ACROSS THE STRAIT

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 59, 5 March 1909, Page 2

ACROSS THE STRAIT

60SSIP FROM THE EMPIRE CITY.

[FKOM OUR COKUESPONDENT.j

Thursday

The most ridiculous complaints find j their way into the Opposition papers ; concerning the Main Trunk line service. One worthy grumbler makes a great grievance of the fact that he couldn't get a sleeping berth, that certain passengers played cards and drank whisky (in the ordinary "smok- ! er"), that "grey pumice dust" pervaded the car, that a woman had a baby with her that cried, and that j another audacious female put her : foot up on his seat and kept it there, j These sort of grumblers ought to stop j at home or else travel by sea. Sleep- j ing berth aaccommodation, all the j world over, is always limited, and should be booked in advance. As to the card playing and whisky drinking, neither, up to the present, is illegal in a railway train, and some . people simply couldn't sleep on a train if you gave them a three-foot thick feather mattress and administered a double dose of morphia. As to the baby, it is unfortunate, no doubt, for bilious persons, such as the grumbler, to whose outburst of in- J dignation I am alluding, that babies are born, but until babies are abolished by law, I suppose some of them , will be found in every train. Also ( the audacious female who put up her foot on the grumbler's, seat was a poor, tired woman, who couldn't sleep otherwise, and, in any case, the growler could easily have retaliated by-putting his foot on her seat. Probably his foot was as swollen as his j head seems to have been, "and there was no room for it. Really these grumbling effusions make me tired. They, are so silly. But, bless you, they are printed by the Opposition press with the greatest glee. Everything woul be right, no doubt, on the lines if Mr Masssy were only in power. An Opposition Government in office would, of course, provide sleeping berths free gratis and all for nothing, two hundred m each car, whisky drinking would be made a penal offence, and playing replaced by a, compulsory perusal by the passengers of Opposition speeches invaluable sedatives —babbies would be frozen and sent in the baggage car, and a female who put a boot on the seat in front of her condemned to imprisonment for life. Alas, how dreadful are the sufferings of the travelling public under the "extravagant and tyrannous rule of these so-called Liberals," etc., etc., etc. What with firemen and volunteers the streets of Wellington, usually somewhat drab and grey in their want of colour, have been the last clay or two quite gay. But it is a pity some of the uniforms are not made better, and not worn better. The firemen are the greatest offenders in the way of untidiness. ■ gorgeous red cuffs and facings,, a lapel glittering with medals (some almost, as big as small soup-plates), a Avatcn chain begirt with some half dozen more medals, and badges, do not excuse an untidy headgear, a collar that was last washed some months ago, and a tie whose erratic location accuses its owner (fasely no doubt) of having been "on a bend" the previous evening. Some of these uniformed gentry smoke short pipes and exhibit a pleasing indifference to municipal regulations re expectoration, others block the pathway, regardless of the busy wayfarers, and some —not many I confess—have palpably looked upon the wine when it was of, roseate hue. Yes, I admit that, as a local paper says,, "the presence of our visitors affords a change from the monotony of the •every-day Wellington crowd." All the same, I'think that when men put on a uniform they should respect it. I am not surprised to find a complaint being made in Auckland as to the low standard of arithmetical knowledge possessed by the average scholar. Here in Wellington the same evil his frequently been noticed. It exists both in the secondary and primary schools, and is accompanied by a great weakness in the penmanship of the average schoolboy or schoolgirl. The cause, no doubt, lies in the .stuffing and clogging up of the latter-day educational syllabus with all sorts of unnecessary extra subjects, the result being that sufficient time cannot and is not given to the all-important primary subjects. In the secondary schools bad writing and bad spelling are notoriously prevalent. For the former there may be some excuse in the quantity of "notes" which have to be taken and of the written homework. But bad spelling is unpardonable, and weak arithmetic a most serious drawback to a boy who is destined for a commercial career. Par better leave off physiology, elementary biology, botany, wood carving, and so forth, and have your pupils sound in the primary subjects. And yet, from what one hears, these are precisely the subjects which are either being grossly neglected or badly taught. ' Williamson's musical comedy continues to draw fair houses, but the playgoing public is grumbling—and I think with reason—at having to pay five shillings for a stall or dress circle ticket 'when the company is only mediocre. Our old friends the Pollards follow next week, and as their prices are popular, "three, two, and one," I expect to , see them do jgood business. The musical prodigies, the Chernaovskis are here again this week for three nights, and the two living picture shows continue to be packed nightly. Bad times are with us, but the "shows" do not seem t<V feel the strain very much yet. They -will when the winter is with us. Mr Remington, M.P., back from a two months' trip round Australia, declares that neither in Sydney or Melbourne is the accommodation for members in the Parliament Houses superior in convenience and comfort to that provided in the temporary Parliament House here. Consequently, he has come to.the conclusion that there need be no hurry in erecting new Parliament Buildings here. We can very well wait another five years before making a start. This is a view which I expect to find expressed by a good many members next session. I venture to predict that the proposed new buildings will ' not be completed this side of ten years from now. If there is to be a regime of economy, let it start by saving in Parliament House.