“
To each and all our equal lamp at peril of the sea.”—Kipling.
The lighthouse at Castle Point, North Island, New Zealand.
The New Zealand
Railways
Magazine
Registered for transmission by Post as a Newspaper.
Published by the
New Zealand Government Railways Department
“
For Better Service.”
Service Copy.Vol. 6. No. 8.
Wellington,
New Zealand
April1, 1932.
Railways and Taxation
Paying railway charges in New Zealand is doubly advantageous to the taxpayer. He obtains transport at the lowest possible economic cost for the service rendered, and at the same time his payment is an almost direct contribution towards meeting the necessary costs of running the country—in other words, every additional penny paid to the Railways for fares or freights goes to help the Treasury to meet New Zealand's obligations.
Railway charges are based upon years of patient study and experience to give the best possible value for the work done in relation to its economic worth; and they can hold their own against competition in most lines provided such competition is itself worked, financed and controlled upon an economically sound basis. In giving business to the Railways, therefore, the farmer, the businessman, the occasional or frequent traveller, is assured of a fair direct return for his money in the value of transport supplied. If such service is obtained elsewhere at below its economic value, then ultimate loss with repercussions unpredictable in their extent or full seriousness, will follow. The history of New Zealand transport in recent years is studded with glaring examples of such results.
The effect of railway receipts upon taxation is very direct. As matters now stand, increases in railway traffic can be handled at little additional cost, and there is a gap between what the staff and services are handling and the maximum they could handle at practically no additional cost. If half-full trucks or carriages or trains were filled because of additional traffic offering, the fares and freight on such new traffic would be an almost net addition to railway revenue, and additions to net railway revenue make a direct and equal decrease in the costs which have to be borne by the Consolidated Fund.
Not all “double utility” facilities are so unfailingly attractive as this of railway patronage. The couch of the daytime which converts into a bed for nights is liable to prove inconvenient at times, and Hood's pathetic character who was “sewing at once with a double thread a shroud as well as a shirt” was not well occupied. But the pencil with rubber attachment “fills the bill” when employed to write accounts for income tax to meet the requirements of social services with one end and to rub out with the other end those portions of the account covered by increased railway receipts.
In the present state of the industry, the economics of railway transport conform to the law of increasing return to make gains from additional traffic thereon more nearly net profit than can be secured in almost any other business in which Governments invest. Hence the dual benefit of “taxation reduction plus full value service for payment made” is most marked in connection with payments made for railway services.
The public are required to pay a certain amount in taxation. This can either be paid direct—as levies on imports, amusements, incomes, and so on—or it can be made to do a service on the way to the Treasury, via the railway, in the conveyance of the taxpayer or his goods. It matters not to the Treasury whether the required amount reaches it through the Income Tax door, the Customs door, or the Railway door—so long as the required amount is found. Is it not good, then, economically sound, and basically advantageous, to make such payments “work their passage,” in one of the many ways that they can be made to work, throught the transport facilities available on the railways?
Improved Railway Position
Referring to the financial results of the New Zealand Railways for forty-eight weeks of the current financial year, “Observer,” in the Evening Post, Wellington, writes (inter alia):—
“Is it not fair to conclude that, measured by results in the pit of the depression, the Government railways remain not only a developmental asset but also a big asset against their proportion of the external debt—an asset that should improve as depression lifts?
“The Board has had the onerous task of making the expenditure fall quick Jai Jai Jaier than the revenue. It has succeeded. For forty-eight weeks of the financial year 1931–32 the revenue has fallen (compared with the preceding year) by £1,037,000, but the expenditure has fallen by £1,152,000. Thus the net revenue is better than the preceding net revenue by £115,000.
“And it is claimed that this has been done without neglecting maintenance, and without impairing the safety factor of the railways with regard to track, rolling stock, signalling, personnel, or any other element.”
Enterprise Rewarded
The enterprising spirit of the staff of the railway service in drawing the attention of members of the public to the advantages of railway transport is receiving increasing approbation from those to whom such personal attention is rendered.
A recent instance was reported from Mt. Eden, where a new arrival, upon moving into an empty house, was surprised and pleased to find a note from the local stationmaster drawing attention to the cheap fares and suitable train services between Mt. Eden and Auckland. In reporting the matter to the District Manager, he said: “Your man was ahead of the bagwash! As a result I and my family are all now using the train.”
Honour for Mr. G. W. Reid
It is pleasing to learn that Mr. G. W. Reid, B.Com., F.P.A. (N.Z.), of Dunedin, a member of the Government Railways Board, has been unanimously elected to the position of Vice-President of the New Zealand Society of Accountants. Under the constitution of the Society, the Vice-President automatically becomes President in the following year.
Praise for the Railways
The following is the text of a letter received by Mr. F. Lindsay, Controller of the Railway Refreshment Services, from Fraulein Chavenae, a recent visitor to New Zealand:—
“Before leaving New Zealand I wish to thank the staffs of your Refreshment Rooms for the kindness and attention shown to travellers throughout New Zealand. My travels on the New Zealand trains will always be a pleasant memory. Also, I may say, that the way the Refreshment Rooms are conducted is a credit to the Government. I was especially impressed with the neatness and smartness of the waitresses at Paekakariki, where I had the best attention shown to me. The waitresses there, I must say, are a credit to their manageress, and to the N.Z, Government Railways.
General Manager's Message
building business for the railways.
every employee should help.
The present economic position of the Dominion makes it more important than ever for all employees of the New Zealand Railways to take advantage of every available opportunity to assist in building business for this great enterprise.
In making this statement I am not suggesting that there has been any lack of that spirit of loyalty which has always characterised the staff as a whole. Rather my wish is to remind members that in strongly advocating the cheapness and safety of railway transport they are necessarily acting for the welfare of themselves and the whole Dominion.
More business for the railways means more security for positions in various branches of the service. Efforts of the staff to increase this business may be regarded as an insurance policy against decrease of employment.
The Department has, of course, business agents whose special duty it is to sell railway transport (passenger and freight), but the number of these agents is limited. Stationmasters and their staffs, too, are exceptionally well situated to assist in this service. No matter how strenuously these may work, however, there will be still immeasurable scope for other members of the service to say a good word for the railways on suitable occasions during their leisure hours.
When one thinks of a staff of 15,000 men, distributed through the whole community, one cannot help feeling that a strong persistent drive for the railways must have good results. Therefore I appeal confidently to all members to be always in readiness to state the railways case convincingly. We supply the safest and cheapest transport, and it deserves the best support of the owners, the general public.
Linked with this need of more revenue for the railways is the saving which can be made in the careful use of stores and equipment. I am pleased that the recent reminder on this important matter has been appreciably effective, and I anticipate that the staff will continue to be on guard against all kinds of waste. Here, again, it is a case of strengthening the financial position of the railways so that the outlook may be improved for employees. It is really a case of self-help.
Finally let us all have in mind all the time that we are concerned with a necessary national service, and that our earnest and sustained co-operation for increase of business and elimination of waste must strengthen the foundations of employment throughout the Department and must be beneficial to the general public.
General Manager.
ByE. Vivian Hall
War That is Not War—What is a Government?—Boycotts and Gold-corners— “The Greatest European”—Manchu Anti-Climax.
Rapid changes in the moving picture of world events mark the year 1932. The economic ferment has become, in Asia, a military ferment. The arguments of trade and currency, and the arguments of gunpowder, have become strangely intermixed. It was war that put the pinnacle on the overload of debt, and thus squeezed world-trade down into its present misery. And yet we have more war. Another paradox is that they don't call it war. If it was called war it would become a breach of the peace covenants. Breach of the peace covenants must not be. Therefore it is not war.
Because of work done by the League of Nations and the covenanting Powers, war de jure has so far been prevented. It has been prevented by not legally declaring war. But war de facto draws blood just as effectively as does war that is legal. The shells do not burst any worse or any better because neither side has declared. The bayonets are not less keen because a Japanese Minister remains in China and a Chinese Minister at Tokio. In terms of diplomacy. China and Japan remain friendly powers, and their friendship is filling the cemeteries (or the field graves) of Manchuria and Shanghai. It will go down in history as friendly blood-letting.
