LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20454, 4 January 1930, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

BT MEECUTIO,

'• New. Zealand is growing in age, and. 51 :s to be. hoped, in dignity. " Geologically, r 't bourse, there is nothing young about the country. Its infancy is only in respect of written history. Even (hat is beginning :o lengthen, as the celebration <>f centenaries shows. Soon another will be held, when the founding of the first ir.iand mission station at Waiinatc North is commemorated. It is eloquent oi the way the European established himself here that such centenaries should occur, while 't, w>U be necessary to wa:.t another (rri years before the proclamation of British sovereignty takes its turn. Another feature ti> be noted is the way (he centre of activity has shifted. Paihia, Kororaresr., • Waimatc North, Kerikeri, Wai(ang!—thesq? were names of moment in those eaii.y days. They are still rich in Initorj# interest, an interest no other part < t l\e w Zealand can equal, but in official jmnortance they are pale shadows of what they used to be. As. the passage of time brines round anniversaries that deserve noting, tbfse names reappear for a few days' brief fame, then fall back again iato their former freedom from it. The balance- has moved far from the north new, but in its association with the very dawn of .settlement and civilisation it has a hen; amy no other part of New Zealand Others raav be shy of saying how they fared at the races on Boxing Day, but the Transport Board admits quite frankly that it- had a good win. It was one of the best days it has had with the tramcars tor several years. Now that sounds promising to people who use (lie trams on other occasions, and, taught by recent events, 'ars a little concerned about the state of tlvfe revenue. But there :s one thing about the otScial figures that seems a little queer. The trams, it is said, took 143 loads t.o Ellerslie and 149 away. That does not sound as though many people walked home perforce. How did the trams corns to be better patronised going back than going oat ? Did so many people, having travelled by motor-bus in the morning, suffer a sudden conversion and decide "to patronise the trains in the j £ft 6rnoon and thenceforward for ever ? Jf so, the outlook for the revenue is better than ever. There must be some explana-

7ion. is it? Tiaces being race?, and human nature what it is, it must have been a case of people who vent out by toxical)/ having to search for a tram fare soing home. It sounds feasible, but for six tramioads to have been caught like that suggests there was a good deal of bad picking during the day.

An enthusiastic visitor to Taupo has been so impressed by the sight of the broom in (lower that he suggests its beauties will become one of the attractions of the place. In future, he says, tourists will go to Taupo to see the broom just as they go to oilier places to see the chestnuts or the bluebells. Some people hear chestnuts they have visited a place of amusement for an entirely different purpose, or perhaps with the hope of something different in their hearts. But that has little, to do with Taupo and the broom There arises a vision of the visitor casting down his. fishing rod for a broomstick, and so forth, but it is not very convincing. Apart from the anglers, who know what they want and go for it. folk so 4o Taupo because it is Taupo. and there is not much use suggesting they shall go there for any special or particular motive. It has gained a name as a place where one may make holiday and spend a happy time, and that is of more value to it than bloom in broom, or broom in bloom, or any other way you may like to tie your tongue with a phrase. If anyone is contemplating a publicity scheme he would not he wise to advertise Taupo as a place for broom bloom, but as Taupo. Seek ;he general effect and ignore the details? That is the way to advertise a holiday resort. They say there are spots on the sun, they being the scientific people who usually say these things. A period of solar activity that ought to be coming to an end is being prolonged in a way that nobody can explain. But then, since nobody can really explain why these periods occur in cycles, or, if it really comes to that, why there are-spots on the sun at all v there need, be no sense of humiliation at the failure to account for this term of extended' activity. But there is also a theory, well supported by evidence, that the occurrence of sunspots has a decided influence on the weather ruling on this 1 faraway plane*. It is a fair inference, j therelore, that the spots on the sun had ! something to do with the Christmas j weather. II so. then the sun ought to i be ashamed of himself. That is to sav, j v.o reasonable person, free from theories ! abouj total abstinence, would grudge the I sun a few spots, especially at this time I of the year, but there should be a medium | in ail things. In particular, evervone should take care, that self-indulgence does not inconvenience other people. This elementary consideration for the general convenience lias been sadly neglected bv tbs sun. awl' something ought' to be "done about it. *

Wise people contend that many of the common tears of childhood exist only because they have been .suggested in the first pjace by ioolish adults. The darkless, for instance, would bold no terrors U somebody had not put into the little head that it concealed ail kinds of dreadful things. So with thunder, lightning and similar happenings which do not always leave adults unmoved. Regarding thunder, a story has drifted in that during the heavy storm which swept over Auckland iust before the holidays a httle maid, young enough to be hearing the noises for the first time since she was abie to ask questions, was mightily interested. wanting to know what made the lminder and. where it came from. There ivas no tiacc of fear, only a consuming cariosity ;r; her attitude. True it is a theories of atmospheric electricity to an httie bit wearing trying to explain the iwjumng 'three-year-old; still it is better than, trying to soothe and comfort a screaming child who is beset vrith terror of something it cannot understand. If it be true, ii/.-n, that there would be no tear i; rear were not suggested by word or example/, adults ought to be more ( aret.al, v, bat ;hey say arid do in the presence oi vourig children. They ought to > anyway, hut particularly so when they ! - '-able -,y create terrors they will never a b!e :o cure. So that's that. But, on • tie other j, jf these fear?; originate .n a suggest ton planted in the: mind by a " me S( "~on-j pen-on, why started it all. The enlc'j p; :.;inr New Zealander who a f'••••.• days ago to fly from Eng|"nd to those parts and, if possible, to oreaE records hy the wnv, was, it seems, tie hero • ■ raiiicr adventure in Yugo- ■ Klvia. J j , , t■■ j iint rv were as some -aropen n iauds there would be a temptaJ?' 1 a.-.k " Where is Yugoslavia?" ; - eie are. however. enough associations 'etv.een Xe\.- Zealand and Yugoslavia to the/sm superfluous. Ihe airnan to nave met with much kind'ess and pi~a< ti< al assistance at the hands '• his luvoiuntarv hosts. His experiences rf°? 1 lu : u pleasant, memory for the rest t']i !,s -'j i:<- cis one drawback to iem. liie centie <•: his adventure was o\,n answert'ij to the name of LjuhAt'leaM, one presumes it answers a , an ,- ono inrili -' ; ces to rail. Now how can j 1 travel taies do anything against ren | a . like, that ? "Imagine him the }, '- P ;. 01 an admiring circle anxious to he lt , S !? r - v oi hls exploits. How can jgnq t T' ' " '•'•"is in the late autumn of j'io .7i * ' oi;r 'd mysiif at . But no. rdi'a ° or ~ans trained to English speech mio-Vi i° l I he strain. A Welshman ho! ,? bl6 10 ™ke it m his stride, but i*iubljaia 2 an -" orie else do anything with