AUCKLAND.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11642, 27 January 1900, Page 2

AUCKLAND.

(Fhom puri Own CoEnKsroijDENT.)

January 17,

Now tho New Year holidays are over tiie people are returning to the stern duties of life. The mines on the goklfields' are again in full swing, as well as the timber mills throughout the length and breadth of the province. Ac iisual, there has been the usual series of accidents and tragedies which appear to be inevitable with our junketings and festivities, and the average number of fatal bathing accidents. One feature of our social life is the increasing desira at the Christmas and New Year season to get away to the sea coast, to see the wonders of Nature, and to inhale life ond strength in the health-giving breezes of the Pacific. To meet this public demand the Government have'assisted, through the representations of Mr Bollard, M.H.K., and Mr J. J. Holland, ex-M.B.R.for the city, in opening out a new tourist route to the Wni-takerei-West Coast district, a coaching road 25 miles in length over the Waitakcrei ranges (1100 ft in height), and thrpugh 10 miles of virgin bush to the sea. The scenery is the grandest in the province, of Auckland, and the view from Blow Hole Bay commands the expanse' of ocean from the Manukau bar, where H.M.S. Orpheus was,wrecked, on the south, to the Kaipara. lighthousje, 30 miles to the northward. At no other part of the coast are such magnificent rollers to bo seen, or can surf bathing be got in perfect security; while the sea caves, blow-holes, and other natural wonders constitute'1 the three bays, comprising a front of seven miles—Piha, Blowhole, and Kare-kare Bays, a. natural " showplace...' The Government'fell in with the representations made to them, and they have secured by purchase a fine piece of kauri and lotara, (150 acres)—the only patch left between Auckland and the coast—for the benefit of the sight-seeing English and Australian .tourists, who are ever craving to find within easy access' of Auckland specimens of the monarch of the forest and of the virgin New Zealand bush. These, through the foresight of the Government, have been secured. The Government, have also added some,,hundreds of acros to the City Park—a 4000-acre reserve ip the Nihotopu ranges,—which brings this magnificent reserve up to the tourist coaching route to tho coast, so that the public interests have been well conserved. Grants of money -have also been made to improve the roads, so that Anclelanders have every reason to bo satisfied at what is being done in this particular district to develop, picturesque Now Zealand. The beauties of the scenery of the Waitakeroi West Coast district have only been discovered by the pleasure-loving public, though known to the old settlers for a generation. Ths latter, in their isolation, and living an.almost hermit life, have not a thought above bullocks, and they are rather puzzled at the Aueklanders enthusing over sea caves, waterfalls, and blow-holes," and the manifold beauties of the New Zealand bush. Tilers is every reason to believe that Hlow Hole Bay, and tho other romantic bays forming charming places of marino resort, between that point and the Kaipara Heads lighthouse, will ultimately be exploited to the great benofit of the tourist traffic, and the genoral health of the citizens of Auckland.

It is a matter for regret that through the recklessness of gumcliggers, the carelessness of picnickers, and other causes, thousands of acres of virgin bush is destroyed yearly by bush lirea, to the great loss of settlers and tlio community at large. The present season lias been no exception to the rule. This is especially so in tho north, where the srumdigscr, there is reason to fear, doe 3it simply to clear the ground to enable him to get the sum. Government expolled them from the Puhipubi State forest, in order to give that noble forest a chance to live, but it has been continually scourged by firos. This' season fires lia-vo broken out in it, and swept through a portion

CLEANLINESS IS NEXT TO GODLINESS But at what Co3t is this elaaulinoss procured by many peoplo? Often, at the'eost of a oa.l and_ uncomfortable skin, tho result of the usa of inferior soaps'. Tq eiisuro a good, healthful skin PEias' So;.p should always !jq used.

of the bush, and although the State-owned portion has not suffered severely, private individuals who have interests in sections of the timber have suffered throjigh 'fires in the gullies running down from tho PuhipuM plateau. The Upper Thames and Coromand.el Peninsula, has also been scourged,in like manner, there is reason to believe, through tiie careless ways of the diggers. The loss of timber through bush fires must amount ajmiialiy to thousands of pounds, and this, with the wasteful way in which the forests are cut down for commercial purposes, without the slightest attempt at reforesting, will be bitterly regretted in the

The Electric Tramways Company have men engaged in' checking the surveys made under tho Eppstein concession, and' putting everything in readiness to commence operations shortly. There is reason to believe that the forthcoming negotiations with the sublirbjjn bodies (vil] end satisfactorily, as it jg" dearly to their interest to connect with the city syHsm, bpth to get residents into 'town more speedily, and also to induce citizens of the leisured class to take up their abode in the suburbs ,dnd thus 'harden the price of property in those districts., Mr Ijinghain has gone on a mission to Australia, but he returns shprtly to take up liis duties as engineer and manager of the enterprise.