Though the League of Nations has been humiliated, that is no reason for scrapping the League. A conciliator is often humiliated. But conciliation must still proceed. Viscount Grey's plea that after allowing for debits, the League system still represents a huge credit balance in internationalism may be allowed. The referee may yet regain control of the game; and it is not helpful to jeer when he blows his whistle unavailingly. But the League of Nations must tread shrewdly on the delicate ground. On 7th March Lord Robert Cecil (“the soul of the League”) said that Japan had taken the law into her own hands and had resorted to violence; and if the League Assembly did not exert its powers its members would be regarded as accomplices of the aggressor. On 9th March the British Foreign Secretary, Sir John Simon, stated at Geneva that Britain would not join in any coercive step against Japan.
Like doctors of medicine, the doctors of peace must inevitably come up against the issue of prevention or cure. From
Elections of extreme importance to the world take place in 1932 in Europe and America, By the time these notes are published the reader will probably know whether Hindenburg remains the compromise President of Germany or whether Hitler has displaced him with a policy of repudiating the reparations debt to France. In May there are elections in France, and it seems that the Socialist Radical policy is definitely to cancel German reparations; so there is just a chance that Hitler's grievance (and therefore his power) will be removed, and that the way may be opened for debt cancellation from America downwards. But the old spirit among the French dies hard. One might have thought it would be silent by the coffin of Briand, “author of Locarno,” architect of Franco-German co-operation; planner of the United States of Europe. Yet Paris press opponents threw insults at his cold ashes, even while Sir Austen Chamberlain acclaimed “The Greatest European of us all!”
Beside the German and the French elections, there is the United States Presidential election. It comes every four years. It is a leap-year event that the world always waits for. The Great War started in August 1914, but it was not till 1917 (after the Presidential election of 1916) that President Woodrow Wilson felt safe to lead his country into war. Once more the world awaits a Presidential election with war in the air, but with the hope that war will have ceased, even in Asia, long before the people of the United States have re-elected Hoover (should the Republicans nominate him) or elected a Democrat (perhaps Roosevelt). If a Democrat wins, he will be the first since Woodrow Wilson. Hoover's domestic policy is credit extensions (variously viewed as “inflation” and as “a brake on deflation”). No American cure for unemployment is in sight. A wheat “dole” has been declared out of Farm Board surplus grain.
It is stated now that France has more gold than has the United States. On 9th March the President of the British Board of Trade, Mr. W. Runciman, said that “those countries which had succeeded in getting immense stores of gold were now paying the penalty.” Referring to the rise in sterling, he added: “We are able to show them that we are able to carry on without the gold basis.” All the same, London does not wish to see sterling rise too quickly, fearing a gamble and a set-back. What is wanted is a strong sterling, not something that fluctuates like war and peace in China, or the reports of the location of the lost American baby, or the date of the end of the world. Mr Runciman was one of the Liberal shipowners in the old Asquith Liberal Cabinet. Another Minister in that Cabinet was the banker, Mr. Reginald McKenna. He, too, has just, said that no metallic standard for currency is possible if great creditor nations corner the metal. This, from Liberalism, is notable.
While many people are forecasting “a new epoch” in government and in world affairs generally, it yet seems that the
Talking about the adaptation of old materials to new times and new uses, what can be more striking than the history of “Mr. Pu Yi?” Although still a young man, this Chinese has gone through more transformations than A Mountain Railway In New Zealand.
(Rly. Publicity photo.)
The Masterton-Wellington mail train ascending the Rimutaka Incline from Cross Creek.
It was Henry Ford who wrote, a few years ago, “there is something sacred in wages.” It was Henry Ford who composed chapters on the need of maintaining the worker's home standards and his purchasing power. And no evidence is discoverable that Ford is anything else than a good employer. Yet somehow a deputation fell foul of the Jaw outside the Ford works near Detroit, and became involved in a sanguinary encounter that has caused universal regret. This incident, and the crime of kidnapping the Lindbergh baby, are American sensations of the month. For parents and baby, “the child of America,” every true man and woman must feel the deepest sympathy. But meanwhile Phar Lap has displaced it as front page news.
From Auckland
to Wellington by Special
Chartered Train
Time Saved Is Money Saved.
Mr. J. D. Mooney, President, General Motors Export Company, New York.
“Let me take this opportunity of expressing my complete satisfaction, coupled with appreciation of the party, who were all delighted with the way the trip was conducted. Your stewards on board were most obliging; nothing was too much trouble, and the meals which they provided were excellent. Mr. Mooney remarked to me 'the crack railways of America have nothing on you here.’
Personally I think that this expresses sufficient to let you know that we were all happy, and will enable your officials to feel proud of their achievement.”
The above is the text of a letter received by Mr. H. H. Sterling, Chairman of the Government Railways Board, from Mr. W. McHardy Forman, Managing Director, General Motors, New Zealand, Ltd., upon the arrangements made by the Railways Department for the speedy conveyance by special train, from Auckland to Wellington and back, of executive members of General Motors Ltd., during the week-end, 20th-21st February.
The party arrived at Auckland by the Matson liner “Mariposa” on Saturday morning, 20th February, their objective being Wellington, for the purpose of inspecting the company's works in the Capital City, and conferring with local officers. As the members of the party were to connect again with the “Mariposa,” scheduled to leave Auckland at 5 a.m. on Monday, 22nd February, the question of speedy transport was a vital one.
The distance to be covered in the short time at the party's disposal was, for the return journey, over 850 miles—mostly through difficult country—so after considering alternative means of transport the party decided to make the trip by rail, thus saving much precious time. A special train, consisting of the new de Luxe cruising ear, a de Luxe sleeping car, and a van, was accordingly chartered for the trip. Rush arrangements were made by the Department to meet this sudden demand, and the whole organisation worked without hitch to ensure that the undertaking would be carried out on time.
The following composed the personnel of the party:—Messrs. J, D. Mooney, President, General Motors Export Company, New York C. R. Osborne, General Manufacturing Manager, General Motors Export Company, New York; T. A. Simpson, Director, Vauxhall Motors Limited, Luton, England; A. N. Lawrence, Regional Director for Australia and New Zealand; E. W. Holden, Chairman of Directors, General Motors-Holden's Ltd., Australia; K. T. Milne, Delco-Remy Corporation, U.S.A.; R. A.
The special train left Auckland at 11 a.m. on Saturday, 20th February, and covered the 426 mile journey in 14 hours. Besides being provided with sleeping accommodation, members of the party were supplied with meals en route. Full advantage, too, was taken during the progress of the journey to transact important business, the cruising car—which may be likened to a luxurious office on wheels—offering excellent facilities for this purpose.
This, really, was the outstanding feature of the trip, from the point of view of members of the party. With the limited time at their disposal, the distance to be covered, and the work to be accomplished, the fact that the latter could be, and was, consummated successfully on the train, was ample justification for the engagement of the special. Viewed in the light of the only alternative, a stop-over for the whole party in New Zealand
From Wellington To Auckland In Fourteen Hours.
The special train and members of the party at Thorndon station, Wellington.
That members of the party were completely satisfied with the general arrangements for their comfort and convenience on the train, and with the train's fast running time, is indicated in the letter from Mr. W. McHardy Forman to the Chairman of the Railways Board, quoted at the head of this article. Other members of the party were no less enthusiastic regarding the success of the trip.
Speaking to a representative of the Mana-watu Times, at Palmerston North (at which station the special was halted for a few minutes for general train purposes) a member of the party stated: “We are very pleased with the arrangements made, and we are making good time. It is quite luxurious, we are most comfortable, and the service is excellent,”
It is interesting to note that special trains have been chartered hitherto for shorter runs in New Zealand (as from Auckland to Rotorua), but this is the first occasion on which a special has been engaged for the through journey between Auckland and Wellington.
“Frame your mind to mirth and merriment.”—Shakespeare.
The annual picnic of the Railway Officers' Institute was held at the popular rail-served picnic grounds, Maidstone Park, Upper Hutt, Wellington on 28th February, about 700 railwaymen and their wives and children participating. The arrangements for the outing were in the hands of an energetic committee, to whose efforts, especially in regard to the entertainment of the children, the success of the gathering was largely due. The above snaps feature: (1) (right) Mr. P. G. Roussell, General Manager of Railways, and Mrs. Roussell and (left) Mr. G. H. Mackley, Asst. G. M. (with Master Peter) and Mrs Mackiey; (2) (3) (6) fun on the swings; (4) children's race; (5) from left Mr. V. R. J. Stanley, Pres. R.O.I., Mr. M. J. Forde and Mrs Forde, and Mr. W. F. Gill.
Current Comments
One of the most interesting New Zealand publications which we have seen is Mr. George Finn's book “Datus,” described as “a chronology of New Zealand from the time of the Moa.” Within a little over 200 pages is condensed the story of New Zealand in chronological sequence from 925 A.D., the approximate date of Kupe's visit, right up to our own time. Interleaved with this concise calendar of events is a compendium of brief articles upon outstanding features of New Zealand history—the things that every New Zealander should know about, but usually has only a vague idea of—all set out in a most readable form. Pelorus Jack and the Macarthy Trust, the Treaty of Waitangi and the Cawthron Institute, the Discovery of Gold, the Mangatapu Murders, and a host of other “head-liners” are described in sufficient detail to make the record historically valuable, and yet with a brevity and clearness that ensures the reader against tedium.
* * *
Writing to the Editor, New Zealand Railways Magazine, Wellington, Elsie Noble Caldwell, 1645 South Van Ness Avenue, Los Angeles, California, expresses appreciation of the Magazine in the following terms:—
Two neighbours, one a retired Southern Pacific conductor, and the other an Oil Inspector for the Santa Fe, take turns at reading the New Zealand Railways Magazine each month, and often Earl Mc-Carty, Division Master at Winslow, Arizona, is in, and he takes it for a day or two. It comes back to me, and I clip an item here and there, then it goes to Ferdinand Perret, art dealer, who has made a hobby of geographical and historical research. He is an acknowledged authority on all countries of the world. He has an entire album now made up, chiefly from the Railways Magazine; augmented, to be sure, by other New Zealand publications which friends send to me from time to time, but the bulk of it is from files of your publication.
Mr. Perret's library is free to the public—that is, the working public—and motion picture people use it continually. So there are many besides myself, who appreciate your fine magazine.
* * *
A writer in an Irish contemporary, who appears to have visited Sweden last summer waxes enthusiastic on the subject of railway station gardens, and dilates interestingly on those he came across during his sojourn in that country. At every station, he reports, as well as every signalman's cottage, a garden is laid out at the expense of the State Railways, which also send out special gardening inspectors to advise. In addition, he states, the railway administration has taken wild birds under its protection by putting up no less than 12,000 feeding perches in the trees adjacent to the railway lines. Several different types of perches have been used to suit the tastes of the varied species of birds. The railwaymen are reported to be taking a keen interest in the new activity, and propose to send delegates to a congress for the study of the life of song birds. It is also the intention of the railway authorities to introduce bee-keeping at any early date among their employees—a fact which prompts the aforesaid writer to remark, not without reason, that the life of the “Swedish railway official will presently be one of considerable idyllic attraction.”
LondonLetter
“During the year 1930 only one passenger was killed in train accidents on the Home railways, a safety record which is probably unique in railway annals, having regard to the immense business handled. The train mileage for the year was 424.2 millions, and the liability to casualty in the case of passengers was one in 1,684,000,000,” says our special London Correspondent, in an interesting reference in his current Letter to several famous British trains, and their world reputation for speed, comfort and safety.
For various economic and other reasons there has been a tendency throughout the railway world to curtail exceptionally fast running of passenger trains during the past few years. Many trains running at abnormally low speeds, it is true, have been considerably accelerated, but few outstandingly fast timings have been introduced in any country.
Until recently the world's fastest start to stop run was credited to the Canadian Pacific Railway, with a train averaging 68.9 miles an hour. Now the Land of the Maple Leaf has to take second place in the world railway speed table, following new accelerated timings introduced on the Great Western Railway of Britain. The fastest daily train in the five continents is now the “Cheltenham Flyer,” covering the 77 ¾ miles between Swindon and Paddington Station, London, in 67 minutes, or a start to stop speed of 69.18 miles an hour.
The existing time-tables of the Home railways show some exceptionally fine passenger running. Trains like the “Flying Scotsman,” the “Royal Scot,” the “Atlantic Coast Express,” and the “Cornish Riviera Limited” have earned a worldwide reputation for speed, comfort and safety. During the next few months it seems likely many of these crack Home expresses will be considerably accelerated, but for all-round speedy running, the existing record of the Great Western Line will be hard to beat. In addition to operating the world's fastest train, the Great Western also claims to run the fastest night passenger train in the world. This is the 1.40 a.m. Paddington to Plymouth express, which covers the 225 ¾ miles in 265 minutes, an average throughout speed of 51.1 miles an hour. At present the Great Western time-tables feature no fewer than 53 passenger trains, covering 4,359 miles each week-day, travelling at start to stop speeds varying from 55 to 69 miles an hour, a really fine performance, of which any railway might well be proud.
A particularly pleasing feature of the winter train time-tables of the Home railways
In the infancy of railways it was the custom in Britain—as it is to-day in America and other lands—to stop longdistance
A World-Famous British Passenger Train.
The “Royal Scot” Express (L.M. and S. Railway) on Beattock Summit, near Carlisle.
The old Great Northern was the first Home railway to introduce dining-cars. This was in 1879, between London and Leeds. The first dining-car accommodated nineteen persons. The kitchen had a coke stove, and oil lamps were employed for lighting. Until 1893 dining-cars in Britain were only available for the first-class passenger. In that year, however, the North Eastern, North British, and Great Northern lines put third-class diners into service in their joint through trains between King's Cross Station, London, and Scottish points. All-electric kitchens were put into this service in 1921. To-day dining-car service on the Home railways is in constant demand, and every year eight million meals are served in the Home railway diners.
During the year 1930 only one passenger was killed in train accidents on the Home railways—a safety record which is probably unique in railway annals, having regard to the immense business handled. The train mileage for the year was 424.2 millions, and the liability to casualty in the case of passengers was one in 1,684,000,000. Some 552 passengers were injured in train accidents during 1930, this figure including many minor injuries which would not be included in the railways
Mainly with the object of increasing travel safety, the Home railways are by degrees introducing automatic train control on all their main lines. A lead in this campaign is set by the Great Western, which has just completed the installation
Aboard The “Queen Of Scots” Pullman.
Dining car on the L. and N.E.R. “Queen of Scots” London-Edinburgh Express.
The track installation consists of a steel bar, or ramp, 40ft in length, placed between the rails adjacent to the distant signal at a height of 3 1/4 inches above rail level. The lever which operates the distant signal is connected by wire electrically with the ramp. When the signal is in the danger position the ramp is dead, and when in the clear position the action of pulling the lever completes an electric circuit and causes the ramp to be energised. The locomotive has an iron shoe, the bottom of which is 2 1/2 inches above rail level. This makes contact with the ramp as the locomotive passes over. If the signal is at danger and the ramp dead, the action of lifting the shoe opens a valve on the vacuum brake apparatus, causing an application of the brakes throughout the train, and the sounding of a siren in the locomotive cab. On the other hand, should the signal be in the clear position, the ramp is energised, and the electric current passing through the shoe does not interfere with the vacuum brake, but rings an electric bell in the cab. The driver thus has two entirely distinct audible indications of the condition of the signals.
Road competition and need for economy in working has led the railways of France to embark upon an especially interesting plan aiming at the full commercialisation and rationalisation of railway transport. At the outset the number
For long-distance journeys, of 150 kilometers and over, the conventional form of train will be employed for passenger movement and for the haulage of freight in full wagon loads. Short-distance passenger business, and the haulage of small lots of freight will be cared for by road vehicles or light power units running on the rails. Connections with the main line services will be made at the “station centres” by road vehicles, some of which will be designed to run on either rail or road. An elaborate collection and delivery system will be instituted, employing motor trucks giving a door-to-door service, and a comprehensive telephone system will link all the outlying collecting points with the “station centres.” Perishables and live stock will be moved by fast road motors.
