LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15262, 28 March 1913, Page 4

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

RAILWAY PARCEL RATES.

Sir,—l read with ' interest the letter in to-day's Herald about excess being charged on the railways for parcels. Perhaps the following will interest you. My "bicycle wheels recently required repairs; the fare for a whole complete bicycle from. Kingsland to Auckland, accompanied by its owner, is threepence, but when I took the two wheels "into town with me from Kingsland I had to pay Is excess. A bicyclo is 6ft long, and weighs <-bout 531b;. the pair of] wheels tied together are 26in long, and weigh about 141 d. ; The part is greater than, the whole, which is absurd, etc. f \ March 22, 1913. Euclid. PRAYERS FOR THE , DEAD. | Sir,—"Parishioner" has some sneering remarks in this day's issue, when referring j to a service held by Bishop CrossJey, against Oatholio practice. Evidently "Parishioner" considers Bishop Crossley does not know his business. Then why not find someone who is; ignorant enough to blind his conscience to suit his customers, and supplant the worthy bishop. Is it not a peculiar circumstance that a Catholio doctrine is unlike any other impediment or implied impediments against British liberty where evidence is called for and against before a decision given? I know Roman Catholics who wear the same style of clothes as "Parishioner," drink : the same class of ale, eto. Is it not a peculiar circumstance that "Parishioner," on discovery of this outrage, does not burn his covering, etc., rather than wear what the Catholio does without reasoning it out? Mother earth will eventually claim mankind, no matter what their belief and manlund will moot the one Maker eventually. Why not use a little common sense now, "Parishioner," before too late? M. March 25, 1913. THE SPEED OF MOTORS. Sir,—With bated breath and expectancy I read Mr. Shaw's thrilling narrative of his narrow escape'from a. mix-up with a motorcar on Good Friday, and gave a sigh of relief and thankfulness that the driver thereof was such a (splendid judge of distance. What skill and eyesight was there displayed! A fellow-feeling makes us wondrous kind. I am purblind myself, and find that the only safeguard is to be -continually on the look-out for these Jaoks-in-the-box in the least likely places, or else to have a sober caretaker handy when one takes one's walks abroad. Since the inception of electric and wotor traction in Auckland the slaughter of humanity has been so great that relatively wo are nothing more than flies now, to lie brushed aside if we get in the fairway, as it is impossible for these Juggernauts to miss their objective, however skilful and sober the drivers. These reflections are also applicable to .the railway level crossings. Lengths of gleaming rails should be sufficient warning of danger ahead to all and sundry, for thereon swiftly and silently glides the death-dealing locomotive with its attached burden. Therefore "stop." W.E.M. THE FLYING ANGEL MISSION. Sir,—l hear from good authority that the Fying Angel Missions to Seamen,' situated in No. 7, Lower Queen Street, is likely to be closed, owing to lack of funds. I think it a shame that such a useful place, which is appreciated by all classes of seamen, should have to close its doors to .the many thousands who make a ome of it when abroad. I believe the present/ rent amounts to £100 per anuum. Now, sir, surely, considering that Auckland depends on the shipping for its prosperity, it should not need much reasoning to see that this is a very necessary work. Speaking from a personal point of view as a tramp seaman, I have found the Flying Angel Mission one of the homeliest institutes I have ever visited, and you will hear the seamen speaking in complimentary terms of Mr. and Mrs. Cowie in nearly every shipping port you go to. Again I say surely the people of the city of Auckland will consider before they allow this unwise step to bo taken. lam writing this because X am given to understand that there is a movement on foot to have the Flying Angel Mission moved to the Sailonf Mission Hall, Albert Street, for three nights a week, and every alternate Sunday. Now, air, knowing the convictions of many of- these men, I venture to say that for reasons of their own many would wander the streets during the time that the Flying Angel would be closed,. I suggest, therefore, that a census be taken from the port seamen of Auckland, as it simply tamps that 40 : people at one ((hilling each per , week could settle the whole' matter* which is one of pounds, shillings, and pence. Dugald Waiwield. Auckland, March 25, 1913. THE MOUNT EDEN SHELLS. > ' Sir,—l notice that the controversy still continues as to the reason for the presence of marine shells on Mount Eden, the latest contribution to the discussion being a letter in which "J.A." claims that geological causes account for the layers of shells. No geologist worthy of the name would point to the shells as evidences of geological changes. • Tho shells were undoubtedly carried to the. hills by the Maoris. As evidence of this assertion, lot me put the matter in this way:— 1. A visit to the large and well-defined gravel pits on Mount Smart, Mount Albert, or tho Three King's hill will convince an unprejudiced observer that the marine shells found on all the Auckland volcanic hills are on the surface only, and were not ejected, together with the scoria, from depths below. Had they been so, ejected they Would have been calcined, and shells could not, under such conditions, present their actual fresh appearance. 2. Well, iif the shells were not ejected, how did they , get. where they are now found? The answer 1 is that they were either carried there, or were pushed up from the bed -of the sea when the hills presumably rose with the rest of the isthmus. But the volcanio cones in Auckland were formed in air, not under water, as any geologist who has seen them will admit. lie masses; of scoria were ejected long after the sandstone which forms the isthmus had become dry land, with forests growing on the surface, and there they stood for long ages before ever a Maori set foot in New Zealand. One-tree Hill, for instance, is perhaps 15,000 to 20,000 years old. Even supposing that shells had risen with the hills from the sea, the hills are so old that such shells.would have been dissolved by the rain long ago. The terraces on the hills ate an evidence of Maori occupation, and the known conditions of Maori life a century ago sufficiently account for the presence and abundance of the shells. Pin. SMALL FARM COMMUNITIES. Sir, Whatever ideal may be contained in small rural settlements, it must be admitted does not take the . form of supposing the families to be wholly dependent for their living by working for daily wages on the neighbouring farms. Without exception, the ideal is based on freedom and independence. When men form ideas of living in the country, it is usually in order to break away from day labour they find ;■ irksome and galling to their particular natures, and to gain some kind of independence for themselves and families by living nearer the real necessities of life, and away from the eternal catoh-penny cities. Here, sir, is the synthesis of the original scheme. Not merely was it a scheme 'to ' minister to the intermittent wants of farmers already on the land, 'but a scheme to induce men out of the cities, and become real producers of wealth, and thus try and lessen the cost of living to all. The mere fact of having sufficient farm labour will not, in itself, alleviate the oost of living, but will tend to defeat that end. ! The main difficulty between farmers and farm labourers is now much the same as it always has been unwillingness based on inability, as a rule, to pay the same rate of wage that labour can demand elsewhere. Unless the price of farm produce is raised to cover the increased demand on the farmer's revenue, where is the cost of labour to come from? Thus, like a fulcrum, labour (becomes a means whereby the cost of living. is increased, and the trouble it was intended to alleviate is made worse. , The solution, then, to decrease the cost of living is not contained in the supoly of farm labour alone, but is more likely to be contained in the encouragement of small farm holdings, on such as each family can, do its own work,, and by giving every encouragement to those men whose ambitions . and tastes lead them longing for country homes, where they may have a oorner in the land worth' calling homeland where is,contained some of the many blessings nature has to offer. It should .be a scheme to regenerate the race, not merely a soheme to supply a labour market with workers, who are usually unwilling at heart to drudge as mere labourers. Many a man would sooner do two i men's work in order to maintain ' his independence than he would do half a man's work for daily wages. It is with the small , freehold farmer this land depends, and will depend,. more and more for its prosperity. This cannot be emphasised too much, nor too much cannot be done to promote the close settlement of the land by genuine small yeoman fairmers. J.E.G.A.