FISHO!

NZ Truth, Issue 931, 29 September 1923, Page 6

FISHO!

Regulation by Regulations. If Wellington's winds blow the germs away, where are the germs for Wellington's, winds to blow away? The City Council harbors one, though— a germ of , hygiene. ' Milk is instantly degermed on arrival m the city, and lynxeyed officials, keep: a constant vigil on fish offered for sale. These remarks are apropos, of- the wail, of a-, fish-barrow man with a stand m a right-of-way,- in one of the main streets. At the behest of officials he y placed a marble ' slab on his Harrow, 'which .groans under the weight.' That was all right, but since then he has had so many complaints that he is convinced the Council is try-. Injf, figuratively speaking, to : place a marble slab' on his business. A concrete stands was ordered and complied with, then .his electric light lead had to be elaborately . Insulated, - and- this despite the fact that he has to comply with the; Shops and Offices Act and cease selling at six. Ludicrously enough, on top of this, he was told that he also came under the heading of a hawker, and so he purchased a hawker's license. Licensed, marbleslabbed, and compliant to the Shops and Offices Act he stood defiantly by his barrow. Even then a chink m the .armour was discovered. On the blocks In front of the cart, the man wrote m chalk' letters to catch the passing eye: "Fresh fish, Cheapo," or something of the sort. With an exultant shout a lurking official pounced on the marks, i by-law booklet m hand, and' Ordered their instant erasure. The man is under-selling the shops where fish are kept more hygienically under watersprays, but this is not of much consequence m the winter. In the summer it will be of consequence though, for a fish-barrow would then become a seething mass of flies. We've got no argument for the borrow-man then, but why not pass a by-law and settle him instead of this undignified and petty policy of persecution carried on by the Council? ;