Citizens Say—

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 840, 7 December 1929, Page 10

Citizens Say —

(To the Editor.)

TWO MR. NICHOLSONS Sir, — Mr. John Nicholson of 57 Howe Street, Newton, has been writing to The Sun stating that he is not responsible for my letter under the heading “Mr. Parry and the Bonus.” No, he is not. It is my letter. Will you please publish my address in full? JOHN NICHOLSON. 64 Franklin Road, Ponsonby. BRAVO THE SAILOR! Sir,— Yet again Mr. F. K. Hunt, S.M., has demonstrated his shrewd common sense in dealing with trumpery police charges. The action of the sailor, Mr. Archibald Larkin, of Devonport, in ducking a small boy for ill-treating a kitten deserves the commendation of all who boast a grain of humanity in their make-up. Whether the child was four or fourteen matters little. The point is that the boy has received a sharp lesson. It is one which might well be noted by other children inclined to a perverted sense of fun. Instead of laying a charge of assault against the sailor the mother might well have spanked the child and thanked Mr. Larkin for assisting to train the boy in the way he should go. THE WHOLESOME BIRCH. CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM Sir, — Now that the tram fares have been raised and we are feeling the pinch of the extra price of tickets we are thinking furiously. Well managed concerns usually endeavour to reduce the expenditure before they resort to loading their clients. Why is it that an amount of £I,OOO per annum is spent in distributing concession tickets throughout the city. Three men and a car are occupied daily in this work. In Dunedin, Wellington and other cities, concession tickets are sold by the conductors on the trams. Surely the same method could be adopted here and £I,OOO saved? It would be much more convenient for ail to be able to purchase concession tickets on the trams. Why do we still employ so many inspectors when other tramways do not find it necessary to pay more than one-sixth of the number engaged at Auckland? Dunedin is still giving penny-a-section rides and 14 one-section rides for one shilling by concession card. Our two-pence a section rides show up unfavourably when compared with Dunedin. Why insist on running a

bus service which shows a huge deficit when private enterprise is willing to take over the buses? If these problems are tackled in the right way our losing tram service should be turned into a paying one. The facility recently granted to us by whicli we are permitted to pay for more than one person by the one concession card is appreciated and is a hopeful sign of future administrative action. Now this is written as constructive criticism and not as destructive criticism which is objected to strenuously by the chairman of the Transport Board. ADVANCE AUCKLAND. BYRD Sir, — I agree with Mr. C. R. Ford's interesting article in last evening’s Sun. Major Tryggve Gran’s attitude toward Commander Byrd is, to say the least, ungracious. No one of us would belittle the efforts of such men as Scott and Amundsen. But if airplanes and modern equipment had been available, would either of them have refused them? Certainly not. Did not the heroic Amundsen lose his life, ultimately, in an airplane quest? Well, Commander Byrd has used modern methods and is entitled to every commendation for the excellent way he has organised his expedition and carried his plans to successful fruition. He is a man, and his manly tributes to those who braved Polar wastes before him are admirable. To my way of* thinking, Commander Byrd has suffered from the dreadful flood of organised publicity that has been foisted, willynilly, on the world. Some of those messages sent in the long winter night were ludicrous enough to make even the laughing Cheshire cat burst into the saltest tears. HUMMOCK. BEACH RACING Sir. — Motor-cycle race meetings have been held recently on Muriwai and Orewa beaches on Sundays, according to your paper. While not agreeing with the strict observance of the Sabbath insisted on by the Puritans of the past and of today, I feel that a mild protest would not be out of order. There is a vast difference between impromptu cricket games, to which exception has even been taken in certain quarters, and an organised meeting of this magnitude. The sympathy accorded the former certainly cannot be extended to the motor-cyclists." Both beaches are well away from the city and early on the Sunday the peace (Continued in next column.)

of the morning is rudely shattered by the roar of loud exhausts as noisy machines dash away to the scene of, the day’s sport. With the present daylight saving system, racers and spectators are returning just about the time when churches are beginning their evening services, and they dash past amid deafening explosions without the slightest thought for worshippers inside. .Apart from this, sir, thero are other issues, affecting the competitors personally, to be considered. This is a truly amateur sport and does not depend on a “gate” for its support. High speed on a bumpy beach calls lor a skill and nerve not found in any other sport. Could not the committees of the clubs concerned combine to hold a big meeting on one of the beaches on a Saturday afternoon or a holiday, and thus, beside benefiting the riders, gain the public support they undoubted.y deserve ? CLEAN gpoKT