Typical French Passenger Train Equipment.
Paris Express leaving Dunkirk on the arrival of the L.M.S. steamer from Tilbury.
In difficult times such as these, the education of the individual railwayman is not an affair to be neglected. To meet the problems of the future, highly-educated men are demanded in the railway world, and in Britain considerable attention is now being paid to the education of the personnel of the four group lines. Wonderfully well equipped schools for the education of their staffs are maintained at selected centres by the Home railways. The York schools of the L. and N.E. Railway, and the Lambeth schools of the London Underground Railways, are two especially fine modern establishments that are performing rare service in the education of railwaymen of all grades.
It is possible for the keen Home railwayman to attain the most responsible of positions; and while all obviously cannot become leading executives, there is ample scope for everyone who shows himself a tryer. Promotion is usually based upon competitive examination at the outset, and young men who show exceptional ability are given unusual opportunities for securing an all-round knowledge by transfer from department to department.
Advantages Of Rail Travel In New Zealand
Reproductions of some of the “Goodseat” advertisements and colour posters issued recently by the Publicity Branch, New Zealand Railways, to draw public attention to several main features of advantage in travel by rail.
From the Secretary of the Waimate Agricultural and Pastoral Association, Waimate, to the Stationmaster, Waimate:—
I have much pleasure, on behalf of my Committee, in conveying to you our hearty thanks and appreciation of the excellent arrangements made by your Department in regard to transport of stock to and from our recent Jubilee Show, and the capable manner in which these arrangements were carried out by your staff. Such practical and smooth working assistance from your Department and staff I can assure you helps to make our Shows successful, and is greatly appreciated by my Committee.
* * *
From the local manager, The New Zealand Shipping Company, Ltd., Christ-church, to the District Traffic Manager, Christchurch:—
We would like to express our thanks for the great assistance we received from your officials, both at Lyttelton and at Christchurch, in expediting delivery of a consignment for our Company, which arrived recently by the “Opawa.”
It was essential for us to get delivery of this consignment as early as possible, and the assistance given us by your officials as mentioned above enabled us to get exceedingly prompt delivery into our office.
From the Managing Director, Russell and Company Ltd., Ashburton, to the Stationmaster, Ashburton;—
We wish to record our appreciation of your assistance in securing our radio sets, ex R.M.S. “Aorangi” in time for our local show.
The sets were, we understand, unloaded from the “Aorangi” at Auckland, reloaded on to the 7 p.m. express for Wellington the same day, and arrived in Ashburton within forty-eight hours.
Through the courtesy and consideration of your staff we were informed of the arrangements made, and also were called on the telephone when the sets arrived in Ashburton.
It is evident that railway officials are endeavouring to give real service and have imbued the staff with that idea. This policy is a great asset to the business community, and particularly so in these critical times.
* * *
From Mr. L. B. Jordan, Pukekohe, to the District Traffic Manager, Auckland:—
I would like to express my appreciation of the capable manner in which your Department conducted the removal of my furniture from Manaia to Pukekohe; the transfer was conducted without a single breakage.
I would also commend to your notice the fact that the railway staff have been most helpful and courteous throughout.
“Young folk come forth all joy, and run Abroad as bright as beams of the sun …”—Allan Cunningham.
Our Children's Gallery,—(1) Donald Hazlett (National Park); (2) (3) Violet Johns, Eileen Fowler and Peggy Fowler (National Park); (4) Raynor Marino (Paekakariki); (5) Mollie, William. Frank, Betty and Peggy Egan (Turangarere); (6) Mavis, Eila. Annie, Earle and Leslie Perry (Turangarere); (7) Ivan and Eric Crowley (Oha-kune); (8) Mavis Grove (Auckland); (9) Gordon and Clarence Keats (Ohakune); (10) Frank and Merle Kerr (Ohakune); (11) Jane, Mary, Norman, Raymond. Alice, David. Eric, Madeline and Alfred Cresswell (Foxton); (12) Margaret and Marie Brown (Rakaia); (13) Jack, Betty and Leslie Slater (Paekakariki); (14) Gladys Horseman (Marton); 15 Edie and James Dent (Nelson); (16) Georgie Pratley (Paekakariki); (17) Annie and Olga Comie; (18) George, James, Mollie, and Charles Eastman (Paekakariki).
(ByAlexander E. Tetzner .)
Mr. Tetsner, who was lately Head Manager of the Russian Transport and Insurance Co. (founded 1844), has had much experience in transport business, and the following article regarding the development of the railways coming under his personal observation should prove interesting to readers. Mr. Tetsner has a distinguished educational record. In 1902 he graduated from the University College of St. Petersburg, the Imperial Alexander Lyceum, with honours in Economics, Law and Commerce, and in 1905 he graduated from the Berne University, Switzerland, in Economics and Finance, holding corresponding Degrees.
Permit for travel on the Chinese Railways between Harbin and Shanghai, issued to the author.
Railways And Civilisation.
It is as true to-day as it always has been, that there is plenty of room at the top for development in any direction. The writer's own business, and the activities of all those with whom he is acquainted are capable of indefinite expansion, and every railway system in the world, strictly speaking, is far away from being fully developed.
Railways are only 100 years old. Yet from the moment the first train ran on the little Liverpool-Manchester line no other branch of human activities was more powerfully pushed forward and developed than the “iron tracks,” and it would be only right to say that this moment marked the start of real civilisation. Railways proved to be the dominant factors in industrial development of each and every country in the world. Where there are transport facilities there must be development. Every plan, every scheme of national economic and industrial development, must start with transport and end with transport.
The first railway in Russia was built in 1834, between St. Petersburg and Tzarskoe Selo. This was soon followed by the opening of a 400 miles railway communication between the Capital City and Moscow, an event which marked the beginning of the amazing development and progress of the Empire of the Tzars. It is interesting to record that the gauge adopted for the Russian railways was the largest and heaviest in the world. All railways since constructed in Russia have necessarily been continued on that scale, and Russian cars, locomotives and trucks are the biggest, most spacious and least jolty met with in any country. The heavy tare of the rolling stock required a good
The task of linking the ports of the Baltic with those of the Pacific Ocean (a distance of approximately 7000 miles) was accomplished during the reign of the Emperor Alexander III. in the course of four years (1891–1895), and special expresses, have been run since then, covering the distance in ten days, and without change of carriages en route. Russia became very much alive to the necessity of developing the railway system, and the programme of the Government for the last forty years before the revolution was always providing for special credits designed to build new railways. Exports were increasing tremendously, huge grain elevators were erected in the principal ports of the country, and the traffic became so heavy that it was found necessary to double-track all the Trans-Siberian, which task was interrupted by the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, but accomplished soon after. The public was invited to participate in railway loans, and many private companies were formed, with a view to opening new avenues of commerce and to connect various regions by railways with centres and ports. International capitalists invested huge sums in the development and working of Russian railways.
During a period of time from 1870 to the beginning of the Great War, of the exports of Russia those to Germany increased from 21.1 per cent, to 31.8, owing to increased railway facilities. The traffic the other way, from the Continent to Russia, during the same time, increased from 39.5 per cent, to 52.6 per cent. The ten years preceding the Great War developed the national wealth of Russia to an enormous extent. The production of coal, for instance, from sixteen millions of tons reached thirty-two millions in 1911, and over forty millions just before the War. The yield of agricultural produce (grain) in 1901 was fifty-four millions of tons, while in 1911 it amounted to seventy-five millions of tons.
Before the revolution, Russia was the second country in Europe in regard to the length of the railway system. While Germany was possessing 40,766 miles of railways, Russia was coming next with 39,706 miles, as against France (32,924), Austria-Hungary (29,582), Great Britain (25,053), and Italy (11,304). Yet the Russian railways were inadequate. For every 10,000 of population the miles of line were only 3.2, the same as in Italy, while in France the figure was 8.4, in Germany 6.2, and in Great Britain 5.6.
Russia was always the granary of Europe, and the Continent obtained, before the revolution, no less than one-third of her staple food requirements in Russia. Just before the Great War Russia produced 34 per cent, of the world's wheat, 50 per cent, of the barley, and 90 per cent, of the flax. All these tremendous quantities of produce were transported by Russian railways.
