AUCKLAND ITEMS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1027, 17 January 1911, Page 2

AUCKLAND ITEMS.

CONTINUATION CLASSES. s r (By Telegraph.—Special Correspondent.) Auckland, January 16. Tho power given under the Act of last session to school committees to establish continuation classes, mil to enforce the attendance of children ,fram 11 to 17 years of age, is regarded by Mr. C. J, Parr , (chairman of tho - Auckland Education Board) as merely shelving the responsibility. "The Act," said Mr. Parr to a "Herald" representative on Saturday, "is merely playing with (ho question. Tha matter is so important , that instead o£ shelving the. responsibility in this connection by leaving, it to- the whim of the local school committees, the Department and tho board should take it in- hand. New South Wales is leading us in this. There the Labour Government proposes to take tho matter in hand itself, and malco attendance' at continuation classes compulsory. Meantime, I am pleased to see that one or two of the committees are taking the question up, but these cases are exceptional. My point is that the Legislature should have plainly instructed the Department ,by the Act of last year to,-establish.these continuation classes throughout the whole- Dominion, and not to leave it to mere chance." Half a Million on Amusement, : Tho "New Zealand Herald" .- has en-> deavouredto' find what Auckland peoplespend on amusement : in a'^yearj-and it says this_ morning that Auckland spends over half a million, or, to bo exact,. ,£547,902 a year on indoor and outdoor' amusement. The figure will be received with incredibility by most persons at tha first glance but'the figure is a conservative estimate,,of what is spent, on certain well-defined amusements and other 'amusements which-it is difficult'to-get-even an-: approximate estimate-are excluded. The large sum is made up.of tho amount spent yearly oh the following entertainments-. — Amusements and entertainments: Opera, drama, vaudeville,. .etc;, ..£12,000 ; moving pictures, .£18,000; skating, iCGOOO. Travel and locomotion: Railways, -£30,000; motoring 1 , .£13,000;.. "tramways, .£7000; steamers, .£SOOO. Raping: .Totalisator, .£361,316; bookmakers' fees', .£16,666; admission and cards, JE17.000 —i 395,002. Sports and> athletics': Ynchtjng;. taotor boats, and pleasure craft, JEIBO.OOO; Rugby football, .£2500; Northern Union football, .£800; cricket, <£600; other sports, JSIOOQj requisites,' 000. - ' -

Juvenile' Labour.' " The complaints of southern manufao. turers regarding the difficulty in obtaining the necessary female labour, for their factories are in every respect endorsed by Auckland employers of labour/ The scarcity of girls is a long-standing cry in many, local factories, and some inquiries on Saturday demonstrated that there are .no immediate prospects ..of a cessation of the coniplaiut. The manager, of the Onehunga Woollen Hills stated that although he had succeeded since "the holidays ,-in getting all the girls that he required just at present, all through last year there had been a great. difficulty in obtaining .both:"girls and- hoys, l 'especially'.boys. ■. "The boys' that'wedo get,- "he "aro generally .more ornamental than use-: ful. . The; reason' of the .scarcity ' is. not that there are not sufficient young people about, as there are..enough of th'em'run- ;! . ning about Onehunga..to keep two or' three mills going. Casual work, at which they can put in two or-three days a week,, seems to. satisfy the,majonty^of.them." 1 "Girls seem to;be scarcer'than said tho manager of one'of.the"city cloth-i ( ing factories,; who was, he believed; that of 'all the clothing factories. . . v . '. • • . '• The manager, of a boot, factory, oh being questioned, said"We. could ' not get all the girls' ,\ve wanted"'"during last year. Had we been able to do so we could have ' turned, out a lot .more stuff and sold it. I advertised during the holidays for girls for machine.work, but got no, applications. Youcan't getihem for love of-money, and yet if you go down Queen Street you will see hundreds and hundreds of girls walk* ing about!"