RANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 101, 27 April 1912, Page 15

RANDOM SHOTS

*ZAMDE!iT'

„ n'-i-l'bour's nuuie to lash. ?OEe «ri»«" i h , JU ; h I- for needful c : isli. Some Trite to Please , he country clash, Bo** «!*«• » din. ! «*"* a^rSteioriu" S J j The Mayoral election is over, and 1 I rer y glad ~f it Of course 1 an a :Mr.l>arrwasn-.lcc:rd,an jjereby oiler my roiijratulauons to -Mr. ll»ll "akel'.on on tin- remarkably gouil (girt that he put up. For a comparativdy ine.-perien.ed man he made a lirstnie 'eiiowing, and he evidently possesses v -n t racial ii'aaliiications for a "row' hi Ismail degrc*. But wbaL I - vhietly . ihinicias about on Wednesday was the . ilßinense amount of troub.e that tiie-c elections cause. 1 adm.t ihat popular, elections for municipal builds arc new* '■ jjrv; but way not Jet the city ioui;c;is • and iwrougii councils eic.t tiieir v.v.. , ilavor! It. is done in Ln.'iand, and i | c-li -ec a great many points in its la-! tout. Aiiv man who is, chosen Mayor by ' his fellow councillors is certain to have had a gi>od deal of experience in pubii. , ; jfl&iTi, and he will aiso be certain to tarry on the business of the city without breach of continuity, as the sociologists say. And when yen come to rctie.t : upon all the di-location of business ami : lie waste of time that canvassing an Ivoting impiics. 1 think you must agree, j thai "we would be better off with unci uinecessary popular election the lc-s every year. iiiiiiiixi "While I am on the subject of elections, I may just mention casually thai in my humble opinion it will be necessary for ! tie proper authorities to look into the], way in which election*; are conducted in j this conn try before Ion?. The common i use of the motor ear has introduced quite a new element into political life here. The thing gets a-iiout so quickly, it can be ih so many places at once, and it does such a tremendous lot of work in a few hours, that the parly which can secure a majority of motor cars for polling day has a very big handicap in it.- favour. Now. this doesn't term to mc quite as it should be in a democratic country. After the last general election. I remember. Sir Joseph Ward made some very pungent remarks in Wellington about the political value of motor cars; and now I see the Dunedin "Evening Star" has taken up the idea. Something will have to be done about it :>oon: o≤ also about house-to-house canvassing. At present the peaceful householder is almost helpless against these terrifying incursions —bat if I go much further I will be writing a political handbook: and ".such," as tie professional essayists remark, ie not ay intention. My hearty congratulations to the Hon. : A. M. Myers for the business-like way in ] V. which, he has set about his departmental j ; ■work. Perhaps as he is evidently a most i enterprising Minister he will be prepare! i to give the general public the benefit of some of the latest developments in railway traction. I hear that the Lyttelton tunnel is to be electrified, so that the ' p»d people of C'hristehureh shall no j lonser be stifled in transit to the sen. j Well, what about, the Xevrmarket tunnel '.' • lor tunnels, since we are to have two of \ ' them). It is smoky enough, in all con-j •' science, at the best of times, and though j i it isn't so long as tiie Lyttelton tunnel. ! • it is twice as nasty. By all accounts the ! ■ latest electric motor trains are quite | ; fascinating contrivances. They have got ' I one in Victoria —the first Mi-Keen motor ■ 1 seen in Australia. The engine, the lug- , 1 gage van. the first and second class ac- j < commodation are all built in one. Th>- :'> car has a torpedo body and prow, an , ! ! } caned stern, and large port holes dotted . i lavishly about in place of windows. It is \ replet?, as the advertise— say, with < smoking room, lavatories and oth?r i minor luxuries, and it has a most crorjJT.-- 1 ons heating apparatus, such a- the soul l of the true American delights in. The : ; Victorian specimen has proved it.- ability - to run up a grade of 1 in -10 easily, an'l i it has reached a speed of 4-"> mile an " hour. There is no .-moke or smell, and the only disadvantage seems to be the presence of SS gallon- of benzine in Cue ■ tank- There are possibilities about all i that benzine: but. on the whole, when ( I think of Newmarket tunnel. I fancy 1 that I would risk ii. * ! ( English judge., are having a hard time, ' ' flunks to the vagaries of modern dress- ' nuking. One young woman has been pro- I "»ied against for refusal to pay a hill ' Wauew dress. The dress was \.rder-d ! for a wedding, and us it arrived ju.-t in •' fine for the occasion it was put on ! jPickiy and without examination. What ' gghe horror of the wearer to discover ! i&atas soon as she sat down the dre.-,s J to mount in front until it reached '■ '.we longitude of her knees, which was <fetiEctlv embarrassing for one who i- ' |H supposed to have knees, except by " ,'ipaour and hearsay. But there was \ jorse to come. When the owner leaned \ ward in order to persuade her dress to ■■*?P within the limits of decorum, this '' shameless garment promptly burst un i jfcbaL-k, and so there she wu.-. expo ! "a galling Ure front and rear. .She had ' sat the dress back for alterations, but .'. «aen these had been done the dress itself < ™sout of fashion, for these repairs had ? "ttopied some hours. So she refuse.] to ', Pay the bill. ' , l '- : -- r i*i*ii:4iii- j " in view of the announcement Lliat ah of cruelty to oyster, cumf'?a is to be inaugurate,! i,v the nre.-i-: i *?'.<* the .Alabama State liyrter Con.- j 1 rfioa, a professor of physiology at ajl medk-al .bool was applied to'] 11 " , ■"""■ 1)1,i,,t;, (.;„ _ ac **'n: Ihe oyster has cer-K W f er L°"- S structures and undoubtedly j i itv i? m a:il0UIi; of nervous seusiivi-; 1 •id ihatT ° JII k ' r adilv dieted. * ua ? ™* m 4 l » a touch is J i-m,041, 1 :: ' partly "I ,1 ' Itis.l ' 0H M- v - r t0 - a >- whpth r r iv 1 % deJ >I,lt: '- : ' r,, ' :f suffit-ieutly 1 » enable it to exp ? ri. . h «4 to fin. a " : ' l ' aSP - ,l W0; "' Id '"" ' #£w^kni;/*: or tm V ea*in ?: '"- k " !in, - an o -"' than ■ ! W I f h,m r This U mo - 1 WmZ f m tW aJ,som-r or any protect (- • ' l " p :,ro penVttlv : to coincide with the professor's !