The Herald. Alexandra, Thursday, October 20. THE OTAGO CENTRAL TIME-TABLE.

Alexandra Herald and Central Otago Gazette, Issue 444, 20 October 1904, Page 4

The Herald. Alexandra, Thursday, October 20. THE OTAGO CENTRAL TIME-TABLE.

The absurd length of time "taken by the Otago Central train to cover the distance between Dunedin and the terminus continues to furnish travellers with an evergreen subj ict for ad* versa commeni. ; but, not>- .ti sunrHng all the comment, and ihe 1 touted t«questß made for speedier locomotion, the Department seems to remain as deaf and as immovable as the Sphinx. Hopes of a speedier journey to and from Dunedin were raised in our breasts last week, when intimation was received that the speed of the train was to be accelerated to an extent that would allow of the journey being accomplished in half-an-hour less than is the case at present; but, to our surprise, a day or two later another message was received, stating that the time-table would remain unaltered. All of which leads one to surmise that the Railway Department must have passed with honours in the science of " how-not-to-do-it." It is idle for the Department to reply in one or other of the stereotyped forms that it is impossible, or impracticable, or inexpedient, to reduce the time occupied on the journey, for the public only receive such excuses with a ooldly cynical smile. For example, the time wasted in stoppages might be considerably reduced ; and this will be at once apparent when we state that one day last week two gentlemen from this district timed the stoppages of the train with stop-watches, when they found that a total of 1 hour 58 min-

utes was lost in stoppages between i Dunedin and Omakau, a distance of 107 miles—jast a trifle less time than that which, in other countries, it would take to do the whole journey. The travelling public are put to a great deal of unnecessary annoyance and discomfort by reason of these dreary waits at side-stations, for no apparent reason ; but the truth of the matter is that it takes the drivers all their time to keep their engines from racing away from the time-table, and of tea they have to wait at the

stations en route for their authority to proceed. And, as a fitting climax to this dazzling railway journey, we nuj mention that the 13 miles between Ida Valley and Omakan is traversed in no less than 1 hour 20 minutes—-just-a little short of the flabbergasting rate of ten mi'es an hour. Th( re it a. real danger thut, if the railway people keep on sending the Otago Centrv train alon« in this dizzy and reckles' fashion, it will, one of these line days, overtake u peripatetic sundowner, or s wandering cow, or something, and then there will be a smash befor. : which all American records will pale I into insignificance.

To-morrow (Friday) will be the 99th | anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar. A special meeting of the Vincent Oounly Council will be held on Wednesday next. A meeting of the Alexandra Rifles is called for Thursday evening next, for the purpose of electing a junior lieutenant. Tenders arc invited by the Alexandra Borough Council for painting work in connection with the town hall extension. A meeting of the Alexandra Caledonian Society will be held in the Criterion Hotel this (Thursday) evening. Mr J. J. O'Kane, dentist, notifies that he will be absent from Alexandra from Tuesday, 15th inst., till Thursday, 3rd November. The text of Mr Warden Burgess's decision in the recently-heard case of S. If. Lett v. the Borough of Alexandra appears in this issue. Tenders are invited in our advertising columns for the purchase of the freehold and homestead, known as "Allandale," near Ophir.

AT the Naseby. Magistrate's Court last week, two butchers were each lined £2, with 9s cost 3, for not holding slaughtering licenses.

The members of the Alexandra Brass Band left on Saturday last, mt route for Gore, where they take part in the Contest, which commenced yesterday. A further development in the sensational Keenan case has taken place, A. H. Vernon King haviug been committed by the S.M., at Dunedin, to take his trial at the next sitting of the Supreme Court. In his report in.the 1904 Official Year Book, the Chief Inspector of Stock says : The amended Babbit Act of 1901 seems to work better than was anticipated—as, for instance, Inspector Taylor, of had eleven cases during the year, and although he conducted his own cases, and had adverse evidence and counsel against him, he j was successful in every case.

The Taylor-Carrington Company were again greeted by a packed house on Monday evening—the third night of the season—when " East Lynne " was staged. The respective characters were ably pourtrayed, and the audience was not slow to show their appreciation of the excellence of the production. It is the intention ot the company to again visit the goldfields in about six months'time.

The Sydney Telegraph says:—The celebration of Mr Seddon's completion of 25 years of parliamentary life is one of the most picturesque events of colonial political annals." The period of his public service is, broadly speaking, that of New Zealand's development and rehabilitation. His long tenure of office and popularity are things which might well give a politician a good conceit of himself. That he should stay in the Premiership so long, and still be seated there, argues exceptional ability and character.

A special meeting of the Alexandra Borough ' ouncil was held on Monday evening last, when there were present :—His Worship the Mayor (Mr Geo. Spencer), Crs Gregg, Schaumann, Buchanan, Kyan and Anderson: On the moiion of Cr Gregg, seconded by Cr Buchanan, a special resolution, included to operate as a special order, was passed to the effect that the surplus of „tha Waterworks. Loan be devoted for the purpose of defraying the .cost of effecting repairs to the town hall and library buildings. The special order appears in our advertising columns. Ouk attention has been directed to the fact that on Sunday last some boys amused themselves by giving their dogs bathing exereise in the Borough waterworks reservoir; and there is reason to believe that this is not the only occasion on which there have been grounds for a similar complaint. We might point outff for the information of the delinquents, that the offence complained of is a rather serious one, as, according to section 304 of the " Municipal Corporations Act," any person found guilty of throwing animals or rubbish into any portion of the waterworks supplying a town is'liable to a penalty of £2O. We understand that the Council intends, to make an example of anyone who in future is found offending in this respect, and we hope that after this warning there will be no future cause for

Complaint* Captain Domigan, of v Gore, says the average British workman as seen at Home is inexpressibly tired. Scavengers are employed on the Bisley rifle ranges to pick up the pieces of paper thrown about the ground; These gentry are supplied with bags slung from their shoulders, but the exertion of stooping down to pick up fragments of paper is too much for them. Each man provides himself with a stick which has a nail at the end of it. With this weapon he deliberately bayonets each separate scrap of paper and conveys it to his satchel. Should a fragment blow away while he is drawing a bead upon it, he hunts it down in a leisurely fashion, and sooner or later impals it triumphantly upon his spear, Captain Domigan says what struck the New Zealanders most at Home was the large number of women of all classes entering public houses for the purpose of drinking. -Ensign: