Annals of Toil

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 74, 9 August 1912, Page 1

Annals of Toil

In order to do away with slums, , the W.A. Labor Federation has decided t© ask the Government to introduce legie* lation fixing the n/mimum measure- , ments of a building, allotment at 50ft. by 150 ft. *• * . An Englisli statistician shows that there are more deaths among painters than in other dangerous trades, and ' names the so chief causes of poisoning, in the order of their importance:—(l) Dust from sand-papering painted surfaces ; (2 )dust from miiing white lead , with oil; (3) dust from paint dried on overalls; (4) absorption of lead by the mouth from unwashed hands; (6) possibly fumes from burning off old paint. * * * A story comes from BeHinghanff Wash., U.S.A., that one of the large iishr-eanning establishments has displaced 100 girls by Chinamen, displacement is attributed to the *act that the firm was declared guilty" of violating the State women's eight-hour law by forcing women to work more than eight hours a day. •■ * «. "The trade union leader of type ia a man with plenty of flatrre shrewdness, but lie is illiterate, or feeds little except his daily paper; knows nothing of economics; is bumptSbtis in his dealing with the workmen; has no ideals, and is rapidly becoming discredited. Among the younger VOtVSmen he is a spent force; in their ranks are many keen students; their edacation has worked wonders; they have bocome fluent speakers ana ready debaters, and wield enonbous Influence among their mates. Eefl» ney, in "English Revtew." * «■ * There is »n ever-ihcßeasing wunbpt of British trade unionists who ate spending every available penny and every moment of their leisure time in the acquisition of scientific knowledge, - not for mere personal advancement or M culture, nor yet for a technical tion which will give them & scientific knowledge of economic and social erglution and of the various forced at wc*k .! in modern society, but so that thsy will be more competent! to deal with the problem of rairr"? worker* to. tile JJOSitkltt of i&4 f!Ui.iw\ii%gl-Qfaf.:i. &> htxifrcy, .„ .... -,■..* ■ .■;- ~;»'i'>* ■■■■.■ «■ • r ■ A eorrospoTKVe.uu i:u two S. "Worker - pomes out thaß nystagamtts, the peculiar disease of the eyes, resulting sometimes iii blindness, to which coal miners are particularly subject, is, in England, «■ disease which cornea under the provisions of the Workmen's Compensation Act —an Act which is similar to the Miners' Accident Fund in N.S.W. He states that it is only right that a miner who has toiled ufiderground for many years and becomes incapacitated by nystagamus should be entitled to some relief under the Miners' Accident Fund, particularly ac he pays into this fund by deductions from his wages. Miners are now agitating' to have this and other industrial diseases brought within the operation of the fund. . z"' * « • Thus the "Bulletin": "The .clerk's lot always was hard, but thrtt characteristically Yankee excrescence, the 'business magazine,' has made it still harder. The seasoned clerk takes a deadly revenge on the impudent cheeseparing publications by refraining from buying then*. But the green graduate from the business college is liable to buy one or other of them regularly, and to take the contents for commercial gospel. Being fairly raveHotiß for hints as to the quickest methbfl of doing the boss for his job, he thankfully accepts such stuff as the fdllowing, and never dreams of resenting it: 'A clerk has to do more than he is paid for before he can attract attention. Then the increase «)f salary must come.' No magazine ever seems to offer 'advice' of that sort to lawyere of bricklayers, a-nd the grocer is never counselled to try and better himself by giving two pounds of Sugar for . the price of etie. The clerk alone is told that he must burn up his energy and , present the boss with £4 worth of work for thirty bob." * » • The Clerks' Union of N.S.W. hag compiled a log for shipping clerk* which is being served on the companies, con-, cerned. It claims weekly wages' of £5 10s. for freight clerks, £5 for pay, receiving and delivery clerks, £4 for checking and transhipment clerks, and ■ £3 for manifest clerks. Overtime rates of from 3s. to ss. an hour are also claimed, the week's normal working hours being set down at 44. Prefer- ' ence to unionists is demanded, and freedom from oalls to do wharf laborers' or storemen's ■frork. i ! ■ - ■• > The secretary of the Amalgamated Miners' Association at Broken Hill repotts that during the first six months | of the current -y&ir 385 members were injured in the mines. Some of the accidents were comparatively trivial but they caused the injured men to be put on the books. During the six months 36 members of the association had died, some from fatal accidents and some from natural causes.