LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15551, 7 March 1914, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

|§f BT MERCUTIO. lx if really time that the question of a |f'> [[to -or the new University buildings was II- littled 'I he present position is that the B ijo ii: i r.-» ft on lioad owned by the Metho|fi dist trustee? has been offered to the j&. Government .it a certain price, and the v Government- is "considering the matter. ' % Whatever is causing the derision of the erinnen! to hang fire ought to f: : he remove It (lie suggested site is too expensi - .c let the. Minister for Education jay 50. It would then he open for him to consider other sites and select one. There are propositions in plenty, the latest "I "'I" li—the combined Gillies Estate a;ei and a portion of Kilbrydc, in Parnell—lias features which commend it. J]ul ap.irt from the question of site, why jj the eminent not stirring in so vital a matter The internment is giving a £10. mediial school t<> Otago, it is offering i'4ooo for a scenic reserve at Day's Bay, 'Wellington, and it proposes expenditis; era! more thousands on a Wellington museum. Sureiy higher educa tion in Auckland is worth a thought.

The slow but steady triumph of the "motor'' will possibly lie the characteristic feature of the Century. It is certainly the most noticeable feature of Auckland, apart ftom the actual buildings. Die main thoroughfares are very different front what they were in the years of " the war," when malcontents used to visit the Herald Office to showlumps of scoria, as big as a man's head, found rolling about on Queen Street. The shop windows are different, very different, from the small-sashed panes so lately the rule. Even the ferry-boats are different, though Brown's Island must yearn for one or two belated old-timers. Bridges, buildings, roads, windows, fashions, wharves—what changes have come over them! But, after all, they are only changes. The motor is new.

In the time of " the war" nobody had seen a motor-car in Auckland. >iow, the freshest horse ignores them, and the horse in from the country is the most fferent of his kind. Cars are everywhere, in dozens, scores, hundreds. Thire are comparatively few private home vehicles. The nv>tor-cycle is coming, and the cycle-car has evidently come Jo stay. On the water, the launch is making the same sweep, although the yacht remains for sport. Even in the air we have been seeing the motor; and I don't doubt that we shall become so accustomed to flying machines that when they drop shoppers in Albert Park in time for " the sales" we shall think no more of them than we do now of the tramcars— unknown to us . before " the war."

The contempt which every successful business man once felt, constrained to express for theoretical training is gradually giving way to a recognition of the value of scientific teaching in business. The records of the School of Commerce at the Auckland University College show that in this city at least the American plan or f reducing business to something -of an jj' : . exact science is gaining ground. To make America an exact model in business might it, net be an unqualified blessing, but to ctach something of the Americans nerve and enthusiasm can do no harm. Theory alone, unmixed with practical experience, v may not cany i wall la*; - but to make |! tie exact opposite a fetish is- equally a mistake. Apart altogether from material gain to the individual, the fact that so many young business men are seeking for a higher education in their calling snows tliat not all young New ZeaJandern rush through their day s work in the shortest possible time in order to be free for sport aad recreation.

A good deal was said about AuckIjtnders' appreciation of good music on the occasion of the farewell to the Royal Artillery Band at the Exhibition, but the Mayor capped everything with an illustration of now "every siae of the band" was admired. Mr. Parr related how be had listened to a remarkably fine rendering by the band of the beautiful music of Wagner's " Tannhauser." As the last chords died away he turned to a lady of his acquaintance and remarked ecstatically : " Was it not magnificent; was it not divine? " "I beg your pardon," was the reply, and on the Mayor repeating his enthusiastic summing up, the lady said: "Oh, I was not thinking of the music. I was thinking what a. lovely back the conductor, Mr. Stretton, has !"