Our municipal authorities are in a quandary over the floating.of the city loan'of £100,000, owing to the altered condition's".of the'mpney market, and the complications which way ariße, politically, through the South African war. £11,000 of debentures faH duo, for retiring, in a few months, and it was hoped that the money to retir.e jthem would have been available at & per cent. Of that now there is no prospect, or indeed of the loan being- floated at 4 per cent. The idea was to float the loan locally, so that the interest would return to the community, but in view of the ratos of interest there'is no hope of carrying out the scheme propounded by tho municipal authorities some months ago. To ndd to their troubles it is found that the water mains imported are not suitable for the extension schemo, and since that order was sent Home water pipes have gone up in price by 30 per cent. The mayor (Mr David Goldie) has been so worried iij his endeavour to carry out the reforms' dear to his heart, ■both administrative and financial, that he has been advised to go to tho country to decuperate. Indeed bis medical man was wishful t-liat.be should have taken a tour to the Otago lakes to give him health and strength again, but Mr Goldie could not bring himself to go so far away, and get out of touch with the niunicipal staff and the management of the city, so he has gone up to Cambridge, Wailcato, which is much recommended by the faculty, in cases of desired recuperation from mental worry and ovpr-work.

The war fever in Auckland may now be regarded ai at white heat, and the patriotic outburst cf feeling stronger Ulan it was at the outset of the Crimean war, when the little Auckland of the olden' time contributed £?QOO to tlie_ patriotic fund. The general public have given iiobjy, find working men in the industrial establishment;? are giving their weekly contributions while the war may last. Auckland is Retting up to close on £5000 already, and the country districts are scarcely gleaned yet, where over) hamlet is contributing its quo^. As regards men, the provinpe could, have furnished the whole of the second contingent, but the action cf the Defence authorities is past all understanding. One of the rejected was worthy of a place in the 6fli Dragoon (Guards, while one of our finest athletes was rejected on account of not having the requisite nhest measurement, who, on being measured by somebody who lenew How to handle a tape-line, was found to be 37^ inches—much in excess of what was required by Die regulations. A great want of consideration was shown to men. Captain Reid, for jiistanco, who waa asked to conimnnd No. 1 Company of the second contingent, was left, in suspense till the eleventh hour, thoijgh he had an aged mother, an invalid wife, a family to arrange about during his absence, and a business to dispose of. The man in the armchair at Wellington knew nothing of these things, and possibly cared less, and Captain Reid got six hours in which to say Aye or No! Dr MakgiH, after offering for medical service as assistant surgeon, and nnyiijjr his own passage to the Cape, waited weeks for an answer, and in disgust has left the colony, Mr Eugstor, the founder of the Helvetian settlement, near Pukekphe, offered his services as a nurse or dresser in an ambulance corps, without pay at all, but probably the Defence authorities caw one of Dr Leyds's Bqer spies lurking in the genial Genevan, and would not have him at any price, or none. To cap all, Captain Napier, who applied for passes over the railway from New Plymouth to Wellington in o'rcier that officers from the Auckland garrison might go to give a send-off to the second contingent, was informed that he would get them if two-thirds of their respective companies went to Wellington. The proposal really meant that the Auckland volunteers would have to spend £3090 to qualify for the railway passes! , The men who could make such ' a proposal have qualified for a place in tlie " Intelligence department" of the English War Office. Captain Napier, with brutal frankness, replied to Mr Seddon that the proposal was an absurd one, and that the men who made it " knew it to be absurd," whereupon tlio Intelligence department reduced the number of a company going to Wellington froni two-thirds to one-fourth, which is just as impracticable as the first proposition. It must be evident that if one officer was scut he would do all that was required, and represent his corps in the send-off, as effectually as if he had had a full parade on Lambton quay; but the official mind is not built that way. and failed to grasp the idea. It.is eccentricities of that sort—outrages on common sense and administrative capacity—that disp,'ti3t many men, and deter them from entering the volunteer service, where they would have to submit toand become the victims of them. The volunteers aro pot slow to express their opinion of such official incapacity and mulichness, a practice which is not likely to inspire.official veneration in the mind of tho colonial Tommy Atkins, or to tighten the bonds of discipline.

Among thow: who have fallan victims to influenza is Monsignor M'Donald, whose name has been a household word in Auckland for a generation. Ho did not bolong to the Roman Catholic Ohure'i alone, but was the heritage of all the churches, for men never thought of him fis a priest, but as a man. One of his own people remarked to him one day, " I see you are always consorting with Protestants." His answer wns the key to his conduct and his life, " My friend, we are fill God's children." Genial, brondminded, and tolerant, he was the daysman between the two great schools of religious thought in the community, and always wielded his, influence for peace and love. It is said that the man of whom everybody spouks well is in a perilous position, but

