THE MAGAZINE VENDOR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LV, Issue 50, 17 July 1912, Page 7

THE MAGAZINE VENDOR.

A TRAIN PEST. That peripatetic pest —the magazine vendor—is daily becoming a source of more and more annoyance on "through" trains in New Zealand. Lately, as a local resident found to his cost, the pliers of this trade have been very much in evidence on the New Plymouth express. The other day, from the time the train left Wellington until in the afternoon, not one, but four or five of their number, trailed in one after the other, at irregular intervals, and almost without exception thrust a book, magagine or paper under the nose of each passenger on the train. No sooner had one agent finished working a carriage than another of the species would herald ' his advent with a blast of cold air. Precisely the same performance would then be gone through, each passenger having to suspend his particular diversion until, the news vendor had recited and extolled his wares. Some few minutes would elapse, and agent No. 3 would appear on the scene, and so on, so that by the time the last vendor had slammed the door and finished treading on an unlucky traveller's corns, the man who led off originally would be ready for his second excursion. If they would only take "no" for an answer there would not be such cause for complaint. Again, it would not be such a source of annoyance if their numbers were limited to two for one train. A graver complaint concerns the practice—it was very much in evidence the other day—of several of the vendors (it is only fair to state that there are exceptions) in retailing certain ' of the most notorious works of fiction that gain admittance to the Dominion. Many of these books are banned from j our public libraries-, and are such that l most booksellers refuse to keep them in stock for fear of prosecution. In their ! attempt to dispose of this pernicious class of literature, the vendors employ caution and crafty cunning. The hooks j are never exposed to the view of lady j passengers; mostly they repose in the pockets of the seller, and are thrust un- ] der the gaze of a prospective purchaser.) to the accompaniment of a knowing leer and the volunteered advice: "It's hot stuff, bv !" It is bad enough to be asked to buy a sixpenny magazine ahout six times in succession, but when it comes to receiving the obnoxious attentions of a purveyor of "literary filth," it is time the Department took up a cleansing broom. In this instance the complainant had to refuse not once, hut on several occasions, to patronise authors of publicly-banned books.

It is a convenience to be able to purchase periodicals aboard a train, but the number of vendors should be limited, and any found in the possession of indecent publications should be deprived of his right immediately.