TOPICS OF THE TIMES.

Southland Times, Issue 19393, 6 November 1924, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE TIMES.

The people of Queenstown are to be congratulated on the success that has followed their representations to the General-Man-ager of Railways, who has now agreed to reinstate the week-end excursions between Invercargill and the Lake resort. The restoration of this service has been urged on the Railway Department by Southland people for a long time, and now that it has been granted it is to be hoped that full advantage is taken of it. •

There are good reasons for some limitation being placed on measures and amendments by private members which entail money appropriations, but it looks as if some change in procedure is needed to make possible a vote on such an important issue as Proportional Representation. If the House next session is given an opportunity to vote on the question on non-party lines the advocates of the reform will have all they can reasonably ask for, but there will still remain the disability which prevented any vote being taken this year.

A description of the ranch owned by the Prince of Wales in Alberta is given in Christian World by the Rev. F. C. Spurr. The property is 67 miles south-west of Calgary, in the direction of the Rockies. The astonishment of the ranch is its sublime simplicity. It is a large farm of 4000 acres, in no way different from thousands of other farms. There are cattle, sheep, poultry, horses, and outhouses. There is a fine barn and a generating plant for electricity. “But the view! Ah! that is where the charm enters. Fifteen miles away are the Rockies, remote guardians of the estate. Nearer are rounded knolls, undulating ground, and fields of rich prairie grass. The house is a simple, modest, homely abode. The lounge is comparatively small and quietly furnished. It contains four or five basket chairs, a couch, one or two small rugs, a bookcase, a gramophone, and photographs of the King, the Prince himself, and an intimate friend. And over the bookcase is an unframed text: ‘As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.’ The Prince’s bedroom has far less of luxury about it than the bedroom in an ordinary hotel. The dining room is quite small, and the table has room around it for five or six guests. The bungalow is one of the simplest places I have ever seen, and it completely matches the character of one whom the British people have come to regard as a natural and simple hearted man.”