short of stocks before the port is cleared, and aro buying a little ahead in ease of emergencies.' it's no good showing any jewellery—most of the customers say that, these aro not jewellery, times, and one cannot conscientiously; say that they are. I am very muck afraid that this strike is going to kill trade this Christmas. Butchers' Woes. "Are we feeling it?" said a City, butcher in response to tho usual inquiry, " I should, think we were! T'liora has bo.&ii a very serious falling -off iu. ili cver-the : coiiiitcr cash sales during tho ' past. week. . I don't suppose the people have really got the money to spend, but they are certainly saving on butcher's meat. I'ill not tlie. only one—we're all in tho same boat."

Any trouble in. c'n.rtjiig. supplies'? _ . '•No—no 'troublo in thai; direction. I half wish -there was, for the. sooner : this strike, is settled the better for everyone!" Contractors Stuck U|), Building contractors a)'C being _ seriously hampered by the slriko of drivers, and on more than one job in town work has had to lie suspended, and bricks layers haw been thrown, out of work, through contractors being unable to gen drivers to earl bricks and comcut to iho different jobs. One of tho contracts 011 which work has had' -to. be suspended is Whilconvbe and Tombs's factory, wiiich is now being built by, Messrs. Campbell and Durko, at tho ■ rear of the lira's Lainbton Quay pre misos. Sugar yory Short. Sugar is in short supply 111 Wellington. Tho Wholesale houses are practically ba.ro of stocks at the present time, and some of tho retailers arc curtailing their sales as much as pos sibi'e. in order to make their dwinuiiug stocks last as long as they arc able One of the leading city grocers has restricted his sales to 21b. lots-, and is strictly selling only to regular customers. Before tiliey wcro cleared out- tho. warehouses advanced tho pi ice ol sugar ~3 10s. per ton, and retail it is selling at aii advance ol Id. per lb. This about covers the riso in tho wholesale price. Tlio situation regarding sugar is likely to bo a good deal easier at tho end of the week, as advices have- been received locally that- quantities are being railed, down to Wellington. ; Tho charge iot' railing sugar from Auckland (where the Colonial Sugar Refining Company i.as a refinery) is £3 lis. Id, per ton. as against 13s. per t<ju by sea, vhicli increased freight rate (£3 is. Id.) is likely to keep up tho present halfpenny riso.