ALLEGED "RAGGING."

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXX, Issue 8864, 26 October 1907, Page 5

ALLEGED "RAGGING."

,By Telegraph —Press Association., CHRISTCHURCH, October 25. A railway '""'ragging" story published to-day has excited considerable interest and sympathy with the victim, Bmy. His fellow-cleaners completely deny any knowledge of "ragwing," though they admit that a little play marks the initiation of new cleaners. Mr A. McKenzie, th 3 runningshed foreman told a repcrter that the officials intended to do all they could to investigate the charges made by Bray, but it woul3 be V3ry difficult, on the account of the fact that none of the cleaners made ary admissions, to find evidence in support of the allegations. It had always been sought to protect the new hands from interference by others, and, as far as supervision could go, such protection was afforded, but it was impossible to see what was going on except in a very limited part of the shed. On some previous occasions when there had been complaints, there had' been enquiries, but-they' had elicited nothing more than the statements of those who complained. With a view to stopping the trouble, the men who were in the shed at the time were fined, sometime.* to the number of twenty at a time, but there were still no. admissions or mutual accusations. He was inclined to think himself that there was less in Bray's case than was alleged. He had no sympathy with the practice at all, and it was in his interests and in those of the night foreman to try and put a stop to it.