TOPICS OF THE DAY.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4496, 25 October 1901, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

MONEY ORDER TELEGRAMS, The General Post Office authorities ire about to institute an improved method of dealing with money-order telegram* which will bo greatly appreciated by tho . public. Existing regulations provide for two separate despatches in connection with monoy-o-rder telegrams, oho con* taining tho money order itself, and tho other tho advice relating thereto.Under the new arrangement, both the order and tho advice will bo contained in tho same telegram, the advice being torn off a perforated form of delivery to receiver. Especially in connection with racing telegrams will this be a great boon. Hitherto on race days with sheaves of “urgonts” flying about, it has not been an unusual thing for secretaries of racing clubs to receive totalisator advices without money orders, or money orders without advices. Under the new order of things these inconveniences will bo a thingjjOf the past, FACILITATING RACING WIRES. In connection with the improved arrangements of the Post Office authorities for dealing with money-order telegrams, a reform is being effected which will prevent blockage of racecourse wires in the future, and facilitate tho work of tho racing club officials and tele* graph staffs at the same time that it will prove of great convenience to tho general public on race days. For the last year or two tho Telegraph Department has found very great difficulty iff view of the limited facilities availame m dealing with the great quantities of betting, telegrams which are sent to the principal racecourses in connection with the various events in progress, Especially has this been felt .at Christcnurch and Wellington, where a great strain has been continually put 1 upon telegraphists and racing club officials alike. Mr Wanklyn, the secretary of tho Canterbury Jockey Club, devised a method of coping with tub difficulty, but It ha# remained for the telegraph authorities, after consultation with Mr Wanklyn, and Mr Clark, the secretary of the Wellington Racing Club, to perfect a system which will reduce a mountain of difficulties into a molehill of simplicity. Under this system all totalisator instruct tions arriving in Wellington-will, instead of being rowired to the course, be detained here, and handed oyer tn officials appointed by the Racing Clue. Thesfe officials will, by means of a tabulatcd schedule, set out the name ot each investor, the horse he wishes to back, and the amount of the investment. Twenty minutes before the race starts, one telegram will bo despatched to tho course simply detailing the total number of investments oh each horse in that particular race, and the money will immediately be ‘‘rung on” ,to tho yniachine. Tho suggestion was made that persons wishing to back horses, say •from should be allowed to pay their deposit to the Racing Olub 9 officials, and have their names placed^m tho schedule referred to, but as tni» might lead to delay and inconvenience, it has decided that all mesimgos must go through the telegraph in the ordinary way before they will be received by the racing officials. The new system wiu first com# into operation iff connection with the Now Zealand Cup meeting, and will afterwards be employ, ed at tho spring fixture of the Wellington Racing Club. ■■ t A FRAUD EXPOSED. During the "course of a speech at the New Zealand Industrial Association’* annual dinner, Mr John Holmes, replying to the toast of “Farming and Agri, cultural Interests,” made special refeir ence to the valuable services rendered to New Zealand by its Agent-General in London, and also by Mr Cameron, the Produce Commissioner for this colony. He also took the opportunity of refer* ring to the benefits bestowed by the Agricultural Department in assisting to educate our producers to a better knowledge in agriculture, dairy produce, poultry and fruit fanning, and thereby ensure for this colony the best value* for our exports. . Mr Holmes said that the importance of the frozen meat industry to the colony, not only to those immediately engaged in the industry, but also to pastoral and agricultural farmers, traders, merchants, shipowners etc., could not be over-esti-mated, and the colonv had reason to bo thankful for the careful manner in which our interests were watched by Mr Cameron, who, he said, with greater latitude, oould render even mere effective- service to this colony than be did at present. ' As instancing tbe kind of opposition which New Zealand meat had to contend against, Mr Holmes read a letter which he had received last mail from Mr John Earnshaw. a master butcher at Lancaster. In this communication Mr Earnshaw stated that ha, with others, had tendered to supply a certain Board of Guardians with Canterbury mutton. TJie result is his own words :*—“ A Liverpool firm, got the contract- , I was determined to watch their deliveries, and I discovered that the mutton was none other than River Plate. At the expiration of the contract I privately exposed the fraud to the receivers, and the result was that when the contract was re-let they debarred this firm from competing. I tendered again, but was unsuccessful, an—-

