LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18664, 21 March 1924, Page 6

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

POISONING BY HEMLOCK.

Sir,— reference to an article in the Herald recently concerning poisoning uy hemlock, which, it is stated, grows by the wayside in Auckland, will you allow mo to allay the fears which seem to have gripped numbers of people concerning it. Since seeing your article I have made search wherever I go, but am of opinion that the dreaded hemlock is a chimera. I have found in abundance "Foeniculum oapillaceum" or common fennel, which, far from being poisonous, is used in medicine as a stimulant and carminative. The two plants are somewhat similar, but the difference is as follows :— Hemlock has an objectionable odour and has decided leaves fennel has a smell similar to aniseed and lias no leaves, merely tendril-like shoots from the stem. Hoping this will hope to allay fears. I think the children mentioned must have eaten something else. There is nothing about fennel to attract their sense of taste and even if they ate it it would not harm. Foenicula.

MOUNT EDEN MEMORIAL GATES.

Sir, —I am a new resident of Mount Eden, and so have refrained ■ from earlier writing, expecting some more directly interested par% would direct attention to the unseemly and unwarranted list of names engraved on one of the tablets of the war memorial gates at tho school. When the flags were removed, and the tablets exposed to view, I venture to assert the general feeling was one of surprise, and almost disgust, to read, not the names of the heroic lads who had passed through the school and had made the supreme sacrifice for their King and country, to whose memory the memorial had been erected, but some eight or nine names of persons who had nothing whatever to do with the war. The feelings of relatives and friends who were present at the ceremony can be better imagined than described when they saw this unjustifiable omission of their loved ones' names. I suggest that the flagrant omission be at once rectified by the removal of the present names, to bo replaced by the names of those, or some of them, that should justly be inscribed there. The tablet is the subject of strong condemnation by all who look at it. Captain.

MANGA RIVER BOARD. Sir,ln justice to everyone concerned, the ratepayers who objected to Mr. Adams sitting as a member of the Mangawara River Board Commission feel it to be their duty to publish the grounds of their objection. The objection of the petitioners to Mr. Adams as a commissioner is based un the fact that ho was an expert witness for the board when tho objections to the first classifications made by the b«ard were heard. On that occasion a large number of objections were lodged to the classifications which had been made by Mr. Young. The objectors sought to show that the works proposed by the board would' not benefit the objectors* land. They called expert witnesses to support their objections. The board called Mr. Young and Mr. Adams to support the classification. The main grounds of the petition are that the proposed works of the board will not benefit the great mass of ratepayers. Mr. Adams has already stated, on jath, that they will. The petitioners therefore feel that Mr. Adams cannot support a recommendation to the Governor that the prayer of the petition be granted. a After an experience extending over three years, without satisfactory results, surely the petition of 128 ratepayers again 14 for the abolition ■of the experiment of a river district should bs given effect without further heckling. It those in any subdivision wish for drainage works they will then be at liberty to create such a drainage scheme after the usual manner. Futher, the interests of those thus concerned would be better served by having the whole administration elected from within their own area, instead of the widely ; distributed control under our present constitution. I feel it an honour to be among those ratepayers who have worked so consistently and determinedly for their emancipation from the shackles of 14 ratepayers who, having a majority among them on the board, have been controlling the administration for so long. E. C. Pilkington.

RAILWAY IMPROVEMENTS. Sir,— Herald is to be congratulated on its forcible remarks on the above subject. When it states that the Hon. Minister for Railways " finds the place with the most urgent need for improvement, with the best claim to consideration, silent and apparently apathetic, while other centres are asking in chorus, without intermission, that their requirements should be met at once," it puts its finger right on the spot. Surely now the various powers that be, such as the Chamber of Commerce, local bodies, etc., will rise up and demand that the matter be no longer played with. , That there is a certain amount of apathy in Auckland is well known. Things are put up with here that would not be. tolerated in other parts of the Dominion. Take for instance the sale of tickets at the Auckland Railway Station. It is no uncommon sight any day to see queues of travellers standing outside the ticket windows waiting for them to open and be attended to. This should not be, for in the very first page of the official timetable, it is stated that certain booking offices, including Auckland, will be open continuously for sale of tickets between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily (Sundays excepted). Yet in face of the above, tickets are not sold in many instances until a few minutes before the departure of trains and people are kept hanging round the ticket windows; As this would not be tolerated elsewhere then why should the Auckland public have to suffer and be deprived of facilities that are provided in the department's own regulations. This, as well as the matters mentioned in the Herald's leader, should move the Auckland public to bestir ' themselves and remove the stigma of apathy which unfortunately at present is deserved. Progress.

" DRESS-UP SUGGESTIONS. Sir,ln Thursday's Herald appeared a report of an Auckland remit which was read at the conference of the New Zealand Federation of Drapers and Clothierfa. The remit urged that the conference should support a campaign for the observance of one or more "Dress-up Weeks" throughout New Zealand for men. Well, it sounds very nice to think that the drapers and clothiers are So concerned about the appearance of the men of Auckland that they want to encourage them to "dress up." How do ' they propose to tdo this?- I would suggest that they offer a prize of, say, six pairs of coloured socks and a few lace-trimmed handkerchiefs for the most original costume. What about tail hats and frock-coats, with patent leather boots and spats for the man who phes the longhandled shovel on an excavating job! Our car conductors would look nice in silken doublets arid hose, with a nice large slouch hat with a drooping ostrich feather. And lam sure, if the policeman on point duty at Customs Sveet wore corsets and a few bows and coloured ribbons, he would look more "dressy than at present. During the remainder of the hot weather we could wear " .shorts," with a nice lace frill, and low-cut blouse shirts, minus sleeves. And in the winter we could have them altered to fur collars av.d rabbitskin stoles. I presume that the federation intend to aiviso the married man with a family (who ha o one suit for work and best) :.»how to procure theto things for a, "dress-up stunt." Perhaps they will recommend the tailors to reduce the price of clothes to something like they were in the good old pre-war days. If the federation can only get the men ". to change their fashions of dress as often as the women do, what a bright and glorious world it will become (for the Federation of Drapers and Clothiers). F. Morrill.