" Father Walter," as people loved to call him, came out of that ordeal unscathed. It is unparalleled in the history of A.ucklaud that Anglicans; nt a church service, should, upstanding, pass a votu of sympathy with a neighbouring Catholic congregation on the death of their priest; that at an AucMand Presbytery, Presbyterian clergymen should be equally as veady to pay their tribute of respect; and that the Orange lodges, with many of whose members Father Walter was on terms of social friendship, also contributed their tribute of respectful regret for his death, and of admiration for his Christian life. The representative men of Auckland, some of them clergy, were at the Requiem. Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral, and every token of respectful sympathy was shown by the general community. There has been no such public funeral in the history of Auckland since the funeral of the late Rev. John Churton, our first colonial chaplain, a man of very similar characteristics, who was beloved by every section of the community, the very soldiers of the 58th Regiment giving a day's pay for the monument which was put over his grave. The scene at Father Walter's funeral service at the grave was an affecting one, especially .when the Httie children, whom he had trained for his simple village church choir, and whom ho loved so well, sang his cherished .hymns over the grave. Father Walter, at his" own request, was buriod beside his brother, Vicargeneral Jas. M'JJonald, "equally lovely in their lives, in their deaths they were not divided,"—for the love of the brothers to eacli ether had only grown stronger as time rolled on. It will bo impossible for any other Catholic priest to fill the unique place which Father Walter has held with all denominations in this community, or to aoquiro the social influence for good wielded by the gentle, loving;, priest who has passed away, and whose friendship and intercourse with myself for' 40 years remains to mo a precious memory. There is a probability that the £2000 surplus from the Auckland Industrial Exhibition instead of being a Wowing to the city of Auckland will become a curse, as a very .pretty quarrel, lias arisen out of its disposal, which is likely to end in scandalous litigation, in which the whole of the money will be frittered away, and a bitter feeling of rancour implanted in the breasts of some of our Tritizens which will never 'bo'effaced. The actfbn of the president of the exhibition., a section of the executive committee, and the Chamber of Commerce, is wholly indefensible,- and has not been sustained by the local press. On the strength of some circular, issued before the exhibition was opened, to the effect that the surplus would be devoted to the erection of ii Chamber of Commerce, approved of by a section of the committee only, and iv which the wishes or views of the guarantors were wholly ignored, it is proposed to uaiza the money and devote it as above stated. The Government have offered 'to give another £2000 if the money is allocated to'tho building of a technical school, and in which building it is proposed that suitable provision should be made for housing both- the Chamber of Commerce and the Chamber of Mines under 'the same roof. But that reasonable proposal will not suit tho small-minded men concerned, 'and who would rather see tho city lo*o tiio Government errant of £2000 and technical

education put back for a decade than yield one jot of their preconceived and selfish, designs: Attempts are being made to effect an amicable arrangement 'with' those who insist upon haying.their "pound of flesh," but how much hope ithere: ie of 'such a satisfactory conclusion may.be gathered from tho fact that ; orio■'•.; gontleijianl , declares he will fight ' tjvo inattei ' Vthr.ough every court ill the colony, siiid'"take it sv-on to the Privy Council, before ho will yield. iThe money is the least part of the trouble. It is the damag-' in& effect upon public bodies and public institutions, and the.effect upon the character of pu Hie men. : The Trades and Labour Council and the proletariat are:watching the bitter discussion with an/amused and contemptuous curiosity as to the result, saying pretty much as of old, 'These bo thy gods, 0 Israel!" Tho bitter feeling engendered between the classes and'the masses over tho wretched surplus will be abiding, nil the more so that the Trades and Labour Council and tho industrial classes are perfectly well aware that over £800 of that surplus ia a Government pvrant out of the consolidated revenue. The whole affair is a. sorry piece of business, in which the seamiest phase of human nakire has como to the-Jo?, ....-■- r

One of the most pleasant events of late has boon the intercourse which has taken place between tjio Officers of the TJnited States transport Abarenda and the citizens. The 'Americans have been everywhere received in the most cordial and fraternal spirit, and have been hospitably received at the clubs. Even the Yankee sailors have fraternised with " Jack" when our warships were in port, while the' relations between the officers of the Imperial warships and those of tho Abarenda were of the heartiest character. Tliis is very gratifying to the representatives of " The Stars and Stripes," who have felt themselves as much at homo as if at San Francisco or New York., A British ship moved out of the Calliope dock in order that it might be placed at the disposal of Capain Tilley. who, by the .way, commanded the cruiser Newark during the late Spanish-American war, and captured nearly a. dozpn Spanish vessels under very creditable circumstances. Captain Tilley is sending a report to the Secretary of the United States Navy on the facilities for docking, refitting, and obtaining coal and other supplies at Auckland. He lias invested largely in totara piles, which are to be used in the new great naval wharf to be erected at Tiituila, and has waited long past his proposed stay in the Auckland waters, in order to load up with Westport coal for the coal denot on the island, this coal being favourably remembered through tho episode of H.M.S. Calliope getting safely out to sea on it in the great cyclone at Apia some years ago, when the American and German vessels came to grief and went ashore. Captain Tilley hopes. tq'.promote a- closer commercial connection with' this colony, to the mutual advantage of the. coiony and the United States. The Abflrenda's crew have been distinguished for their good conduct ashore, and the excellence of the discipline, and officers and men will leave with nothing but Uincllv feelings regarding the colony and the citizens of Auckland. It ia probable that the iro being now broken, v/e will have regular visits from the American warships in the Pacific, both for refitting and Hie port as a sanatorium for the crews run down with duty among the island?.