FOR THE HOMEWARD TRACK.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1354, 3 February 1912, Page 5

FOR THE HOMEWARD TRACK.

"SHANKS' I'ONY" OKTTINfI FIT. At first sadly out of condition. Shanks' l»n,v is rapidly ufl tiiiff Willi Iho average iiui 11 who lives in (how suburbs not ucoessiblo I>y 1V,117 hunt, llu> conviction is jfiowiiig thnL after nil walking home is not mi Ikhl, and a K'ood ni.rny men have 001110 to tho conclusion, and voiced il in puMic. lilnec.s Hint the Irnm strike lia.-i inipruv cit their dice.-.! ions, shaken up llic.ii- livers, 11 ml sliiited in;iniI'olil ili-onltiiV" mainly iilinit-iilar.v- out of (lioii- systems. 'I'lio almost fornotten catch (|iu-ry: "How's your 1 km)r fi-*'l r" is Kiisl.iiiiiiiK a revival, "far month* of tho Our 11-vljl t IliiVV) I.lm HnlfM IVid I imbued tiw iausoka, Uwlw; itovw of

unexpected necessity the old-fashioned exercise of walking seems like to survive tlio period of tho strike, for a time at least.

lip to tlic present tho City Council has made no effort to provido an emergency transport Kovvico of any kind, and it lias been loft to tho enterprise of three nr four isolated individuals to put on tho road at rush times seated expresses, fid, ]xt head being tho overage fare. The strike lias been of no .use io the taxi-cab men, said one of tliem to a representative of Tub Dominion yesterday, for tho simple and obvious reason (lint the average tram-tripper cannot afford tho luxury. The same remark applies to cabs and hansoms, and as tho enterprising individuals who have put tho seated expresses into commission are fow, and tho accommodation therefore limited, there are really only two practical means of getting to and from work so far as. _tho average individual is concernod—" 'biking' it," and "footing it." BACK TO THE HORSE. DRAGS CALLED INTO USE AGAIN At least one part}' of suburban residents are determined not to truckle to the oobbler by walking the four miles into town from Island liay. They have made an arrangement for a big drag, capable of accommodating 35 people, to leave the bay at 8 a.m. and Lambton Station at fi p.m. to convoy them to and from town. To do this they had to put up a guarantee of so much per journey. If tliey manage to secure a full load tho fare comes to 3d. or lOd. a head, otherwise the party has to pay about Is. for the single trip— a pretty expensive business compared with the cost of tram fares for the same journey.

One livery stable man, who was consulted on the matter, paid that ho was not in a position to institute other regular services. He did not early tho plant he did in former years as it did not pay, and what ho had was pretty well up to his normal requirements, picnics and odd jobs of one kind and another. Ho had a number of horxos out on grass, but doubted if it would pay to bring tliem in, as the strike might collapso at any time. Ono of tho jobs he had contracted to do was to take the letter-carriers out to their "beats" morning and afternoon. A number of expressmen have provided seats for their vehicles, and plied for hire between 5 p.m. and G p.m. yesterday with fair sucoess. If the strike lasts any time, this kind of thing is bound to develop _ into soma sort of sorvico between the city and tho Buburbs.

"TAKE YOUR LUNCH." One effect of the strike has a bearing oil domestic life. When tho cars are in full swing many hundreds of people make a practice of going home to luncheon in tho middle of the davy-even tlioso who live beyond the hills which encompass the city. The stoppage of tlie cars has meant a sudden cessation of this little luxury, and has caused many either to bike their lunches with them or go to one or other of tlio restaurants in town. This has meant a, considerable increase in the number of people to bo seen sittinglabout quiet parts of tlio waterside between noon and 2 p.m., partaking of newspaper-wrapped sandwicli&s and also in an increase of patrons to the mid-city eating-houses, where the talk is of tlio strike and nothing but tho strike. LEARNING TO RIDE. There aro 60mo ladies who are determined not to walk, cars or no cars. Some were observed in the Basin Reserve at dusk last evening endeavouring to find tho centre of gravity on safety bicycles. It seemed like old times to see people learning to ride tho bicycle, and recalled tho days of twenty years ago, when it was a common sight to see ft couplo of dozen peoplo struggling to master the cycle on the soft turf of tho Reserve, or on the less resisting road round Oriental Bay. By the way, tho visit of a constable to tlio Ttesorve of an evening might have an; influence on tho behaviour and language of a host of small boys, who seek to make the evening hideous with ribald remarks of an objcctionablo character'. r Many of them arc of an age when they should bo home iu bed instead of smoking cigarettes and swearing fortissimo in the pale moonlight. THE MEN'S PAY. The trcimwnymen aro, paid fortnightly, 011 alternate Fridays, the pay being reckoned from Tuesday to Tuesday. The last pay day was Friday of tho week prior to strike, 'and 011 Friday next the men will draw pay for Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday of last week, and Monday and Tuesday, and part of Wednesday of this week.

