FILTHY CONDITION OF PREMISES.

NZ Truth, Issue 84, 26 January 1907, Page 5

FILTHY CONDITION OF PREMISES.

A Perfunctory Inspection.

Of course any other city officials but those of Wellington would long ago have at least made it a bad paying game for the Chinese shopkeepers to swindle the public by passing them anything from 8 to 12 ounces of fruit for a pound avoirdupios. Here m Wellington it would appear that the Chow " can do just as he likes, defy the law and laugh at the sanitary aood weights and measures inspector. Complaints are constantly being brought to this office of the impudent fra,uds perpetrated m^tka^Euisi. enasing public by the unscrupulous Chinamen. It if impossible apparently, to get what is asked for m a Chow fruit, shop. A customer looks at, . say, apples, and rinding them good, though murderously expensive, gives an order for, say, a pound. Instantly the yellow shopman turns his back, covering his movements from the buyer, and, with a deftness born of long practice, shoots a few fruit into a bag, which he dumps on the scale, and, with his hideous claw pressing it ■down, whips it off, twists the neck and shoves it over to the customer, who, if he or she

IS NOT "FLY" will carry the frag home only to find that it contains two rotten fruit to one sound one, and only about I2oz at that; This very experience has been the writer's when taking home fruit late at night. In the case of tomatoes, he has seen a Mannersstreet Chow chuck four into a bag and call them a pound, of which, on investigation,' three were absolutely rotten and nothing like those displayed. When the buyer refused to take such abominations the yellow devil "whaffored" like an angry cockatoo, and with actual

SLEIGHT OF HAND tossed two of the rotten ones back into the bag while pretending; to change them for sound ones. Told that this would not do he snapped "go to Hell" and refused to make a sale at all.

. At a shop next the corner ■of Cuha and Abel-Smith-streets, one day last week, a lady lady asked for a pound of tomatoes. Shortly after leaving she met her husband who sized the "pound" up as being very small and m another shop, a European's, they weighed the bag and found it to draw . only twelve ounces. Returning to the Chow, the lady told him of the fact and he at once snarled "'You only buvee af a pong." When she insisted that she had asked for and paid for a pound he truciently told her she was ■& liar. At this her husband entered the ; shfcp and no sooner did be speak than two more Chows popped' out of . ' ■'■',■

, THE HORRIBLE RECESSES at the rear and one of them began to suggestively fondle a 'four pound weight. It is known how utterly careless of human life these hellhounds are, and that they are generally armed with knives ; and they have become so assured 'of the security of their position that the slightest word of remonstrance at their crooked dealing is met by insolence and even threats. An unspeakable fool of a magistrate—Panton, of Melbourne— said the 'other day that Chinamen nevgr use filthy and obscene language. A lot' he knows. As a fact it, is only necessary to arouse the ire of any English-, speaking Chow to hear him use THE MOST HORRIBLE LANGUAGE AND REVOLTING , THREATS, and to recognise that he particularly delights m doing so to females. These little incidents— actual • occurences—are given to show to what a stage of insolence and impudent fraud the Chinese of Wellington have come, and it would be extremely interesting to know the reason for their immunity . from prosecution. This is a -question that would deeply interest any honest and capable City Corporation. But our precious mob awuear to be above such petty considerations ' as the welfare of the people. As to the city officials and their desire to do their duty, a case m point may be given. A member of the. staff of "Truth," living In a private hotel that overlooks the back premises of a Chinese greengrocery, became aware of a TERRIBLE STATE OF FILTH and, dangerous accumulation of highly inflammable material m the yard and on the roofs, of the ramshackle sheds that cover almost all of it. Also the hotel was invaded by a sickly smell of decaying vegetable matter and -myriads of flies, whenever the windows on that side were opened for purposes of ventilation. Chinamen, most revolting and squalid m appearance, could and can be seen picking small onions, even of the "spring" variety, out of vile masses of rottenness, reeking and alive with maggots, tipped out of refuse bags m the yard, snipping them and tossing them into a heap for sale to the public. Meeting City Inspector James Doyle, four weeks ago to-day, right opposite this shop, he mentioned the horrors and the danger "of fire from the piles of empty fruit oases stowed m the open and liable to ignition by any driving spark, and the pair entered the place. The inspection was only partial, but it was enough to reveal a terrible state of things. Under bags Qf comparatively fresh vegetable waste there lav sacks of rottenness that oozed through the jute and spread over the yard m treacly lakes, the outer edges caking m • the sun. To reach such a state these bags of filth must have stood there for many weeks, and when the boss Chow was compelled; after many tricks to avoid doing it, to lift the upper bags of cabbaw leaves and the like, the sacks . beneath were ! seen to ba covered by millions of } maggots, showing the nature of the ; contpnts that hod attracted the flies ! to Mow the. sacks.

The insppotor oraerpd the Chow to Ket *H the rubblish—there was more

than one cartload—removed at once, but he whined, "No can get oart today," .and was then told to shift the

HORRIBLE MENACE TO LIFE on the Monday following, and to clear all the piles of boxes off the roofs. Mr Doyle indicated his intention to summon this yellow scoundrel for having filthy premises, 'but this has not been done up to the present, nor has the. nuisance nor the bonfire material been removed. This is a sample of the sort of inspectorial protection the citizens of Wellington receive and reflection on the why and wherefore of the immunity of/ aliens from what happens pretty promptly to poor whites who follow their pernicious lead, is . ex-tremciy^:d'feqTife^g:--^d'"l>ad" is tfie condition of affairs m the Cubastreet block on the whole Wesleyan endowment estate and beyond it, that respectable business people are practically unable to insure against fire, the companies refusing to take the risks. A view of the shantybuilt rear premises and the ancient wooden sheds designated "shops" is sufficient to show that the underwriters are quite justified, and it is most irritating that these damnable Chow interlopers should be permitted to enormously add to the dancer of a big blaze by building up stacks of tindery empty cases. It appears that the whole civic management wants the broom of reform applying to it, and -^ants it very promptly and rigorously applied.