WATERSIDE TROUBLE SETTLED

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 286, 27 August 1920, Page 7

WATERSIDE TROUBLE SETTLED

WORK RESUMED YESTERDAY

COAL CARGOES BEING DISCHARGED j MEETING OF DISPUTES 1 COMMITTEE Tbi'trouble on the waterfront was settled yesterday, morning and work was resumed! on all the vessels in port. When tho call for labour to work the superphosphate cargo on the Japanese steamer Meikai Maru was made at '8 o'clock, over a thousand men were assembled outside X store. Within twenty minutes four gangs were' engaged to work the Meikai Maru, and men were then signed on to man the other vessels. Before a quarter to 9 coal was being discharged into the railway trucks from the barque Rona, from Newcastlo, and shortly afterwards the remaining coalladen vessels were also being unloaded. A little before 10.30 the.first loads began to 1 arrive at the city power houses, and about an hour latere, the tramcars commenced running. Work proceeded smoothly on the waterfront throu«hout the day, and no complaints were received regarding the condition/ of the superphosphate cargo being landed from the Meikai Maru. As announced yesterday the resumption of work on the Japanese vessel was-made on the understanding .that the local Disputes "Com-mibteei should, examine i to bags and di6cuss any readjustment of rates in thu event of the cargo nr'ovinc to bo dusiy in nature. The committee met in the afternoon, but as it was reported that the cargo was coming ashore in first-class condition, the meeting was adjourned until Monday, : by which time it will be possible to make an examination of the cargo deeper down in the holds of the ship. EFFECTS OF~"tHE~"HOLP-UP" PITIFUL PACTS DISCLOSED. Brief mention of the coal crisis was made at yesterday's moeting of tfe Wellington Hospital. Board, when Messrs. C. H. Chapman and J, Hutchison urged that provision should he made in order to obviate tho present hand-to-mouth policy •with regard to coal supplies at the Hospital. It was explained tUat the board had at present only three days' supply of household coal on hand. ', ■ lir.C. M. Luke drew attention to the fact that during the present week many old people living in various parts of the eity had remained in bed day and night because they had not coal to keep a fire floing. Many young children were also innocent sufforers on account of the "hold up" on the local wharves. He was very pleased that his friends/the Labour representatives on tho board) had broached the question in w< far as the board was concerned. If the pitiful facts .he had disclosed did not stimulate thfe production of coal lid did not know what would. "I hope," he. concluded, "thai; our friends will impress on those responnihln for coal production' their responsibilities in this connection." ~„',; The chairman (Mr. F. Castle) followed in a similar strain, pointing out that all sick people in Wellington were not m the Hospital. , ' : ' Mr. F. T. Moore deplored this economic • waste prevalent throughout the Dominion' in the consumption of thousands of tons of coal by scores of freezing companies in order to keep in cool storage countless carcasses of nrutton that were only fit for the boiling down works. . Rev. Dr. Elliott stated that the position of affairs dlsclosed-and, he knew from his own knowledgo that it had not been exaggeratfd-was very deplorable, it was lieart-breaking. , ...: No motion was tabled on the subject. -:x - : ' a weYmorning ROUGH ON PEDESTRIANS. •Whilst the weather remained mild and fine the necessity of having to walk to work in the morning and homo at mglit had become something in the nature ot a joke to the young and hardy, who, ui many cases, rejoiced to find themselves benefited by the exercise. With'the elderly the joke was not quite so appaient. When the dark lifted • yesterday morning, and the grey light came slowly to the accompaniment of a northerly gale and violent rain squalls, the prospect to all folk who had to get inio business . from thi3 or that suburb was not nearly 60 enjoyable. , Indeed, there were those who declined to face, the gale and rain on the grounds that they would be wet through before they got into town, whicu would mean thafthey would have to return at once or move about in wet clothes the day through. However, in . most cases impromptu lorry and express services made a very good substitute for the trams, and helped many to reach •town who otherwise would' havo declined to make the effoij;. All the business houses had to excuse late-comers, and many were downright glad to see so many of their -staff turn np under the existing circumstances. v > CARS RUNNING AGAIN An assured coal supply being; promptly furnished to the tramways power-house, the cars commenced to move at 11.30 a.m. yesterday, and at noon practically, a full service was resumed.; The first of the new coal from the waterfront, arrived in the yards of both- power-houses' . .simultaneously at 10.20 a.m., and threequarters of an hour later the current wa« ' toned on, allowing the wheels of industry to commence revolving again. , The work of unloading the coal went on steadily throughout the day, and by the evening both power stations had accumulated fairly good stocks. COMINUM LOSS /Exactly what loss the city and. public have sustained because of the dispute will perhaps never be known, but'there are those who put it down at not less than ,£25,000. The city itself must have lost ifilOOO a day in 'tramway revenue and wages alone. The Gas Company's three days' total loss will be a very substantial amount; the watersiders have lost three days' pay; thejdle ships have lost three full days; and many factories , have been kupt idle through having no power to "mako the wheels go round." . THE GASIUPPLY DOUBTFUL WHEN AVAILABLE. Apparently the Gas Company in in parlous plight. Communicated with at a late hour last evening the manager (Mr. J. Dougall) could give no word of ' hope as to when there would be a gas 6upply available fpr the city. He said that there was now an ample 6unply of coal in the bins'at the works at Miramar, but the stokers, who had left the works on Monday morning, had not turned up again, and, at the timo of speaking, he could not venture to say when they would turn to. He had seen tho secretary of the Stokers' Union to ascer- ' tain the cause of the men's altogether unexpected attitude, and was informed that it was something quite trivial 'which might have been adjusted quite easily if reason were exercised. If the men had held a meeting last evening (as was rumoured) he had not been informed of the result. The position, in simple, was . that the works were now without stokers, and until stokers turned to no gas could be manufactured. Asked how long after the men turned to gas could be made availablo for tho city, Mr. Dougall said it would take anything from six to twelve hours. ABOUT AGITATOR Mr. G. Bmos, secretary of the Waterside Workers' Union, takes exception tc a paragraph which appeared in Tin Dominiok yesterday, in which reference was mado to an agitator among the workers who was a recent arrival fron abroad. Mr. Bruce said that he hat, >io idea who the man referred to coul( be. There were many recent arrivals ii the .union, and several of them hn< spoken at the meetings of the union The aotipu of the men had not beei doe hi tai taoitemants of any ana aei

tator, or any one man; His chief ob. jection to the paragraph was, as he said, that the blame for being this particular agitator might be fastened on tiny one individual, and it would jeopardise his chance *of making hia jiving jon the | wharf. COAL CARGOeTiN FORT Y*sterday there weTe six vessels in port laden with coal. These were the Komata with 2200 tons, theiKaramu with 2000 tons, the Kokirl with 1400 tons, tho Kini with 1200 tons, Rona with 1100 tons, and the Raupo with 1080 tons. This represents a total tonnage of 8980, probably a record for the port.