Into the Open Country.

Free Lance, Volume XIX, Issue 1029, 17 March 1920, Page 7

Into the Open Country.

[ail eights eeseuyeb.]

No. IX. A WEEK IN AUCKLAND,

WE' left Hamilton for Auckland again on Monday morning. A great cry is passing over the town and •country. It is ""Benzine.'' We had to make our way back to Auckland on ...» mixture of distillate (in which.. the farage staff had been washing- their andfl), and a little pure benzine. The members of one motor party we. met on route told us that farmers were stopping, motorists in the hojie of obtaining benzine for their' milking machines., The shortage has sent a despairing ■cry all through this country, and many .farmers are reverting to the old-fash-ioned hand-milking. We had a glori--ous drive . over the Rangiriri Hills where/the roads , are less pleasing than in any other part of the trip. But the beauty of the country made up for these discomforts, and we arrived in Auckland after a good run. Thousands •of rabbits infest the country and we .saw hundreds of these rodents feeding in the pasture beside the road. / . ■*. In Auckland Again. 'P. Auckland is fairly normal. The Grand Operas are adding the only n£je of change.; Most people seem to Be with the Company, ..although .Miss Castles did break on the top C" in the first "act of " X/a. Bohome " on the evening of; my -first visit; Not riany people-know that Mr Slapqffski was. •once a" very successful athlete, and. I understand that ho has held an amateur championship - for boxing in England. Surely such a. combination >is extraordinary! 'Boxing:, and Grand. Opera. And the wonder of it is thathe is a marvellous, conductor. It is a pity he has not got better instrumentalists to help him in his clever aggregation of orchestra, voice and drama. fMy companion, who recently taw the> Carl Rosa and Covent Garden operas in ."London, said that many of the settings presented by the Williamson people were better, than those ot .the great metropolis. . \,.'i ■ .' * "K * ir The Italian Band. Beautiful institutions are rare jn, a busy city street, and ' Queen Stieet, will its attendant side, roads and byways, is not immune from this rule. The flower stall or orange-piled narrow sound Nature's only note in the whirl ■of the traffic, and an occasional band •or lonely musician struggles to keep Orpheus' s flame aburning. Auckland has lost its moat beautiful street institution ! The Italian musicians who have been here for many. a - long year lave sailed away with their, harps and violins. and the ' little dark corners, which were their wont, are bare. * * -x- ' •& Everybody knew the Italians. They -were part of Auckland. Tipsy sailors ■danced to their music under the spluttering gas jets of side-street hotels. Giggling girls hummed their music, caught in _ shreds as it rose up to somje factory window or topmost workroom. Sticky-fingered children, with a solidary penny, invested'their wealth in the music of these smiling Italians, whose talent really deserved better things. Auckland will miss them. We shall miss that bowing, smiling harpist who played " K-K-K-Katy," with as much •evident zest as when his fingers strayed through the cadences of the operas of

(By H. HECTOFL BOLITHO, for the Nets Zealand Free Lance)

his native land. Jsow the Italians have folded . their tents, like , the Arabs, and-as silently stolen away. .■» • ■*• * * Exporting Brains. People usually admit that New Zealand is not the nucleus of originality, and that aspirants in art, music, and letters must look; elsewhere for profitable pastures. Certain it is : . that a great deal of o-ur younger enthusiasts are turning their ' eyes towards Australia, England and America, and still more certain is it that *a few have actually; . started the . outward stream towards the greater bountries. It is probably the result of wider knowledge and interests aroused, by the. war and its attendant migrations. , '■» -* ' -ji 9r " The : artists assert that .the people here are satisfied with lithographs and cheap imported prints; the musicians sigh and say. that only the cheap bal-

lad and-the very vaudeville voice bring in .dividends." • The : literary people splash the ink of r'emonstrance and declare that the editors in. this city are unyielding and "grandmoth'ery." It is also said that originality is banned in the conservative columns and .tHe word "groove" is,used to describe the lot of the Auckland penman. Certain, it is that we have to look to Wellington and a few of the Southern "journals for t'iie-only signs of "The New Journalism" of which Ave hear so much and see so .little.

One journalist threw aside his pen which had known editorial honours, and went copra growing m Fiji. Georg;e Finey, an Auckland artist who was "published" in England and Australia has delivered a disgusted judgment of the "Jack's. Come Home" methods of our art patrons and is now in Australia. Artists are folding up their easels and stools and are booking passages to more lenient latitudes. The journalists have caught it, and Angus Wilson, a penman of the younger school, has ex-

tended his "wings to the utmost, and is even now on. the way to Meet There is no reason why he should not rob Lord Northcliffe of at least one log of his chair, for Wilson has the. natural talent, trained up' the,-exacting wall ofthe " Herald." The Rev. Jasper Gal-' der, whose aptitude for straight speaking has several times disturbed the sihug arrangement of feathers ill the Episcopal nest, is said to be. oh the J eve of departing for America to lecture with the Unpronpuncibles—the Chautauqua people. Two other journalists are making enquiries at Cook's and they expect to announce " departing dates" at any moment. Mr J. Wallace Atkinson, an ambitious and fairly successful bass, is to angle for an engagement in Australia after being a prominent-local singer for many years. • .• ■

The Waiata Gardens.

