ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIII, Issue 1885, 5 August 1884, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

" Beautiful Aucklaucl ! city of mud," was the style in which Thatcher, the rhymester, apostrophised our city many yeais ago, and the debenption still holds good. It there is any difference, I think it lies in the fact that theie is more mud tliau theio used to be. Various excuses aie made for the disgraceful state of the sheets, one being tliut a number of them lia\ c been cut up by the contractors foi the tramway; another that theie ha& been little heavy continuous rain, but a succession oi gentle showeis, not enough to wash the mud away, another that it has been impossible to get tne metal requisite lo tonn and lepau the streets. This last seems almost too absurd ior belief in view of all that we have heard about the number of able-bodied men who have been seeking woik, but it is, neveitheless, an undoubted fact that the city council cannot get sulhoient metal biokeu to eiiect oidniaiy repaht> to the streets. Tne reason is that stone-breaking is hard woik, and haul woik is what tlie "unemployed " most iieaitily detist. What they mi Line is about JUs pur day, for doing a nice t,,S) "Government stioke," and even that they would wish to do undei covei. lam sine most of them would appiovo ot the G-ov eminent fulfilling the promise made by Fitzgerald, the bone and bottle mercnant, to the Tarnell eleotois, wlncli was that he would endeavour to gut ohe oity ot Auckland looted in so that people might be enabled to woik m wet, weather, liouevei, to letuin to the uimUly state ot uui bticets. 1 believe thai, Llie leal leasuu theLeoi is that they have nuvei been piopi'il} made, and that until oiu streets me piopeily loimed, with a well iLlmed ciown in the centie, each bucttedmg uuita they will become what they now aie — seas ot mud.

On Tuefcd.iy o\<smng Mr S.unucl V.ule ilc h\ tied a- luotuic ni the Lome btieet Jl.'l on oiu laihvay management (?) I u'.tb unable lo be picsent on account ol llic unimpeded ani\ai at my house ot two distinguished wsicois tuo Tin Us, uo. tuo tuiiuy.-*, torn Wanoa South — ior u hum 1 had to piu\i<ic acLommodatii v, Yhi m.iy, poi haps, wendci why I mciition the ic^oipt ot two tin key& as> a nidttti of goneial mtcic^t. Ie is because they came tiom W.moa buutli, and not liour WaiKato, Wanoa bettleib can had a pioHtablf mai'kuL tor thuii 1 poultry in Auckland because of the small charge loi height, wheieaa the WdiLato settleis cannot do so on account oi the exoi bitant uiilway taritl. Well, thobe turueys pio\cnted me tiom going to Mr Vaile's lectuie, bo I had to content mybolf reading the reports in the daily newspaper. Fioin thobe it would ap[iear that Mi Vaile pioved most conclusively the utter incapacity ol those who attempt to manage our nuhvays, though that did not leijune much pioof, as we aieall too wellawaie of the fact. Wliether oi not the plan pioposed by Mr Yaile is the beat possible, it is absolutely nucesaaiy that a ladical change should be made in oiu" system oi laihvay niauagemeut. Aloie especially e\ciy facility should be given to country settle) s to send then pioduce to market. It is monbtious that it should be true, Lut ti uc it is, that it cobt3 more to send potatoes fiom Hamilton to Auckland (84 mile*) than it does to bend them fiom Oamaru to Auckland (840 miles.)

