LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 762, 10 March 1910, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

—■ *" PORIRUA TRAIN SERVICE. A DEATH-TRAP. Sir,—The alteration of the railway time-tables, however desirable on the score of economy,, is not altogether an unmixed blessing. Tho change affecting the P.orirua .service has not been attended by the , most satisfactory results,'so far as the comfort'of tho residents of the place indicated are concerned, apart from the inconvenience of visitors to the Mental Hospital, an institution with hundreds of patients of both sexes, situated in beautiful grounds, the up-keep of which, together .with the modern system of treatment, .is worthy of the warmest commendation.' The visiting hours to the Porirua Asylum are, I believe, from two to four. Visitors leaving town by tho 1.20 train reach the establishment about 2.30. TJp to three or four years ago the return train to Wellington left the station a. little after four o'clock; then it was altered to nearly five o'clock; now tho time of departure is changed to 5.52, arriving in Wellington" about- a quarter to seven, or a little later. Visitors to the asylum must wait at the station or • elsewhero nearly two hours for their conveyance to town. All this waiting about might be. obviated jf the governing authorities would . permit the Napier train to stop at Porirua, which it passes at about 4.25 or so; .and I respectfully submit that the wear and tear on the permanent way and rolling stock,' through the stoppage, would, be more than- compensated for by the comfort of the .parties concerned,' and, probably, increased traffic would-result, especially on Saturdays, thus enabling passengers to reach the city by 5.15 instead of 6.45, or after. / • . Now for the more serious item in connection with the change. Visitors arriving by the 1.20 train from town have discovered that by remaining onlyi kalf-an-hour at the Hospital, instead of an hour and a half, they can, by walking some three or four miles, say an hour's walk, perhaps, catch the Napier train at Paramata, where it stops for water. But, with a view of saving some quarter of ■an hour, they invariably walk over the line of railway. -About a mile or less from Porirua is a s6rt of treilis bridge' of considerable lenßth, having narrow planking on one sido for use of officials in case of • stoppages through accident or other causes ;',but the whole bridge^including such planking,, is hardly the w,idth of the, train, ..with .no place, for a pedestrian to move. to. Some day, possibly in . the near furture,' something very-serious.- will occur on this--'death-] trap. .; The long, gridiron-looking bridge, whichl.invites giddiness when walking the plank, makes', one shudder to-think what might, be the fate of:people happening to be,, say, centre of, the bridge when the northern 'train dashes-over it. Surely the-railway officials must have ie-garded-this structure as, under tho circumstances indicated, an; element of girat danger.- Of course, it: might only be accentuated when the -northern train is late , ; but this may happen any time. Winter approaches, and slips will occur without notice, thus delaying trains. A few weeks, ago a through train from the , north, which must have been late, reached. jhe ..tollis bridge.only-two minutes after soihe people, heading for Paramata station,; had crossed, it. Had it been a trjne earlier something dreadful must have ensued;"' ' . .

