The Evening Mail. MONDAY, JULY 8, 1878.

Oamaru Mail, Volume III, Issue 720, 8 July 1878, Page 2

The Evening Mail. MONDAY, JULY 8, 1878.

Jn a leading article, the Christchurch Press complains that "men are allowed to stand aimlessly on the pavements in certain spots, jostling off those who desire to pass on business, and conducting themselves in an offensive and beastly manner." The same remarks wonld apply with equal force to almost any large town in New I Zealand. Who i 3 there that has not been so annoyed by the indifference of the frequenters of our pathways that he has had aroused within him all the indignation of which he is capable. Taking Thames street as an example, no one can pass that thoroughfare, especially on Saturday night, without encountering masses of lounging fellows, who comport themselves as though they were not quite decided as to whether they should lay down or walk. These fellows slouch along, frequently blocking up the pathways, and by their behaviour seem to think that they have a perfect right to regulate the speed of all pedestrians. Females, who cannot be absent from their homes on Saturday night—the night upon which they expend their weekly allowance—for a time longer than absolutely necessary to do their shopping, on account of pressure of domestic duties, are either compelled to step aside to make room for these " lords of creation " —frequently into the channel i or off the asphalt, which, if the weather be bad, necessitates their travelling through water and mud —or to proceed at a funereal pace, headed by numerous clouds of tobwsflo smoke, accompanied by plentiful emissions of moisture, which is licked up by theirdresses. Nothing is more disgusting to anybody with the slightest modicum of refined feeling than to have their noses assailed with the smell of stale tobacco smoke, tainted with the delicate aroma arising from the blendings of numerous potent bpyprages; to be compelled to dodge the results of sundry expectorations ; or to have their sense of propriety shocked by foul language; more especially if the sufferer ia one of the fair sex. We must protest against the continuation of this kind of thing. There is not the least necessity why it should be perpetuated, as it is within the power of the police to put down auph nuisances.