NAPIER NOTES.

Hastings Standard, Issue 84, 3 August 1896, Page 2

NAPIER NOTES.

[From Our Own Correspondent.] Napier, August 3. The question is frequently asked why a Labor Bureau officer was ever appointed in Napier, and for this reason: We all know that breaches of the law are committed every day in the week; we know that there are many men out of work; we know that banks and mercantile houses are the greatest offenders against the provisions of the Shop Hours Act, and yet the officer whose duty it is to attend to these matters makes no sign. Complaints are general as to the way in which young clerks have to work overtime, for which they are never paid, and if the proper officer chooses, he can see the offices lit up night after night. Then, there is another thing which has always struck me as being very unfair to the ordinary trader. Certain shops which supposedly come under the exemption clauses of the Act, are little else than general stores. These surely ought, in justice to the people who close, be made to subscribe to the provisions of the law. If the Bureau officer was sent here merely to send in a not particularly reliable report once a month as to the state of the labor market and to enter men's names up in a book as being unemployed, the Labor Department might just as well have kept him in Wellington, Lyttelton, or somewhere else. I [am not an advocate for the worrying of business people unnecessarily, but I tan positively declare that ia no other town in New Zealand

are there so many barefaced evasions of the law relating to workers. Can the Inspector under the Factories and Shops Acts inform me if all the barmaids, waitresses, and shopgirls, gee their half-holiday ? Will he tell me also whether the lighting up of the banks and other offices night after night is done for fun or business ? The excavating for the Masonic Hotel will employ some labor and when building commences a great many men will find full employment. I understand that there is to be a " dive " constructed in with the new portion. This will be a novelty in this part of the world, and in the summer time it should prove a cool and pleasant place in which to enjoy a " long sleever." The Marine Parade Hotel is being rapidly pushed on to completion and really it will be a most comfortable hostelry when finished. It would do some of those who protested against its evection a great deal of good if they would but take a look over the place and note its extent and its appointments. Next to the bote! is a very nice cottage which will let very readily in the summer season ; and those who occupy it can either be served from the hotel or sit down at the table d'hote. The hotel itself has. suites of rooms which look out upon the sea, and the balcony will be one of the features which visitors will keenly appreciate. The dining room of the hotel is very large and airy, the commercial room a pleasant one, and the drawing room will be beautiful. The bar and public portion of the hotel are shut off from the main entrance altogether, so that those who are staying in the house need never know that they are in a licensed house. I feel sure that when the place is finished, it will become a very popular resort for visitors and that the travelling public will greatly appreciate the provision thus made for their comfort. We are all hoping that we have seen the last, or at anyrate the worst of the winter's gales. Our breakwater has had a good shaking up and shaking down, and the members of the Board, as well as the contractors, will be glad of the chance to proceed with the work of repairs. On Saturday night, with curses not loud but very deep, the passengers—and there were many of them, including the Opera Company—had to make their way to the Spit, thence to be conveyed in a steamer to the inter-colonial boat. W 7 hy, in the name of common-sense, could not these people have been taken to the Glasgow wharf and embarked ? Someone will say because there was a fear that the sea might make again and the steamer be in some danger. To which I reply " Fudge 1 " The sea went down rapidly on Saturday afternoon, and it was quite calm at 9 o'clock at night. It is true that some of the mooring lines parted while the steamer was lying at the Glasgow wharf, but that was because they are not the sort of lines that should be used. For some reason or other there is a game on foot to make the harbor at the . breakwater unpopular. It is now settled beyond dispute that Mr Douglas's team of fencers is not to gq to Australia at present, but instead will perform in Canterbury. Later on the horses may be sent over to have a shy at the events in the Australian Jockey Club Spring proi gramme. The main portion of the Napier electoral roll is in the hands of the printers, and names sent in now will be placed on the supplementary list. The Registrar, Sergeant O'Donovan, has lost no time in the preparation of the list. The fact that the Hon John McKenzie has stated in the House that the Government intend taking the Woburn Run under the compulsory clauses of the Land for Settlement's Act has caused much favorable comment here. " The long paddock " was in evidence at the Magistrate's Court this morning, when a number of Meanee and Taradale residents were let off on payment of Court costs for permitting their horses to wander. It appears that the nuisance has become not only annoying to people but also lately dangerous. Constable Routledge, who acts as ranger, has had to take steps against offenders, for, as he put it this morning, when people are only charged driving and poundage fees they pay them cheerfully as rent for the " long paddock." For some time past, so as to avert a famine, the pack-horse has had to be requisitioned for the carrying of stores to Wairoa from Napier. This morning, however, the news was telegraphed that the bar was workable and the sea calm', so that a steamer will now be able to work the port. The case of the young girl charged with concealment of birth comes on at the Magistrate's Court this afternoon. It is a most pitiful affair, as the girl is only sixteen years of age, and certainly not accountable for her act under the awful cireumsfcances. Mr Cresswell is defending her.