There wab a striking development of railway construction and transport facilities, coupled with unprecedented progress in industrial and economic conditions in Russia during the years preceding the downfall of the Empire. During the ten years between the Russo-Japanese War and the Great War, Russia's wealth had doubled. Suffice to say that the money
A very considerable part of the great Trans-Siberian railway, from the station Manchuli to the station Pogranichnaya, was across a portion of Chinese territory,
An Imposing European Passenger Station
The Central passenger depot, Copenhagen, Denmark.
The Great War stopped the development of the Russian railways at the moment of their greatest expansion. The Caspian railway, the Black Sea railway, the Middle-Asia railway were nearly finished,
During the revolution an enormous amount of damage was done to the Russian railways, and a really vast field of further development and reconstruction work is now facing the Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics, which took the place of the old administrators.
An interesting alteration is introduced now in the working of the Soviet railways. The old regime was running passenger trains supplied with carriages of three different classes—I. II. and III.—making a serious difference in fares and accommodation. The difference in classes was abolished, but the carriages containing arm-chairs and divans were still attractive, so the U.S.S.R, decreed to continue to run them as well as the third class carriages, but to call the first class carriages “soft cars” and the third class carriages “hard cars,” charging different fares accordingly.
The transportation of goods and produce from the Trans-Siberian railway to China finishes at a station called Chanchun, in Manchuria. Here the Russian gauge ends, and the goods must be transhipped into Japanese goods wagons, only to proceed a short distance to Mukden, whence the Chinese railways accept transport.
All eyes are on China nowadays, and it would be of interest, perhaps, to have a glance at the railway system of the Celestial Empire, now transformed into a Republic under American methods and ideas. The transportation in China is naturally slow, as the country is using her river navigation preferably to the railway accommodation, and the railway system in China is very little developed. In fact, China built no railways of her own, all the existing railway lines being constructed and run by foreigners. The Tzingtao railway was built and managed by Germans, and all the rolling stock was brought from Germany, including locomotives and points. During the Great War the line was confiscated, and the Chinese Government thus received a railway that it can claim as being the only Government railway in China at the present time.
In 1898 the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank, together with a firm of British merchants in China (Jardine, Matheson and Co. Ltd.), founded the British Chinese Corporation, to carry on in China “or elsewhere” the business of contractors for railways and public works. The activities of the Company started with an advance of a loan to the Chinese Government for the double tracking of the Peking-Mukden railway line, and this line, as well as the Shanghai-Nanking railway, are in the hands of British interests. The Russo-Asiatic Bank advanced money for the Peking-Hankow railway.
In 1902 the Banque de Paris promoted railways in Yunnan and Shan-Si Provinces (South and North China). After the French, the Americans tried to develop Chinese railways and to promote new ones, but without marked success, as far as the writer knows.
Generally speaking, political and commercial quarrels over the matter of railway development in China have marked the past and are affecting the present situation. Thus a scientific and quiet working of the Chinese railways is a thing never yet attained. The Government of the Chinese Republic took over the administration of several hundreds of miles of railways, under special arrangements with the Powers, but the deplorable state of the Chinese Treasury is barring every progress and possibility of expansion.
China is an ex-territorial country, which means that all foreign merchants doing business in China must, by treaty, do so under their own laws and regulations. It is the dream of the present Chinese Government to abolish the exterritoriality and to govern the white men like their own, but it seems very improbable that such a change should take place in the near future. The Republic of China has not yet codified her laws and modernised her institutions to the extent
The chaos and disorder prevailing in China affects very seriously the transportation of goods and produce in China. Although the rolling stock is good, brought mainly from Europe and Great Britain, the running of railways is defective and the control slack. Continuous civil wars and so-called bandits are often interrupting the working of the railways, damaging sometimes the track and stock to a very considerable extent.
It was the privilege of the writer, in 1922, to meet with a curious adventure when travelling on a business trip on a certain Chinese railway.
In A Beautiful Setting.
Turin Passenger Station, Italian State Railways.
Under such conditions it will be seen that there is plenty of room for improvements and developments, especially in the railway business of the great Celestial Empire.
“I sound alarms and roar along, smooth as the lilt of the rollicking song.”
The Wellington-Napier Express passing Pukerua Bay, one of the many popular rail-served picnic Resorts on the West Coast of the North Island, within an hour's journey from Wellington
(Rly. Publicity photo.)
The Charm of Akaroa
James Cowan .)
A Northern visitor to Nelson recently expressed his delight at hearing the notes of the tui in the trees which adorn that city, and he praised the sylvan beauty of the place. Akaroa, a smaller town, arouses like pleasure in its visitors, who can listen to not only the tui but the bellbird in the gardens and orchards. The scenery of Banks Peninsula and the character and surroundings of Akaroa are described in this article.
Ruaimoko, the Maori God of the underworld, the personification of volcanic action, has done much for the Canterbury coast. But for that many-peaked uplift of land, indented in a score of bays and harbours, a huge nest of fiery furnaces in the remote past, it would have been a drear monotony of level shoreline, with never a navigable haven for ships. The convulsions of Nature which heaved this wildly broken massif above the ocean made the port that is now Lyttelton, and that even finer harbour Akaroa. The weathering down of the old volcanoes over untold centuries and tens of centuries, gave Banks Peninsula the richest of soil, made it the garden land it is to-day. Beauty of landscape, too, was produced by those forces that thrust up all manner of fantastic peaks, tors and crags, castle rocks of the Titans, haunt in Maori legend of those mystic folk the Patupaiarehe. Those dark fortresses of fairyland, those outjutting bastions and walls done in Nature's most erratic architecture of lava rock, those black and grey fingers and thumbs protruding from the richly grassed hills express the stormy past in skylines that are a complete contrast to the long sleek levels of the Canterbury Plains.
Geological history is here plain as printed words, the story of the rocks and peaks that all may read. I can imagine no more interesting journey for an observant lover of unusual landscapes than that combined rail and motor jaunt from Christchurch to Akaroa through this ancient playground of the gods.
It must have seemed an untamed mystery-laden land to the first white settlers who anchored in these bays. All the Peninsula, from the feet, of the lava crags to the cliffs and the waterside, was covered with tall dark forest. The bush was cleared gradually, the Peninsula forests supplied Canterbury with building timber for many a year. Then began the farming process, which made the hill country a rich productive region of cattle-raising, wool-growing and dairying. Today it is a country of moderate-sized farms, and the homes scattered about it are set, often enough, in places of great beauty. It is a land of glens. The little streams that come cascading down from the ranges rising between two and three thousand feet above ocean level are rocky-bedded and shaded by thickets of small bush, and there is infinite variety of scenery in these deep valleys and little gorges. There is one valley on the Lyttelton harbour side of the range that reminded an old settler acquaintance of mine of the famous Valley of the Doones, in Blackmore's great story, strewn about
Your short train run from Christchurch to Little River station, at the foot of the hills, takes you past the shores of two Jakes of quite different characters— Ellesmere, the Waihora of the Maoris, raupo-reed edged, wide and shallow, teeming with wild ducks, pitkeko and black swan, and Lake Forsyth, or Wairewa, a deep, narrow loch which a poetic legend says the long-ago explorer Rakaihaitu hollowed out with his gigantic ko or digging implement, between the steep-to ranges. Then the transition from the plains to the hills is quick and dramatic. It is all ups and downs thence to that prettiest of small towns, Akaroa, set all among its trees and flowers and fruit on the curving shore of the most secure harbour on the Canterbury coast.
Many qualities of charm combine to give Akaroa its peculiar attractiveness for the visitor. When first I went there, over the hills in the old horse-coach days, I thought there was nothing in the settled parts of the Island so serenely beautiful as that look-out from Hilltop, the halfway halting place, over the long easy slants of green pasture-land and dark little copses of wildwood to the long harbour, calm as a quiet lake, glinting among its grassy slopes and its trees far below.
