OUR AUCKLAND LETTER

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 727, 2 May 1922, Page 5

OUR AUCKLAND LETTER

(From Our Own Correspondent). Auckland, April 28. ANZAC DAY. lor the fijsJfc- time we have celebrated Anzac Day in a manner befitting its solemnity. Hitherto it- has been observed in a half and half, gq-as-you-please fashion that must have pained and disgusted thousands of the relatives and friends of those, gallant fellows who gave their lives so that others might live. Anzac Day should be ona of the most sacred days in the and as such, it is good to think it will in future be kept. RATS. According to the Mayor of Auckland, the campaign against rats in this city has resulted in such slaughter that (the City Council’s official rat-catchers cannot now capture more than 130 of the trodents per week. The District Health Officer, however, is not satisfied. He considers the number of rats caughlt in Auckland is far and away too small I am inclined l{jo agree with him. If the official rat catchers haven’t enough ;o do, I would suggest they should give Grafton Road a turn. This thoroughfare is chiefly composed of boarding houses and apartment houses, and some af them are very ven—able structures —rcttcs of times long gone by. At the rear of these houses (same side as the bowling green) runs the Grafton Gully, and that gully is simply swarming with ra,ts, so are the basements of the old houses referred to. There are parts of Newton also that are rat-infesteJ. And what of Freeman’s Bay, Mlt. Albert, and portions of Ponsonby Really it’s a little previous for the City Councillors to be shaking hands with each other over the disappearance of the rat menace. It hasn’t disappeared.

DANCING AND THE Y.M.C.A. Many members of the Y.M.C-A., I understand, are disappointed that dancing is not to enliven the social gatherings of the Association this winter. Fact is the young people of to-day regard a social gathering without dancing very much as those who are not teetotallers regard lemonade. When the matter cropped up at a Y.M.C.A. Board' of Directors’ meeting at Dunedin a few nights ago a member of the board said he could see no harm in an occasional dance under proper supervision. But he seems to have been frowned down. As for the Auckland Y.M.C A. officials they declined 'to discuss the matter, contenting themselves with saying that lit has already been settled by the National Council. So there you are. Well, of course, there’s dancing and dancing. The old-style dancing in vogue in mid-Victorian days differed as greatly from the “advanced” dancing of the present day as one of Mrs Henry Woods’ stories differs from one of Zola’s realistic novels. But who reads Mrs Henry Woods in the 20th century, and who would be content- with the old-style dancing at the present time ? CROOKS. It was recently, estimated that Auckland contains between 600 and 700 persons who are living on their wits. They toil not,, neither do they spin, and yet they are said to dress well and live on the fat of the land. Amongst them are card manipulators, confidence men, billiard sharps, and those who make a business of spying and prying with a v ?w to the extortion of blackmail. Doubtless some people when they read this will poohpooh it as unworthy c f belief. But why should it not be true? Every city of any size has Ds crooks, and Auckland is the largest city of the Dominion. It is also notoriously short of police. You can patrol Queen Street from end to end on most days without encountering a ‘ .Johni And where the carcase is, ’ etc. etc. THE TYPHOID OUTBREAK. It is now practically certain that the somewhat alarming outbreak of typhoid St Mt 1 . Albert was caused by sewerage-fialnted water. What did Mr Parr say ? “Many bouses (in the affected area) have no drainage system, but simply empty their sewerage into holes in the ground . Is it not a disgrace to a city of the size and growing 'importance of Auckland that there shouYl still be probably hundreds of houses unconnected with the main sewers in close proximity to the city? Wherever the pan system obtains there is bound to be danger. That system is a relic of the early days, and has doubtless been responsible for deaths innumerable. J. J. BOYD AND HIS ANIMALS. And so the Wellington Zoo has consented to receive some of Mr J. J. Boyd’s wild animals, subject to cer-

tain conditions, and doubtless J.J.B. is feeling thankful to have found a solution, if only a temporary one, of the problem he has so long been wrestling with—what to do with the animals that are no longer wanted at Onehunga. Possibly in time Auckland City Council will re-consider its resolve to have nothing to do with Mr Boyd’s collection, because there can hardly be two opinions as ■to the attracion that a zoo within a short distance of the heart of the city would be. Onehunga, in any case, is too remote from Auckland to attract all the visitors it should. But if a zoo could be established in the Domain, say somewhere near the site of our las.t exhibition, it would almost certainly prove a great draw, and become a popular resort of t.he Auckland people. And, given efficient management, it should prove a paying pi-oposition.