THE WEEK, THE WORLD. AND WELLINGTON.

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIII, Issue 306, 30 December 1909, Page 3

THE WEEK, THE WORLD. AND WELLINGTON.

(By Frank Morton.) Christmas is over. On the 25th •the weather was as bad as need be; .fcut "Christmas Day 1 is a home day, and nobody cared much. Indeed,' there was more than usual reason for .rejoicing—the Rev. Mr Bates, the weather prophet, had a true forecast. <On "Friday the barometer fell with .a sudden deep jerk, and Mr Bates -came forward boldly with a prediction that the weather would be bad on Saturday. That will be a safe -course for him to follow in future. It's always safe to venture on a ;startling prophecy when the barometer falls with a bump. I've done it myself, and gained some credit among the simple. # * # * LYALL BAY. I went out and saw the neiv resort at Lyall Bay to-day. It isn't a new i resort, of course; but it is newly connected by tram, and this is the first popular holiday yon which the j trams have run there. It was a j splendily fine day, with the merest whisper of a breeze, arid a "sky exquisitely rain-washed by these recent squalls. The people were there lytcrally in thousands—you will find that -the attendance ranged from ten to twenty thousand, according to winch of the* Wellington dailies you happen to consult. The beach looked Australian, barring the dingmess of its tone. Small swimmers and. bathers ,were everywhere. I even found «ne •evil-minded beast telling a small boy of nine that bathing trunks were not j permitted on that beach; yer must wear a proper bathin'-suit. I ought to have killed that beast. It ought to be counted to me for righteous-; ness if I had killed that beast. But public opinion in this community is still excessively drunken. I had to let him live. ! * ' * * • ■! GEORGE STEPHENSON. \ Many of you will remember Mr George Stephenson's meteoric and occasionally" brilliant career as a /theatrical entrepreneur. For come time now he has been settled ,si* an agent- or manager for his firni .at ■. Ck>i;ey,. v©§.*.th© wharf, this- morning, I inet-Mni;, "afisei- a lapste:o£ -years.. ■■■ He looks prosperbtis and genial,; arid he ■ hasnot '.lost.aesh.; Hf said :■ .'fl^aYe. seen statements^ in Wel|jngton. papers and in papers in Australia, to the effect that I think of resuming, management. You may give all such statements, my flat denial. I have never even thought of such a thing. It is stated now that I am, thinking of .settling for a time in Bradford, England. The statement is not true. I don't know why the papers should concern themselves about me, but they might at least get some sort of authority for the things they say. I am <k>ing business at Gore, and 1 am content with Gore. I am prospering reasonably, and life down yonder is not at all bad. It is a prohibition centre; Ibut there are points about a prohibition centre. Beer, for instance, is cheaper than it is in other places, and though I never drank much beer myself I admit that the fact may be to the advantage of some people. The big and sufficiently ibeery town of Invercargill is within a reasonable distance, and the dry provincial metropolis of Dunedin ;is a few hours up the line.. We have a better railway-station in Gore than you have in Wellington, the station at Invercargill is beyond your hopes, and the station at Dunedin is beyond your dreams. Why should I grumble? Of course I had good times and made good friends when I rail, my companies; but life-is not all froth and bubble, as Shakspere or somebody says. There are interests for a man apart' from the stage, andapart from the stage anxieties are fewer. Job never tried being a theatrical manager, or his patience would have gone to shreds. Why should I grumble?" Why, indeed! "1 sayj" said George, "that yarn about my saying 4So much the worse for the coo' is all rot. Deny it." Denied accordingly. .-.-*" ■ * • • ■ • ■ ;■■ , ,TRAMS. ■\ ;. '; /i For once j the tram service on a .special holiday route has proved, satisfactory liere in Wellington. ..' • There lias t?6en a gemiihely good seryice to, Lyali 'Bay to-day. As a result, the ibe&ch■■••was crowded beyond all precedent." The lesson of the thing is •obvioiis. \ If the Council gets moi'e; -cars, it will greatly enhance its revenue. The serving of Lyall Bay to-day meant that the Service on other routes was impoverished. We hear a good deal about tramway extension, but the public is apt to overlook the fact that the Council's roll-ing-stock is sadly deficient. As a matter of fact, only one car has been buiit this year—-jthe thing is absurd, laving regard to the need. At least twenty more cars are needed at once, if we are to have anything like proper provision for holidays and periods of pressure. The overcrowding of ears during the business hours of the day is now disgraceful and dangerous." Despite the fact that cars for four routes pass my door, 1 generally have to stand going to the city. Ladies are jammed and inconvenienced in the most indecent way. The city would never dream of putting up with any such treatment by a private company. If we must have municipalisation, the municipality should at least do things reasonably well. We want more cars now before we have more extension. I may add that the one car built this year is> not yet ready for use. In Sydney, with its vastly greater and finer service, there i 3 nothing like this bad overcrowding. To start with, in Sydney there are express ■cars to distant suburbs. In Wellington people from Seatoun and Island Bay are often kept out of their own cars by people who are only going a mile or a section. In Sydney there is an increased and accelerated service between the hours of one and two and five and six. In Wellington, save for provision of one or two workers' cars, there is no increase oi' acceleration. In Sydney you can. buy perftvy tram-tickets almost anywhere. Wellington has abolished penny tramtickets. In Sydney^ the trams are run for the convenience of the citizens. In Wellington they are run for the profit of the City Council. There is a difference, and I'm for the Sydney system. #. #*.•• SHOPS AND CHEQUES. Shopkeepers might profitably consider the curious performance of Frederick William Jones, of Wellington. Frederick recently came out of gaol and looked round. Three days later he went to a confectioner's shop, and said that lie was about to be married. On that he ordered £30 worth of goods, filled in a, blank cheque (wliicli he procured from the shopkeeper.1), berrov.-eel £'0, and yau-

