IN THE METROPOLIS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9173, 22 August 1908, Page 7

IN THE METROPOLIS.

SOME CASUAL OBSERVATIONS. |THE DEPRESSION IN TRADE. Wellington is regarded by many people as the financial and commercial harjmcttr of New Zealand, and whether thid view is justified or not it is always interesting to those resident in its near vicinity to keep in close touch with the development ami pi ogress of our capital. An Age representative on a recent visit found the city of wind and whirl to bj passing; at present through an interesting period of its existence. The question is not so much "Is there a depression?" but "la there a general depression?" in the simmering city. It would take an export physical eye to adjudicate on the point, as Wellington always appears to be in a bustle, an inevitable consequence' of its congested topography. But the discerning vision which looks not at the thronging streets for its indications, but delves into the h'ghways and by-ways cf industry and idleness alil'e cm h.izard an accurate, opinion on the general position of social alt'airs. The writer converged with men of :.ll callings, from th-a headi of whoh'sakdepartments down to the toiler Ly the waterside —that Mecca of tl.e workless pilgrim from the artisan rank 3*. Opinions were divided. Ona wholesale h' us?, which balanced for the half-year last week, declared that its turnover stood at about the same as for the coi responding period last year. Another big haidw r; firm said "Bjsiness splendid; crders filled and to fill in plenty." Tncn, in t. e building line, bricklayers stem 10 still have a fair number of opportunities open to them for work ;.s thore are a good many very large contracts now in hand. Carpenters have had a very bad time for a few months p-ist, but then it is hard to say who is and who is irot a carpenter in Wellington. Jt was stated that man employed in doing labourer's w irk handling timber on brick buildings styled themselves carpenter?, handy men from foreign parts wi.o knew sufficient, to drive a nail did likewise, and in the hu ly-burly of speculative building and the! d.-aith of tradesmen the pssudo carpent.-r flourished like a green bay tree. But now-—now that the City has stopped to diaw breath in ics wild race along the road of progress—they are workless! Am<n.' other trade peculiarities there are to be found ira. csmen such a-i sadcileis and plumbeis now e.imaged in virtually unskilled work sacii as driving express-', wood pavmy and so forth. One might even be inclined to doubt in suite of theee facU th-it there is nothing beyond the usual mid/;inter quiet pievaing, but alas for the stevedore! The . waterside worker—the prosy toibr wit s the poetic title —has stein competition these time:-, and though there wan a big list of Vfssela to ten !, there wa3 a sadly great army of v. a. larera on th*» busy quays. Municipal and Government contracts are absorbing a fair amount of unskilled and building labour at present, and this matter is one for thankfulness. Another indication of the workless conation of many is seen in the large number of frequenters of pub lie re ading-rocms, libraries clubs, etc. Wellington is notoriously well cateied for in the way of billiardsaloons, a regular shoal of them having appealed within the last two or J t'r:' j r a'::- rcorrg w ; th armies cf tllJ. a.e da.ly filled iviih habiti ea who appear to have ampb cath to spaie on .he fascinating p;s time. Wellington is a city given over to pkasuie c'ay and night, and it is hard to calculate exactly how acutely any temporary financial stress affects individual homes. Even among the idlers on the wharves "two-up" schools and "hazards" patties are well patronised, the vigilance nf the ; authorities noiwiihitanding. A haz- i ards school with four sets of dice , and compesed of about thirty men i was reported to to doing a big silver j business one oay hsc week. Whih white workers are chafing in idcucs?*, and white shopkeepers are corhplaming of bad times, it is sugg»y ive to note that the number of Chinese shops is increasing vey rapidly. Tlvj yellow nv;n will not sutler the < Id-time atiquated shop either, but mostly have w ndows to their premises through which mellow "rluit" beams out at somewhat high prices just now. j Apple-3 at 8d a lb are unusualiy j dear even for Wellington. There is , no denying that the Chinese have : just about accomplished te strangu- j laticn of the white fruiterer as a j standing competitor, and dear fruit is now the consequence. Laundries | rjn by almond-eyed ironers are also as plentiful as the seamy metropolis requires. Wellington i 3 pre-eminently the city of human drifters. A permanent resident of Wellington is almost ts rare as the dodo, and the unavoidable outcome is that the city will soon comprise no other buildings but boarding-houses, public and private hotel?, and establishments of a similar nature which merely assist the drifter to float. There are now some private hotels in Wellington which vie with the great coffee palaces of Australia, and the magnificence of their construction show how great an opinion is held of the future of Wellington. Steel buildings have come with an avnlanche - like suddenness in the metropolis. in spite of tl.e example set in America and elsewhere for years past in this important connection, even with all our earthquakes Wellington has been slow to adopt an idea which before all others it should approve. Nov/ there are several skyscrapers rearing grim frames of steel in various parts' -t' the city, and even on the Kinc's Whurf--that magnificent new pier, without a rival in the Hernia here--a steel shed of two storeys is being erected. Earth tremors will not find modern Wellington so vulnerable as hitherto.