CASUAL NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 34, 30 January 1908, Page 4

CASUAL NOTES.

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\ersieiday 1 was afforded the plea- j sure ol visitiug thai magnilieenl pile, the Government liulidings, iu _\ew Plymouth. Alosl especially was 1 .struck with the more venerable portion ol the structure, composed of New Zealand timber-. Here ate housed the Lands alia Sur\cy Dep.irtineiit, with its Commi»iouer. clerks. liy ilie dozen; the Custom- Department, the Public Trust Oilice. and the Sump-, am. l Deeds Oilice. whilst a considerable portion is devoted to uie mail i-oi'ling loom ami private bov lobbies in connection with llif postal service. I mil recently numerous other departments were honored with accommodation within the.-e walls, but. nut appreciating the very excellent Arrangements for limiting the supply of light and frenli air, they were evicted. Hence the public apartment ol the post ond telegraph oftue, the money order and savings hank, I telegraph operators' room, telephone exchange, postmaster's room, and 1 ger.V room are now founu iu the new | building recently erected: whilst the j ltoads Department litis been removed altogether from the ground*.

Particular attention was directed in Ihe Deed* Departinei t to the elaborate prentulions taken to prevent the *tall ;:ei|uiring that vulgar ruddiness o! coin ple\ion which is -ueli a eharacieri^lic oi nun engaged in <flher a- farming, navvyilig. and the like. lii en-nre that tao rays of the >un .-InII not become too trouble-onie the hri -k wall of a ncighboviu'j; Uhv'U ha- been erei-ini. And the result"- are nio-l >nlisfactory. llardly one stray glinl oi li-iit entrance to tne'oilice. even at noonday. l ; ew civil servant- are m mply protected from .-unburn at the-se.

Probai'iy ior the same rea-oii ihe id of fre-h air is regulated in much the same way. In fact, the legulation of such a nature that it might almost 1k» said to be absolute prohibition. Tims, the Deed- oiVtce clerks are. immuii" from rhe nnnnyaiK'e caused to many other workers by pulTs and gusts ol wind snatching up and scattering louse paper* ahout the de-sks «md floor-. This > indeed a boon. 'ihe window- ot the office look on 1 upon ihe courtyard between tho new buildings and the old. What thnughts of solidily and stability nuisl ho engendered when the eye lights upon Iho-e almost inipregnabh' walls! Britain's bulwarks? Not half so strong.

Dospito nil the precautions, however, the designers of the public building* arc confronted with one groat dillicull v. When Paddy's. hurricane blows, Mraight up and down, and eddies a little in the courtyard whew the soapy water emptier from the lavatories above, there is a temptation on the part of the uninitiated to open one of the window*. Then thero's a draught across the room. Now the etf'ect of this protection from draught ha- a tendency to ma~ke the men susceptible to colds. One ot the desks is situated i>et\Veen the only available window on the one side and another one away over in another part ot the building. And the draught takes him in the hack of the neck. Kesult: Rheumatics, sore throat, fjiiinrsey. Hero the State confers a benefit upon ttio medical profession.

In furtherance of the plan for the preservation of the pub- faces of the people poring here over the pages of musty records, the air (?) space has been limited, and where the average private employer in princely style would be compelled by Government inspection to employ no more .than one clerk —if he were allowed to use the place at all—the Deeds Department employs a comparatively large stall". In thin hot weather the sensation of breathing this breath-laden atmosphere is one lo be remembered, though it is not as fully appreciated as it should be by rea.-on ol its rarity, pungency, aud density. Samples ofithiij atmosphere have been secured and placed in the rate specimen cases of one of the largest disease-germ museums in the world, the olliee having earned the proud distinction of housing more microbes to the square inch than any other public olliee in the world. The previous record was micioU's of move or less deadly nature, but it understood that the specimen forwarded from the Deeds Olliee easily created a new record, its density being more than treble tiie figures jii>t niniioned— I couldn't repeat them, but they are given on the highest authority.

ll i~ piopo-r.l 1,, ,l 0 -iwiiy willi Mi.' present arrangement of darkness and confined air some uay, Iml it is understood that should any such freak in' altempted, ;i monster anti-improvement petition is to Ite presented l,v Uic wraiths oT the clerical and other olliciais whose term ot trouble on this earth has been shortened by brief sojourn within in walls. , jijgf-.;

1 he Education Hoard has again rais"d tlie question of securing uniformity :n the -clioul hooks used throughout the Dominion. It's getting a frequent cry--"Give tin uniformity, J; Uniformity is another name lor slothfulness. t'niidrmuy blocks progress. ll everything were uniform, and had to lie kept uniform, there would be no incentive to work or improve, to invent uew uiachiiicrv. !<r discover new worlds, (o make the world grow more productive. There - * no uni tonnity iu nature. 'lheies ijo uniformity, is there, iu the leaven of the forest, or the tints oi them; No uniformity nor evenness in the course of the rippling brook, the wiuding river, 1 h.■ waves in breeze or calm. No two men mill no two Women are uniform. No two ate similar in appearance, inlelligenee. hobbies, thoughts, likes and dislikes. Is there uniformity in the landscape. Ihf inountaius and hills? Can any teacher point to an uniform school, where all the children are on one level plane? And doe, the Education Department ever hope, even by introducing au uniform -et of books, to turn out uniform scholars, all thinking, saying, and doiii" the one and the same' thing? Jf such a thmg comes about it will lie the uniformity of idiocy; and, as often remarked, there are various .stages and grades of insanity. c