ished Two days later he went to a big firm of merchants in the city and ordered goods to the value of £12. He wrote out a cheque for £15, and departed with ' £3 change. He has now gone to gaol for six months. What I have to point out is that the victims of a crude thief like Jones really deserve very little sympathy. The man .who cashes for a stranger a cheque bearing an unknown signature is a very foolish and simple person. Every presenter of a cheque with an «u_nknown^ signature is^ si proper object of suspicion^ I can't for the; life of me/ understand how shopkeepers are : so easilyv duped1; Their credulity is .a constant invitation to the cheaper "sort.af criminal.',!" ' * ■ ':>■ •■'• •• ■ :■■. • . POSTAL MATTERS. Mr D. Robertson, Secretary to the Post Office, recently went rdund the world on a visit of investigation, and he has furnished a report of his observations and ideas to the Post-master-General. Mr Robertson is a very shrewd and capable officer, and his- ideas are well worthy of consideration. He advocates an hourly delivery in the more populous parts of the four cities, with a thrice-daily delivery in the suburbs. He would simplify the parcel-post system by adopting the German card method, and so saving £1000 a year to the department. He would abolish the back-stamping of letters. By these and other improvements, ihe reckons that a saving of over £10,000 a year may be immediately effected. I hope that if Mr Robertson's proposals are, good, they will be adopted. The Post Office needs improvement. In Wellington the office is smart and modern; but in Auckland, and .some other of tlie outlying places, the offices might.have been better run by Noah. I had1 ail example of the way in which they do things in Auckland some time ago, when my wife was up ther on a visit. A feAV friends addressed letters to her at the Post Office. The address was full —Mrs Frank Morton (of Wellington), Post Office, Auckland. Those .letters had. many adventures, and some of them don't seem to have reached home yet. They generally reached Mrs Morton after many days, and every one..'of'-them,, had.-Keen tampered with. Complaint on the spot i proved to be quite useless. The 1 clerks .'merely turned over in theiv sleep and emitted vague noises. Several of the letters were in the same handwriting, ' but the woman or women who got hold of them took j thorn just the same, aiid the clerks.-J who had been warned and re-warned ( let them go. I sent, some money Ly wire to Auckland, and the message was triumphantly delivered twentvfive hours after despatch. It^ yas very fully addressed, but the officials had been playing the 'iisUal game. Another telegram lodged in Auckland for local delivery reached its destination iri twenty hours, so that the office is not always so slow as it is most times.

I wrote as clearly as I knew how, complaining of these things, and rho vaguely courteous reply 1 got startled me. I found that I was threatened with an official correspondence, and that I hate. .My complaint was perfectly clear and simple, my grievance was plain; but I hadn't weeks to waste in the writing of letters, ai.d I let the whole thing drop. It was stated •by Auckland that there wevo I don't know how many Mrs Frank Mortons getting letters at the Auckland Post Office. In point of fact, the directory knows' of none.

Further, the Post Office would have us believe that at one time there were in Auckland, several Mrs Frank Mortons of Wellington, all in a mighty has.te to get letters not addressed to them. It's a strain oh credulity, for w,e Mortons are not ! such:': a ''big tribe1 as: all that. The! fact' is, if the department could le only brought to 'face''an obvious conclusion, that the Auckland clerks are so sleepy and so indifferent to their duty that they let letters go to anybody who happens to ask for them, and don't wake up even when ccniplaints are made. In Wellington nothing of the kind would have been possible, for the clerks of Wellington are alert and keen. Perhaps Auckland might be permitted to borrow a clerk or two. Unfortunately, that is a matter Mr Robertson's report does not touch. I ••■* • ■ j LLOYD-GEORGE. Mr Lloyd-George, is proving himself as cheap a demagogue as ever held an English portfolio. Not con-] tent with descending to vile scurrilities with regard to the House of Lords, he is busily slandering .11 en who have rendered great services to the Empire. One of his pet aversions is Lord Curzon. It happens that Lord Curzon ranks as one of the great Indian viceroys, but Mr LloydGeorge is like most of his class—an utter igoramus of all things that affect India and the Colonies. It is perfectly easy to call the Peers, "largo rats,", but it is a more, difficult thing to feign intelligence and dignity whenone possesses, neither. Mr LloydGeorge, as forlorn supporter ,of his rotten Budget, is a very sorry spectacle," a sorry spectacle indeed. No one can say what the result of^'the English elections may be, but I hope that we shall see Lloyd-George and his crowd relegated to obscurity svnd sound ' Conservative Government reestablished. I hate your demagogues. Mr Lloyd-George owes'his temporary prominence merely to the fact that for a season he has been able to.gull the ignorant majority and the mean streets. • * «. •» THE NEW YEAR. There being nothing new to say about the New Year, we'll agree to say nothing.- I think that 1910 is iikely prove a better year for New! Zealand than 1909 has been. We shall: haVje- tp, giye away no-., "DreacL- j noughts"! this year. We shall have Parliament sitting at a proper and reasonable time. We may even have j the Ward Government exposed and j knocked-out. But that, I'm afraid, j is too much to hope for. 1