LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13781, 20 June 1908, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

(' Lot me have audience for a word or two." Shakespere. ■■ * V A good many people seem to have some mis- ''■'. ■ givings as to the wisdom of the borrowing i':-;;" : policy of the Auckland . City Council. They j." appear to think that we are going the ' pace too rapidly. Personally, I do not share |:'':.-.'' their views, and. for reasons which to.me at least seem good and sufficient. Auckland ■'.V is as yet merely standing at the threshold of her future. She is destined to become at no : distant date a great city—great not only in population, but in wealth and in trade and .' commerce. There are already premonitions "§■■■'- of this in the air, but .the true vision' of what is to be has only come to a few. One i>\ ■'. of the select number has assured me that ..■. our wildest dreams do not equal the magni- '■''■' tieent future which lies in store for our city. f''■■" It may be that his sanguine temperament ; ; ;','-.' colours with glowing tints his golden pic- ; ture, bub even the less endowed, must at odd : : : ■■:' moments have caught a gJimpso of the radi- ;; ■■■■■ ant vision' when standing on the top of Onetree Hill they have given themselves up to .'' tho sweet emotions of tho imagination, and 'ii' with the rapture of prophetic inspiration pierced the veil of futurity. One may, ■ ' therefore, well accept with quiet mind the large additions to the city's indebtedness. .'. ' The burden is light for the shoulders that : will have to bear.it. And. moreover, it is : ; -.important to remember that tho money in to bo spent on urgent works 9l public utility. , The arrangements for the reception and ■'. entertainment of American visitors are : "progressing favourably," so to speak, under the hands of the experts and others '-''■' who. have charge of them. 1 have no sug■■.r::'' gestions to otier, and am quite content to .-' feiive the whole matter to those who have '"'■. undertaken it, in the sure and certain hope "■•■'.'-" that when the curtain is rung up on August, ' c 10 a-very attractive and imposing spectacle will be disclosed. Bub some of my correspondents are in a different frame of mind, and'are inclined to bo querulous and critical. '; ; One of them writes as follows :—" The pro- ' gramme arranged for the entertainment of ';.' ; our American .visitors is, 1 am afraid, a ;, ' lather 'dry' one. Dinners, orations, nails, '' and receptions, which.'are the main -items ''•- on the bill of fare, are all very well as far V its the officers are concerned, but hardly any ' provision has been made for the men, there i;-'V- being a feeling evidently that two fervid : i hpspUalitv to American Jack ashore may ''.": - not be good for him. But there are other , folks for whom we must cater, and those are the crowds -.- of visitors from all parts, . very few of whom, of course, will receive in- : ■ ,-itauou.< to the official functions. For them «• . .-.and for the men, and for us- all, a big.de- '!> monstration with performances by massed '■' '.' bands, a great:' sports gathering, and a display by Maoris, should find places on the programme. Let us do .the..thing hand- : >omolv, and be no niggard hosts." here is , ■it good deal to be said from the point of view , of nay correspondent. *> Then another who;, seems to think we are in danger of an acute attack of what be calls "fleetitis," 'writes m this : strain: —It" has been well said that Aew Zealanders: like to seize on some pretext as I - ■ an excuse for a holiday, and it is high time ■'' '■ ' some warning note be sounded before those ; : who are making arrangements, and a sec- ■■■■■ tion of the public, go quite mad about Fleet ■;: Week. By all means show-courtesy by a "• . hearty welcome, provide free railway, and if possible, free tram, transit, but the aver- . age sailor would prefer to map out his own day ashore, and would enjoy it more: ; this absurd waste of public.. money and rejoicing about an outside fleet, numerically strong ' perhaps, though our own navy could double t iW is much to be deplored. ... Together with 1 ' ' urn Govern ju-.il grant, of £5000, the funas ." •■' spent will bo close on £10,000 ; wasted in a week: this sum would, go .a long way towards some useful public edifice, or would permanently form .many miles of invaluable roads in th» back blocks. Again, what can we do in the wav of illuminations, compared with what 'these visitors; have seen in l ■■;■'■ 'Frisco and other big United ; States Ameri- '; - can cities; moreover, August is the rainiest - month of the year, and half the, entertain- . ' ments, receptions, and illuminations will be , spoilt by the weather. Where is our anti- ' v gambling Government when a special race ':•■•■ meeting is provide! for an afternoon gamblin»- for the sailors and public* why not - : = have free public-houses, so that the men can uave a decent drinking bout, Naturally, ', those interested support any expenditure %■■ : when they think of the ( flutter \ they, will •:■- : have strutting along the quarter-deck as the - guest of an admiral." the writer of the -'■ foregoing must have been in a, particularly crotchety humour when be penned such a letter 'If we all thought as he does what a cold and unsociable world it would be.