■ If ;:.th.e .-Minister (if it^rosts-with him) .could. iseoijiisv way to allow-.the Napier train tedstop:.j'at Poriruai-it'-would minimise, this;ipenl;.of the linej'-ahd I am sxro i the'thanks of those whpse-..vjsits: tend to -ameliorate the condition of our unfortunate brothers and sisters in their sad. affliction. I write this .more in.the. interest of suffering .humanity, in the institution at 'Porirua' where,, however, kindness predominates; • under treatment are in. many instances,, capable of reasonin" ■intermittently, and who look forward to periodical, .visits from frionds, ; aiid con:versations of .'what is "going v on ih ; the world;, but;.which , the 'altered smeitable,* no-doubt unintentionally,..'dis-icourages.r-J'am,.,etc., : .■ .; ' i • :;•., . :/ . '.'■ , . /-''HUMANITARIAN.: A NEGLECTED AND DANGEROUS ;. FOOTPATH; ■■■'■;; ■* - Sir,—l presume our city fathers are' sensible men,, and as. all sensible men .roil ;'ThS Domintom I ask' a few lines in your-paper;to"attract those'worthy gentlemen's" .' attention to. the disgraceful state, of;the 'footpath iu Austin Street on the town 1 side:; A. short description of it ■will•show,.that it , sorely needs attention. At;thoPirie Street en(Lthe path is tho normal'.width, but as you' approach Ellice Street. •it tapers off until at one- place, whero'there..is a'telephone'post nearly in the middle, of the path, there is barely ■ room for two slim people to pass. On the road side thero is a deep ditch euphemistically called.; a .channel, which .it takes an active man to jump. The portion of/ tjio' footpath which apparently has ■ been . asphalted some years ago is broken to a dangerous extent in several places. The portion next the fences is a hirbid stream after every shower, finding its way' across the asphalt into the before-mentioned ditch, opposite' Harley Street/at' one end, and opposite Mr. Hawker's store.at tho other end. When tho rain ceases. there are inches of mud across/the .patch: at these two places. Wo pay ; lieavy .rates here, aiid fail' to perceivb.*-.. the'.'-.justice- of 'the * surrounding streets being .attended to whilst-we are left-with a. path that-would bo, a disgrace to Hokitika:—l; am, etc.,, .' ' .: :., .;. A.iIISGUSTED: RATEPAYER. March S.. .■ '■ . POLITICS IN THE PULPITS. Sir,—With reference to your article on "Politics and Religion" in to-day's. DoiiiNioN, in which you say that most ■ people ..will'.support Dr. Bevan's view that political and social- questions should not be aired in the pulpits, which should be regarded as "eacred to religious . questions," i contend that the great economic question is as mucli.a religious as it is a moral question, and should, therefore, be freely ventilated. in plain lnhguago in every pulpit in ' Why, Christ Himself ofton came into direct contact with the questions of His day..... His teaching" was directly, aimed at the injustice, social hypocrisies, and' religions • conventionalities : which . then prevailed. It was-because'of this, quite us much as for His claim to, be the Messiah,, that His death was "designed and brought about. Humbug and hypocrisy are- still more valued than justice: Truth is still trampled under foot. Were Christ .on earth to-day in the flesh, I believe He would more scathingly denounce the social wrongs under which most of us .'live and die than He did in His age. Poverty then- was of a more hopeful kind, and there was not grossnees, the darkness and despair which characterise poverty to-day. Present-day Christianity has developed' , } tame conscience; at heart it', knows that the masses regard the Church "with scorn. because it does nothing to remove the causes of injustice, but simply acquiesces in the economic conditions and adjusts itself to them. Hence honest men look with contempt upon the platitudinous consolations of a timid ministry, which, shuts its eyes to truth and justice and allows itself to bo made (he footstool :.of. Mammon: . Wherever injustice in tho shape of a wrong economic system exists—and its exists throughout Christendom to-day—the collective voice of. the churches: should be heard in earnest denunciation, because the churches ore supposed >to be tho implacable foe of every • system which affects men injuriously, unjustly, or immorally. Modern Christianity appears to believe that it is part of the Divine economy that the few should be wealthy and the many poor.. .Voluntary' poverty, wo shall always have with us, but thero is no reason why we should always have involuntary poverty. .It is high timo the Church.did its duty by inquiring into the economic causes, for poverty, and then expounding them in- tho pulpit. and on. the public platform. Thero is no better work on the subject thnn Henry George's "Procress' and; Poverty." In. the. past tho Church ■ has dealt i with poverty üb. far ae nAßfiihlfl' hv a 'fiwstftm nf nTinritnlilo

cress' and; Poverty." In. Hie past tlio Church ■ has dealt with poverty u« fm , as possible' by,, a system of charitable

