WEEKLY WHISPHERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, 10 August 1907, Page 3

WEEKLY WHISPHERS.

\V 'Qafyia tile ft a' \vur rials, li^cye.ltuilii;..- „,.. ... AyfaPs omangyc taXm' iwiis, 4>kt, faith, it'll f relit it. ='-'•■.•> _' • '— Burns '" *i. wc^J^f new forces of revenu tho N.Sk .Wales Government is exped '-'??-.• *P create i s f rom tourists who d( 'ypte.'.fheir lives to tobogganing. Ar. pareiltly there are almost as many sue as there are people who spend all thei days golfing. Ati present they get ; month or ; two in Canada, anothe month or two in Switzerland, at : special toboggan .resort called Cresta Then the season in ths Northern Hemi sphefo is over. /In N.S. Wales, h August, the region around Mount Kos eirisko, in the Siibwy Range, is al ideal -tobogannriing district, bub til lately it took bard work and lone travel to reach it; Now, what with railroads, easy road gradients, halfway houses, etc., Kiandra and Adarai- . ? 3 .-y are as easy of access as Ccoma _u_3if (though 'that's not saying £Ulcli),.ahd Mr, Carruthers. hopes to Eft"* £p|t y_ng r on to; the. toboganning by inducing Kirn to : come o«H hero- for the sport in Aiieußt arid late July. r 6 * » » « * The dodge is lo get some or vi.J, -Snowy Mountain settlers to enter for the big toboggan competitions in Canada and Switzerland and bring home prizes. Of course few outside of Australia know that there is a relatively vast region of New South Wales highlands urider snow for three months jll the. yeaf. The people of that, locality — Kiandrat' Adamihaby, Boriibala,— afi the Utile townships along tlie Victorian Showy. Moulitain borfier— are ebrii tobogariners. They travel on snowshces a quarter of the year as. a fßalttJr of. cptir?e, .arid f rbrH early cliildKigtifJ, and to them the.'tofioggari has been a plaything ev&r siiice the days Men. first tfiey began to. toddle. . It wb.ul/J Jfe quite easy to pick -and train ft. "ilafK Kofs'e" t'obogjiaribr froril the Sydney-side. Saxons .of : this bleed,— if ygu could only, tame him to Canadian mfl ,S>Xiss f : ways ; jirid .that, he would fsk ft,kfefOd place at> feast iii the big apmpotitloris . is _ foregone conclusion. rVtyway-i. the, N.S. Wales Government Wi spending some 'money in making JHMi, Snowy,. Range townships more aoces^ibJe — iio .jmore -danger ■of • poor Glemlht Wpragge being blown : off Kosciusko, iri a. snowstorm as there was a 'decade ago. Then the local I 'dark horse" toboganner, is to be sent to .the great Swiss and Canadian matches, as. a decoy, and/ thereafter it iSjT^ioped that the wealthy tourist. will ejsftje -fij New .£outh Wates -to experience. ;ttie' novel sensation of toboganning in August. ; .-And, what about New Zealand? :Ha.ve. we riot ■ also pur Lady of the Snows? ( . Can't we do something to catch the touring' tobogannei', say in September, after he has- done Kosciusko;? -rHere;.— :somet>hin|; for the Tour-' ist Department "to ponder over. .**■'' .' - „ , -_ i :: -The' new Drainage "Engineer; it is understood, ■ has 'fluttered the doVrOoii at" Carioli^ in other words, he has condemned 'a- very large assortment of pipes- intended for the drainage works. -Wellington' contractors are howling, ftb— demanding thai delivery be*.' taken M^T-spectißn at.!We'llington, : :ana iuot -M : Nelsba^-;ari'd tlie local m.iriufaclur- , ers ars wiping the tear from every eye on the premises, Some day in the , ; distant future there may be. drainage in Nelson; but apparently by that .time even the septic tank will be ready. By that time too the airship will be as common as hens in a fowlyard, and the motor car will be purchaseable on time payment at the price of a bicycle. * # # * # All the Chinamen in town are now so busily engaged that they can afford to take shilling lunches like white swells in the middle of the day. One , reastiu assigned is the demand for bananas. Another is that- since Thurs- , day there is plenty and permanent ocupation for them, as they have been hired by the hour to swear on behalf , of hundreds who have been deprived .of the use of Nonnanby Bridge. The scenes' on- Thursday were numerous, in j some instances humorous, in others ] pathetic. One lady was seen to look . mournfully across, and then southward ( _ ! sh\e would like to go by Hardy-, street. Bndg6, but as her destination was in . Milton-street,. Between . Grove and Bridge-streets, she "Was by no j 'means sure .whether the Hardy-street ] 8r Ihe ' CblUngwoodX .route was .the ( shbrteik --.(jthers,. of. .ike he persuasion, beg&_ io talk local politics oa llu: spot,, and demand a new City Coc:i> i! election. Others again, .tried gymn-:- I tics by Walking across the sing- plan- I tEat.. was left before the final di>- j rnaritlenient, ajid- this- djing?roi_ gsroe j was played by more than -one at nighi. ■ -. A. new temporary footbrjdg* •■'-.- '. • have been up by last evening. !l •■. \ built iv spots — I mean sections, so that I only instalments may be carried away \ by floods. It is a pity, because, .--ii . "Old Man" coming down late t'lis month, or say in September, might carry the structure bodily down, and deposit jt at Halifax-street crossing, where it may do good service. As the new bridge is nice and low, a gocd deal below street level, in fact, "Moff" has great hopes of it a." •-• comfortable spot whereon to stand and fish for eels o' nights when the trcuf, season opens— that is, if the big water when it comes down leave any of it around. . t «•» * * * Drapers all over the country, (soys the London "Evening News" of -_y 22), 'are how face to face with a remarkable rise in the price of textile materials, and it is safe to say that, beforfe the end of the. year, the public will be feeling tho effect of it iri a noticeable increase iri the cost of wearing apparel. Almost all staple drapery articles are affected, their value in many cases having gone up from lb to 60 per cent. In silk goods of every description the rise has been phenomenal, and woollens, cottons, ribbons, linens, hosiery, and even leather goods will cost" us more. The manager of a large West End establishment told an "Evening News" representative to- : day that only once since the year 1877 has silk been so dear "The price .now stands -t £3 10s a kilogram of MJb., •he said, "and there is every probability of a very much higher price being ■reached in the near iuture. There, are many reasons for this great increase^ The public demand for silks nowadays - Has risen 'by leaps and bounds, and 'shows- no sign of decreasing. People to whom this fabric was an entirely unwonted luxury i"J°™<*. tl , me ? olv no ft' wear -clothing in which silk largely £ tures;' Telephones - ;and telegraphs have /been. responsible m no small de■;gfee/X ;;'X;V ,' , , . ■ "Silk js extensively used in electric-"! al workT;owing .to its non-conducting broper-esi'and-ih these particular di-;JSSS-/ii__4»- is most largely «m---;clrned.: That country, too must bear a good deal of -responsibility for the heavy: gambling which goes on m-fu--HureZ:- 'For many years^ there .» no -doubt that prices -have been too low all round. The desire to sell at tne cheapest rates has led to ruinous cut^ ' ting' on the part of the big shops, and the. public, of course,., have been reapine fee benefit.. The rise in prices all round 4s not likely to come on before tfi« r autumn, as most of the big dealers X secured- their supplies for the present 'season many' months back, and iti is - : only when they 'come to renew their : stock- tha^a change will be pessary. Sare'some; telling figures. Silk lm- - ing, 7 which we are now selling at is Hid a^yard retail, cannot be bought wholesale' at,vthe present time for less " than 2s 7d,and at this time last year the- Japanese: silk, for which we now hayevto pay 81s. 6d per piece of 50 yards', cost only ;6Ss 6d. The rise in woollens X has'— !so* been considerable. TheyX have- alsof gone up considerable. They have" gone up per cent, to 35 per cent, in : value, and look like going stiU higher.- : ';All-_iridB of cotton goods too will feel the> -pinch. ' Lace arid ribbons have risen quite 20-per.centi, and- a' factor which, has. some effect in this direction has been the Unusual '• demand -for fancy articles.. -In. the cases; manufacturers axe booked .: pfghVup^to 1908,. and : hereagam thgr - erMtMpularity. is largely responsible X SeVrLof 15to 25 per cen> which -has -'occurred during the past 18 ' ninths. I should say, however that : lW has reached its top price. Much ' tfe* same remark applies to gloves and