.On a recent, day I visited 'Mr Clement Wragge's widely advertised Waiata Gardens.. The effort is rather pathetic. The palms and banana, trees are. certainly very beautiful, but the nomenclature for every_ badly-formed path and each rustic bower is rather ridiculous. Mr Wragge has, drawn on illustrious figures in mythology to name his trees and seats.

We went to Noxthcote in .the morning ' This is an " over the harbour" suburb which precedes Birkenhead on the steamer trip. We hadvdinner at a- delightful hotel where the hotelkeeper showered the flowers; from his garden upon us. In the afternoon we went on to Birkenhead, where Mr Wragge has built his tropical gardens. The house contains an unexciting col-

lection of art specimens and curiosities. . The shrubs and luxurious palms and trees are a rich reward' for the labour entailed iu walking to them from the wharf. -X- Sfr ■» -S • On the day of our visit, Mr Wragge was in the garden manipulating . a telescope. He was bubbling ■ over with interesting information in regard to the recent sun spots. His head was shrouded in a dark red silk turban., in which he looked very much . like the Eastern man out of a musical revue. He was engaged in preparing weather forecasts later in the afternoon. Hesends these to countless places in the Dominion. Mr Wragge has nertainly converted a clay bank into a beautiful garden, but I think he over estimates the wonder of it in the literature with which he .advertises " Waiata." The Ulimaroa. There has been quite an important shipping development this week. The Ulimaroa has been here with passengers- from Australia, and has already sailed with a- return human freight. The Huddart Parker people withdrew : from the New Zealand trade a few years ago, and the days of the Riverina. Westralia and Wimmera seem very distant. Now the company has decided to run a fortnightly service here again, and, with the Union Company' s time-table, this makes a weekly steam service to Sydney. It is a significant return to the pre-war conditions. The Beaches. When you pass ■ hurriedly from one New Zealand city to another, you realise (if it is summer time) how much the Auckland harbour • and beaches mean to the people here. We have nor got the home life of Christchurch and I don't think the people here enter' as seriously into the business of life as they do in Wellington. Summer is the time of relaxation. The beaches are thronged on week days. The harbour is a wonderland of sails. The people appear in light suits, and even during the busy week days the office is merely- a_ portion of the day. Every-

body seems to live outside. - Nightbathing is very popular, and the Dev-i onport beach,: of which 1 send a photograph, is en fete during the summer evenings. The _ heat is oppressive, and in that' fact lies the reason for the fact that Aucklanders are an "outdoor " people. They sleep in the house - —some of them—but otherwise the home means l little to them during the - summer.,' I. know \ some people who have their beds out under the apple- . trees. , The difference in climate draws a definite dividing line somewhere between Auckland and the South. ■ The summer life of th© people is evidence of that ! division. ' * •» -35- -KThe night bathing of which' I have written.is developing into a giganticthing. The 'Devonport beaches are illuminated at. night, and now arrangements are being made to illuminte the sea in which these night carnivals are held. : -X- -vs- -Jf * Entertaining the Prince. In; common with every other centre we are talking of little other than > " The .prince " at the moment. There has been the expected parry and thrust: in regard to the race meeting, and with a pleasing victory for " Reason," the race'people Some ladies suggested taking the/Prince for a picnic. I have no doubt that -His Royal Highness would appreciate a hamper lunch oil some down-harbour beach. It is the sort of thing for which he woiild travel half way around the world. Fancy packing him on board a steamer and carrying him to Motutapu, and ■surrounding- him with perhaps gingerpop and sandwiches! The picnic promoters would have it Thus. * -a -» * Away From It AIL The week in . Auckland is ended and • the grip is out waiting for the moment 1 in which-1 hurl my belongings into its ' hungry; emptiness. . There's an, iron \road to Erotorua, and along that way I travel, with- perhaps two : days on thg open road to follow. Opotiki, and numeroois .small places thereabouts will be visited after Rotorua. I understand that Rotorua is suffering from a violent attack of Prihcitis. Everybody is carrying scantling and concrete, about,' and the Maoris are wildly; delighted- at 1 the coming ofi their future King. The moral- influence of that, visit will be enormous, and it- will endure beyond our generation. (To be continued.)