doles, which- is obnoxious to every rightthinking and self-respecting person, who does not want charity, but justice. We want our parsons and public men to get down to tho root-cause of involuntary poverty, which lies in land monopoly, and the daily and hourly confiscation of the community-created value of land' by a comparatively few private individuals, and to sweep it away. In the saving of the people lies the safety of tho churches. As Mazzini said, nearly "every political question is rapidly becoming a social question, and every social question a religious question." It is the duty of Christianity to definitely' express its opinion, based on the spirit and laws of Christ, not only on private but on social conduct; not only on matters which affect the inner life of the Church, but on matters which have- to' do with tho Council Chamber and the Houses of Parliament. .". Christianity must educate tha conscience of the. nation .and must create public'opinion.—l am,' etc.," ",..' ;■' ".' - W. ORTON SYKES. March 8. .■'■'.

RAILWAY MUDDLEMENT. Sir, —The Hawke's Bay people will be compelled to put up with the present hideous train arrangements- during tho .Easter holidays, although an alteration was promised to take effect early in this month. Nearly all the through traffic from Hawke's Bay is either to Wellington or Auckland, and those bound for Auckland havo to wait at Palmerston for several hours. However, 'it is , satisfactory to know that tho original time-table is to be reverted to in April, and then the public will have suffered months of inconvenience and loss in having had to endure a time-table which they never asked for, which they, loudly protested against before it was sprung on to them, and which has proved a ghastly failure. Such are the fruits of having a Minister in charge of what he knows little or nothing about; what he probably hardly thought of. before taking that Department. What the people did ask for- was to have the'train run by ■ Manawatu, instead of by Eimutaka, and, of course, to pick up most of the hour and a 'half that was lost at Woodville. Everybody expected this to be done as soon as the company's line was taken over, and when we asked for our rights we got a thrashing for it. The New Plymouth-Napier daily connection is not necessary, though it seems most extraordinary that the Napier mail train should miss the New Plymouth connection by 20 minutes. As one who has lived in Melbourne, I can only say that I sincerely hope that the proposed'trip of ■ the Minister, for Kailways to Australia will not be a fruitless one, and that on his return Hawke's Bay may get something nearer justice. It is scarcely Creditable that two towns' 12 ™"' es a P a .s and .with a population of 0000 and lO.qpo..respectively,* should have no. train alter a quarter past six at night to bring people' home from'-their engagements at night;.and that the fare should bo 2s. ii. second return, half single; is a disgrace to the management.-1 am, etc., ; : " ■■■ :. DISGUSTED LIBERAL. . Hastings, March 7. . ■'■■■ ■ DR. PURDY RE^ VACCINATION. ■ p S iv.'~s? Us -7 P V bli ?■fddress,as president of tho r,, ew. Zealand • Medical Association, ur. Purdy affirms the absolute unanimity of the medical profession' o$ to the prophylactic virtue of . vaccination. Assuming for the moment that , such unanimity exists, no foundation could be less reliable or. less scientific. HadDr Purdy .lived a century ago- and bean,' elected president.of. the Koyal,College of Physi. cians, he might 'with the. same .confidence have said-■" Gentleman, if there bo- anv subject'upon which the medical profession is entirely..unanimous it.is..that of.-inocu-l a n, , - v # Wftui" forty.-years..af-terwards.thatsaJne-coHege p.etitio.hechana induced'.the, British; Government.: to pw ' n,b « .!>HQ. Penalise.. itsr,prMice,"' ''making any practitioners- who inoculated,-man, woman, 'or "child liable to- a month's imprisonment. Why was this?-Because it was proved that instead .of -protecting from ..smaljppx, .inoculation : infused -it among' the community, 'and"history 'repeats itself-. That same accusation is rePf^d,, in regard to,vace.m.»tton;. ;; by Dk Millard, Chief Health Officer of the city of Leicoster. For,. in. truth,, vaccination is but inoculation in-, sheep's clothing, or. in a,calf,s skin, for itis smallpox.pus modihod by. passing, through the:"chosen calf'.' and mixed-with glycerine. Is the .medical profession, in regard to this one subject likely to repress'the spirit of research and 'Scientific progress? Shall a law of evolution be beheld, with ever-growing confidenco in all departments of therapeutics, enrapt upon this one pet subject of vaccination.?