other Liverpool ffnn having preference to supply Canterbury mutton at 3.',d per Hi. I have also watched (his. and I ant suspicions that this sf-called Canterbury is imUiing but River Plato, with false labels and wrappers s.l aniped ' Canter; bury.' Of course, Lam not in a position to prove this, and I appeal to you to put mo in I be way of discovering the general brand, and give me some ;r.formation respecting U. I am .sin’e tnis cannot fail to interest yon, as it, will give von some idea to what extent Irauti is carried on in Ibis corner of the giobe. I hope that before long I shall have the pleasure of supplying some of the consumers of Hirer Plate with the genuine article.” ’ WANGANUI IN AUSTRALIA! From English tiles to hand, it appears that .Vtr E- W. Phillips, into wrote to the London papers about ■•cancer in Australian tattle” amt the cruel treatment lo which sheep for the Home market received prior to demise, was as weak in geographical knowledge as most of our critics are. Mr Phillips wrote to the ■•. standard” to say that in a letter which he had received .from Australia it appeared that great cruelty was Inflicted upon sheep by vho manner in which they were driven and trucked into a town called Wanganui. The lucubrations of this sentimentalist were Quickly refuted. The day after his stupid letter appeared, the “Standard”' published replies trom Mr Henry Copeland, Agent-General for New South Wales Mr H. C. Cameron, New Zealand’s Produce Commissioner, and Colonel Edward Gorton, of Rangitikei, who was in Exeter at the time. Mr Copeland refused to treat Mr Phillips seriously. Hero are a few sentences from his reply:—‘Tie (Mr Phillips) admits the drovers are not cruel, and that 'they carried them where they could. Perhaps ho would expect them to carry them all the way—one man one sheep. Or may I suggest to him, ns the trains dp undoubtedly knock the sheep about a. little sometimes—(indeed, even men and women have been known occasionally to have had cause for complaint ;my suggestion, however, would avoid that di fficully with respect to the sheep in future)— that, instead of driving our flocks of sheep and mobs of cattle by the road, or canyine them bv train, we should have them brought, to, the slaughter-house bv ambulance waggons? This would save them from being jolted, and keep their nervoiic, «vstorrs in poocl orclor for too nut civ cr’s knif».” Colonel Gorton wrote inter -tlin • —“Wanganui happens to ho in New Zealand, which country is more than twelve hundred miles from Australia, and what has boon written about, vV anranui is a, gress libel upon that place and district.'* SAN FRANCISCO MAIL SERVICE. Messrs W. M. Bannatyne and Co., Wellington agents for the Oceanic Steamship Co., write: —In the Times of Tuesday last wc notice that the Hon. Georgo McLean, .speaking at the Industrial Association dinner, is reported to have said that the Sprockets Company, which runs the San Francisco service, is to receive from the New Zealand ■aovernmont the gum of £15,000 per annum to compote with the Union Steam MjP Company of New Zealand, Limited, in the carriage of passengers between Auckland and Sydney. No-,v, Mr McLean knows perfectly well that there an acroomont ab present existing be tween the U.S.S. Co. and Messrs. Spreck. els, whereby the latter charge £1 extra for parages between th<3 ports mention, od, this being in continuation of an acreomont made when ‘he Union S.a. Co. acted as agents for Messrs Sprocket, its object, as the public will reitdily recognise, being to avoid competition between the two lines. Vo have no doubt that, under the altered condition of things, to meet the wishes of the Hon. Georgo McLean. Messrs Sprockets would bo quite willing to bring their rate down to the same level as the Union Steam Ship Company, as they have been repeatedly urged to do by AucklandersThe complaint made by the Hon. George McLean in his post-prandial speech is a fair specimen of many that have been circulated lately re the A. and A. line, and they doubtless all emanate from the same source. Renders, therefore, can accept them for whnt they are worth. By the way, it seems strange that, having reward to the adverse criticisms so freolv passed upon Messrs Sprockets steamers recently, Mr McLean should apprehend any serious competition from, them, especially when the faros, as wo have already pointed out, are loaded to the extent of £l.