DUNEDIN’S CABLE CARS FASCINATE VISITORS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26783, 28 May 1948, Page 4

DUNEDIN’S CABLE CARS FASCINATE VISITORS

Strangers to Dunedin arc invariably fascinated by the cable cars, which, with almost incredibly large human cargoes in, on, and around them, ply between the city and hill suburbs. One of the treats for visiting children and adults alike is to clamber aboard—preferably not in a rush period—and be transported by this, to them, novel means of locomotion to the terminus on one of the routes and back to the city. Those who travel to Mornington are, of course, fascinated by the Maryhill extension, where the sudden lurch over the edge of an apparent precipice never fails to bring a thrill to the uninitiated. What the stranger does not learn to appreciate, however, is the fact that there are unwritten laws, amounting almost to what might be called a code of conduct for cable car passengers, which the denizens of the hill suburbs are wont to observe in their daily expeditions to and from the centre of the city. Any failure to observe these rules is immediately noted by the habitues, and the unfortunate transgressor is straight away classed as an ignoramus, a pariah, or. worse still, a visitor. It is, for instance, completely out ol order for any able-bodied man to seek shelter in one of the cabins during the most violent weather. There are some brave souls with an astonishing disregard for convention who choose to flout this principle, but they are in the minority, and are scorned by all decent “ regulars.” The cabins are for women, children, and old men.- Come wind, some weather, a precarious toehold on the outside is the prerogative of all true men—even though the cabins be empty. The trailer on the Mornington route is an exception to this rule, although at one time of the day only. The consensus of opinion appears to be that all good housewives, typists, and female shop workers should be home before the hotels close at 6 p.m. The trailer on the Mornington line is, therefore, the accepted retreat of men who have enjoyed a sociable drink or two with a friend after work. Women may enter if they please, but there is a suggestion of hostility in the air, for this is a man’s conveyance from 6 p.m. until approximately 6.20. The unwitting female may also be the cause of bitter comment by male travellers in ' other circumstances.

While there is room, inside—and sometimes even when there is not—she has no right to sit on the outside of the cable car. Many a man who would, without a moment’s hesitation, give up his seat to a woman in a bus or a tram has been known to sit tight on the outside of a cable car because, he believed, rightly or wrongly, that there was room for a late-arriving woman passenger inside. The average woman, being less susceptible to “ atmosphere ” than the average man, at least in matters such as this, may set such an action down to bad manners. This is not the case. She has offended against the code. She deserves to stand. Probably the most dangerous rule of the code is the one which states that stopping the car in order to alight is simply not done. Women, children, and those who are not so nimble as

they once were, may adopt this orthodox procedure, but years of practice have made it completely unnecessary for a man worthy of the .name to abide by the regulations and ring the bell. “After all. the car travels ai only 10 m.p.h., and it is rarely that anyone is hurt," appears to be the attitude of most active male passengers. Moreover, if one drops off between stops there is always the chance that the conductor might not have been round. The advent of trolley buses will, no doubt, afford an opportunity of introducing a new set of unofficial regulations, but the possibility that the ruggedly individualistic hill travellers could ever be forced into any common mould in the matter of transport habits is one to be treated with derision.