rhe proverbial "dissidenco of descent" the medical profession makes Dr. Purdys alleged unanimity impossible. But if, I repeat,'.it-docs exist, upon this .one only subjec'ty'ithere nvust be some: occult. mfluence..gr'.uuadrnittcd'.'factor in the matter. What-is'it?- .Is it .-not this fact, that vaccination-is. the'oneojjly surgical operation established , and: endowedby the State? It has:thereby, become a "vested interest," a profoljouil property, an inhu'ited medical asset- -It is human nature tho wo.'ld over to .resist to the death interference with'what: are hold to be "vested/rights." ''■..'." But this boasted , unanimity: does not exist; it is , an. illusion, and'the claim of vaccination is as the baseless fabric of ■* dream. Dr. Purdy,. I know, will tako small count of this assertion from a layman.. Let me then, with alldiie' respect, follow the advice of Drl Walter Had wen, of Gloucester, who, referring to the pressure so often brought on mothers to havo their children .vaccinated, said:; "If your doctor tells;you'that you must have your child vaccinated to save him from smallpox, fling another doctor at his head who says the very opposite."-Now, there is no greater medical authority: upon the past and present history .of, vaccination and its relatidns to the medical profession than Dr. Charles Crcighton, writer of a notable article upon "Vaccination" in the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" (the last edition but one), author of "Jenner and Vaccination," and other works. Dr. 0. Creighton declares*.-.'' That, the seeming unanimity of tho medical profession would crumble to pieces to-morrow if Parliament repealed sill-vaccination legislation." Let mo confirm Dr. Creighton by quoting the words i:f Sir W. •!.. Collins, vide speech in the House of Commons on February 12,. 1907:--"There. are members of my.own profession, whose reputation and .standing cannot lie disputed, who are ■ ".i i sceptics in- regard ",to vaccina-: lion. (Hear, hear.) I admit they are in a minority,'but lio ono in the profession takes up-the position ;to-day'that was taken up when compulsion' was first introduced in" 1858,'; jvheiv'Lord Lyttelton'ti Bill,' introduced',', in ; tho v House of Lords, was based -,on', .the' '..pri*iciple, as its author stated, > that- the certainty of vaccination as a preventive was unanimously.-supported by the medical profession and. also that the operation was perfectly . free from ill results or harm. Neither : -of : these propositions would bo maintained to-day by any member of my profession with.a reputation to lose, nor. did tho reports of the Eoyal Commission; ■ majority or minority, support either of these propositions." There is in truth, a medical revolt against vaccination, and if any of your readers care to know the names of its leaders, let them apply to Mr. J. Furnival, 1C Granvillo Terrace, Stone, Staffordshire, for copies of his two booklets, upon the. subject. Only a few years ago a medical society in Toronto, circulated -through the city an appeal against vaccination. Bnrcly "two years have passed since the enthusiastic formation of-the first Amerian anti-Vaccination League in Philadelphia, where delegates from twelve States assembled and tho conference held, nix sessions and.three public mass meetings. Hundrods of branches have been formed and in each of. these' States the foremost loaders are medical: men, .such-as Dr. Hodges, and. .Dr.■.■:'■ Leveraon.: Similar leagues have been formed and similar medical .support, given ,in other countries, as the pages of the^.Anti-Vaccination In.: "quiror. have.recorded. The most unique and recent- of such formations is that of the Medical Anti- Vaccination . League initiated by. the. Theosophical... Society .in. London. The knowledge of. these and similar facts has already spread like the dawn of the day among civilised-thinking people. But again. Dr. Purdy : represents vaccination' as an ' absolutely: innocent, guileless operation,"! without. morbid sequence or menace. There are thousands, ovnn iu this colony, whose experience disproves this statement. . For brevity's sake I again follow Dr. Hadwen'B advice and "fling another doctor.'.'. , Sir James Paget wrote, in 1863: "The progress of the vaccine- or variolous infection of the blood shows'us that q lierinancut morbid condition of. that fluid