ARTILLERYMEN AND THE STRIKE. There is no foundation for the suggestion made at the mass meeting at New- . town Parle on Thursday afternoon that I twenty-five men of the Royal New Zea--1 land Artillery liad offered to serve as | emergency motormen during the period •of the strike, if they could get permission. A representative of Tiee Dominion was informed yesterday, that the artillerymen at Alexandra Barracks aro highly indignant that they should have been exposed to the gibo of "blacklegs," which a certain section wore only too willing ito apply to them. Forty-eight men— j every man in barracks, as a matter of fact—have signed a paper testifying to tliie fact that no such suggestion was made to them, or even considered by them.

I WELLINGTON AND BRISBANE. \ During their meeting in the Concept Chamber of the Town Hall last eveuing, \ the Wellington tramwaymeri passed tho N following resolution in referenco to the ■ strike in Brisbane:— \ "That this mass meeting of workers convey to our comrades on strike in 13ris- \ bane our heartfelt sympathy, and every \ good wish for unqualified success." Cheers wero given for the Queensland men as the resolution was passed. STRIKERS AT THE TOWN HALL. • The fcramwiaymen on strike who were permitted to uso tho Concert Chamber of the Town Hall for a snass meeting last evening (free of charge) interpreted the permission in a spirit liberal to themselves. One or two' men, stationed at tho main street entrance, made nioro or less successful efforts, as the tramwaymcn assembled, to excludo members of tho general public. One of these guardians of the gale attempted to prevent a reporter from entering, but the pressman disputed his authority and passed ill. The doors of the Concert Chamber were closely guarded while the meeting was in progress. At about 8.30 p.m. about a hundred and fifty people pressed lip the stairway in a body and showed some disjiiisifioii to invade the Concert Chamber landing. They _ wero reqnesM to leave and the custodian of tho hall, assisted by a ixiliceraai), clcared tho stair and lower corridors and closed tho outer doors.

SEEMINGLY A DEADLOCK. Councillors interviewed last evening, nftor tho mnss inoeh'np; of trainwnynien had dispersed, wero chary of expressing individual opinions upon ilio situation in its latest aspect. They diS not attempt to Miinoal, however, that a very grave dillicully had boon raised. Two council-loi-s- who were interviewed represented opposed narties 011 tho coiuicil. One cf I lion had. from the beirinnim.'. advocnt.vl Inspector Fuller's transfer, while the other had opposed it. Those councillors concurred in stntinp: that the council, in .olloi-iiiir terms, had intended tltem to he filial, iiikl that, for tho of its own dignity, it would resist the clauso proposed by tho iinion in ropard to ti.o transfer of Inspector Fuller. Thoy laid on the fact that tho council lad not, in any way, attempted to intluonoe Inspector Fuller to ask for a transfer, and that the lat.ler had acted voluntarily in olfenini* to accept a (Tansfer. KILDIRNIE TUNNEL. A deputation from tho ICilliirnio Ratol*iyoiV Association waited upon the City Council yoslo.rdny morning to ureo (lint some |iatli\vay lie made through tho tunnel lo mahe the lot of tho foot passengers oii-der during tho currency of tho strike. The council discussed the matter in committee, and it is understood that; they divided lo do nothing at piv.;ont. A CHIIISTCHUnCH RESOLUTION. ' At a mcctim: of I ho tionoral Labourers' Union of Chi'i.-tohuich last 111'sht (states II I'rcss Association message) the folloirmotion was apcod to unanimously "We, l.lw (iwuiiul LuJvotuwra of GtuilwlilUj, fljjitfkl. OUC iktfUJMit AimwUvr. to tiio

Wellington tramway men in their present trouble, and, believing that the solidarity of Labour is the hope of the world, \i therefore declare that; this union win bo counted on in this fight, and that your light is our fight,"