JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4963, 28 February 1895, Page 3

JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

(By Our Own Correspondent). Tuesday. Svcnerv Preservation. Somcthkt) for the Wellington Society to do.—Street Lighting. " The Lanterns Dimly Burning."—lady Clerks and Low Salaries. —An Enquiring Bishop, lie would see for Jlimself.-Thc Wairarupa Belief Fund Muddle-Children EatfPrke.The Jlotclkcepers and 'Maeconists. Mow the Met Affects Thn.-m Outdid Ckhlekureh Elector.-Tlic Battle of the Beetle.—As Others See us, or Talcs Out of School—Emin'wn fir Tomi School Children.—A Suggestion.

The Scenery Preservation Society, which has recently beon formed in Wellington, should get to work at once if they wish to achieve anything. Before anything can be dono " the sinews of war" have,ofcourse, to be forthcoming, and there is nothing like striking when the iron is hot, if it is desired to capture the practical sympathies of hard, headed and dose-listed Wellington, Closefisted, let me add, however, very carefully, in matters of this kind only. Once arouse the sympathies of the Wellington public for cases of genuine distress, as, for instance,tlie

Queensland and Hawke's Bay Flood

Belief Funds or the Wairarapa Dis- - aster Fund, and no one could be w more generous. The Wellington public will also " part" freely enough for any scheme in which there is even only the most problematical chance of a good thing. That it is a good tiling, even from a busi-

uess point of view, to make the City nttractivedoesnotstrikeyoaravei'iige Wellingtonian, The Queen's Drive was certainly an exception, but even in the construction of that now famous thoroughfare, a two fold object was manifest. Moreover, two of the chiefpromoters were not really Wellington men at all, they had not so very long been resident in the City.

A day or two ago 1 was looking at some photographs of the City, taken in 18b'7, showing the surrounding hills covered in most places with thick vegetation. There is not a sign of the bush now, and the hills are as hare as an iron roof. Hideous land-slips, wide expanses of

yellow clay, with here and there some poverty stricken looking vcrare the main characteristics of ™he hill scenery on the town side of Port Nicholson. It would take ages for trees to grow on these bleak wind swept hills. The only hope is to cover the bare spaces with grass, or better still with that hardy,quickgi'owing, and wide-spreading species of ice plant (the scientific name of which 1 forget for the moment). Tliiswonldatleastrelievcthepoverty stricken appearance of these barren hill'wastes, and that quickly too. The growing of trees, on the hills at anyrate, would be a slow process, it is slow enough on the low levels, as witness the sickly growthof the trees on the Esplanade and elsewhere, The main object of tree planters in Wellington has been to get rid of the beautiful native vegetation as soon as possible and to replace it with the ugly pimtsmsignis or sombre macrocarpa There is a perfect forest of these trees in the Botanical Gardens, where once there was charming native bush, and every public is the same. No one seems ™ try or to care to try how the graceful native trees would grow. Naturally Wellington is one of the most picturesque spots on God's earth, but the hand of man has made it about the most unlovely of all. The Scenery. Preservation Society has undertaken 'a big order, and the sooner it gets to work the better.

I have often written about the wretched lighting of the Wellington streets, and am therefore loth to touch on the subject again, but really the forlorn aspect of the city at night, with its glimmering rows of feeble rush-lights, impels mo once more to unburden my soul. We prided ourselves on being right "up to date," when we decided to light the city by electricity, and we were quite sure the electric lamps would be infinitely superior in every way, to the old-fashioned gas-light, It is

humiliating, therefore, to own that the substitution of electricity for gas, so far as the street-lighting is concerned, has been a total failure, « every respect. Whether it is the of the Corporation, in not supplying sufficient water to drive the turbines, or whether it is the fault of the Electrical Syndicate in not supplying a stronger current, I know not, but the result is execrable. Any Town Council, which may be thinking of going in for a street, electric lighting installation, has only to see Wellington, to be disenchanted for ever, The private electric lighting, where steam is the motive power employed for generating electrioity, is successful enough. It may therefore be assumed, that a similar satisfactory result would be attained, were the present- contract altered so as to allow of steam instead of water, king used to generate electricity for street lighting purposes. If the present Mayor can effect an improvement in our street lighting, he will at least have done something worth recording, during his term of office.

