WAIKATO STEAMERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 228, 26 September 1929, Page 10

WAIKATO STEAMERS.

fcALK OF PACKET LICENSE. OPPOSITION EXPRESSED. (By Telegraph.—Own Correspondent.) HAMILTON, this day. An application having heen made by the Roose Shipping Company for a "packet license" for their river steamers on the Waikato, a letter of objection has been sent by the Mayor of Hamilton (Mr. J. R. Fow) and a number of citizens to the Licensing Committee, based on the following reasons: (1) That there is no necessity for such a license, the trips in general lasting only a few hours, with ports of call at which all reasonable refreshment is available. (2) That the shipping company makes a. feature of moonlight excursions, at which dances are held, and the issue of j a license in that case would result . in what would be practically a cabaret J with a license. 1 (3) That the river boots are vorv largely used for excursions for women and children, and it .is very undesirable > that the risks of drunkenness should be : .taken, under the conditions and the of space imposed by river : boats. . (4) That at the holiday seasons, when 'drunkenness is most common, children in numbers use the river boats on their way to their summer camps, particularly at the Waikato Heads. (5) That the country through which the Waikato River flows contains a great number of natives, and that additional facilities for drinking, especially under river boat conditions, are highly undesirable. The local directors of the Rooso Shipping Company say they know nothing 'of such an application being made.