BANG GOES THE CASH!

Auckland Star, Volume 55, Issue 2, 3 January 1924, Page 5

BANG GOES THE CASH!

COSTLY , HOLIDAYING. TO "ACCOUNT RENDERED." THE BILL FOR lESTTVITY. Msny a man is poorer in pocket to-day than he was before the commencement of the season of mirth just ended. It only dawns on the man who looks at the figures of his savings banks account, when there remains, as it were, but the bones of his feast of pleasure, and there conies the sobering reaction which inevitably follows a period of excitement, that there is a bill to foot. He foots it, but not in any way co lightly as he footed the dance of pleasure in the days that went so swiftly by. There are, of course, some fortunate folk who can pay out and smile, but theirs are not the bank accounts of the average. Plain Bill spends his money with a real abandon, forgetting in the high lights of his Christmas and New Year fun how hard it haa been to get. When the realisation comes, he very readily recognises that he has spent far more than he could afford. But generally he takes it philosophically, and sets his teeth for another unbroken period of work, with a break and more "splashing" at Easter, perhaps.

How does the money go? Ask of the thousands who went to Alexanda Park and Ellerslic. They went with a smile when the day was young —and most of them smiled less happily when the day was done, and their favourites had been downed. But still there was money left, and hope grew high again with the morning of the next day. You can't always lose, they tell you, and judging by the tales told of good '•divvies," you would think that some of the punters had done exceedingly well. Ah! but the bank book tells the tale in all its naked truth—and did you ever hear a man tell you of his losses? No, it is not in nature to admit defeat, and you will hear the names of winners trumpeted aloud, whilst the losers will be passed over.

But by no means all tlic money spent durina - the holidays went to help maintain the '"sport of kings." It is wonderful how very many other ways there are of getting rid of holiday cash. There are beaelips and other resorts by day, and the theatres and all that sort of thing by night, and then if yo'.i hang about the city, it costs quite a lot to while away the time. Man is a convivial animal, and conviviality is accompanied by the spending of cash. Some spend it in healthy ways for the obtaining of much innocent fun; sonic spend in ways that are not no healthy, and are far more costly. To the man with connections and a jjood heart, the purchase of present? for relatives and friends at Christmas and New Year mean a final parting with much hard earned cash. To walk into a shop to buy just a few simple little things is the "theory; to walk out carrying expensive articles and feeling as if you had been robbed in your sleep is the practice. The day of t-c cheap present has gone with the days of butter at sixpence a po.ind, never more to return. Now, ask yotirse'f, what would She think of something cheap? Be--ides, there isn't anything ci'eap—that is to say, you may get something shoddy at about teD time- its true value, but you can't get anything good for less t .an ten times that amount —you can work it out yourself! Weil, perhaps extrayncanec is a good antidote for idleness. You have spent more than you can afford, and there is only one way to make good the deficit. Work makes money, so the spender "gets down to it" again, to earn agiin —and spend again. It is thus the money goes round. It would never do to let burn a hole in your pocket. Consider the need for stimulating trade for the good of the country! GOING HOME VISITORS LEAVING' THE CITY. With the end of the Christmas and New Year holidays which came yesterday there began a heavy exodus of visitors from Auckland, and in a day or so the city will once again become normal. The traffic throughout the holidays has been exceptionally heavy, particularly on the trams, and though the actual figures will not be available for a week or so it is safe to say that all hitherto existing records have been broken. Also on the ferries lias the traffic been good, particularly on Boxing Day, but to-day it is merely the usual passenger traffic increased by a sprinkling of picnickers to the Devonport beaches. Inquiries at the Railway Department this morning showed that while there •was a slight decrease in the number of passengers carried on the trains during the holidays—complete ligures are not available—there will be an increase in the revenue compared with the same fortnight of twelve months ago. -The decrease in the passengers carried is due to the trams now running to the racecourse, and also to the trams extending further to the suburbs than at this time last year. But the long distance traffic has been considerably greater than in 1922-23 and as a result the revenue for the holiday traffic will show an increase. The holidays over," the visitors exhibited the. usual haste to get away home, and yesterday the Railway Department ran three expresses to Wellington and one to Palmerston North, the total number of passengers carried being in the vicinity of'l4oo. To-day and this evening will see four expresses running and by the end of the week there will be few visitors left in the city.