I was vciy glad to lead the leading aiticlein Tuesday's issue of The WaiLato Tunes ad\ocatmg extensive fuut cuituie in WaiUato. At the piesent time apples die sold wholesale in Auckland at tout pence per pound, and as the supply is small, the price is likely to use. Ihose apples ha\e been brought fioin Hobart, so that the money paid for them goes to enueh a neighbouring colony, instead of being kept here to enable us to pay the mteicst on our boiiov\ed millions. Theie is no reason why we should not grow all the fuut lequitite for our own consumption, and, ultimately, expoit a considetable quantity. It is a standing disgi.ice to us thai, living in one of the best fiuitpioduung couutiiesin the world, we should send away thousands of pounds evetv yeai foi fiuit to Tasmania, to New South Walos and to Ameuea. A few weeks ago I was in an oichaid about two miles ft om town, u heielsaw oranges, lemons, limes, shaddocks and citious glowing to a» gieat pel faction as I have seen them gi owing near Sydney. Waikato being about two degiees f miner South and huther inland, you can giow the moie liaidy fiuits to gi eater perfection than we can do. All that is necessary is a leasonable amount of caie and attention and we can keep in the colony the thousands of pounds that ate now sent out ot it annually for hint. There is no use howling about " the land for the people," unless the people who are on the land cau make, at the least, a comfoitable living oft it The best way to attain this desirable object is for the owners of the land to devote their attention to products that will gi\e them a piofit, hint among them, and for all of us to unite to encourage local industry.

Talking about local industry reminds me lliat some little time ago I called at Mr H. K. Gilmour's brush factory, and "as shown over the- premises by the propi ietoi. The factory is an unpretending little building near the foot of Upper Queen-street, but there are about a dozen men, gnls and youths constantly employed in it at good wages, and many moie would be taken on it the demand for the locally-made brushes increased. Mr Gilmour is a piactical man, who seems to understand his business thoroughly. He makes a really good ai tide, and sells it, as far as I could judge, at lather less than the price chaiged for imported goods. Now, this gives you Waikato fanners an excellent oppoitunity of showing that you understand the real meaning of co-operation. Help the man who helps you — the man who employs the people who consume your pioduce — instead of the man in England, who employs people who are fed by the farmers there or anywhere else. This you can do by asking the storekeepers from whom you obtain your supplies for Gilmour's brushes. There is no use of you tilling your farms if you cannot get a profitable market four produce, and the best way to obtain that profitable market is by doing all that lies in your power to make Auckland a manufacturing city. One great reason of the wonderful success of the United States is that the people there do all in their power to encourage local industries. Other things being equal, they always give the preference to locally-made and locally-grown articles. Let us adopt the same plan, and prosperity must follow. * * The Harbour Board has wisely decided to make a concession for the purpose of encouraging local industry. They have agreed to charge only half the usual dues while the Triumph is in the graving dock undergoing the repairs rendered necessary by her unsuccessful attempt to go through the Island of Tiritiri. The plates required foi repairing theTiiutnph are on board the lonic, now due, so there is every reason" to believe that before very long the fine Bteamer now lying in Mechanics Bay will be ouco more iv seagoing order. Despite the heavy expense involved in getting her off the rocks at Tiritiri and in repairing her, she will be a cheap vessel to her owner, Mr George Fraser, who, it seems, acted wisely in buying her, though many people thought that he waa. simply throwing money away. In what trade he will place her when she is repaired I do not know, but if, as has been suggested, he runs her bet tween here and Sydney I believe she ,wili pay very we\l, and itf willbe a, great' advantage to us, as it will break the. monor poly of the Union Company. Of course it is very pleasant to be able 'to tra\el by the splendid steamers of that company,, but it isjont of all .reason ;thatyvve< should be compelled to<pay the tBam t 8ame s j&moj^ttVfoy if ceightarom jSyjineyj to Auckland/ as I, is cbaygedj rom^'ondqnjto^Sy^ney;..^; S> '>»}< " < ,4; - •*.* - ?-' i*i&y,r >*&'•*&* •(-?*';'> -t There hw>.eei»;ft grfs 4wL^ft%M

and writing- to the newspapers about the eacred concert given by the members of the Opera Company and others at the Opera House last Sunday evening. Tnspector Thomson, satisfied that if a charge were made for admission the proprietor of the Opera House would render himself liable to a fine of £200, notified him to that effect, and no charge was made for admission, but a collection was taken up. It is computed that theie weie 1900 people ptesent. How mean the majority of them were may be gathered from the fact that the collection amounted to £1S JOs, a trifle over twopence each. It is quite useless providing music for such people, as their souls are much too small for them to enjoy it. The music provided by the Salvation Army is quite good enough for them. Indeed it is too good thinks St. Mhsgo.