THE QUEUE QUESTION

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 146, 15 March 1919, Page 13

THE QUEUE QUESTION

» AT NIGHT AT THE PICTURES. (By Val. Oncyonne.) Olio night (recently I went along to the pictures with the object of seeing how Charlie Chaplin earns his salary. There were other people bearing down on the same show about the same time, and I dropped into a queue at the ticket-box, under the impression that I should obtain tickets in my proper turn. First impressions are not always correct. My position in the queue did not improve, and I began to look round for n reason. I noticed first of all that an elderly gentleman, having pushed .in from the side ■and tendctrcd a pound note for three ninepenny tickets, was holding the business up while he counted his change. Before" he left the window two ladies dashed down .the stairs and pressed forward to change their tickets for more expensive ones. "This," I said to myself, "i; a queueless pioture show." So I stiffened my elbows,, clenched my teeth, and pushed up to the box regardless of public, opinion; With the tickets secured, it was an easy matUr to find scats, and then, while waiting for Charlie Chaplin,, I found time to reflect on the question of queues. Undoubtedly the people of New Zealand need to be educated in the business. The hundred thousand odd men of tlie Dominion who have been in khaki know what queues are. From the day of entering camp they have been drilled to stand in long lines nnd wait their turns for identification, attestation, inoculation, vaccination, remuneration, embarkation, and transportation. They learned, that there was a proper order of things and that nothing was to be gained by. bustle and disorder. The man who said that queues were instrumental in winning the war had something besides the "Q" boats in mind. If any man or woman, who objects to queues in Now Zealand could have stood on a ridge in a New Zealand sector of the war zono on a moonlight night nnd watched a couple of brigades of our infantry change over, .«uch man or woman would have understood the reason for the long lines of patient men. Not one of those heavily-laden infantrymen could have flattered himself for a moment that it was not extremely irksome to keep his place in line. But training had taught officers nnd men that it, was all for the best, nnd so they submitted, Even when our men were out for rest, the system could not be dispensed with. It was queue for breakfast, queue for dinner; queuo for ten, queue for sports, queue for pierrots. nml queiie for church, It was simply impossible lj> depart from the practice, In London, the inhabitants drop into orderly queurs at railway stations tube stations, and theatres without any prompting, although it is not usual to form uj) when wnltiii},' for a motor-to;. Thi? type of vehicle is.so common that I there never seem to ba enough passengers left waiting on tho pavement to form queues. It is worth noting, however, that, at the main stopping places of trains in Birmingham orderly queues can 'be seen every night after tlio theatres come out. Indeed, , at New Street passengers must pas? through a railed stile or race to the different trams. Much as people talked of a queueless Christmas for England iu 1918, it was out of tho question to have one. The long lines of waiting people were there just tho same, although they nia ( y have been fewer in ii'umbc.T. A stricter queue system appears desirable in Wellington for the trams at Lambton Station and Courtcnay Place, for the railway booking offices, and for the picture shows. Any old-fashioned conscientious objector discovered pushing in out of turn, or anyone exhibiting unsteadiness in the ranks might wjth advantage bo sent to a training camp for a course of squad drill. Until we improve in this respect we cannot, claim that Wellington is growing more liko London every day.