TWO LIMITED CONCERNS.

NZ Truth, Issue 103, 8 June 1907, Page 6

TWO LIMITED CONCERNS.

HOW RONA BAY RESIDENTS

ARE TREATED.

A Good and Faithful Servant.

Buy Land at Day's Bay and

be Happy.

,The first annual mp&ting of the Wellington Hairbour Ferries, Ltd., Mr. W. Watson, Chairman of Directors, presiding, was held one (lay this week, and as a dividend of 7 per cent., absorbing £1912 3s Sd of live profits and leaving a balance til £69 3s 'M, was declared, it very much points to the fact that the said limited concern is a good paying joint, and that things arc coming all their way. Now, however, the We-Hin^ton Harbor Ferries, Ltd is only a sort of a by-pro-duct of another limited joint, t 0 wit, the Wellington 1 Steam Ferry Company, Ltd., which holds 23,350 £1 shares m the first-mentioned company, and therefore- has the biggest say m working the for;n€<r 'concern's oracle. The Board of Di--1 rectors m each company are the same, ami one concern pays a seven per oent. dividend, ami the other manages to. declare a divvy of six per cent. Having saM so much by way of introduction, ifc behoves this respectafvle journal to ohsierye, that i though the Wellington Steam Ooraj pany, Ltd., is called such, it n;,---j pears to be a misnqmer, inasmuch as the Ferrying business seems to ! consist m trapping the land j buyers iato taking- up sec- j toons' at the various marine subnibs of Wellington, and having got them at the seaside, it proposes by the real Ferry Company to Meed ; the marine suburb resident' by . carrying him from town and' fcack at | so much per head. It is because the j Wellington Steam Ferry Coy:, Ltd,, want „ .TO PUSH DAY'S AHEAD that there has be3-n for a long time ] past, and will to feu: a long time j to come if things do not alter, a loud and woeful cry from residents at Rona Bay and Muratai, that Day's Bay, where the Wellington Steam Ferry Coy., Ltd has a 1 lot of land for sale, and has dumped down a lot of settlers on the. installment plan, has a! regular steamer service, and that the Wellington Harbor Ferries, Ltd., which is j a bud of the other blooming rose, carefully sees' that Rona Bay gets its service spasmodically, and when the captains of the 'two vessels feel inclined. Of course, it need hardly be mentioned that the Wellington Steamer Ferry Company, Ltd., has little or no interests at. Rona Bay and Murata^i, and that fact seems to explain away ttuite a large number of things. Anyhow, the two companies, or one,, and after all it seems to amount to the' same thing, are a 'hard-fisted, cra/zy, conserva-tive'crow-d, and seem to do just as they plc-ase, and- natwittostdnd'ting/ numerous ".and/- constant complaints from the badly treated Rona Bay residents, the concerns, or concern, are going on m their sweet' own way, and it- is apparent, therefore, /..that; nothing will ever ''hs' done until an opposition f€irry sdrviC'3 springs into/ existence, and there certainly seems room for it. "Truth," m thus attempting to right the wrongs of the Rom Bay and Muratai residents, does not wish to do anybody au. injustice. Thore are- two boats on the Day's Bay service, the Cobar and the. Duchess. Skipper Williams [of ite Cobar is spoken oE as a civjil and obliging man, "who, no mat- | ter what the weather may. be like, will run to Rona Bay. Not so much, however, can be said of slcipIper "Hall" Jones, of the Duchess, For some unknown reason Jorces is ikept on m the service, ivo'AVith- | standing that he lias reached mi- age] [which cannot be matched with youth. | |If the weather does /not suit Jones he will not trim to Rona- Bay ; he alleges that ' . . HE IS TAKING. A- RISK, and) perhaps- he is. That fact, however, is not to bo taken into consideration. The passen*ners expect to be taken, and pay to be taken, to Rona Bay, and the idea of having to be ferried to Day's Bay, where the risk is just as great as the other place, and to walk three or four miles to Rona Bay and Muratai is, needless to remark; not relished, by the passengers 'and' residents of the latter districts. If the Cobar can put mat Rona Bay it. is argued so should the Duchess, and if Jones is too frightened, the consequence ought to be that Jones should be got rid of. of course, always presuming tfhat the Company is empowered to rid itself of a "faithful servant." Moreover it would be interest>inijs to know if there is any truth m the statement that the skipper of the Cofoar lias been warned that if he' risks going to Rona Bay, hew-ill have -to make good an^ damage to his tub? "Truth" merely asics the question, as it seems possible that this or these moneygrabbling concerns, are capable of doing aiiivthing. The servacc is a shocking one.- The boats run- most irregularly, and the skipper of the Duchess, m particular, seems to leave Wellington and Day's Bay and Rona, Bay, when he goes there, just when lie lil-es. Sometimes the fact that there is a doctor on hoard, waiting tor be taken to the bedside of a pa-tiont, does not trouble "Hall" Jones, who, though once he does get a start, will not turn hack, not even if a woman with child m arms stands imploringly on the 1 wharf. Good old faithful servant, "Hall"- Jones ! But more ABOUT THE PERKY BUSINESS of the Wellington Harbour Ferries Company, which is controlled by the. Wellington Steam Ferry Company, ,'.'liat sells land at, and has all its interests centred m, Day's Bay.- Not very long ago, m order to minimise whatever risk Avas attached to mooring at Rona Bay, the Wellington Harbour Board, after a groat deal of persuasion, erected a new wharf t-hare. This, indeed, was a boon to the residents, who felt inclined to bless the Harbour Board and cuddle it and call it nice things. But what did the Ferries concern do ? They immediately made capital out of it. They popped on the fares. Season tickets were increased, and so were the weekly tickets. Of course, non-residents and .visitors travel at a bob a. yo)) £ as of

yora. For the boon of a new wharf, intended only to benefit the residents, this corm-orantic Feriy concern has turned it to their .own benefit, and it is no womder that a seven per cent. .' dividend is .declared. There is a moral attached to this matter, and it is, to live m the city,, or else buy land at Day's Bay, from the Harbour Ferries Company, and then Captain Jones, m the employ of the Welli-fiigfcon Harbour Ferries, Ltd., might touch his hat to you* ;