CURRENT TOPICS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 221, 12 January 1911, Page 4

CURRENT TOPICS.

ROOKERIES. A few years ago an odd person or so was burnt to death in Wellington, and subsequently Dunedin, Christchureh and Auckland had similar fatalities, each because of the inadequacy of fire escapes. It had been the custom to hang all sorts of wood, wire and rope arrangements on weatherboard houses, and to leave them there until they -were quite useless. And, anyhow, no one but an acrobat could have used them in time of fire. Thereafter the authorities said tliey insisted on better provision for the safety of folks staying in public accommodation houses, either licensed or otherwise. Lately a lodging-house in Wellington was burnt and with it perished two men. No comment about this particular house is intended, but in all the centres and elsewhere in New Zealand there are rattletrap and overcrowded lodging-houses built of decayed timbed wedged in between modern and more or less fireproof places. Apparently there are no very stringent regulations existing in the cities in relation to boardinghouses that are deathtraps, although the licensee of houses selling liquor has long ago been brought into line and made to provide reasonable habitation for boarders and the necessary appliances for their safety in case of emergency. A few years ago a stray official strolled into a city boardinghouse, possibly Tjy mistake. The story he told -was appalling. The place was ft veritable cesspool, overcrowded, stinking, and a death-trap in case of fire. This one sample of a very prevalent evil was demolished bocause the story that was written about that lodginghou.se stirred the public. It is inconceivable that in a country which pretends to be a pattern for the world there should lie lodging-houses that would be a disgrace to the slums of Whitechapel. City authorities get red in the face and pass terrific resolutions if they find a tradesman leaving a case of merchandise on the footpath or espy an overhanging window on a main street, but they persistently refuse to interfere with that wonderful species of "private enterprise" which breeds in dirt and obtains huge rents for rotten weatherboard death-traps. In the hearts of every city in New Zealand there is this fester, and there is no disposition in the heart of any of the controlling municipalities to root them out for fear of treading on the corns of influential and wealthy folks who generally own these apologies for boarding-houses. It seems to be as necessary for a board-ing-house bench as for a licensing bench, especially as a section of folk fondly look forward to the time when every licensed house will become a boarding-house, and, consequently, more or less immune from police supervision. The death of folk burnt in unsafe weatherboard dens crowded between brick or stone buildings lies at the doors of the authorities who persistently decline to attack the pestilent person whose chief object in life is to draw big rents from ramshackle properties.

A LITTLE DEATH-DEALER. Nobody who opened fire on the Hounsditch assassins seemed to have a Browning pistol or even a' Mauser, and when it teems necessary to arm policemen thev are generally given the ordinary Army or Navy revolver, the soft bullet of which would blow a man nearly to pieces. The Browning pistol that got such a marvellous advertisement in London is not unknown in New Zealand, and is an inno-cent-looking nickle-plated little fellow that lies flat in a hip-pocket without "bulging." When it is in action the portion of the pistol containing the magazine is covered by the hand, and this magazine will hold seven cartridges. With one round in the breed), the anarchist, detective or other fightable person employing it has eight shots ready, and as long as he keeps the trigger depressed he is pouring out death—if he can shoot. When the little "gun" is empty, an indicator rises between the breech and the foresight, and the anarchist has to stop to re-load. Naturally, the modern pistol, whether it be a Browning or Mauser, is not as deadly as the ordinary Army pistol with its leaden load, for the auto-matic-pistol cartridge is nickelled, and at long range makes a hole no bigger than that to be expected from a robust darning needle. Still, the effect of very rapid fire gives the user an enormous moral advantage over the other fellow. Anybody who has seen a Maxim gun in action will appreciate the utility of a wholesale fusilade, and although it cannot be proved that the famous "pompoms" have ever caused wholesale damage, their rapidity might easily induce panic in the people who form the target. The average Mauser pistol is less popular among anarchists because it. occupies more space, but it is as rapid as its little relative, takes a. magazine-full of cartridges in one "clip," and can be fitted on to a butt, transforming it into a short and very effective carbine. It is said that a shot from a Browning pistol will penetrate a one-inch board at -21)0 yards, but it is not likely that any person exists who could shoot with one well enough to hit a six-foot target at that distance, for when the hand covers the weapon there is only two or three inches showing at the business end. Still, a modern automatic pistol is a spit-fire that is the most admirable when it is innocently hanging up in a shop window or reposing with the safety catch well up in the pocket of l'eter the Painter.

THE HE.MP INDUSTRY. Owing to the low prices ruling for hemp on the London market quite a number of tlaxmills in the Dominion have closed .down. The reason for a slump in the industry is obvious from a glance at prices being obtain'd. Tn the early part of the season the figures quoted were equal to £1!) for -fair" and .-C2l 13s for "good fair." These prices were not tempting, but millers hoped for better thine*. Instead, prions have declined until they now stand at about £lo las for "fair" and ■£lo Ids for ''good fair." At these prices several of the millers have made serious losses during the past few months. An unfortunate feature of these prices (says the New Zealand Herald) is that they have synchronised with an improvement in the quality of the hemp coming into Auckland. In the early part of tile season millers could hold off closing contracts at. current rates, but now failstock* are on hand and this has made the position more acute. Tile reason given bv the merchants for the low price* ofl'erin..' for hemp is that there is overproduction. esnecially in Manila. Til inOo the output of fibre from Manila was

904,000 bales. It has steadily risen until during the past year it must have been about 1,300,000 bales. In audition to the large output of Manila, New Zealand hemp has suffered from the competition of sisal, a Mexican fibre which is being placed on the London market in increasing quantities. Merchants appear to be pessimistic as to the immediate prospect of the hem]) industry in New Zealand. The first tiling that would bring better prices would be a reduction in the output from Manila, and there is no reason to anticipate this. The prospects would be improved by tlie introduction of labor-saving machinery that lower the cost of production in New Zealand, and earnest attention is being given by manufacturers to this aspect. It is suggested that a capable man should be sent to Manila to study the conditions there, tind report for the benefit of the New Zealand manufacturer, who is much in the (.".irk as to what is the lowest prices at which profitable production in the J/hilippines is possible.