JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 4981, 21 March 1895, Page 3

JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

(By Our Own Correspondent.) Tlicsihi//. The Unemployed Question Again.— .V Police Proteetbui.—'lhc Ihi'ikr Satre in Wellington.—The Fitir Rent Jhllhai it Cold Reception.—Women tind Cnttrch t •Gom'nmnt.—Thl'tmkn l'lujl Eiitcrftlinnieiit.— Progress of the Drainage Worh.—The Telephone Mttiilen Again. -TheStory of the Loeki/en.—FinisDecorating the Mat/or. The Government will shortly have to \ face the unemployed difficulty again, for the winter is now quickly approaching, and tho men arc swarming into Ihe towns from the country. In Wellington there are now a large number of unemployed. Fortunately the shipping seasou this year is a busy one, and many are thus enabled to obtain casual work on the wharves. Very shortly, however, this will be over, and * then the clamour for work will be heard once more. It was slated sonio time ago that the Government were taking steps to forestall any unemployed difficulty, hut it is not yet apparent what they have done. 1 have heard it asserted in town by those best competent to know that it will be necessary'to follow last year's plan, and t- establish shelter sheds, and provide rations, or to institute soup kitchens in additiou, for the number of men unemployed here, is daily increasing. 1 have been informed, and 1 can quite Jjelieyc it, that the police protection, in is utterly inadequate. It ™s been known for some time, that the number of police available for patrol ' duty, was far too small, and yet, despite the fact that this is a large seaport (own j with a considerable Heating population, no attempt has been made to strengthen j the local force. It is hardly to he won-, dered at then, that burglaries take place, aud suspicions characters are unable to he closely watched. It is as much as ■ the police can do to perform the street patrolling and keep their regular beats. | k A few extra constables are required, who l would haro a roving commission to wan- j derail through the outskirts otthe town,. aud keep a sharp watch upon suspicious l looking characters who might be out at j an unreasonable hour of night. j The recent burglaries have given good! citizens a pretty scare. There has been j quite a run upon revolvers and life prev servers lately, and the shops which supply such articles have moved oIV a j respectable amount of dead stock which j has for years been rusling upon the. shelves. It is an ill wind therefore that j blows no one good. As revolvers, shot guns, and life preservers are very frequently just as dangerous to the householders as to the burglars, 1 ivould sugt it would be a better plan to invest -«H;ifew burglar window alarms. No nurglar likes to be disturbed, and when he found he was raising a commotion by his unwelcome intrusion he would in all j probability make a hasty departure. The alarms are easily fixed to windows aud doors, and are, I believe, to be obtained from the elcctricalestablishmcnts in Wellington. There is reason lo believe, however, that the meu who were arrested for vagrancy last week aud received substantial terms of imprisonment, ranging from 9 to 12 months each, were in all probability concerned in the late burglaries. The police are unable, of course, to prove anything, but they have a shrewd idea that these gentlemen t . might be able to throw a little light upon the subject. At anyratc there can be no harm in subuiitlint; them to a l : ttle wholosome discipline with a steady employment for the winter months thrown in, on the olf chance of their bciug up to no good. The Hon. John Jlclveuzie's Fair , t lient Bill circular, seems lo bo receiving scant consideration at the hands of the ; various local bodies. The Wellington City Council somewhat brusquely re- i .Ar.ed to supply tl'c information sought as they considered a Fair Kent JJill was entirely unnecessary, aud the vari- ] ous Borough Councils and lioad Boards i round Wellington arc following suit, i with most exasperating unanimity. As j < has been very truly pointed out, the | relations existing between landlord aud ; tenant, arc in a very different position i out here, to what they are in Great i Britain, and it seems to be universally thought, that such a measure would only be a piece of very unnecessary and meddlesome legislation. We have submitted to a good deal of this sort of V thing lately, out the point has now been reached, I thiuk, at which the worm will turn. The question of conceding to women the right to vote at Church elections, or serve as Members of Vestries and Synods, has bf en so thoroughly discussed lately, from all puinls of view, thai 1 am -{ loth now to enter into a fresh controversy on the subject. A good deal of quiet discussion is, however, still taking place in town regarding the action of the General Synod at Nelson, the other day, in refusing to concede equal rights to women with men, in Church mailers, that perhaps it would not be amiss to set before your readers, the facts of the / again, and the claim women liayc enfranchisement. In the City Churches, and in Wellington in particular, at least three-fourth's of the congregations are composed of women. The Church appears every day to be losing its hold upon men, more particularly young meu. There is no doubt that this is so, anyone can see it for themselves. It follows, therefore, that the maiD supporters of the Church are women. Their very presence in such largo numbers at the services testifies to it, Hare they not a right therefore, being in such a large majority, to liaye a voice in the management of church affairs ? But this isnot by any meaus the the sum total of awoman's claim to recognition inchurch government. Women are the organisers, the promoters, ami the workers in all movements connected with raising funds for church purposes. They teach in the Sunday Schools in the proportion of about ten to one as compared with men. They perform district visiting, they establish relief societies ami carry them on for the purpose of assisting the poor and sick in the various parishes. This work could not possibly be done by the clergymen without their assistance. Do they not form guilds and other volunUry associations for church work? Is not in fact all the hard work and nearly all the money fising done by women 'i However, i rnk I hayo said enough to show that if wero not for the women, in this Colony at anyrate, tho Church would speedily become an offctc institution. Is it not • therefore base ingratitude, to saynotluDg of foolish prejudice anil unreasoning shortsightedness, for a certain section of theclergy to so utterly oppose the presence of women in tho councils of the church ? A feeling of resentment exists to some t' extent amongst the ladies of Wellington who do so much for the Church. It would be disastrous if they weretocarry ; their feelings to the extent of refusing altogether to continue to work further. Mr Walter Bentley has. hit upon a really excellent notion with his limelight representations of the Oberammergau Passion play and his admirable explanatory lecture in connection therewith. That the public appreciated Mr Bentley's efforts to provide them with a rational Sunday ovening's entertainment t was evident from tho enormous audiunco which completely tilled the Opera House on Sunday last. The whole display was impressive in the extreme and no possible objection could betaken ,-jji religious or other grounds to the wfcling ot such an entertainment, The ■ entertainment was in fad a great moral lesson, which, although giyen in a theatre would probably have liioro beneficial ■a effect upon many of the audience thau a hundred sermons of tho stereotyped order which aro weekly given in the • Churchcß. The awful solemnity of the .world's-greatest tragedy was vividly . brought lionic lo the audience by tho fine'limelight views of the'passion play as so •'marvellouslyproduced by the dimple,' 'earnest : and' pious bavarian peasants' -in tlie quaint old village of •v.. Ohnamnnrgau.', The flejrgyforrsee-

