LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14644, 1 April 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

BT UKSCtmO. . I Recent circumstances hare invested the crusade against rata with additional interest ".- and seriousness. The undoubted fact that these animals are the chief agents fin the dissemination of the plague bacillus makes their destruction a matter of vital..import".; ■/' ance to the community. Indeed it- is, per- ' haps, no exaggeration to say that the rat :■!'. is the enemy of civilisation, and that the connection between it and the downfall of t some of the empires of antiquity is prob- ?. ably much closer than historians are apt !to imagine. From time immemorial this J. '■'*" vermin has been regarded by mankind with I aversion, and war has been waged against I it, from the, earliest days of the world. I , t But, in spite of all human efforts, the exW'■■/'' termination of the rat is as far off as ever. Its name continue? to be legion. It swarms f everywhere, and in all countries has become L one of the most pressing problems of the M day. Though vast numbers are killed m ejery year, it increases with such pro- ; digious fecundity that no impression seems to be made on the army as a whole. This \ fact appears to have given rise to the pessimistic belief that the extermination of tho rat is impossible. But surely that is a despairing and mistaken view to hold in these wonderful days when nothing seems to be beyond the powers of daring I man. I This is an age of conferences and con- " gresses, but so far there has been no Im- : perial or international gathering for the | " purpose of devising joint action on the J great Rat Question. Yet from the health and economic point of view this is the question oi questions for the nations. To get rid "of the rat 'is more important than to build navies and create armies. How is the problem to be-solved? A thoughtful friend of tame, who has given up his days and nights to the study of the question, Las, he believes, hit upon the remedy, Slated tersely, his cure for rats is cats. Virst poison or kill off an-many of the big follows as possible, then keep a good supply of cats about the place, and they will account for the youthful progeny and not only check the increase, but ev'er.tually exterminate the rodents. My friend would make it compulsory for every occupant, at I ; ,,, i* building to keep a certain number of 1 i rats in accordance With the size and nature ; |||i of his premises, and he makes the bold : assertion that, if this were done, in two or three years there would not be a single sat in the city of Auckland. This is an eminently simple, commonsense,;and practical suggestion. Personally, I would go , a step further, and hang every architect who put up » house or building that was , not absolutely rat-prod' and, every captain ;.,;&:,*!;;, ;/,;' : of-,a.'. ship that allowed, a single, rodent to get ashore from his vessel. from rats to inosquiitjocs is a natural transition. These annoying and sleep-de-etroying insects have been an intolerable I pest this summer. It is said that the bush fires earlier in the year are accountable for ''",,. it •' I . fancy, however, thai the stagnant I '• pools in the gullies in and around the city are more responsible for the mosquito i plague. These are this congenial breeding £ places of the biting buzzer, and if 4 <bey ; did nut exist "we should have more rejwseI ful nights. And, that they should oxist i\\ ' .■• ha , reflection -on' our sanitary conditions f* , a- i our lax hygienic methods. What 1 Aucklr andits suburbs want, and want badiy, 1k a and its suburbs want., and want badly, is a thorough cleaning: up and vigilant supervision afterwards to see that they are = kept sweet and clean. I am in favour of | :,.. a Greater Auckland and of town-phniung, I'V:: ;i , but this is more important than either.; • ' 1;,.- ..'■ Sir ■■-Joseph. Ward:'may;; lm'../bless«in , but ~; ! ' Mr. Ma«*ey is" glorious,' - 'and: with ■■ cn=»ery | vigour i.* giving .the Government "what ; r' "' : ■ ' 11"' in some of their Southern strongholds. He might, had he wished, been on his, way Ii 1 :; . : to .the King*3 Coronation, hut 'ho preferred to remain m New Zealand ;and i. to devote h ' ' ■'■- hi", time to political propaganda. ■ ._'!& " MaSsey, as Leader,of the Opposition, is no Knigiit of the Doleful Countenance. Though he ht* never tasted the sweets of I ■ Office, and has had a draary uphill fight, , to make every session, he has grown neither, • ■••'. 'four nor morose. There! .is always » brecv/ optimism itout his.public speeches, lie never whines and is never discouraged. •|p'-' ■■'■■■'■■"Me- keeps hammering away with unabated , ''-'. -f ' ' hope and confidence, believing -mat it is ' ' dwpd thai (I>es it. And from what I i ' bear' his persistency and consistency are L ' at, last beginning to tell on th.it strange 1 • tHrj; called.PtWic Opinion. You know ■ .';!,"'" ,■ ' .actit fin« lines ' about the tide— .. • ... ,f; l Sl^.jiSi'?'s'^j(.