LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19720, 20 August 1927, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

BY MERCUXIO.

London is growing more like Auckland every day. They have had a little trouble over there about their tramways *nd their motor omnibuses, with tubes thrown in as an added complication. Wonderful how the fashions set by Auckland spread, isn't it? What is more, an advisory committee having surveyed the situation, the constitution of a cen tral controlling authority, in other words, a transport board, has been suggested. Now this is real promptitude, for it happened almost immediately after the same thing had been proposed, with renewed emphasis, by certain local authorities in and about Auckland. One can pardon London for growing more like Auckland, but London really should not copy Auckland in this manner.. The City Council has had an experience this week which may perhaps be annoying. It had built up all sorts of plans, the only thing needed to carry them out being a small matter of half a million pounds. Now it has been refused, the money and all the fascinating things it was going to do have to be put on the back of the shelf. If there js annoyance, it can be forgiven. There is not much fun in running a tramway service. When you give the peoplo cars they ask for buses. Give them a bus and even then they are not happy. Of course one of the difficulties is that every passenger who hangs on to a strap knows so much better how the service ought to be run than the people who are paid to do it, or elected to do it. But men in public positions have to grow used to conditions like that. Their only remedy is to forget the modest folk whose sensitiveness makes them shrink from the ordeal of elections, but never stops them from criticising in season and out of season. They will never be satisfied. None o: us ever will. When the community ceases, to growl heartily decadence will have set in and the qualities which have made the Empire what it is will be no more. Anyway, to return to tho council and its tramway scheme, it ought not to grow depressed. It asked for a loan and was turned down; lots of people have had that experience, especially in these-hard times. They say that there will be good prospects for the sale of New Zealand butter in Canada this year, because the Canadian season has not been a good one. In fact, Canada has had practically no Bummer. Whatever became of the Canadian summer of 1927, it certainly did not winter in New 1- Zealand. Last week something was said in this column about the harbingers of spring. Now there has come all round the world, news portending a gay and profitable summer. It seems that from the numbers of inquiries made at the New Zealand office in London, from both Britain and the Continent, there are prospects of an unprecedented incursion of tourists in the coming season. "Very nice, too. In this country, of course, we love the tourists for themselves, and a little, possibly, for what they bring with them. So let them all come, and bring lots of it with them! The only thing is, has not the time come for a proper regulation of" this trade ? Here the country has been busy for the past three or four years extolling the merits of proper control over export business. W'hy not of inwards traffic too ? The vendors of butter and honey and other valuable commodities are finding that to spread the supply over as long a period as possible is much more profitable than to dump all the output on the market at once. Why,, then, stand supine while the tourists propose to mass themselves all in one short season ? If a certain proportion could be put into cold storage and brought along in the off season it would be much better. Their wants could receive attention more faithfull}*, and—think of the profits! The collecting of rare coins is said to be an amusement for which New Zealand offers few facilities. However, anyone wanting to make a hobby of it can be comforted by the thought that it is easiei than it used to be. All coins are rarer than they were, tlie higher the value, the greater the rarity. It has been , suggested that the habit of making free with other people s cars is encouraged by the owner parking with the car pointing down hill. It is.gthen so much easier to start and make a quick, silent departure. Therefore comes the further suggestion, the many slopes and gradtes abounding in Auckland encourage the joy-rider to give it a risk and glide away. Perhaps; the motives inspiring actions which simply nevei occui to normal people with healthily honest instincts are hard to find sometimes. Of course, it is proverbial that tiie downward path is an easy one. The speculation, however, is more interesting than practical, for it is impossible to level all Auckland's grades, and it is not likely that all owners of cars will park them henceforth pointing uphill, for the good and sufficient reason it would make the legitimate as well as the unlawful starting of them less easy. Besides, the nasty habit of setting fire to borrowed cars is made easier because most of them contain such inflammable stuff as petrol. If owners would only see that their cars, left standing, contained not a drop of petrol, there would be few thefts and fewer fires; but they are not likely to do it. Much homely wisdom can be gained by keeping your ears open when you travel by tram.' You may hear things you were not meant to, which, perhaps, is not quite nice, but then people who raise their voices in tramcars-cannot complain H they are overheard. Sometimes, in the neighbourhood of six o clock, they don t seem to care. It is noticeable that more care-free people are to be found about that hour than at any other time. Ain way, ♦he other evening attentive housewives could have- got a good tip in a tramcar, that attentive housewives are not to oe found in tramcars about six o clock. If thev had been, on this occasion, they could 'have heard an exuberant gentleman discoursing on food, though he sggiticu to have a close acquaintance with drink. His whole conversation was not audible, and anyway it was disjointed, but bis conclusion was emphatic, —, If you go to the butcher's for three pennyworth of dog's meat and half a sheep's kidney, you cani make a real good meal Then with a tablespoonful of flour and half a gallon of water, you can make a dumpling. Oh, I know. I've bached for years. Ihere io a jewel of a recipe for hard times.