Bronchial Coughs take Great Peppermint Cure, ls 6d and 2a ea.

mimmmmmmt*mm<fmmmimimmmmmi I leather goods generally ; in fact^ tt ' price-lists of the up-to-date draper ai I a rieyef-ending source of worry nov adays. > -„.. * . , * . * • * * ; Tho Mayor of Wanganui forward for press publication an appeal for sub scriptions towards a national testi j? monial to William Webb, of Wanganu —(because of Wanganuiy hence thesi ! " tears)— in as much as he has.Jieatei '' Charlie Towns and won for Ne^'Zealanc n the sculling championship" of the r world.. Well, when Webb beats a real a champion sculler, and not merely one r who held the belt by devolution from his a brother, iti will be time to think about :• a "national testimonial. By the bye, " has anyone ever thought of. getting up a 1 national testimonial to Rutherford, the " Nelson College N.Z. boy who has made j the World richer by his radioactivity ' studies ; or the Rhodes scholars ; or other > New Zealanders who bave held up our ' end iri science, literature, arid the arts ? Oh no, tfiey don't count. But knock a man out and win a plugging belt ; give half a dozen fellows broken kneecaps and '■ win a football match ; hit a cricket ball ' further than any one else : or climb a greasy poJl. arid reach, the pig.-in shorter time thau the next man — and half the .populace goes mad and feels around in the breeches pocket for thrumihers towards testimonials. "Moff" agrees with the auck.'»;^ "Star," that sport idolatry is about mad enough, without ma*^ us look as if we were all Colney Hatch at large. No, "Moff" is not enthusiastic about a Webb testimonial just yet.