The town itself is in keeping with the blending of pastoral and sylvan loveliness in its approaches. Modernised as it is in the essentials of a town—electric light, drainage, and other necessary utilities of a comfortable urban life—it still partakes more of the country than the town in its character of beauty. It is a town of groves and gardens, of leafy old lanes, of lovers' walks and little parks, of bird-song and water-song, of scented hedgerows, and orchards that dangle their fruit-laden branches within tempting reach of the footpath stroller. There are old-fashioned homes and churches; the townspeople's homes often seem carved out of the tree-groves, native and exotic, rather than to have had those trees planted about them.
There are the memories of the early days to give the human interest of history to the town; the stories of the French and English founders, the French names of streets and roads and hills that recall the days of L'Aube and Le Rhin and Commodore Lavaud and his compatriots, whose hopes of founding a new France here were dashed by the British annexation. The French flavour of the town is pronounced enough in this respect; there are some descendants of those immigrants of 1840 living on the sites of the original homes.
But the sweetest thing about Akaroa is to my mind the charm of its birds, our birds of the Maori forest. Here, at any rate, the native birds have not all been frightened away into the heart of the remnants of the bush. The bellbird and the tui breed and find their food in close company with the homes of man. They have adapted themselves to the happy blending of native and introduced trees. The little trilling riroriro nests in the trees where the English thrush sings, and the makomako, the bellbird, is everywhere in the shady copses and orchard-groves. Lying in bed in the early morning, in the principal hotel of the place, I have heard the tui's notes in the eucalyptus trees. Chuckles and deep gurgles of melody came from its throat as it dropped from bough to bough for the nectar in the gum flowers. When the pears are ripening, too, the tui and the makomako are there before the orchardist, but I must say that I never heard any complaint against the fruit-tasting ways of the Maori birds. Akaroa folk, true nature-lovers, like to hear the tui and its mellifluous little cousin in their gardens, and they do not begrudge them food-payment for their songs and their company.
There is a cemetery at Akaroa that I thought was really the most inviting kind of long-sleeping ground I had ever seen. It ought to be a perfect ending to the round of life to be laid to rest in so idyllic a spot, on that sunny slope of land lying to the glass-smooth sea, with the tui making its immemorial deep rich music in the branches overhead.
Those leafy roads of Akaroa, how they call one to go exploring up the gently
“
As from a mountain's top the rainy mists of the morning Roll away, and afar we behold the landscape before us.”—Longfellow.
(Rly. Publicity photo.)
Akaroa Harbour, with its many pretty bays, viewed from Hilltop.manuka bush; creeper-twisted light timber grew all about it and its roses and sweet peas, and the hillside rose above in a tangled bit of shady bush.
Stony-floored creeks, fed by innumerable springs and streamlets in the hills,
descend many hundreds of feet in three or four miles, and flow through the town gardens and orchards to the harbour. The central stream, the Wai-iti, enters the town in Balguerie Street, and comes dancing down to the tideway in close companionship with that beautiful old road of flowers and foliage. There is a road from the head of Balguerie Street to the summit of the central range at the Stony Bay saddle, more than two thousand feet above, and I know of no pleasanter way of making intimate acquaintance with the characteristic scenery of the Peninsula than by following up this winding sylvan trail to the hilltop,
The townspeople's orchard - buried homes give place to farmhouses as the road twists upwards, and in some of the fields, about this time, the cocksfoot-grass harvesters are busy. Here and there are tall old trees—totara or matai—relics of the great forest that once covered all the Peninsula, and thickets of small bush shade every gully. This is the greatest charm of the landscape here, the generous sprinkling of native vegetation on every range slope and in every valley. “Trees are the most civil society,” wrote Robert Louis Stevenson. Akaroa folk have these children of the forest ever about them, the tonic bush smell in their nostrils, the forest-birds' song often in their ears.
The Peninsula people should be happy, free as they are from the nerve-racking noises and sordid sights of the towns, their lives cast in such pleasant flowery valleys by the running waters.
As we stroll up along the easy road, once crossing the small river at a shallow ford where a tree felled across the watercourse makes a level crossing for carts and sledges, we are tempted every now and again to take it easier still on the grassy and mossy banks under the leafy roof of kotukutuku and ngaio, and now and again a feathery kowhai or a kawakawa, the “pepper-tree.” The wawara-wai, as the Maori musically has it, the babble of the waters, makes soothing harmony under the low-spreading branches. There are the tracks of sledge runners on the narrowing road; that lonely farmhouse around the next bend, a dairy farm twelve hundred feet or more above the harbour level, sends its milk-cans down to the bay by the old-style bush koneke that is the only means of conveyance on some of these lofty roads.
Presently we are on the top of the range, and now we begin to understand something of the plan of this amazingly broken nest of ancient lava volcanoes. Wild crags and tors, castle-like bastions of drab grey rock, tomahawk-like faces of precipice, and tussock-clad slopes are on right and left.
We stand here on the lofty places of the olden Maori fairy tales, I remember, for all this great crescent ridge, with its rugged watch-towers of rhyolite rock, was the chosen home and haunt of the Patupaiarehe, the furtive folk, the tribe of the twilight woods and the cloudy skyline. The olden names are not now borne on any map, but from the central peak of Tarawera (now Mt. Sinclair), yonder in the north-west, the centre of the Peninsula, and from its craggy neighbour Te U-Kura—“The Red Cloud's Rest”— round to Mt. Berard and Brazenose, every peak and every valley had its name. Te Umu-raki, or “The Oven of Heaven”— “Heaven's Furnace,” fit name for a volcano !—is that tall pointed peak at the head of the Otakamatua Valley Puke-Ariki, “The Chief's Hill,” is north of us; nearer is the Piki-o-te-Ake, or “Te Ake's Climb.” which embraces Purple Peak. Bold Brazenose, on the other side, was called Otoki, or “The Place of Axes.” These ancient names and many another came from the old man Tikao, of Rapaki, the last of the learned word-of-mouth folk-lorists of these parts.
Here, if anywhere, is the place for camping and picnicking. We found a place that seemed to have been planned by some kind mountain providence as a halting place for tired and hungry trampers. It was just under the eastern lee of the range-top, with Berard's great black thumb of a peak lifting in its rear. A great knotty kotukutuku tree bent over from its rocks, and the little timbers around were all clacking and hissing with the stridulated song of the sun-loving cicada. The blue smoke went curling up from
That is one side of the great saucer of mingled farmland and woodland that slants to Akaroa harbour. On the other side, the west, there is the perfection of pastoral scenery, with many a bushy valley and many a cascading stream and rich fields for the farmer. The mountain-tops are a succession of volcanic crags and peaks, dark in relief against the fadeless green of the climbing pastures.
There is a farm locally called “Paradise,” on the road which goes out from the town to the lighthouse on the North Head. The homestead lies like a nest in a nook of the hills, many hundreds of feet above the harbour. Above, again, are the cloud-wreathed crags of Otehore, a very tapu place in Maori legend. Far below is the little bay of Onuku, where there is a native hamlet of two or three houses., and the tiniest of steepled churches.
An air of utter stillness pervaded this slumbrous valley the day I saw it. On the beach, where the tide swept in very softly and quietly, was a ruinous old boat.
“Heavened in the hush of purple hills.”—Gerald Massey.
(Rly. Publicity photo.)
Picturesque Akaroa, South Island, New Zealand.
We found the only inhabitants of the kaika in a garden-framed house whose verandah was covered with clusters of twining roses. The remnants of the decayed hapu were subdued even with the burden of life by Lethe's stream, and their talk was quiet and low as befitted those who lived in an enchanted place.
The Stop For Refreshments.
The priceless value of railway refreshment rooms lies not altogether in the fact that they can provide a cup of hot tea and crisp sausage roll to a thousand customers in a split second, but that they give unrivalled opportunity for meeting the very man you wanted to meet, but did not know was on the train. He may be a commercial traveller with a new story, a fourth to fill that vacant seat where the cards are spread, or someone with more than a vague idea of the correct selection for the big event in the meeting down the line. Whoever he is, you count yourself fortunate. The railway journey loses its monotony and the passengers mix -in an atmosphere of sociability and good fellowship, characteristic of New Zealand, and in sharp contrast, very likely, to the standoffishness of train travelling where stops for refreshments are fewer.— From the Christchurch Star.