tion of them, wero, I am told, rather shocked at wlwt tliov termed the ivreverenceofMrßcntlcy s entertainment,but as a matter of fact tliero was far less irrevereueo in the tLeatrc tliuu is often I to be seen in some of the Churches.

Tho drainage works progress at a very I slow rate, so slow indeed that it is hard i to believe anything is being done at all. Certainly tlic casual observer would seo nothing in Wellington which would lead him to suppose that a drainage schcmo costing something over £100,030 was in progress. It is reckoned that it will bo very nearly two years before tho scheme anything like approaches completion. The long tunnel through the hills nt the back of the Asylum is now being proceeded with, and this will take a year at least to finish. It is through this tunnel that the sewage is to be eventually earned, aud from the mouth ot the tunnel immense pipes will convey the sewage > to the outfall in Lyell's liay, A number of new sewers have been laid outside (lie itclual precincts of the city, but no attempt has yet been made, except in ono or (wo instances, to put down (he main sewers in the city proper. This will be a tremendous undertaking, involving the upheaval of the principal streets formally months. The corporation have therefore decided wisely in postponing the question of paving the streets with wooden blocks, which would only require to be picked up again to allow of the sewers being laid. It will certainly be a blessing when the streets are paved with wooden blocks, for during the recent equinoctial gales, particularly, (he clouds of dust iutve rendered existence in town a perfect misery. There have not been so many cases of typhoid reported this season despite our defective drainage arrangements, but this I am told is to be accounted for by the fact (hat a hot dry summer is not so conducive to the generation ot disease germs as a moist or humid one would be.

! The most sincere sympathy is felt in Wellington for Lady Augusta Uoyle, and His Excellency the Governor aud 'Lady Clasgnw, in connection with (he painful and dangerous accident which lias recently bcfailcn the young lady, Lady Augusta Boyle is aii extremely athletic young lady, passionately de. voted to all kinds of outdoor sports and pastimes. She is an accomplished and daring horsewoman, and a finished and graceful dancer. Should the accident result in a permanent injury, it will indeed be extremely hard upon a young lady who finds sttcli keen delight in both indoor and outside exercise, and who, moreover, excels in both. It is to be sincerely hoped that no permanent injury will result, Lady Augusta Boyle is extremely popular in Wellington, for she possesses to the full that charm of manner and kindness of disposition, which is characteristic of the Glasgow family.

