LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12663, 17 September 1904, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

" Let me have audience for a word or two." —Shakospere. , * fffn , rather remarkable drowning case that occupied the Auckland coroner this ■week afeorded another dim glimpse of ■ the maimers and morals of the waterside, ■*' which apparently approximates to the gumfields, I want to say, without reservation, that waterside and gumfields are inhabited by, some of the very best people in the world. But they are occasionally dubious, these inhabitants, as are occasionally the occupants of thrones. However, that isn't' the point. lam reminded of a story. A sailor, going aboard his ship, fell into the watei, but was evidently killed before lis reached it by striking his head against seine projection. It wae proved at the inquest that he was tin own iutc the water after being killed, and evidence was produced! to show that be—or a man like him— 'had been drinking, and that shouts, screams, and fighting had been heard from a direction in which ha had gone with some notoriously & bad characters. One of thesa was arrested", charged with murder, and committed tor trial. Before th.« trial, however, two sjilois turned up, the one who had oeen drinking, and one who had left the deceased at the wharf where his ship lay. They lad sailed tho same night. The charge of jßiirde;- was withdrawn by the police, and the grand jury said "no bill," but it is not hard to imagine thjit but for some fortunate circumstances an innocent man might have been bung tor a nnuder that was never commatted. Which sounds rather like an Irish hail.

I should like to draw the attention of the Tramway; Company to what would be a very ' great convenience to the public using their ears, namely, the affix of their time-table os the post at each stopping place. Before the company got its valuable concession from the* various local bodies they were t,-ry profuse with their promises of all sorts of things for the public convenience. Shelter , stands, I remember, were to be erected, and waiting-rooms, and so forth, but we have sot seen anything of them yet. Perhaps, however, they will favourably entertain the proposal about the time-table.. Might I also suggest that they should provide at the various termini conveniences for conductors and motormen washing their hands «nd faces, and so getting rid of some of the .' thick coating of dust with which they are begrimed in dry weather?

We have watched the advent of spring •-beautiful season—with the usual pleasure, but this year I saw a now and pathetic side that has never crossed my view cm, except in the curiosity columns of newspapers." I allude to the pitiful roof gardens that are to be found in some parts of the city. Those I have seen certainly were pathetic, and only made me | long for mora. It one can raise a- few seedlings in a kerosene tin or a soap-bos, why not. something worth the tending and the looking at? Housetops gay "with flowers are within everyone's reach, and amongst the small mercies of the situation must be counted the absence of . snails'and slugs— light consideration, let me, who vainly try to raise green peas and mignonette on terra firma, tell you. I should like 1 to sec the roofs of Auckland beautified by H touches of nature, which would make all the difference between dreary commonplace and real pleasure. Clothes hung out to dry ■ ore well enough, perhaps, but they are not flowers. I have watched gaunt women here struggling in a gale of !''" wind above the fiffh storeys of Queens'' street to save the towels and dishcloths, and the thought each time recurs that the faces I I see would be pleasant*! 1 and less wrinkled i. • - if the smoking chimneys "were relieved by ft touches of colour, green and red. With our I climate and a little care the houses in the | business portion of the city might be coverH ed in with beauty.

Said "Sir. T. E. Taylor, the other night j ' :in the House, "We " have been here tea/ ]' weeks, and if things go on as they are , S- going we shall probably be here in perpetuity." Thai's my text. The country pays its representatives six golden, sove- ! reigns every week to carry on the country's legislation, besides perquisites of '.' various kinds. Why, then, should mem- 1 bers consider themselves ill-used if not released in time for the Clmstchurch show and the. New Zealand Cup? For that-is what it.amounts to. As I understand the position Parliament should sit—-all the ' year round, if necessary— long as there If- 'is public, business to transact. The honourable gentlemen have, absolutely, the best paid billets in the colony, but thsy have been badly spoiled in the past. The letters M.K.R. are literally worth their weight in gold, and the electors have . a perfect right, it seems to me,. to ■ expect an adequate quid for their quo. But they don't always get it. I should like to be . • a member myself at the price. Of course, th» Premier wastes the time of the House, : and the House is right to complain, but that is not the point. It is rather creditable to human nature that sympathies instinctively turn to the evicted" against the evict or, and as creditable of human intelligence that they are promptly transferred to the party next m possession. I have heard of a case in which e tenant will not leave a house, as required by the owner. The rent is paid '-.' or offered. The house is well looked after. There is no dispute in the ordinary sense at all, for landlord and tenant were mutually satisfied with one another until the landlord decided to rebuild. Then the tenant refused to go, and what is the poor landlord to do? Needless to say the tenant is a woman. It is easy to say that when a landlord wishes to evict a tenant he can easily put the law into operation But landlords do not like to put the law into operation, and when they decide to do so it is not always smooth sailing. In the case referred to, the landlord would rather sell the place than go to law against an Old - feauant—at least he says —but he tried till bluff by threatening'to evict, and found that precautions were at once taken which make eviction not so easy. The lady said that sic was quite satisfied with the house as it stands, and intended to stay in it, and that if a bailiff got in he was quite willing to put her out. And nobody gets in now, excepting aftei a clear understandV' ' ing with the garrison, and even the landlord is compelled to discuss the situation 'from the verandah through the window. I am told that you can't force your way into s house, even if you own it, as long as there is anybody inside who got % there legally and is not required outside on a criminal, charge. There appears to he some right on tlv landlord's part to lift the roof off d block «* the chimney, ■«i cut off the water, but lawyers charge six-and-eightpence to give an opinion on these points, and then generally differ. I* would in; rather interesting to know ' what local precedents there are for these ' supposed rights, for the besieging 01 the Englishmen's castle, particularly of his I rented castle, is not unknown in any j country or at any time. "The change in British legal documents from 'God Save the Queen' to 'God Save I the King" cos a total of £400,000!" Here's I food for thought. Our late revered Sove- , ' reign reigned for 60 and more years, and ?H that time the Empire had rest from the item quoted. And, of course, we may never have another Queen ruling over us in her own right. But, does it not seem ab«*rd tint such expenditure can be possible w the twentieth century 'i New Zealand is concerned with the rest of the Empire. «St not time we headed our documents in the neater gender, or avoided in some way ths indefinitely recurring expenditure of £400,000." No other nation in the wide, ; , *"';> world could be guilty of such prodigal vWravagauce. Why, the money would buy *» ironclad, or nearly finish tin-Main Trunk , faSwSj-j " ' Mebwtio.