; - . Apropos of a remark which I made last jL week ■■ regarding willow trees, Mr S. ■'i: Browne of Cleveland, writes: Deal " " ?Sio,'-Anent signs of the times speci- - Bed in the fall of willow tree leaves, «ta carlv: the willows on the creek bank in. : - "ml ofniv place have a full foliage on ■:-'■ Stand you know they usually burst; buds :: i: the first week in . August, However, I . ■ notice that the clematis and other spring native flowers, such as the # pukapiika, an A Urauioa are well advanced in flower buds and the bush daphne is actually in flowei, 'and I thought I smelled hinguhingu the . other dav. As for the pakeha plants, al- • monds are bursting their buds, and 1 lad mv first ripe loquat to-day, and the jonquils. ; and their kind are in full 'fig/ and orange ' tree are flowering in fine style. Whether it ■: . means anything or not remains to.be seen. ,;•; ■ It mav mean merely extra joy at the rain ■-■'■:. rftfr the drought, though the Maoris were ,: right about the hob summer being foreshown ; ' hv-abundant cabbage tree bloom. Perhaps - we are having the abnormal weather now. j "•' It having been the mildest May and warmest -June I can remember—jtist fancy 70 decrees last Saturday in the ado, one week ?)"!?,'• .: from the shortest day. ; , S; Mr, P. A. Philips, who for.more than aEfe quarter of a, century . was town clerk of .:- Auckland, is now living-in Sydney. _On : the llih inst. he celebrated his 77th birth- i .' ,• ridv. I repiet to hear that his health and : :°-'- sight are both bad, and that his old age is •;..-.. somewhat embittered by the thought that his public sen-ices and even his name are ' ■ no longer remembered bv those among whom ;.,"-' he lived and laboured so long. But sic est | vita. rV,'- ■ ' The discussion on roading in the City :'/ ■ Council on Thursday ' night - was very - . . liappilv followed bv the reappearance of -;.'V dust-clouds on Friday. It only takes about •■ '■■■ '■ two warm davs to "set the dust going in 1 V Auckland, and I sec no hope of better }■$■ ': : .things until the main streets are made ' . .mud-proof. 'Dust, like the poor, we shall always have with us, -but there is a work--1 able minimum to both dust and poverty. The Chamber of Commerce annual ban- , .quel has expanded mightily since its m-,-V angulation some years ago. The old cold, dreary afternoon gathering of merchants |||;e eager* to get away has given place to a warm, : „> L . - genial symposium of kindred souls softly listening to words of wisdom as they digest a ;' 1 good dinner. The Britisher was ever thus, ' and the New Zealander takes most kindly \, •< _ to the customs of his fathers.. '.';. •'' The old Newmarket station was shifted hodilv ' uio]).' the platform upon greased A> rails by means of jacks. As it slowly crept ill , a ions people.bought tickets and sat in the Vj , waiting-room, generally unconscious that », , they were travelling at the rate of about an ,• * ' inch a minute. k 4u ' The advantage'-' of double tracking upon «,p ' suburban lines "is being experienced by the >4^ li Mount Edmurs Instead of being side-, lucked on loop-, and wasting precious minutes waitimr lor another cur to pass them H thev coo whirled to their destination uiniitV*< rniuptnlu Rernmra and Kingsland msy ■ ,h it day have the same advantage; an I - laet. Kuiuf-hnid in; Jit have had.it already I "':- ;, A- 'tool been tar the, superior wisdom of iho Edcu i'eiiAce authorities, .;^i' : ''■:■■'-' ..- - JlEaCDjlfls