SEARCHING FOR WORK

Hokitika Guardian, 30 August 1930, Page 7

SEARCHING FOR WORK

EXPERIENCE IN AUSTRALIA. “Yes, H'have'been getting round a bit’V/said a young Aucklander who recently returned from Australia. Ll<? had an idea that a young man should “knock -1 .around” before he settles down/so he gave up a billet in Auck- ' ’ iond'- ffndstarted out to see other places.i The story of his wanderings was joflthe experiences of a man who tramps round hunting for work in Australia at the present time. He once “humped his bluey” for 760 miles across Australia, and then manboiler? on a train without asking the, guard’s permission. “The firemen knew we.were there,” said the wanderer,’ ‘‘and gave my mate and mya share of their food, but doing a ten’ days’ trip across a desert in a boiler is not an ideal way of seeing Australia, 'as we were nearly cooked. Of course, whenever the train stopped, if the. guard was not about, we used to. ‘sneak out and get a breath of fresh air. - : . “When you are tramping in Australia eVery settler will give you a fjeed and . a shake-down for cutting firewood or, doing other odd jobs. They were all very kind to me when I was hoofiing it. At one town I walked’ into the hotel and told the proprietor that I wanted a meal and was prepared' to earn it by doing odd jobs, He ; provided me with n good feed, and for a few days I was behind the bar pulling beer. That publican was ~a real white man, for he paid my fare to Sydney and handed .me £l ; *ns • well. I got a little work in Sydney, and was able to send him bitch his money with a letter of thanks for his kindness. He returned the /money, saying I might want it yet. aindp* that he had not i,expected to have , it repaid. - • . -.

■ . I ~ “UP AGAINST IT.” ■ ‘‘ln Sydney I was right up against W. to pawn tny. shi rt; My socks ; were worn out, but an old pair ©f/ifcßats* j[t had found covered up that ‘ -to :who would help me.' I . called on her, and she sent her. se<ff#aT.y i d%t ' W ith me and he , fittfea>mi@|? : f °l clothesUarid isheX gpiKi me a bf.Het. , J call and pay her 'back all . Things are so har<l in. Australian towns,now that, a cjuebe .waits for every billet advertised . ' There are some; sharks there ~*jfop . advertise fbr . a. traveller,. and when, a -man 'calls offer him goods to sell on/eommission, ;but demand a deposit pf ,£2. , T was in one P laoe that kind but, of course, had not the !£2 to deposit, and from the look of the’ office ! would not have paid a. depoiiit -if; jT -li&d the cash. As a tnaitit’Mvifaot I bad scarcely left that o.ffice'when the poi’ioe raided it, Tim manager and secretary were Untied ifbr’ 'obtaining money by false

pretences, and although I did not geta job, the Government found them both work for a. period.’’ “I have chopped wood, washed bottles and dishes, been handy man on a sheep station, and in fact tried most /things- except /clerking, which was what I had learned before I left Auckland. A chap has to be careful that he does not get caught by the love of the free wanderings around Australia sleeping in the bush, and getting meals at farmhouses. 1 have seen men',' Nvlio had been at Oxford, who had -caught the habit of humping a swag through the country. If they were asked to chop wood to earn a meal, they considered that part of the game. There seems to be a fascination about that free and easy wandering life. Once it gets them they seldom settle down to a steady job, but just tramp on, year in.and year out,, till tliey‘ make their last camp and perhaps die ai'-one. SELLING A COMMISSION.

“I tried several jobs selling lines on commission At one place I .had to attend an,, instruction class, where I was given lessons' on how to approach a housewife, and secure a hearing. One time I was "selling photograph enlargements in a mining district. 1. can tell you my firm were artists. If I sent‘them a photoeraph -off a man collarless, with his shirt ,open: at. the front, the picture would be returned, with' an enlargement, in which the head had been fitted neatly in a- stapdup collar above a frock-coat. . Jhc wives would shout with . delight; “Why, you’ve made Tom quite a' gr 3n r tlemanl” I always foirnd the marifialworking people the best to sell;, .photograph enlargements to, T./.* ‘

“Before I went to Austral!* I got a job iwith a party making a. through the Urewera Country i,* 1 - One night we camped at Rua’s place and he got up a dance for us./Ht was very cold, in the Urewera Country.; gs it was the middle of winter , when I was there, and the hilltops we>je ..cov-; ered with snow. At times wo;-wer t e working 5000 ft up, I came ouf.fronv the Urewera Country with £lso,'aiid after such hard work was very fit.. I got to a town on the East Coast,, where, there was a boxing tournament on, so I entered for the show. I .had. no experience in the ring. As Ijsaid, i; felt - fit,' apd, of course, at/night we had amused ourselves in the'‘Campwith boxing, and I rather fancied, myself/’ . v>:, “Did you.win your bout?” ! “Win my bout! Why, I was put to sleep by the first blow, and never woke up till, some time after I had been counted out. I am certain my. mother .never . got me to sleep so quickly. I ’bought a motor-car, and used to drive around the country getting work on farms. When I reached: Wellington, I decided to ship my car across the Strait, and get harvesting work in the South. At last I reached Invercargill, where I sold my oar for less than I gave for it, and worked my way on a boat across to Austrolia. . “Now I am thinking of trying to get across to Canada, where-, if I get