|r.;tv , '"T"-i■;• V. >'■'>'-'' 1-'? ; "'i'i , ii, ; -;is I '^ ; ' , ':! ! -;''-' : t.-'-' -r '.'■■■■' ; -;;'■'•■i'|-; r- , - ,, 0:. , i. | ;r-;; ! :,■.--.• ;f <' . For while .the tired wav«» vainly breiki»K, 0 _ ■i I:, i'. ■ gsem here. no painful inch to gam, Far bade, through week* and[inlet* maKing, Coe»p» silent, flooding: in, the main. ' [ .■'; .' '.' ' ■• ', '. ' ■:> :.'■' .... •".'■ ' I V ■;>,•::-.. ■ go with Mr. Massey. While. he may not I :. ' appe«r to be making much headway, the 1 '&}■:- :■.";■ views ho has been preaching for years are ■ ' silently spreading all over the Dominion,, arid by and by will flood, it from the ' ; ■*p:i_. i .North Cape to the Bluff. Vv '!■ v " The other evening as the Atua, hound ; .'ilr ' v : in. the Islands, was slowly backing from i I hfT berth at the western tee of the Queen- ' •I ' ■ sweet Wharf, the Takapuna ferry-boat from j| ; 3V>«swater ran ri,eht across her .stern, and : 11! t, "those on the- iferry wharf it looked as 1 if a collision was inevitable. Happily that P did not happen, "wut r the incident goes to |f" . »how the danger that exists under the pre- ; sent unsatisfactory arrangements for the ■; j|| conduct of the ferry service from the, new , ■'-■ p '• . wharf.' "* No doubt -when the old tees are if: : .i, ' removed thi3 danger , ! * will he minimised, :|''.' but, on the.other hand, when the whole ;f* of the ferry"service of the harbour is con- , I!|r;^\;eentrated ; in this awkward;corner;there is I certain to be overcrowding and confusion. ; The population on the,other side of the \ . I Waitematp is rapidly increasing. Indeed, ; If' 1 . » ai.--.nd ;:ia«i:land- is- springing up on the ; ."northern **>'*; and •*« f « n 7 traffic is ' s 1': fcowi.i to v»>"'. Then in th'> near future ' as population spreads down the wty side of > '■' I the harbour, new cervices will: come., into. .■>■ W'C ~ existence. : Tlie matter is one well deserv- : I ing the attention of the Harbour Board. ; • , : If imitation be the sincerest Scrrai of flat- ' {crv, us the cooyho<;L tradings oi our youth ' i I were wont to" assure u£, then Auckland - 1 mutt congratulate itself on the alacrity with vl'. a towns fallowing-its lead fi which other towns following WellingI in the matter ©i Welling- # v ton for example,. has suddenly awakened * to the fact that it is the moat ordinary j .■md commouplace-loOking city, in the .whole I fl £ the Dominion. Like the severely plain '1 '' ■ sister*-of; Cinderella, it is betbinking itself i, I i ,sf resorting to Mature. idf resorting is a very impswe upon Nature. Now, this is a very hopeful irtgn. It m - the «volt against ugliness. - A higher stan- i 3 duni of taste is beginning to manifest itself. Wo are, slowly coming within the quicken- •' I ing influence of cmturre. We.. are ceasing f to be philistines and rude barbarians. And 'i I it is gratifying 'to Imow that Auckland 16 ■ j showing the way to the rest of the -Bo- .> Mi minion. Having lit the torch of civihsa- s fit on. ws in this part of New Zealand must i I~' see to it that we keep it burning; brightly, i jf. i so that its rays may eventually penetrate II into all the dark corners of the South. i | It seems that I underestimated the use i f ■■■■' .of jarrah timber for slreetipaving in Au«- ;; < iS * ' tralia. Mr. Dove, the manager of Millars' 1 West Hardwoods • Company, ] ' writt: to me : «"Tho quantity of jarrah used j for wood-blocking is more than i '■ double that of any. other timber. This , : will be apparent when it m mentioned that 1 kWest is the onlv timber used Company, 3 writfe: to me i "The quantity of jarrah used j f in Australia for wood-blocking is more than i double thai of any o th *i r tiinDer - , I ' B ' 1 1 will be apparent when it:■» mentioned that 1 ' jarrah ia the only timber used for street- 1 , paving in Perth, Fremantle, and Adelaide, , ■ that about 70 per cent, of the blocks nsed> i m -,' '' in Melbourne and-suburbs are of that tim- ». fi j ' ' her. and that, though^jNevt*,'' South ;Waleti: < »-4ji-: 'i - nbonnds in hardwoods, the Government of ] ','<'! ■ tint stitc has imported ami used very A p !?&£»£• large quantities of jarrah blocks' for paving i 01 I .. .tbe , Sydney -lines. -; As further proof < m |'|&;y;that -rah is not 'ignored' for 1 il m - \ ' lag, it may be added thai. the Wellington i 'I'Mi,;-\:: : City,Gowcil liaa during tho.past seven or * 'Up-".>.;/.:,r«jglit; yeairs purd«ised several million blocks i, tim : t '■■ for use in the Rtwets, with the result that t 11'-'' •%"« -*- city ha« /the best paved and I K " Bi: ' B ' : «»nomicai streets in the Dominion.. *■ \i