WELLINGTON TRAMS.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 21, 2 March 1914, Page 8

WELLINGTON TRAMS.

ARE THEY GREGARIOUS? The following comes from a'' frequent . visitor to Wellington:—' * I was in a hurry to get dowrf to the /bffibce and jOBt missed'one herd. It felt all thefmore annoying as it was now 9.15, and I had an important engagement at the office at 9 sharp. Under these circumstances can anyone wonder when I say T got into an argument. * Have you never noticed that the trams here are gregarious?' I asked of a quiet looking small man standing near—l always prefer to argue with small men. ' Gregarioust' he queried, 'watdyer mean,' and from his tone, I could see he doubted me or my sanity or something. 'By gregari- . ous,' I said, 'we mean ''herding'' animals, or insects, or fish,' such as sheep, dogs, bees, etc' I was quite pleased with myself as I was rapidly impressing my listener. I continued, ' Scientists do not yet know that even trams are gregarious, and as I will be the first to publicly announce the result of this discovery, I may get some prize or scholarship, such as the Nobel Prize. He looked hard at me and felt in his hip pocket, I thought of a gun, but he only pulled, out a handkerchief and yawned. 'Do you follow me?' I asked. 'No, yer baljny* he replied, and just then tram No.: 79 came along, and we both got in on our way to town. I noticed tram No. 17 coming from town just before ;we started, and as I had often seen the way this tram successfully eludes waiting passengers, I reopened conversation with my friend. I said, 'You see that tram on the other line, and you would naturally imagine it was going to Newtown.' He said, 'Yes.' I said, 'Well you're wrong. The tram thinks it's going to Newtown because-it is on, the Newtown track, the public now waiting for a city tram, thinks it is going to Newtown for the same reason, but the gregarious instinct of that tram is uppermost, and you will see it must turn straight back and follow us, and thua fool the public' No sooner had I said so, than the tram crossed over to our line and followed us. One or two athletes amongst the waiting crowd ran [ and got on board, but the remainder I had to wait for the next herd*"