There are now very nearly a thousand telephones in use in Wellington and I every week seesthcconnectionsincreased. What was once regarded as a luxury is now looked upon as an absolute necessity. Why litis should be, lam sure I don't know, for personally 1 lind it saves much time, patience, worry, aud annoy* ance to scud round a message or write a note instead of trusting myself to the tender mercies of the playful telephone girls who seem to regard it as a positive insult to be asked " lo put you onto number so and so." You ringup the exchange and after waiting any time from live to ten minutes a languid answering ring informs you that the lady at the other end is ready to attend to you, Then your troubles commence. You give the number you require, and in nine eases out of ten no reply whatever is vouchsafed to show that your request lias been heard. You presume it is alright and you ring up your friend only to lind that yon have been put on to the wrong person or not connected at all, You'indulge in a little mild profanity and try your luck once more,ngai n to receive disappointment. Once again you patiently ring up the exchange and mildiy protest, but before your expostulations arc linished you are abruptly cut off, generally with a remark from the other end, which savours of impertinence. You give up the struggle and take round the message yourself or send your office boy with it. You can't be rude to young lcdies or you would give tlicin a piece of your mind. You don't like to report the i attention or the impertinence fm fear some silly girl may gel into trouble. Even if yon did the chances arc against your finding out the culprit. Consequently you submit in silence. This sort of thing happens daily to dozens of people, and yet, wonderful to relate, the use of the telephone is increasing.

I told you some time ago, how two old men, by name Lockyer, had beeu deprived of their sheltering roof, such as it was, because the Corporation thought the tumble-down old cottage was unlit for habitation, and so ordered it to be demolished. I also mentioned that the elder of the two men, who were brothers, had died shortly afterwards, practically from grief at seeing the roof which had sheltered him for nigli fifty years, laid low. The other old man, it appears, was admitted into the Oliiro Hjme, but there he objected lo slay, oecause the Benevolent Trustees ordered him to pay a sum of 2s Gd a week, which he derived as rent from another wretched shanty, towards his support in the Irstitution. Conscqucutly the old fellow left the Home, and for the last month or so, he has slept with a sack for his sole covering on the vacant section iu-Mul-gravc Street, where his old cottage used to stand This section is next to St. Paul's pro-Cathedral, and here this wretched old creature next to God's house, aud in the midst of a ivcll-10-do and populous quarter, eked out a miserable existence that even a dog would have turned up his nose at, The police discovered him at last and mercifully arrested him as a vagrant, and to-day the Magistrate has committed him to gaol for twelve months for that offence. It was the kindest tiling lo do, but it docs seem hard that the poor old fellow should not receive compensation in some form the Cily authorities, for it was by their action he lost his shelter. It is true the hovel was a dilapidated filthy old building, and a disgrace lo the neighbourhood, but still it served to house the Lockyers, miserable as it was, and once destroyed they had not the means to build another. The result is that one is now under tho sod, and the other is likely to end his days in gaol as a vagrant. The law is harsh at times.

We don't go in much for style iu Wellington, We arc a plain, practical, uuornamental people, There is room for improvement iu many directions iu our decorative notions. We have got the ugliest and most squalid town m New Zealand, but we have, so we are told, the most trade and the most "tin" iu the Colony, so wc are content to rub along with our ugliness and want of style. There is one direction, however, iuwhiehwemightputona little style without altogether wrecking the city finances. Thatisin the matlcr of decorating our chief magistrate in order to make him more imposiug. Why should notour mayors wcara gold chain with badges and insignia of office, as they do in Christchurch ? Wc arc behind the times here, any town oHialf our size iu the Old Country would decorate its mayors with robes and chains of office until they cut quite imposing figures when seated iu tuc chair of state. This is the Empire City and the capital of the colony, and surely our chief magistrate should not he behind his Christchurch colleague in the matter of official ornamentation. 1 dropped iu l to a Council meeting tho other night audi could not help llu'nkinghow Mayor Luke, worthy man, would be vastly improved by a little decorative treatment. The chain of office would add an enhanced dignity to the porson of mir muyors which would perhaps awe into respectful silence even tho irrepressible Councillor I'ctherick, Besides seo how useful the insignia would bo when the Wellington'mayors had to welcome some distinguished visitor. It is hard to look dignified and imposing when you liavo nothing about you to distinguish'you from the common herd, nor to show that

you hold the high position of Chief Citizen of Wellington. I commend the suggestion to tho powers that be for consideration,