I hear, that the Trades and Labour Council, at one of their recent meetings, passed a resolution to the tfiect that if it was found the female SRks employed, in certain Government Departments, were paid a lower rate of salary than men were iwciving, for tho same class of work, they should represent the matter to the Government, aB the employment of cheap female clerical labour . would naturally result in bringing down the rates of salaries paid to men, I do not know whether my information is correct, but if it is, tho Trades and Labour Council are to be commended for taking up what is undoubtedly becoming a growing danger, namely the employment of female clerks at low rates of pay. I did not know, also, that the Trades and Labour Council included in its category of labour, the clerical occupations, but I am glad to hear it is so. There is, of course, another phase of the question, and that is, if a woman can adequately perform a male clerk's duties, why should she not, for her own sake, receive the fiaate payment, provided her work is ew in every respect. If thero is anything in this information I have received, the action of the Trades and Labour Council, in the direction above indicated, may not be amongst the least useful of its efforts in the cause of labour. Sweating may exist in the clerical division of labour, just as in the other branches. During the recent assemblage of Bishops in Wellington for the consecration of Bishop Wallis it is reported that His Lordship of SalisL bury, wanted particularly to have a feTf minutes conversation with .a

young up-country curate whose people lie bad known in England. Nobody know tho curate's address, but Dr Wordsworth, who is of an enquiring and independent turn of mind, determined to seek the youug clerical out himself. Sallying forth, therefore, ho made a tour of the principal hotels, but without finding the object of his search. Nothing daunted, his Lordship (possibly with some knowledge of his voting friend's tastes) resolved to try the round of the clubs, there are four of them iii Wellington excluding tho workingman's. On his rounds he entered a certain club, which shall be nameless i and there found that his curate was [occasionally to be found in the reading room, no doubt perusing tho Church Messenger or somo other equally irreproachable paper. Stepping briskly inside tho Bishop turned by mistake into the sanctum sanctorum, where the members are wont to take their morning "refreshers." The room was fairly full and I am told that the dismay and consternation written on the faces of tiie members as they surreptitiously tried to hide their various potations, upon the apparition of a Bishop in his apron and gaiters in their snuggery, was n subject fit for the facile pencil of a Hogarth. However, the good Bishop said nothing but smilingly bowed himself out. It was, however, some time before the startled members recovered their wonted composure.

Onc of our best known citizens, Mr Frank Allen, J.P., general manager of the Commercial Union Company, leaves on Wednesday for London, on business connected with his company. During Mr Allen's absence from the colony Mr G. H. Hiivbroc, manager of the Wellington branch of the company, will act as general manager.

The Committee of Management of the Wellington " Wairarapa " relief fund, are now inviting final applications for assistance from all parts of the colony. Applications for relief are to be in by the end of February, and the committee will sit on the 4th proximo to consider them. The fact is, the large amount ot funds on hand is far in excess of what is required for local relief, and so the committee have very properly decided to assist as far as possible those in other parts of the colony whose claims have not yet been satisfied. This only emphasises the folly it was on the part of the other relief committees not to have co-operated with Wellington, in the first instance, in establishing a central fund out of which all claims conkl at once have bean met. The Wellington fund, with the help of the surrounding districts, was far and away the largest of any in the colony. ' This fact and our central position pointed the Wellington committee out as the most suitable to administer the combined funds. Local jealousy, howevor, prevailed in this, as in other thiugs, but now the other committees are looking to Wellington to afford the relief which singly they are unable to give. The statement made by the Dunedin committee that a considerable portion of the Wellington fund was raised in other places is quite incorrect. At least threefourths of the total amount was collected in Wellington alone.

On tho occasion of a recent cheap railway excursion from Wellington to the country two gentlemen of lsraelitishextraction presented themselves at tho ticket window and demanded half price fares from the clerk. Naturally the clerk demurred and remarked that half fares were only granted to children. Promptly one of the Hebrew gentlemen replied " Well, we are children," The clerk, who was by this time becoming rather cross, resented the reply and asked them what they meant by their impertinence. Quickly the retort came back" Well, we are children I tell you, children of Israel!" They did not get their half price tickets though, despite their ingenious defence, it is needless to add.

