MOTUEKA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVIII, Issue XLVIII, 5 February 1913, Page 6

MOTUEKA

RAINFALL RETURNS. Mr C. S. Hiu7a;n reports on the rainfall for January, lylo. as follows: Date. " in inches. Total Rainfall 1 0.02 4 0.02 5 0.85 6 2.62 21 0.23 26 0.17 27 0.37 30 0.04 31 0.01 - Total 4.33 Maximum fall, 2.62. on the 6th. Days with rain, 9. A white diamond, weighing carats, has been found by a digger at Karreepan, near Kimberley, who sold it for £2691. A doctor suggests sheets of paper in lieu of blankets as a warm bed-covering for the poor. The ancient Hebrews seem to have been ignorant of the domestic cat. It is not once mentioned in the Bible. There is an agitation in Melbourne against the tipping system. In an article on the subject, the "Age" says: — "It is known that at certain hotels men live on tips alone, and are encouraged by the management. Such men are simply out to make a living. It does not enter into their minds- that in accepting a tip they are placing themselves upon aplane of social inferiority. But the hotel 'guest' feels the pinch. He, speaking collectively, must pay in addition to the fixed residential charges, the wages of men who are indispensable to the management. Nothing is more annoying to visitors, country visitors especially, than to have the baggage men shadowing them at every turn. They are told at the office that the charges are so much per day; but always there.is the commissionaire, or porter, or chambermaid, to be reckoned with. In some certainly, where extra service is rendered, if is'only'fair'that a gratuity should b-p. doled out : but ordinarily; where no tips are forthcoming,, one's room is "badly kept, the hall porter' is ii.uttentive, and the waitress is generally busy looking after the needs of someone who understands the value of tipping, however degrading and 'insulting' the disbursements might be to the recipient. There is a strong feeling- in Melbourne that the tipping nuisance should not be allowed to develop. It is opposed utterly to Mr Fisher's dictum, displayed daily from a hoarding on the site of the Commonwealth offices. Strand, London: — 'We offer a fair day's wage for a fair day's work.' The evil is not fo bad in Melbourne restaurants since the adoption of the Wages Board award. The trouble is that many waitresses, knowing that tips will not be forthcoming, strut about like ladies suffering from ennui. They go to the kitchen and announce their orders in a haughty voice; they return lackadaisically to the table where the customers are fidgetting arid, very slowly, serve the meal. This is the consequence of the glorious independence of spirit following on the Wages Board award."