Ie established by the action of these specific poisons upon it." I "fling another doctor": "That vaccination is indeed a serious matter has been fully recognised by tho late Dr. Ballard, one of her Majesty's inspectors of vaccination. Medical men and parents alike should drive from their minds tho idea so prevalent, that vaccination is but a trivial operation at the most. They should keep in niiud that in tho act of vaccination they are not merely imparting u protection, not merely performing a sort of magic rite, but that they are engaged in very truth, in implanting the seeds of a disease." . ;.. '. • ,■ ■ . If two such pro-vaccinists thus testify, what will be the witness of a conscientious anti-vaccinist ? Fling Dr. W. A. ; Hadwen liimself, ivho affirms: "Vaccination . has increased infant mortality; I would sooner stand any risk of my children having smallpox than submit them to the risk of cow-pox." Lastly, Dr. Purdy affirms: "That the large number of unyaccinated children in New Zealand is not due to the fact that the majority of parents have conscientious objections to vaccination, but because , they think it will be time enough when smallpox attacks us." This statement is disproved in the recent great increase in the number of exemption certificates, granted to parents and guardians; by tho successful resistance to legal compulsion, on the supreme ground of conscientious . objection to vaccination, per se; ana by the largely-signed petitions from Auckland and Canterbury; demanding the abolition of vaccination and reliance upon true■sanitary methods as the only rational preventive, and remedial treat-

ment. Here, sir, is the true , mission of the medical profession to preach and promote the gospel of universal cleanlinesscleanliness of the dwelling and its environment, of the person, within and without, water,. pure atmosphere, pure milk and cheese, pure natural diet, purity of thought and speech of mind, and heart, and life.—l am, etc., EDWIN COX. ' Hall Street, Cambridge, March 1, .1910. UNFRIENDLY CRITICS.

Sir,—l Lave not the honour of knowing the Hon. T. Mackenzie, so far as ]" am aware wo have never.*met,- but his speech at Cheviot, as reported in. the- "New Zealand Herald" this morning (March 3), interests me.VHe says the country (our Dominion) is being so seriously discredited abroad that: "it is time something, was said." ■ I agree, not only said, but dono,and r that swiftly. It is .high'.time:.that the party that has ruled- this country sa long and has plunged it so deeply.,into debt,, and given, us to little ;or it, -was driven-from power. . ... • . - Mr. Mackenzie says that he-- has: received newspapers, published in 'London ond """VasTiyigton, decrying the Government of this copntry, and he says;."One of the articles .concluded by stating, that every branch of the public servico is redundantly staffed for . corruption • purposes," and he asks, "Was not that sufficient to mike any New Zealander indignant?" I should say that it is •■■ much more than sufficient,' but I am Dy ; no means sure that, the statement is not n true one. I think it would not be difficult to produce instances of offices of the Government , "being 'so used; and I am quit<. sure lhat if-the other 'Departments ore user! as -the' Railway Department is' that the .vriters are more than justiae'l in what they say; Can anyene pretend to say that the Government acted in the interests of tho'Domiiijoa when they appropriated last year '".£200,000 more for expenditure on railways in the South Island than .they 'dicl'in the , North? .Everybody knows that that vote was .'.made in political aiid provincial, .'and not in State, interests,'and therefore was/a' corrupt transaction. ' '"■■" , . , ,.'.■'■■ ■'■• :."'. '■'.'■■.■:

Mr. T.' Mackenzie V.further ; eays:' "If this sort'; of. business' went (in., good- r> , en would refrain from -'taking part in public life' altogether." ;Hiye theyvnot begun; to -.do thjsUong' ago ? What took-Sir Edward"William SlaffoW (one of cur Tory; best men) out of- this'country? Simply, tho fact that'he could'. not persuade' the then representatives of'.the 'present :. : party in power; lo .do what,.was right. by the whole country. ~ They , persisted;. in.Awprking for Canterbury a'ii,d Otago:"' ; Sir' Ed;-' ward .pointed out that-the , 'day.; was: not far distant when the strip the South in population'' and' warlth'.'They would not be persuaded, to do what was right, and he left the country, • as many others.have,done; for'the , same reason.—l aui, etc'.;' -■-.-■-■ .... -:.. .--■——.-.SAMUKI--'¥-AILE. ; . Auckland, March 5, 1910.