Spidy
“I am convinced that our problem to-day is bound up in that word ‘Efficiency.’ We are faced with an economic position which demands efficiency in the highest degree,”—Mr. E. T. Spidy.
In these days of keen competition, the importance of efficiency in relation to the improvement of the standard of our railway operations, assumes a special significance. The maintenance of our safety record and our reputation for economy, output, devotion to duty and service to the public, hinges vitally upon the degree of personal efficiency displayed by each and every member of the service.
How well we carry out our duties, compared with how well they might be carried out, is the measure of our individual efficiency.
“What is my personal efficiency?” This is a difficult question to answer, for the reason that there is lacking a definite standard with which to make a comparison of individual efforts and achievements.
If you would take the trouble to get an idea of your efficiency—on the basis of your present ability—there is an easy way to find it out. As an example, just take some regular or defined operation that is part of your duties, and take the time actually required by yourself to do the operation once when putting your best into it. Check it as often as you like from start to finish so that you are satisfied that the time is right.
The next thing to find out is the average time you take day in and day out on this operation, between the starting and finishing time of your shift. With a little care you can arrive at this, and an allowance of 5 per cent, should be deducted from the result for time lost for all reasonable purposes before comparing the time with your best performance time. By dividing your best performance time with your regular actual performance time, and multiplying the answer by 100, you will have an efficiency percentage which is the measure of your performance on the basis of your own ability. It will likely prove very interesting.
Of course, the real way to determine efficiency is to have a detailed time study made of the operation, wherein each detail of the operation is set down against the time each takes. Details can be readily standardised for measurement purposes, and analysed in regard to the factors of the materials themselves. These are important, as variations therein are usually beyond the power of the worker to circumvent. Such analyses reveal excess materials, hard materials, undue intricacies of the work, inefficient tooling, and so on.
When time studies are made, and the various factors causing excess time are eliminated, we often arrive at an efficiency rating which, when effected, reduces the cost of the operation by an amount previously considered impossible. And this is what we must aim at if we are to continue to exist.
There have been objections urged against time study methods which may or may not have been reasonable years ago. Whether the objections are valid depends on the use (reasonable or otherwise) made of such analyses. However, modern business practice calls for such information in order to meet present competitive conditions.
The fact that our competitors have such information of their processes is another reason why we should possess it. We have to get costs down, and the determination of the individual efficiency by time study methods is a concrete method of knowing where we are.
I am convinced that our problem to-day is bound up in that word “Efficiency.” We are faced with an economic position which demands efficiency in the highest degree.
advantages of rail travel in new zealand.
(Rly. Publicity photos.)
Interiors of the “ordinary” (above) and “de Luxe” (below) sleeping cars in use on the “Limited” expresses in the North Island. The needs of passengers are catered for throughout the journey by the sleeping-car attendants in charge of these cars.
Outdoor
Advertising
Advertising
On the New Zealand Railways
“One Picture is Worth a Thousand Words.”—Old Chinese Proverb.
An article of practical advertising information for businessmen upon the advantages of services supplied by outdoor advertising on the New Zealand Railways.
Painted hoarding (double-aided) prepared and erected by the N.Z.R. Outdoor Advertising Branch.
Many businesses are to-day seriously concerned with the problem of a falling volume of trade, and, in many instances, one of the first economies attempted has been to reduce expenditure on advertising. In such circumstances any business that hopes to prosper should first be satisfied that it has the right goods to sell, and then use the best inducement to an increased turnover—judicious advertising.
The farmer knows that he must fertilise his land before he can expect good returns from it, and the successful businessmen are those who do not overlook the necessity of a “fertiliser” for their business in the form of effective advertising.
With the competitive conditions existing to-day, sheer necessity has made it a general practice in the more enterprising businesses to exploit any possibility latent in such by-products as are associated with the particular industry. Now, the Railway Department has a type of “by-product” in the space available on railway property throughout New Zealand for advertising purposes. It cannot afford to waste this 6,000 miles of “frontage.” Hence, in 1915 the Department established an Outdoor Advertising Branch, which, from a modest beginning, has developed into a complete and highly specialised organisation of artists, salesmen, signwriters, and sign erectors, such as is necessary for the successful conduct of advertising campaigns throughout the Dominion.
In many cases, no doubt, businessmen have found some advertising media too expensive for them in these days, and perhaps have neglected consideration of a most economical form of advertising, namely, outdoor signs. In addition to its comparatively low cost, outdoor advertising has a “circulation” value limited only by the population of the locality in which the advertisements are displayed and the volume of traffic passing them. The repetition value of outdoor advertising must also be taken into consideration, for many people pass and re-pass a given point day after day.
If one takes time to recall the successful businesses of recent years, the extensive outdoor advertising undertaken will be one of the first items noticeable. Take, for example, Liptons, Pears, Heinz, Wrigley, Wanamakers and Gamages. The financial success of these businesses is well known, and it cannot be doubted but that their executives are satisfied with the value received from the large
The Railway Department offers a wide field of selection for advertisers, and with the resources it has at its command, can meet any class of outdoor advertising required by any business.
Rail And Roadway Near Wellington.
Example of a painted road and railside sign.
The standard forms offered are as follow:—
By no other single means can an advertiser keep his pictorial message before so many people at so low a cost as by outdoor advertising. As an example of this, take a New Zealand Railways hoarding in one of the main centres, where traffic is greatest, and compare its cost, and the extent and duration of its appeal, with any other form of advertising. One of the large 10ft. by 20ft. hoardings can be artistically designed, painted in any colours desired, and maintained in good order for a whole year at a cost to the advertiser of from £27 to £34, according to the number taken. This hoarding advertisement is “working” every day of the year, and the cost is only from 10/- to 13/- per week. For cheapness this compares very favourably with other forms of advertising.
Recently one of the largest department stores in New Zealand put outdoor advertising to a very severe test. The advertising manager of this firm made use of a small number of 10ft. by 20ft. poster hoardings to advertise a special line of goods which he strictly refrained from advertising in any other way. The entire consignment was sold out in a few weeks. This result greatly surprised the advertiser, who had been prepared to accept as satisfactory such results in three months—the period for which he had rented the hoardings. The advertising costs of moving the stocks in question
These have certain advantages over the paper poster. They are more permanent, they withstand the weather better than the paper variety, and they generally permit of more detail in design. These hoardings are trellised, present a
Placed To Catch The Public Eye.
A typical standard poster advertisement in a good “frontage” position on railway property.
The increased traffic on the roads has made this class of advertising very popular with all advertisers who desire to reach the motoring public. Almost wherever the railways run near the public highways, these signs may be erected. A very large portion of the main highways throughout the Dominion are therefore available to the Department's clients for this class of advertising. Two advertisements, placed back to back, are erected on standards which are set at such an angle as to show towards the road traffic going in either direction. The signs, as a rule, are also visible to railway passengers.
Standard sizes are 4ft. by 9ft. and 6ft. by 12ft. Annual rentals, including designing, painting, erection, and maintenance, range from about £11 each for the smaller size, and from about £17 each for the larger size.
Various sizes of painted advertisements are erected on station platforms, buildings, fences, etc. As to the value of this form of advertising, some indication is given by the fact that there were over 25,000,000 passenger journeys on the New Zealand Railways last year.
The usual sizes for these signs, with specimen rates, are given below:—
Annual rentals, including painting and maintenance.
Poster advertisements may be lithographed or hand-painted, and are supplied either by the advertiser or by the Railway Advertising Studio. While the painted hoarding has decided general advantages
While the 10ft. by 20ft. poster hoarding-is the prevailing standard in most countries, the smaller posters are still used to a considerable extent, especially by British firms. Most of these posters are very suitable for railway station advertising.
Annual rentals given below include posting and maintenance service (advertiser supplies posters):—
Lithographed tin plates of two standard sizes are provided by the Department for erection on verandah posts and other available spaces at railway stations. Annual rentals include printing, display and maintenance.
A Flourishing Town On The East Coast Of The North Island.
Gisborne from Kaiti Hill.
(Photo, A. P. Godber.)
