AUCKLAND LETTER.

Franklin Times, Volume 9, Issue 779, 27 October 1922, Page 5

AUCKLAND LETTER.

WOMEN OF THE “OUT BACK” (Froth Our Own Correspondent). Auckland, October 20, I hope the meeting convened in Auckland the other day, on behalf of the lonely women of the “out back” may result in something practical being done. Speakers well qualified to do so described the cheerless lives led by many of the wives of settlers in the back blocks, and made an earnest appeal to the women present at the meeting to do what they could to render the lot of their sisters in out.of-tbe-way places a little brighter than it is. The late Henry Lawson painted some vivid word-pictures of the hardships and terrible isolation endured by women in the Australian bush, and what he has written applies with equal truth to New Zealand, where in' 'some places the wives of small farmers and settlers toil week in week out, leading a life! of dreary and drudgery without even a tinge of colour to relieve the drab monotony of existence. The women who dwell in cities "and in towns and enjoy the blessings of civilisation might, as was suggested at the meeting, find out the names and addresses of some of he back-blocks women and. write to them occasionally, supplementing the letters with the gift now and then of a newspaper or a magazine. That would be true charity. “COINING MONEY” There are many ways qf making money. The individual who was arrested. in, Grey Street (that rather notorious thoroughfare !) the other night was making it by means of stamps and dies, moulds, base metal and a meltflng pot. He was literally “coining money” when he was apprehended, and now that he has been laid 'by the heels it is to be hoped that the spurious half crowns and florins which have for many months past, been current in Auckland will gradually cease to turn up in one’s change, as they have been liable to do at any time. For that the shopkeepers must not be blamed. The coins are such excellent inflations of the genuine article that they would deceive anyone hut an expdrt. Coin, ing was once upon a time a capital offence, and even now a convicted coiner is Liable to life-long imprisonment. Years ago when a Londoner, I* occupied rooms in a suburban house. The apartments adjoining were tenanted by three men and a woman, all of them fashionably attired and! Hiving in great style. (The odd thing about them was the mysterious stamping noise tha arose from their sitting room at intervals during the small hours of the morning., The mystery was solved one day when detectives visited the premises and captured the whole gang. They were coiners. THE MORNING TUB. As a consistent morning-tubber for many years past, I was interested in Dr Truby King’s recent advo. caey in Auckland of the beforebreakfast cold bath The doctor strongly recommends" “the daily cold tub all the year round, followed by a good rub down.” He tendered this advice to boys and girls, but the cold bath is just good for grown-ups and most Englishmen used to take it, Nowadays it has gone out of fashion, and probably not one man in fifty indulged in. it. Yet there is nothing so good for the nerves and he muscles and for giving that delightful feeling of vigour and fitness as the cold bath before breakfast The modern substitute of a cigarette in bed, before rising, is a very poor one. OUR “QUEEN CITY.” The writer of the article that recently appeared in the Otago Daily Times, descriptive of Auckland, has given this city an excellent advertisement. Referring to our population (in round nrumbers 170,000), he says “it is increasing daily and appears to be increasing hourly. One almost sees the people settling as they arrive by road and river,, rail and* steamer, from all quartes of the globe.” Auckland is, undoubtedly, a geat city in the making, and it is equally certain that in course of time, it will, as this friendly critic puts it,'“be a second Sydney.” And yet 30 or 35 years ago our populaion was oniy about 60,000. During that comparatively brief interval it has almost trebled. HOLIDAY EXCURSIONS. /The Minister for Railways holds out very little hope of cheaper excursions during the approaching- holiday season, and is altogether opposed to the reinstatement of the week-end trips to Rotorua during the coming summer months. He says “the financial conditions of the service do not (a,t present) warrant further concessions.” Put' into plain English this means of course that as tjhe railways are not paying it wouldn’t answer >to make the fares any lower than usual during the holidays. But is it not just possible that the railways don’t pay because the fares are too high all the time, from Januray Ist to December 31st? Surely it is better to have, weilfilledl trains at reduced fares than half empty ones at high fares ? We pifdet ourselves in New Zealand on being able to show the world the way in regard to many things But there isj hardly another country on the face of the earth that could not teach us sonmting about railway ms&nagement. Rotorua is one of the wonders of the world, but instead of encouraging people to visit it the railway authorities would appear to be trying their best to keep visitors away from it.