THE KILBIRNIE TUNNEL, AND •'■.'.'■ , SUNDAY TRAMS.;';- ;\ Sir,—Can you inform me, oh if. ..not, will the'authorities who guide the destin.iesj.or .destinations of the trams, why the :tram that,'leaves.- Lambton, Station., for: 'Lyall-Bay.at 9.25 tun. could not leave the carshe'd a little '.earlier, and.run out ,to Kilbirnie, and so allow..passengers for the 9.30 train to Otnki, and the 9.45 for Upper Hntt,' and the 10.15'boat'to : Da.t's Bay, to catch'the trains and-boat? The , difference .in time taken would be very little, 'and .as a great number of .passengers would take. advantage '.of it, there would be a considerable gain to the: revenue, for, as it is, the trams return to the carsheds from Lyall Bay. and SeaWn nearly empty.. Perhaps some member of' the District Committee will ask the above, question at a meeting of the council;.or, perhaps, it might have-more effect-it certainly would natter the Power.'below— if. a deputation waited upon'-the great "Hi Ham."—l am, etc., • '.['.■_■. ..'. .•;. ■'■:■' ■.'-.' ■'• '■. ANOTHEE HOWLEE.\Y ' IS MIGHT RIGHT?;" :;/ -.Sir,—Now that the new regulations in regard to the racing clubs have been.piiblished, there is one point I would, like tit" call to the attention of the , -Minister for .Internal Affairs, and that ;is in regord to money paid out in dividends by the totalisator. For instance;-' , suppose' tho dividend -paid by a winning horse comes'to .£1 103.. 5d., now the fortunate investor only receives £1 10s., and frohi what I am given to understand 1 the club or totalisator owner confiscates ■ the odd fivepence. Now, taking into consideration the 10 per cent, that is deducted from each pound invested I really think that the racing clubs ought to l>e satisfied and not hang on to. the odd; money, which, in public: opinion, they'are not entitled to. Don't think for 'one moment that the clubs are wanted to pay out in stamps-or pennies, but, in justice to the public at. large who. really own that money they ought to ' be i made : to pay out the same to some local'charity, or, better still, to a local hospital. Honing the public will take this,' Matter fh hand jioiv. that racing affairs are -being' attended to, and-thanking you in anticipation,—l am, etc., ' ■ •"'• '■•■■■ ■ ■ • ' •■■'.■• AWAHOU. ' Foxton,- March 6.: ..■••■•;•• . EKETAHUNA. j; ; Sir,—There appeared in your very popular paper a short timcago a letter-writ-ten by one of the settlers in> the Eketahuna district complaining of the price paid for pigs (threepence farthiig. per pound), and the very high prices the bacon-curers charged for bacon.' Since that letter was written thoso kind.people' have reduced the price to threepence per. pound, which is a grinding price 'for the struggling settler. The same settler complains of-the prices charged by thebutch-' ers in Eketahuna for meat. It does seein monstrous compared with Wellington .prices. Settlers, cannot afford to kill n beast every' time they want a. joint of beef or mutton, and must procure it from the local butchers. ' One would ■> think where the cattle and sheep are grown the : prices would be reasonable, having auction sales every week, chances of picking up'old- fat cows, etc., and what amounts to .big expenses with the. Wellington butchers are avoided. There is a saving! of railage, abattoirs, and'complying withthe wages award, and heavy rents, I will quote some of the prices. Shoulders of mutton, fiveponce per pound; legs, sixpence; ribs of beef, fivepenco and si\. ponco; corned beef, any sort, the lowest price fivepence. Compare- those prices with the Wellington prices. The class ofbeof and mutton usually sold here is well known to be inferior to that in: Wellington. Nothing but the primest Beasts are bought for the Wellington market, and-th«. following are ,the prices bj the bost shops: Forequartersmutton, twopence por lb.; legs, threepence halfpenny,; loins, the same; coruedbeef, prime round,, threepence; beef, back ribs, twopence half-

