LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14145, 21 August 1909, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

ft'wwtet mo have audience for a, word or two." ;'<''j#H ... Shakespere. If 4 THE general attitude in Auckland tosPf cards tho big fire is one of amazement. fill Everybody is surprised that more notice 'tiff yas not served upon the Fire Brigade, and ,V 3 that the flames look such immediate posses- ' don of the big Arcade. But that is always ||f ] ie way with big fires. They appear full)'tf|f fledged from suitable incubation, and if we <$M ffan t to avoid those unpleasant surprises ,*s| (re shall have to avoid making incubators. $|| Concrete walls and floors will not burn fsm quite as rapidly as wooden floors, nor even | us lath-and-plaster partitions. - ■ The gun that nobody knew was loaded, 111 and the theatre that was in no danger of ■%% burning, have had more victims than •have ffP torpedo-boa The Strand Arcade fire _ lis naturally directed some public atten-"}'-M tion to the possibilities of local theatre- %| fire, and although a well-known lessee has jnnounced that " the fondness of the public & for canvassing the chances of fire breaking 'M cut in a theatre seemed to him absurd , the real absurdity is, of course, that there should be any hesitation or delay in taking Jll additional precautions. Unlets' customary precautions were token in theatres they Iff would be on lire so often that we should H fitness a speedy return to Greek methods ; i in spite of customary precautions theatres $$| in one part of the world or another do occasionally become the scene of most awful §1 holocaust. And there we are! Yet peo--111 ple who ought to know better con--9m temptuously " pooh-pooh'' the natural 1 jjixiety of a theatre-loving public and talk vaguely of " panic" as the enemy. "Panic," I am tempted to explain, is § »lie outcome of helplessness and despair. X When people know that they can reach §| safety with certainty they do "not "panic." ': •'•;f When people think themselves shut up like m nts in a burning trap, only a supreme dis- , ■ cipline can prevent panic. I cannot see I where any intelligent argument can be I found against fireproof drop-curtains or | against the provision of sufficient exits to • enable a threatened audience to move I quickly into -the open street, We are proI mised fireproof curtains in our Auckland £ theatres, .but what about exits? Even if I it is "absurd to ask, it is an absurdity I which we can laugh at much more jovially | f before" than "after." t The keeping of the well of English pure I bid undefiled is a task worthy of Hercules. ■Orgetorix" writes me from Katikati in H Benunciation of a word "which is becomI Bag very fashionable in Europe, and which H is thoughtlessly copied by the New Zealand glapers. This word is 'aviatics,' 'aviation,' <-f rnviator,' etc. Whoever coined it proiably had in his mind 'avis' (bird), but it III s practically impossible to form ' aviticus' ,W°n} avis. Even the French aviateur Sfflfon't do. As it stands it is derived from aviV (grandmother), and surelv there is ||othmg grandmotherly about a riving ma»hme." But what can be done? The ■ay we began to pump words from strange Jpnngs, to the neglect of our own English, we made anything possible.

The Tourist Department has been ad<ed that a shipment of rich Americans is »ming to Australia and New Zealand, and i has been pointed out that the Dominion raid be wise in spreading itself to give the nsitors a good time, hospitality in such a Me being in the nature of bread cast upon lie waters which may be expected to retarn in increased bulk after many days, we are not told more of the condition "of the tourists than thai, they are rich. It rould have been to the point to hare been ormed whether they are' single or otherk. A shipload of wealthy American ; ischelors, or of wealthy American heiresses, mid be of far greater value than, a con- ! tinent of married couples. From the ! »int of view of the matrimonial market fII bachelor is raw material, whereas a marI =ed man is the finished product. The I pis, at any rate, trust our United States 1 Bit ore are not united-state visitors. | Those who have travelled to any extent I t sea, know that "tips" are a burden f] Don those whose pockets are not too well I Bed. Similarly on land. In almost | trary country in the world, and particum at those places where tourists most Wm congregate, ,as at Kotorua, those who I j sider small personal cervices expect somegj ling beyond the remuneration agreed upon H Itheir reward. The practice of "tipping" H »foolish, and has no single advantage to -•commend it. Upon that those of us in f is habit of giving douceurs agree with I (uausiastic unanimity, andgo on giving I f-: The fact is, that to resolutely re--1 * to ease the itching palm of an eipec»t menial calls for a strength of mind 9at but few of us possess. A practice, B Md or bad, that has grown into a custom f f hard, if it dies at all. One good rea;l on for abolishing the half-crown as a coin 'the realm is that a sixpence will be ||»*d every time a railway porter or a "ward thrusts his services upon us and wies off a portmanteau, whether one f ants him to do it or not. 1 The Mokoia—or the "Taihoa," as the »ple on the wharf call her— has , «n suffering from "that tired feelgm for some time past, and seems to 'getting worse ever trip. Neither • Wellington nor Dunedin will have her P S anything is good enough for Aucki .J. 1 is with genuine and personal sorg ™ (writes a correspondent), "that I I »tel the death of Samuel Brown, who for • J long represented the employers' inI pert on the Bench of the Arbitration ifj V * n m ear ty davs in New ZeaI m I saw a good deal of Mr. Brown, .i H conceived a high admiration and re--1 m for him. A man, very straight and ffl m&, he was also very amiable a nd comM ««y— combination, you will have noli pO», not by any means invariable. DurM ! ? *™ years of bis service with the Court ||* had gained a remarkably good know- | "ge-of its principles and procedure. He H " resolutely fair. The Labour represenf| * tlve in my time was a decent old chap : | 3rj ugh, hut I have seen him show bias •I "v?l° re than one occasion. I never emv I *ythmg of the sort in the case of Mr. 'Ill 1 ' He was always painstaking, and I ways scrupulously just. 'The employI ™> ha told me once, 'haven't any theories 1 Prejudices to look up to. and no unions I take orders from. We are here to get 1 £ right thing, if possible.' I believe I -7. was honestly bent on doing the I m thing, and for that and other reasons iam sorry he has gone, I don't think | w death came to him all unexpectedly. *iir 11 0r tvv "° ago ne came to me asking Hfii ■ £of introduction to friends of ||T ?? Tasmania, and other places on Hu de - , He was going on holiday. He Plea It ho felt ho needed it": he had an Sim 'nat things were not going right with ill "•. 4 He looked robust, but something PlLhi no made me suspect deeper trouble : *"■ •;» WOrds implied. It is a - pity. }W^ m Brown was a good man." I !*»>%% J 6 a. pity that our own " airily aas ; disappeared—just as we were BS?^ to believe in it, too! It was I oirm y 6lD ß* e observers and knots of per|j ml fustlcs all over the country, and 1 i mir? 'i 1 Was watcn ed by a great mix■Ml * S ■ e * It is a tame conclusion, inm ta_'-, De told now that everybody has I tar* loat mg on the planet Mars. ' The iILw 1 ? conjunction of Venus and Jupiter •Wrron' * interesting. Apropos of Mr. IKS; 5 statement to the Commonwealth 5|2 1 a correspondent asks: "What HE , /he Maoris' alleged "equal privi-IK-Vv v posin S of their lands? Why, whirl j on - gentleman himself, though ||S°-"j re ?-.competent to take the helm of SK*^W; the absence of 'Lord Bluff,' Hffi| *«ome» to dealing with his land, (if Hi t» ?? y ' ' s on ' exactly the same footK* 3 the King Country native, \ and ,is. IK ll ■, h 7 the mass of effete native Wk Potion on our statute books. And, jX°ow^'h knows it." ' I Meeccxco.