FRINGES OF TRUTH

Southland Times, Issue 19172, 16 February 1924, Page 9

FRINGES OF TRUTH

FURTHER NORTH.

(By

“Rufus.”)

Although I trust that my devotion to this town is quite unimpeachable and although I have dwelt in it for more years than I care to mention, yet I cannot on occasions help feeling that it is a great pleasure to get well away from the place. Let not this be misconstrued by some members of the League as a heresy. On the contrary, I merely meant to say that even the most patriotic citizen may have his enthusiasm a trifle dulled by the monotony of existence. To appreciate fully the advantages of this town one must travel further north and see the disabilities under which they labour in other cities. Absence, it is said, makes the heart grow fonder. Certainly I never felt so well disposed towards Invercargill as when I am away from it. There can be no doubt that a judicious amount of travelling has a most beneficial effect on the human mind. I say a judicious amount, because there is nothing more painful than the over-travelled person — the hardy commercial, who chats affably with the waitresses, complains incessantly of the food, and has an obtrusively bumptious attitude towards life in general. Travel to him is merely the getting from one place to another with the minimum of discomfort. But if one travels with open mind and open eyes there is much to be learned, and travel becomes a valuable and broadening experience. Invercargill is a fine enough place, but after a year or so there, one begins to feel strongly the inevitability of life. What is going to happen next becomes no longer an intriguing speculation, but merely a rather tasteless certainty. The strain of talking with the same people about the same grievances day after day makes one yearn tor the sight of an unfamiliar face. When such a stage is reached it is time to travel.

Some prefer the peace of a little seaside cottage at the Blutf, others make for thereckless gaiety of “The Rocks.” But for my part I must admit that Dunedin has its fascination, although I am aware that in certain circles the rival attractions of this city are regarded in no unfavourable light. For Dunedin is an entire change of atmosphere, both moral and otherwise, after Invercargill. It is true that the Scottish element predominates in both towns, but beyond that there is little similarity. The Dupedinitcs seem to have a strain of lightness which one never sees down here. To say that the Invercargill people take their pleasures sadly is to understate the case entirely. Indeed, the sight of the Invercargill people enjoying themselves of a Saturday night is calculated to make a strong man dissolve into tears of compassion. From eight o’clock till ten o’clock they wander disconsolately about the pavements as if searching for something they cannot hope to find. On the footpaths outside the picture parlours the bloods of the town congregate to lean against posts with hands deep in their pockets, arid pass disparaging comments on the people that pass. This is one of the most noticeably distressing features of the place. Dunedin is different. Things cannot stagnate there on a busy night. The Dunedinites have a confirmed and healthy liking for pictures and theatres and vaudevilles. They walk smartly and with some purpose. Anyone that attempts to linger and pass the time of the day is instantly moved on by a policeman, or he runs the risk of being trodden down. With a view to relieving this congestion the authorities marked in a white fine down the centre of each pavement, and issued instructions to all pedestrians to “Keep to the left.” One or two optimistic ones tried to carry out the instruction but now the white line is in most places erased and the great mob sweep unchecked down the pavements just as before. When the crowd becomes too great they begin to overflow into the roadway, and it is no uncommon sight to see a score or so of hardy pedestrians strolling calmly about in the centre of the street to the exasperation of the motorists, who, I see by the latest papers, are protesting about the way they are being harassed. Then again, the people of Dunedin do not realise what an asset they have in the University. The average citizen will groan and tell you a tale of wild and outrageous doings by young gentlemen called by some peculiar stroke of irony, “students. ’ Yet the habits of these young animals are to me intensely diverting and cheering. They make one realise what a glorious thing it is to be young. I remember visiting Dunedin on one occasion when there was a capping carnival in progress. Almost as soon as I had stepped off the train a tall youth attired in very scanty women’s clothes knocked nfy hat off and pushed me through a glass window. I was immensely delighted at this piece of humour, and reflected that in Invercargill such a harmless little joke would probably have brought the whole of the police force into action. In the evenings these young devotees of higher education hunt the town in packs, causing traffic jams in the streets and riots in the theatres. The hardened citizens just smile with wan tolerance. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of Dunedin is its tram service, which is, in my opinion, the best in New Zealand south of Christchurch. If you miss a car in Dunedin there is another on the spot before you can light a cigarette. When an Invercargill man misses a car he either goes home to wait for another or walks. The Dimedin trams however, are without exception the worst in New Zealand. They are dingy and have a perpetual rattle and the seats stick into one’s back most abominably. When in motion they sway • and rock and clatter in a most alarming manner. Whenever they stop or start they do so with a long drawn, penetrating groan, like that of an animal in distress. This sound is the main characteristic of all Dunedin streets. And then there is the Dunedin railway station, the harbour, the gardens, the Art Gallery, the Muesum, the . . . . I might go on for ever. Sufficient that it is a great pleasure for me to come back from seeing all these things, still firm in the assurance that Invercargill is after all the absolute and undisputed Queen of the South. It shows what a broad-minded patriot I am.