The congregation of persons loitering with nothing better to do on the corner of Queen and Customs Streets continues, in spite of the imposing notice-boards by means of which the City Council threatens sundry dire penalties for just this civic offence. Frequently, as may be observed by the observant, large groups of men stand about gossiping, not only on the footpath but on the roadway. Two doctors were rounding the corner the ether day in a motor-car. The medico who was at the wheel "honked" twice as a warning to the idlers to move aside. They were deaf to all such appeals, however, so, driving at a very slow pace, the doctor gradually threaded his way through the human obstruction. As they emerged from the group the other medico leant over the side of the car, smiled seraphically, and to the little crowd of loiterers politely said : "Sorry to wake vou."

Auckland housewives have been complaining that, all the domestics corning from England are " house-parlourmaids and that few of them cn.ri cook, scrub, or Wa '"- In reply to this, " four experienced, common sense Home girl/," write, protest - •tag that tho majority of the domestics in England are taught all household duties, lliey say:—"The difference in a colonial wrtiKo is wart of method, and the long hours girls are expected to work. A girls working day here is from 6.30 a.m. to 8 P'ffl., and oftentimes up to 9.30 p.m. or 10 p.m., and Sunday is a popular day for entertaining. It is a great pity," 'ay the Home girls, " when employers get good girls that they don't know how to treat them in letting them feel that they •re trustworthy and "competent, instead of driving them like so many sheep."

This pi otest. sounds well, but in how tony colonial houses does a girl worn for from 13 to 15 hours daily, with extra work on Sunday '' I here are scores and hundreds of Doum' wivcf, in Auckland who would be glad to have 10 hours actually worked, and to make any reasonable arrangement as to tittle oft If there are places where excessive work is asked of a girl, she need never fttav in it, for comfortable places are as plentiful as anv eoniiietent girl could wish '

Apropos of stamp-selling machines, a Correspondent sends me experience which •9 worth chronicling, and he says :— '• By of experiment to test its power, I I pushed a light-weight penny into the slot, Almost at once the com was rejected, and J went trundling along the floor. The other | morning, however, the machine showed another phase. A young fellow preceded I' S"' in quest of a stamp ; and, thinking | wMit he had obtained one, I pushed my A ptmy in, but, after waiting a little for a J| Response, we found neither stamp nor penny If forthcoming. A vigorous bang or two g brought nothing but the word " empty" to p our view. Who gets tho pence: I do m aot . suppose we were the only ones vic"Bused. What do you think!" I think i ffl,

Mr, Glover should ask whether a special brand of machine is provided for his good people'' of Auckland, and whether they are parted from their pennies as quietly down in Dunedin.

Auckland people have such a magnificent heritage at their very deors in the Waiteinata Harbour, that an equally fine stretch of water, almost as near at hand —the Manukau—ns neglected. The opening of parks and recreation grounds on its shores will result well if it only ends in teaching the public what a magnificent arm 01 the sea the Manukau Harbour really is. On a fine afternoon, to stand on the hills at Titirangi, at the end of the Exhibition motor drive, is to enjoy a vista of sparkling waters stretching so far away to the east that the further shore is dim and misty. Here and there the white sail of a yacht flicks the surface, hut the Manukau has one yacht to the \\ aitenrntas dozens. Doubtless a change will come some day, and with a canal an established fact, we may yet see the Waitemata yachtsmen foing across to meet h7is Manukau brethren in the friendlv rivalry of a combined regatta, with the groat, western harbour appreciated at something like its worth.

The residents of Papatoetoe are complaining bitterly of departmental density. The suburb is making enormous progress. Everybody sees this except the departmental officials. The Auckland Gas Company, realising that there is profit in Papatoetoe, is laying gas mains in all the principal streets, but the postal and railway officials treat all applications for improved services as if the district had not moved for twenty y&rs. A correspondent complains, with reason, that Papatoetoe has no postal delivery. He says : " There is certainly a messenger, and he has to walk considerable distances to deliver telegrams, simply because the Department will not allow the lad a bicycle. Some time ago £1000 was granted for a new post office, but there the matter ends. As to the train service, a petition is being largely signed asking for speeding up and some extra trains. The scheduled time to do eleven miles from Papatoetoe to the city is 45 minutes, but it often takes an hour, and frequently an hour and aquarter, owing to long delays at the different stations."