penny; ribs, threepence. Those prices are about a hundred per cent, less than Eketahuna, where stock is grown'. Sir, not only are Ekctahuna prices exorbitant, but there is a rule adopted by the butchers which, in my opinion, , should bo illegal. If you buy a joint of meat and book it until you come in to town again, let it be only a couple of days, you are charged a penny a pound, extra, which amounts generally to twenty or tweuty-fivo ■ per cent., that in itself being a good profit. If the storekeepers were to charge such profits, and also for booking, what would bo said of them? Mr. Editor, you will be doing, many readers in this district a favour by letting jtheir grievances be known through your valuable columns.— I am, etc., ' JUSTICE. Eketahuna, March i.

GROCERS' PICNIC. The annual picnic of the Wellington Grocers' Union was held at Day's "Bay yesterday. About 600 people attended the outing. The weather proved fine all day long.. A long programme of events, for which' the general public freely competed, was gone through. There were three married women's races in all, arid a total of over 60 entries for those events. Mr. J. Kennedy was starter and handicapper, and members of the committee of the union .acted alternately as judges. Following is a list of tho main races:— Boys' Eace, under .15 years.—M. Pulsford,.l; W. Warren, 2. Boys' Eace, under 12 years:—G. Rule, , Girls' Eace, under ,15 years.—M. Conroy, 1; J. Pulsford, .2. . . Girls' Eace, under 12 years—D. Bancox, l; E. Rule, 2. ■ Married Women's Eace, No. i— Mrs. B. Furniss, 1; Mrs. V. Gamble, 2. Single Ladies' Eace.—Miss Williams, 1; Miss Parker, 2. , No. 2 Eace (single ladies).—Miss M"Millan, 1; Miss Wilson, 2. . After run-off of dead heat. . .; * . . Married Men's Bace (grocers only).— J. Blair, 1; C. S. Mahoney, 2. Visitors' Race— J. Forrester, 1. Hop, Step, and Jump.— J. Julian, 34ft. tin., 1.- ■"■••-■ ■■■■■•■■: Commercial Travellers' Eace.—A. Hopper, 1. Committoemen's Eace. Presentation cup and trophy, first prize. Nine entries. —C. S. ilahoney, 1; G. Johns, 2; "E. Murphy, 3. ■-..-• : ;.. ' Canvassers' Bace. —W. Moon, 1; J. Dowling, 2. '■■■■■;■■■■.■■■■■■ Carters' , Eace.-P. .Wright, 1;' E. Murphy, 2. : -■ ■■ .■ ••■■. ■ : . Master Grocers' Baee. Seven entries.— Mr. J. M'Ewan, winner.. . .' ... Married Women's Eace, No., 2.—Mrs. Murray, 1; Mrs. Coogan, 2. Twenty-three entries. A handicap race.:. Married Women's . Eace, No. 3.—Mrs. Swain, 1; Mrs.-Avery;'2; Mrs.' Whittington, 3; Three prizes and-large entries; . Grocers' Eace, over 30 years.— J.' Kennedy, I; E. McGavinr2. Counter Hands' Eace. Fourteen entries—J. MlCcown, 1; J. Dowling, 2;. ■'. The day's sports'.were conducted 'without a hitch. • During the day the youngsters were plentifully supplied with fruit, toys, sweets, etc. Altogether the outing proved a'most enjoyable one, and the committee of the union desires to thank, the master grocers and others who kindly donated prizes and trophies for. 'competition at the picnic. '■.--. . ; ■ ■-..