CANTEENS BOYCOTTED

Wairarapa Times-Age, 5 December 1939, Page 2

CANTEENS BOYCOTTED

TROUBLE AT NGARUAWAHIA. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) HAMILTON. December 3. Objecting to the issue of only one wet canteen ticket at a time, a large number of the troops at Ngaruawahia camp declared both wet and dry establishments “black" on Thursday. Members of the New Zealand Engineers are stated to have provided a picket, several soldiers who ignored the decision were “booed’’ as they went in, and at one stage stones were thrown on the roof. The boycott was lifted the folowing night when the soldiers were allowed to purchase two tickets at a time, thus giving them the right to secure two glasses of beer. Those who were a party to the boycott objected to having to go outside and wait in the queue before they could obtain a second ticket from the cash register at the door. It was stated that before the men were paid last week there had been no such restriction on the number of tickets that could be bought at the one time. However, after they received their pay they found that they could get only one ticket when entering' the canteen. The canteen opened after the evening mess at 6.30, and an hour later both the wet and dry departments were declared “black” by many of the troops, though another large proportion of them refused to be concerned in the trouble. Shortly after the picket had been placed by some of the engineers, officers took control and the men were marched back to their lines. An order prohibiting the placing of pickets was read on Friday. Complaints were also prevalent about the prices charged in the dry canteen, many of the men holding that they should be charged chain store prices. As a result of this and of the boycott special arrangements were made to secure cigarettes and other articles from Hamilton.