LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19215, 2 January 1926, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

BY MEECUTIO.

It is whon a holiday time descends upon ms that the opportunity conies to realise how fortunate are the folks who livo in this Auckland. There is beauty of sea and sky and hills and pretty little sequestered patches of the shore to provide enjoyment for everyone that Auckland holds, for the discriminating visitors who come crowding in, and for tho many thousands more destined some day to call themselves Aucklanders. Of courso they do not all resort to such places. Last Saturday some 40,000 people nobly resisted the temptation to overcrowd the beaches and other picnic resorts. With admirable altruism I,hey refrained from congesting wharves, gangways, excursion steamers and other means of conveyance away from tho city. They took a tram, a train, or u taxi, and contented themselves with the more sophisticated charms of the gardens at Ellerslie. It is said that the show of flowers, shrubs and palms was unusually satisfying, so that the cup of happiness overflowed.

Is it to be expected that after the fire in the Stock Exchange on Christmas Eve there will be watered stocks on tho market when business is resumed ?

Of a bathing beauty contest held during ft Wellington beach carnival it has been said that the entry was large and tho judging very difficult. Tho task may have had its dangers as well as its difficulties.

Tho spectacle of a bright green moon visible in Auckland caused much discission the other evening. It does not seem, so far, to have revived the old theory, now almost forgotten, that tho moon is made of green cheese.

Displays of flowers at various stations has moved someone in the south to commend the Railway Department on its efforts at beantification. No ona seems to have offered similar congratulations on account/ of the fine crop of hoardings being cultivated by the same authority.

A certain hospital board, having considered the question of appointing women to its residential staff,, has decided that accommodation being available, and qualifications equal, it will appoint at least two. The reservations show it is determined not to be rash about its new policy,.

A radio talk on the advantages of increased trade beween Australia and New Zealand was broadcasted from Dunedin by Mr. Smallhorn. For the sake of the laudable cause involved, it is to be hoped the ra,trLe name was not applicable to the loud speakers on the receiving sets which picked up his remarks and admonition.

Samoa is coming on. Land titles are ■to ba individualised, so thai presently the Samoan will be able to own his own little bit, bold up his head, and look the whole world in the lace. Then he will bo able to raise a mortgage on it, and so fall in line with the most up-to-date agricultural methods as practised in New Zealand.

It seems that as an aftermath of the American naval cruise, New York has been shown a film depicting part of Auckland and labelled "the Metropolis of Sidney." Who is this Sidney? There was a time when the name should have been James, and now, if anyone is to bo credited with proprietorship, it ought to bo George. This Sidney person is an interloper.

Some of the American tourists who came by the Carinthia, saw New Zealand ir.i a couple of days and departed, were 60' charmed by the Maori music at Ro orua that they asked for gramophone records of the melodies. Tho chances of getting them would be small, but they could have been supplied with plenty of Hawaiian music, guaranteed genuine, made in the United States. That is the way we do things in New Zealand.

Sunspots of a most extravagant sizo have been detected by those assiduous people who spend most of their waking lives at the nether end of a telescope fitted with th{j dark glasses and special eyepieces needed to make the amusement a safe one. Poor old Sol is showing tho effects of his Christmas with great promptitude. Never mind. Considering how nobly he did his duty over Christmas time, and especially on Boxing Day, ho earned the right to a spot or two.

Fiji regards the mongoose, imported some 40 years ago, as an unmitigated nuisance. New Zealand should have a little sympathy to spare, having enough posts of her own, introduced with similar enthusiasm and now denounced with equal vigour. But to return to tho mongoose: having had the creature for 40 years, has Fiji yet solved the problem which has puzzled scientists for generations ? Can Fiji say whether the plural ought to be mongoose or mongooses, or if neither, what ?

It is stated, on the evidence of an expert, that Aucklanders were a little apathetic about the exhibition at Dunedin until a few weeks ago, when the booking went up with a rush. It is satisfactory to find that Eo many people from this city have at last decided to pay a neighbourly call down and so keep the credit of this end good. But tho fact must be quoted with discretion. Dunedin is still a bit touchy about tho attitude of the north. If there is so much as a whisper that Auckland was not much interested until the Auckland Court was opened, tho fat will be in tho fire properly.

A globe-trotting visitor who wanted to "praise New Zealand did his best, but his tact was hardly equal to the job. He told a Weill ngtonian that after_ seeing 'Auckland he had no hesitation, in placing New Zealand in its proper order of merit; that was slip number one. Hn should have waited until he had seen .Wellington, since he was telling Wellington all about it. Then ho put Honolulu first, Southern California second, and New Zealand third. Why so half-hearted ? (Ho might have made it New Zealand first, and then the other two. He could have altered the order when ho returned to Honolulu, made another change when he reached California, or introduced a fresh candidate if he chanced to visit [.Terra del Fuego. That is the way travellers' tales are usually told. But this man may have been ar. exception. Perhaps he was trying to bo truthful instead of popular*