OUR AMERICAN LETTER

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 60, 11 March 1915, Page 7

OUR AMERICAN LETTER

(From Our Special Correspondent.'

NEW YORK, February 12.

This being the annSv.crsary of Lincoln's birthday, is observed generally as a holiday in this State,/bußiness in New York being suspended except for the work done by clerks and office staffs in the •customary effort; on such occasions to •catch up with deferred or laid over matter in routine. The weather, after quite a severe period of winter, has again become mild, and the snow that last week made sleighing in the suburban streets and parks, is now melting into the drains, so that people fond of outdoor exercise-are riding, driving, walking, etc., in great numbers. This is not a holiday, however, in all the States, and least of all in the South, where the memory of Lincoln is as much one of -regret and hate as the memory of Jefferson Davis is revered. Only by the negroes throughout the South was Lincoln loved. As jeach State lias the right to establish and its o*vn holidays, and there are no national holidays as such, the days -observed in the various Commonwealths ■considerably differ. In Massachusetts, for instance, the first of January, is not » holiday, although it generally is elsewhere, but they have other holidays in Massachusetts, such as Good Friday, as j well as certain New England anniver--1 saries that arc not observed in New I York.

BUSINESS UNSATISFACTORY. In regard to business conditions,.it is generally admitted that they have sclj dom, if ever, been worse in this city. j The reason for this is not only the effect I of tlie European war, but dissatisfaction 1 aud distrust as to the administration at Washington. It was said when Wilson ■was elected that it would spell four years of hard times, and thus far the prediction has been true, the explanation being that moneyed men arc mostly Republicans, and will not undertake business ventures or do anything to help turn the wheels of commerce under a ; Democratic regime. When, in addition Ito this the stress of war conditions was j added, depression became acute, and now I the only people who seem to be able to ! spend any money are the wage earners. i Never were there so many unemployed, and never so many stories of distress. IThe city officials, as well as all tho j philanthropic associations have special j committees, and arc at their wits' end j for resources. The other day was denominated "Bundle Day," and citizens I were asked through the daily papers to i hang out Hags if they could have a j bundle of clothing or anything else to '; help the destitute. Thousands of auto- ! (mobiles and carriages were offered : for {the -purpose of collecting the bundles, '.-and nearly a million in the aggregate ( were brought in for sorting and distribu-

I tion, but the general value of the lot is 1 said to lie very disappointing. The iact . that business concerns generally refused to pay any bills in January, and the banks declined advances, added to the , distress, and but 'for the fact that i cheques are now being sent out for last | year's accounts, February would be even a worse month. The manager of one cxI tensive concern told mc that on January • 1 they had more than 23,000d0l balance. [ in' their bank, and upwards of .-12,000d0l I due to come in, but up tiU r February 10 less than one hundred dollars _had been •received, and the bank balance , had dwindled from expenses to about 2,000 dollars. The city Board of Education has been so obliged to limit appropriations for salaries and supplies that the evening schools will be closed about the middle of March, and teachers laid off. The price of bread was increased , this week to six cents a loaf, instead of five, and there is no -guarantee or requirement as to the weight of the loaf.

i VAGARIES OF FEMININE ! FASHION.

A curious change in the way of feminine -fashions has become apparent. Last Fall it seemed decreed that tight skirts would go out, and that they would be both long and full. Many women have •worn them long through the winter, and they have become perceptibly fuller, especially at the hem, but now they have reverted to extreme shortness again, and generally show an inch or two of stocking above the shoe-tops for street wear, while dancing frocks are equally short, without in either case losing their fulness, and the most modish gowns are conspicuous iv their absence of x-orsets, but set very snugly about the hips. Never before, since possibly the days of the- Empire gowns in Paris, were dresses so decollete and statuesque as now in j New York.

A GERMAN PLOT. The arrest of a German for blowing up the railway bridge between the borders of Maine and New Brunswick adds strength to the statement I heard last Fall of a-well-organised German movei ment in the United States to seize the | western half of Nova Scotia and make it a German colony, with a capital and I naval headquarters on the splendid harj bour of Shelbourne. This plan was, however, before the battle off the Falkland Islands, and was dependent upon some German successes on the ocean, which now have been indefinitely postponed. Strong endeavours are being made here to'ascertain the whereabouts of the I Karlsruhe, as it is believed steamers from New York arc supplying her with I fuel, but nothing definite has been made ' known at this -writing.

CATCH ADVERTISEMENTS. A Brooklyn tailor has this catchy advertisement in his window: "Fitz my nr.me; fits my game." A gas-stove shop shows this sign: "Gas heaters- not gas eaters." THE MAILS. Mails of the following dates, Wellington January 10, Auckland nth, Mel- | honrne 15th, and Sydney 16th, which arrived at San Francisco per s*. Sonoma, were dispatched east on February 3, and iwere distributed in New York on the morning of Monday, February 4. CITY EMPLOYEES. As an illustration of the distress even among city employees, it imay be stated that Supreme Court Justice Cohal'an yesterday declined to grant the writ oi mandamus applied for by Mollic Schweller to compel Controller Prendergast to make public a list of the 2,700 city employees against whom there have been filed garnishee executions. Justice Coha•lan, in his decision, said: 'The Controller's office may not be made a clearing house in order to assist a moneylender in giving credit to" city employees, and the motion is denied to circularise ,or post a list of such debts in a moneylender's office, a* it serve* no useful purfoaa."