IN THE STREETS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1352, 1 February 1912, Page 5

IN THE STREETS.

GOOD-HUMOURED CROWDS. HOME ON TOOT. ; The public took things very quietly yesterday; and: this applies without-quah. lication to the numerous suburban residents who wcro compelled to j;e't - l6"their homes in tho eveniii" unassisted* by the eustomarv tramear. The people, "of Newtown, indeed, lmd no grievance for from about 5 p.m. onwards about thirty cars were run back to the sheds nt Newtown from tho lines adjacent to Ln nib ton station, where they Intel been reposing during the afternoon. Atany of these, cars,made the jourucy, Jialf-eiupty. ' Jlotli Newtown routes wcro utilised, some , of tho cars going via Courtenay l'lace aud others by way of Vivian Street. The eight of -Wallace Street, Brooklyn, Seatoun, and Kilbimio' cars nt first gave rise to a little confusion, ami to some vain hopes, but it was soon realised that, as one. motorman ~ nnuounced, they were "all for Newtown." LEARNING TO WALK. Although a considerable iminbor of paspongOTs wore carried in motor-oars between .1 p.m. ami (! p.m., no. groat-effort was made by anyone to fill tlifc gap aaiiwd by the absence of trams. l-Vom tli6 appearance of the scroels dxiring what nrn known, in tram way parlance,. a« ,"the

evening rush hours," it was ovident that n majority of tho Buburban population accepted walking as tho simple and obvious solution of tho problem which presented itself—how best to get home. All tile main lines of streets which radiate towards the suburbs were, traversed by a constant stream of foot., passengers. Tho appearance of tho streets wo.s strikingly dillerent from that which, they present at normal times when about as many p'eoplo' are going in one direction us in the other. In the early pan of last evening each important street was occupied by a moving .throng of people walking out from the city centre and tho ordinary balance characteristics of street traffic were, submerged and lost. Vehicles carrying passengers wern few and inconspienons. Many of tho cabs remained quietly on their,stands and the tamo applies to a majority of the carts nnd express-wagons used by •carriers. ' A few enterprising, expressmen had htted feats in their vehicles and were plying for hire, but only a fraction of f.he - vehicles which could havo been pressed into net-vice won! actually -so employed. More caba than usual' were abroad, but they wore not so numerous as to convey to tin indifferent onlooker an impression that anything unusual was on hand. WALKING HOME. NOT ALL IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE. It ia a joyous moment for the wuternide' worker, "be he .permanent or casual, when the .5 o'clock hell rings, out diarp and tnnefnl on a fine evening. There is a rnsh for coats nn:l rolling-down ot shirt-sleeves, and ?. general shaking oil of the cares of th« day, as the men nnriy for the eud of thn wharf. As anile, there is a big rush to catch t\\a Brook-h-n "Wallaco Stnct, and Constable Street cars which travel along Customhouse Qttav, and yesterday evening there was therame old bolt, for the tramway stop-ping-place. A group had gathered, antl other 3 were about to-join it at .j.2 ,last .rvening, when a stentorian voice shouted: ' , ', , "You blokos'll 'avo to pad the oot. There ain't no cars!" • , Then it dawned on the watersiders that tho threatened strike had actually happened,- and that in addition to "moral and financial support;' they .would have to walk to their homes in.the suburbs, not at all' an oriviabl'o performance after a hard day's work on the Wharf.

