MEETING ONE'S MATCH

NZ Truth, Issue 1201, 6 December 1928, Page 17

MEETING ONE'S MATCH

In Garden Factory, Our Girls Hai)e Struck Luck

. Above each, machine m Bryant anti-May's \ match .factory is printed 'this notice: ' ' 'Remember—the public pays perfectly, good money: they want perfectly good matches: " 7

AN' exemplary sentiment, this,, with " which to start off -on our tour of the factory. ' Bryant and May's big brick building stands m /one of Wellington's dustiest arid most depressing old streets.. But there is- nothing .depressing - about the tall brick towers, which carry wijth them some, suggestion of an ancient feudal castle. '. '. . The* English idea of a gatehouse has beeht introduced, and ivithin a little brick' lodge, a caretaker is supposed to unearth the whys and • wherefores 'of 'all "callers; But 'it's quite easy to sllp ; past Cerberus, and once inside, one discovers working conditions, more suggestive of. the most progressive English and American factories than of the usual' New Zealand manufacturing concern!, . > . .. • :• . . . Smooth green croquet lawns, a bowling green and asphalted tennis courts begin, to) allow how the firm' considers the 'comfort of its employees.- -/ All croquet mallets, tennis rackets'and sports materials are found ' by the employers, and there are very few little workers who don't have a. good time m their lunch • hour, enjoying sunshine and practising, new strokes .on the courts. ' As soon as a new girl, is added to the eighty "odd alreaity employed ;by Bryant arid' 'May's, she is-' 'introduce'd .to.' iii& Social ClJub> ■ . : : - : ■ - -A 1 -very . small monthly subscription entitles her -to become, a member of this; and the. benefits are "manifold. Oh the social: committee ' of sixteen,, employers; are represented by four merhr bers,,ahd mien and women workers divide the'remainlng hon6rs.' l , ' ' ..The. firm gives a; pound, for' pound subsidy on all 1 subscriptions gathered lnj 'and the. result is a library, an excellent little concert Hall; well fitted U p ,with' -stage; and .festooned around with trophies which the firm's basketball and -lenrilß, clubs have secured, .five-free dances and picnics a year, and, as the land agents say, other advantages too numerous to mention. In this side of factory life,' employees, co-operate with' employers. But the firm, of its own accord, has introduced other benefits new to factory life In. New Zealand. A matron; Miss Crispin, who is a 'thoroughly-trained and capable nurse; has been appointed to look after the comfort and health of the girls. She has her own little surgery, as well fitted up as a doctor's consulting office, and a massage bed where minor accidents can be treated or rest given | to! the weary. . ' Separate dtiiing-rooms are provided for men and women workers, and tea is free; for. 3 V^d,. a girl can have her hot pie to match, and so avoid the trouble of expeditions into town or sandwich-slicing at home m the small hours of the morning. * Work starts at eight o'clock. Girls of all ages, from fourteen, take their places at the big machines, some ready to whirl out boxes at the rate of thousands a day, others stamping labels, others attending to the cutting and folding of the little tin boxes m which some of the matches are packed. , T-he work is simple, and every girl on the box-making floor knows how to handle any one of the machines. A weekly salary, commencing at 25/-, and ending at- 52/6, is the regulation. "Piecework has its advantages" says the manager, "but some of this work is very trying, and: if we let some of the girls-^-perhaps those with relatives dependent on their: earnings — draw pay by scale of the actual number of boxes they put through, we would have them dropping with fatigue by the time they left the machines. . "Then again, at Christmas time, each of these girls will be given an extra week's salary and- a fortnight off; when she comes back, it doesn't matter if she is "broke 1 ' for the second week's salary is paid into her hands on the day of her arrival. No fire so disastrous as that which took place m Wellington last week would be possible on the premises of Bryant and May's, for the long rooms are fitted up with pipes and sprinklers, connected by electricity with the Brigade, and, at the first sign of a blaze, can be turned on. ':

The 'work has its fascinating aspects. In one room, thece is:a.huge 'refrigerator; it's pipes white with frost. Through this; passes the water which, when flung against a screen, travel's into the pipes which keep the rooms at the •same .temperature all. the year round. There is no sweltering heat m summer, no: bitter ; cold m winter. ..., Great boxes of gum :■_ copal, packed loosely m wicker receptacles, just as it comes from the Straits Settlements, brings a' foreign savor into one. room. Outside. are the vats where cotton Is passed through and through molteri l wax until the glaze which we see. on! ordinary, vestas is produced. Another machine cuts the waxed match into sections, and passes them on to be given "heads" of the . sticky red solution, after which they travel slowiy around on a huge screen which. takes an hour to complete its circuit. The girls wear uniforms of blue galatea, also provided by the firm; they are mostly a slim, bright-eyed crowd of young New Zealanders — and, although their firm has an English foundation, it may claim to be New Zealand naturalized, for it has been turning out matches for thirty-four years m Wellington;:. : . ;.The'.new: factory ; was completed flye ■year's, #go. 'Another commendable fea-^ t,ure is : the presence, on every floor,. ofVa■senior forewoman, whose -duty includes' that- of .seeing that' no girl is'sufferihgj from overstrain or illness— things often; oVeflpciKed when a "mail has charge. ; ' ! . : outside are green lawn's, beds, of* pinks' and geraniums,- 'and, altogether, .Wellington's best r attempt at a garden factory. The girls who work at Bryantand May'sare, at' ; least r assured of sbme:sunshine and congeniality m .their; '"lives/"'.. -.'■ , . ;. v '.•■'. '■■•■■"''. '.-]■■•. I