FIFTY YEARS AGO

Evening Post, Volume CXI, Issue 114, 16 May 1931, Page 11

FIFTY YEARS AGO

ITEMS FROM "THE POST

AUCKLAND V. WELLINGTON

"In relation to the subject discussed recently in our leading columns —the mail services between this colony and Great Britain, coupled with the possibility of a.direct line of steamers being established—Auckland, with her characteristic modesty, has already rushed" into, the field with her claims to be the port of arrival and departure," remarks an editorial in "The Post" of this date fifty years ago. "Auckland claims that If a direct service is established, then: the nearest route should be selected; and that Auckland is the nearest port to Great Britain anyone can see at a glanco by consulting a good chart. Torres Strait js traversed monthly ■by the steamers that convey the Queensland mails, and there-is nothing,:it claims, to prevent the same Strait being traversed by steamers making a direct passage from New Zealand to Great Britain. If that course should be followed from .Auckland byways of theiSuez Canal, it will be, found- that the steaming distance is. at least a couple of thousand miles less than by way of the Cape of Good Hope. In seven years, claims Auckland,- the. Panama ..Canal will be cut , through"; (it was nearer thirty), "and then Auckland will be necessarily the first port, for steamers;,to land'at.; Indeed, says Auckland, there is - every probability • when that great work is' accomplished Auckland, will become the centre, where not only mails but'more valuable imports will be distributed to tho rest of the colonyl Its position well fits it for such a work; Occupying a site on two deep-water harbours, commanding both the east and west coasts of the colony, what other place is there, it asks, that can afford such facilities for prompt and quick distribution as Auckland? This last question is easily answered in one ' word—Wellington, than which port no'other in New Zealand can afford such facilities for prompt and quick distribution. The claim put forth by Auckland to be the port of arrival and departure for the future Panama service is rather amusing when it is recollected that the route : from , Panama to Welling- . ton is considerably shorter, and much better, than that to Auckland, 'as anybody can see at a,glance by consulting' a good chart.' "We fear that tho chart used by our northern ~ friends cannot be a very good one if it represents Auckland as being the nearest port to Great Britain." v CTJftTAILING DEBATE. • New rules framed by the Speaker of tho House of Commons in England for the quicker transaction of business during the session "The Post" thinks might well be adopted in 'New Zealand "for meeting a grave difficulty which is but too often experienced in our New Zealand Parliament in the fhape of idle or factious obstruction o the progress of public business. . . . These rules vest in the Speaker very largo and absolute powers, but not larger or more absolute than have been proved imperatively, demanded by the urgency of the case. Affairs have reachr ed such a state that the only alternative ,to Parliamentary anarchy is to impose some restrictions on the liberty of debate which has • been so grievously abused as to have degenerated into the wildest licence. The experience of our New Zealand Parliament has already shown that similarly ' stringent rules would bo by no means supererogatory.." THE UNWANTED WHALE. A whale stranded at Oriental Bay was a feature o£ tho news ,for several, days' at this period fifty years ago. Says "The Post'/ one day: "The whale affnir is getting nioro and more mixed and puzzling, and the whale meanwhile 5s getting higher and higher. At one period there wer.e a number of claimants for the carcase; now no one cares ■to own it because it is likely to cause trouble. First of all this unhappy whale got ashore, and it was secured by Messrs: Jones and Coffey, who reckoned upon getting £10 worth of oil from the blubber. It happened, however, that another; Oriental Bay rcsi'dent spotted the rogia breviceps, and le made Dr. IJector a present of it for tho Museum. Dr. Hector sent two men to-flesh .the whalo and to procure certain portions of its anatomy for scientific purposes. The blubber was left in,heaps on the shore foivthe benefit of Messrs.. Jones and Coffey., ; ;Th,en ,the trouble,, and. the odour, commenced. The Inspector of Nuisances had his attention drawn to the remnants of the whale and instructed Mr. Jones to remove them. Mr. Jones said that Dr. Hector had jumped his claim and was responsible for the removal of • the carcass. Dr.-Hector, on his part, however, de- • i-.lines to accept responsibility, as the blubber was cut off and left to the alleged owners while a barber had removed the skeleton to his premises in town. The Inspector of is in a dilemma as to whom to serve with a notice to remove the flesh. No one nOjW owns it, and there is no one on whom to serve a notice. The whole tiling would constitute a very nice law suit, and would doubtless keep a bench of Judges employed for several months. In the meantime, .however, the blubber lies on the beach and smells, and the Inspector of Nuisances is bewailing the; fate which shouldered him with that high office." . „ HE FOUND A WAY. A Wellington butcher is recorded in "Tho Post" as having rather cleverly out-witted the authorities. He 'imported from China two live pigs which the Cattle Board refused to allow to come ashore alive. "The owner had either to lull the animals, send them back whence they' came,■ or circumnavigate tho authorities; : He' chose the latter alternative. ■ lie ■ -'argued /that as the breed .would .be. of immense advantage to the colony,] he had no right to tallow mere Acts of Parliament and inspectors to stand in Wie way of the landing of those Chinese porkers. So one evening a boat containing the butcher in- question and two small pigs sorne,%vhat similar to the celestial imports put off from the wharf. When alongside where the pigs were quarantined, a quiet exchange was made and the-ex-ultant dealer in meat landed his prize and pedigree porkers.' The Inspector is still under the impression, we believe, that he sent tho imported pigs back home whence they came and nobly vindicated tho majesty of the law."