.THE MOTOR COMES IN. .-'ASSISTS THE LETTER-CARRIERS. ■It 'was anticipated yesterday that tho motor-car.-would coino intoits own on.the (stopping of.thu cu-r?.' Tho first indication that tho community .is not entirely dependent on the eloctric cars was noticed at about'-2.15 p.m: yesterday, by which time the ; south-bound cars had ceased to run. tho big'post'Ofnco motor lorry-pacied'with between M and 40 letter-earners fumbling' , along Manners Street! The" earr.ier.vit should be explained, each haveon'nllbtted.district to serve, and as a rule' depend- oh the ears to take them.to a point within easy reach of the commencement of their round. "When it was ascertained that there were no cars bound south, after 2 p.m., the mail motor lorry ■ was called into use to assist the carriers in reselling their districts for the afternoon: delivery. They were a merry crowd on the lorry, and by the way they laughed and joked the experience was not 'regarded as a very trying one. After 5 p.m., and beforo the cars commenced, to, rim again, the motor-cars for hive-dicPa brisk business. At 5.20 p.m. the,'. Featherston Street stand—usually occupied by a regiment of cars—was "■'.'■.. TRAVELLERS- INCONVENIENCED. NO-TRAMS TO MEET THE EXPRESS. , Never, since the railway connection n-ith Auckland was established has there l>ctn an occasion when there have not been trams to meet the trains. Thu omission caused « goad deal of inconvenienccj to travellers 'who arrived from the north by tho Auckland express yesterday, afternoon. As a result, the tra'ffic lnaringer's office was besieged" with people anxious to obtain some sort of conveyance for themselves and th*ir luggage. All the cabs that attended at the station wire snapped up, and one party of womenfolk engaged an expressman to drive them and their goods and chattels through the town to their several, destinations. Sitting on l.hoir luggaga in two lines, they looked like "a- bank holiday picnic party, mid seemed to be enjoying the experience just as much. -Novelty is the very soul of entertainment. "There are no cars running - ' was the news which greeted jaded railway travellers who reached town at 9.10 last evening after being delayed for nearly two hours in the New Plymouth mail train. A long string of cabs, motor cars, and seated wagons was on hand, however, and the ai-rivals by the train got away to their homes with a minimum of discomfort considering ' the . circumstances. The cessation of work by tho tram men spells harvest for cabdrivers and expressmen; . : UNFORESEEN EFFECTS. Pome of the worst sufferers by tho etriko have been the telegraph boys and the postmen. Some of the bovs ride bicycles,, but others have to do their rounds afoot, and, yosterday, after the car;; stopped, , «ome had to take very long walks to Island Bay, and other t'arrout suburbs. Letter-carriers, too, may havo <o carry their heavy satchels out to their beats, instead of riding on'cars. One 'bus for Island Bay plied for hire la'sf, evening. It left Lambton Quay with only two or three passengers, but in. Courtenay Placo it was : eagerly rushed, arid'at tho end of tho street it was fully leaded. .

Ail unexpected result of the stoppage of cava last night was tho very markutl ' diminution, in the crowds at the picture halls. Host'of them had but poor auilipnces. It is safe-to say that tho same ct.uso will prejudicially affect trade in the down-town shops. ' ' - -

THE HOLE IN THE HILL. Foot-passengers will bo permitted to make tree use of the Kilbirnie Tunnel until the cars resume their running. Kilbirnie residents, wending, homeward last evening, anticipated the permission of tho City, Council and the tunnel at times was a populous highway. A number of residents on. fh« fur side of. Mount Victoria nroiof opinion that tho council, in viow of the. possibility that tho strike may last for;, some considerable time, should at onco proceed to lay a footpath through the tunnel. A correspondent, writing on this subject, points' ont that the roadway of the tnnnol i 3 at present laid with rough broken metal which involves a seriom'inconvenience ..(o-the thousands of ■women and children who will have to ■nso it as a. footway while, th-3 strike continue.l}. Even for men the passage of' tho tunnel on foot is rendered needlessly loilFome and unpleasant owing to tho rocky and uneven state of the roadway.

HOME FROM .THE THEATRE. Usually betweon 10 and 'il o'clook at night. Jervois Quay presents a very deserted appearance, but last.night things were quite tho reverse. About, this time the tneatres empty their crowds into the streets, and the tramcars soon swallow them up, and all is quiet again. Last night there .were no trams, and between the hours mentioned Jerrois Quay' presented a scono sornoirhat resembling Willi's street on a Saturday night.

.OPINIONS IN THE STREET. Startlingly diverse opinions were expressed lieely enough by members of tho crowds congregated where the principal happenings took place. In ouo thing only were all agretxl—that • tho council • had handled tho business disgracefully from the beginning. Some lew—these wore very much in a minority—thought that the council should stand firm in their decision to uphold Inspector Fuller, and fight tho strike to the bitter end; ethers, not all of whom were unionists or even "workers" in tho accepted tense, scoffed at a council which allowed a big public service to be tied up because of the unpopularity of a • minor official. They thought he might be given another position at a better salary if nfed be. ■ All were- agreed that the council had acted'unwisely in taking tho matter out of the liandi of the manager of the tramways, department. A SABBATH CALM. Tho'street crowds in bulk showed very little 'resentment at- tlio unusual state of tliinjjo. They walked oUecrfullj-

enough through tho noiseless streets, taking! healthy exercise which had for tho time tho charm of novelty, and taking it in.comfortable sunshine' Hut it is safo to jay that they will raise their voices in protest when the wind and tho rain make walking uncomfortable. The most remarkable change that the stopping of the trams has brought about i.f Iho banishment of tho roar and clatter of.car traffic. Now a Sabbath calm has como over the city. This.was accentuated last evening by the reduced number 6f_ people in the streets. After all, it was only to be expected that suburbanites, after a weary plod home after work, would not come down town afterwards without very good reason.