The local botelkeepors are in a great state of excitement over the edictwhichhas gone forth,that if they sell tobacco, cigars, or cigarettes, their hotels will bo regarded as "shops," within the meaning of the Act, and they will thus be compelled to close on Wednesday afternoons. The tobacconists, on the other hand, are of course jubilant, for they have always regarded as an infringement on their rights, the sale of tobacco, cigars, and cigarettes, in the hotels. It is thought that the merchants who are' interested in the sale of tobacconists' goods to publicans, will assist them to appeal against the decision. There is also some talk of agitating for tobacconists being compelled to obtain licenses, hut from what 1 can hear, there is nothing the tobacconists would like better. They are perfectly willing to be licensed, for they thinkthat by being so, it would stop the unfair competition of Chinamen, who largely vend tobaccos, cigars, and cigarettes, at very low prices, whereas if a license was required it would not perhaps pay the Celestials to deal in these commodities at all. I should think it would be a matter of indifference to the merchants if the publicans are compelled to cease the sale of cigars and cigarettes, for in that case the tobacconists would be obliged to buy all the more. The only objection 1 can see to prohibiting the publicans from the sale of these goods is that it is olferlngjmore inducements to drink. Very frequently a man has to submit to being " treated " when he has no inclination for liquor, and as an easy way out of the difficulty he takes a cigarorapackefcofcigarettes It is possible too that the merchants quite recognise this and regard the cigars and cigarettes so sold as "extras," which would not be obtained from the tobacconist. The development of this matter will be full of interest.

A gentleman recently from Christchurch, related to me an incident wliichhosays occurred at Mr Rcoyes' late meeting there, and which I do not think has yet appeared in any of tho papers. My informant states that Mr Reeves very nervously came on the platform, and, as his custom when speaking, he placed his hand in his pocket, appearing very ill at case. An elector in the pit with stentorian lungs yollod out," Take your hand out of your pocket," Mr Reeves was nettled and rather warmly retorted, "I will not; at least my hand isn't in your pocket." Tho freo and independent promptly replied," Yes it iB, ydur hand has been in my pocket ever since you were a Minister!" ■ The pretty little squabble botweon i those eminent mvants of the Philosopbical Society, Mr Maskell and Sir W. Buller, reminds one for all the world of Bret Harte's famous

description" of the row which broke up onr society upon tbo Stanislaw." It is trno that" the scientific gents" who were concerned in the quarrel about the internal arrangements of I the beetle at the Philosophical Socioty did not exactly "put a head" on each other, although judging from the tenor of the remarks of one of them at least, even that was not very remote contingency. Neither did they as Brofc Harte has it—" engage in a warfare with the remnants of a Palaaoic age," but they had a very sharp little verbal encouuter novet'theless,whioh was neither edifying to the public nor dignifying to themselves.

Our recent distinguished visitor, I Sir James Abbott, Speaker of the N.S.W. Legislative Council, has been telling tales about us. Sir James states, inter alia, that he attended a race meeting at a certain town where in spite of the sale of liquor being strictly prohibited on tho course, ho nevertheless managed to obtain a taste of" ginger wine from the right bottle" by the kind ollices of his friends who were in the " know." Was that " certain town" Wellington ? I saw Sir James Abbott on the course, a head and shoulders above everyone else, you could not mistake him, he is an exceptionally lino man. He had an extremely satisfied air about him, possibly engendered by a taste " from the right bottle." 1 remember admiring him very much, I do not so much now, for J. think it was rather mean of Sir James to taste and tell. Joking apart, if N.S.W. Legislators on their travels through the Colony cannot pick up any moro useful information regarding us than the twaddle which Sir James Abbott delivered himself of to the Sydney reporter, they had better stay at home.

I have heard it suggested that the town State School children should he given a trip to the country just as the country children are being treated to the town excursions. A very large proportion of the parents of the town School children are in poor circumstances, and unable to give their offspring an outing any distance into the country from yeaivj' end to years' end, and these would hail with delight the prospect of an excursion to the Wairarapa. Moreover, it is almost as great a novelty for many of the town children to get right away into the country as it is for their country cousins to see tho large towns. As these school excursions are now the vogue, I hope it will be found possible to carry out the suggestion regarding the town children.