Some advertisers have a supply of enamel plates which they use for display purposes in suitable positions. A fairly large number of such plates are displayed at stations and on fences, buildings, etc.
Annual rentals vary according to the sizes of these plates, ranging from about 10/- to £2 each. As an example: Plates 2ft. × 3ft. would run from about 12/- to 25/-, according to number.
These are lithographed, glazed, and framed, and are placed along the sides and at the ends of railway carriages where they are in constant view of passengers. The average time spent in train journeys in New Zealand is approximately six hours. Upwards of 25,000,000 passengers are carried annually. The value of this class of advertising can be judged accordingly.
Sizes, 7in. × 31in. and 10in. × 18in.
Annual rentals, which include supply, lithographing, erection, and maintenance, range, according to the number taken, from about £ 1 to £2 each.
The foregoing is but a brief outline of the function of outdoor advertising, and of the Department's organisation and charges for services in this field of commercial activity.
A Railway
Excursion
Excursion
Attractions at Peel Forest
Lovely Native Bush
Bush Track at Peel Forest.
The combined rail and motor excursion from Christchurch to Peel Forest (run on 7th February in conjunction with the weekly Christchurch-Timaru excursion) was a thoroughly enjoyable one. The train carried over 350 passengers, about 40 of whom made the journey to Peel Forest.
Leaving Christchurch at 8 a.m. the party detrained at Orari and were conveyed by McKenzie's bus and cars over the twenty-mile run to the Forest, which was reached shortly before noon. In a short time a fire was started, the billies were set to boil, and lunch was on the way. With milk, sugar and tea provided free, the excursionists were only called on to supply their solid provisions. The halting place, on the northern side of the Forest, made a faery setting for the al fresco meal, the presence of a number of other visitors by motor-car adding to the picnic appearance of the little glen.
Shortly afterwards, under the guidance of the railway officers in charge of the excursion (Messrs. P. A. Taylor and W. T. Hanna) the party set off on the trip, by bush track, through the Forest to Eland's Wood—a distance by the main (lower) track of one and a half miles (on the map). It proved slightly longer— probably two miles—but the trip through virgin New Zealand forest was so wonderful that few, if any, of the party would have objected had it been longer.
Heavy bush, comprising numerous giant totara trees—some up to 24ft. in girth and towering to close on 100ft.— and dense undergrowth of ferns of many kinds, konini, lawyer, lance-wood, and so on, all in a state of nature, combined with the lovely dells giving glimpses of infinite beauty, the rise and fall of the track over the hill and gully, gave the majority of the visitors the first and surprising experience of the wonders of the New Zealand bush.
One section of the party, under Mr. Taylor's guidance, made a visit to Deer Spur—a detour off the main track—climbing up 2600 feet through heavy bush. Several of this party were of the older generation, but all spoke enthusiastically of the beauties of the trip.
The party gathered at the Peel Forest settlement (there are a number of houses and baches buried in the depths of the bush there) where they found the bus and cars, and where Mr. McKenzie and his assistants were busily engaged preparing for tea in the community shed built at the end of the track. About 4 p.m. a start was made on the return journey, which led past Commander G. Dennistoun's property, and thence through Geraldine to Orari. This part of the journey—
totara calculated by competent authorities to be 1500 years old. Towering to well over 100ft. this monster shows a graceful sloping bole that reaches some 20ft. before branching, and which, at 4ft. from the ground, measures 361/2 feet. There are several of these great trees in the vicinity, and these, with several specimens of fine black pine, more than repaid those who threaded their way through the bush to inspect them.
There are numerous attractions, including interesting bird and plant life, to hold the attention of visitors to Peel Forest. Before next season it is hoped to have the lawn tennis courts repaired and put in good order, and a swimming pool built in the creek bed.
On the return journey the excursionists reached the city shortly after 8.30 p.m.
Further excursions have been arranged to this delightful spot, which is already the Mecca of Ashburton bach-lovers. Mr. W. T. Hanna, of the Christchurch railway staff, has been detailed to alternate with Mr. Taylor in personally conducting these trips. “A word of praise” (says the
“‘Mid Nature's old felicities.”
Bland's Wood, at the southern end of Peel Forest, where the excursionists partake of refreshments after their walk through the scenic reserve.Times) “is due to the Railway Department for the excellence of the arrangements made. Nothing was too much trouble to the officials concerned, the result being that everyone was thoroughly pleased with their day's outing.”
By Fitter.)
Jas.
Mc
donald
No one could enter the Chief's room without becoming impressed with the neat little placards which hung on the walls.
One that always caught the eye and set one thinking contained the injunction, “Never take hold of a Loose Rope,”
“What does that mean?” the Chief was asked.
“Oh,” said the Chief with a smile; “that is a sea-faring man's motto. If a sailor takes hold of a ‘loose rope’ one of three things is bound to happen. He will suffer a bad fright or a bad fall or a funeral. And so no sea-faring man trusts a ‘loose rope,’ and what is good for the old salt is equally good for the land-lubber.”
“Yes; but what are ‘Loose Ropes?’”
“There are plenty of them, and they all seem to cause trouble,” said the Chief. “History is full of examples of men pulling at ‘Loose Ropes.’ Cain, for instance, trusted to a ‘Loose Rope’ when he allowed his anger to get the better of him so much so that he killed his brother. Ananias and Sapphira, too, used the same kind of rope when they sought to tell lies to gain favour,”
“The meaning is plain,” said the Chief. “Never do wrong in the hope that it will bring good. Wrong hurts at all times.”
.)Ken Alexander
The most important part of life is the importance of appearing important. The “air of importance” is the thin monoxide that makes the social circle so rarefied and difficult to breathe in; yet there are many who will suffer semisuffocation of the thought-waves to float in the upper reaches of mental make-believe. For life is a stage and man utilises all possible “props” to prop up his sense of importance and knock his sense of impotence. His apparel clothes the self-deception, motors propel it, mansions house it, and his face reflects it; which, things being as they argue, rather than as they are, is no more unnatural than it appears. The only alternative is to be one's self, and this of course is as unthinkable as thinking and other old fashioned practices. But there still exist people who prefer to remain put. In fact the world is inhabited by people who like to be what they are, and people who try to be what they'd like to be. The latter often assert that they are proud to be what they are and then move heaven and earth to be something else. In many cases it is all to the good.
Importance proves the importance of advertising on personal grounds by inflation of face values, for the more pertinacious the personal propaganda, the more prolific the profits. A man's face is his fortune, or his misfortune, according to how he advertises it. Thus the wages of skin is not necessarily debt, and the imposing front is often the elevation that elevates its owtter to the Elysium of L.S.D.-sium.
Appearances are deceptive sometimes, but they are receptive at all times, and “keeping up appearances” is more profitable than keeping down expenses. Only hobos, philosophers, and suchlike social solecists can afford to risk the ignominy of being themselves; the hobo holds that serenity of soul or harmony in the harmonium is more fecund than a fallaciously filigreed facade, and the philosopher is a hobo at heart anyway. It must never be overlooked that the humble pie often conceals good meat beneath poor-looking paste. After all, man is after all he can get, and he requires so many aids to bolster up his self-esteem, that often he fails to conceal his artfulness behind his art.
Importance comes much more natural to the so-called lower animals. For you never saw a camel wearing spats, and a camel has been known to make a rich man feel so small that he could crawl through the eye of a needle. And what is more important than a hen who has just expressed her essential egglomania? But you never saw a hen dolled up like a decorated ham. If by the same token, men were obliged to compete in the flesh, as it were, the humble hen would win in pin feathers alone. But man, tonsorially titillated, suitably salved with the sassafras of society, and advertised with taste, is a thing of booty, winsome, handsome—and then some. If, however, a truth-ray were turned on him, there is reason to suspect that his definition of his declension would
“Inflation of face values.”
Man cannot wholly blame himself for himself, for he is the product of his products. His importance is a defence rather than an offence. He realises that he could no longer command the respect of his fellows if they knew that he knew he was no better than they knew that they were.
Competition is the power behind the throw-in. When it is the aim of all men to achieve “that little more, and oh how mush it is!” it is easy to understand this intimidation by air-attack.
Although the K.O. is countenanced in the ring, it is barred in better circles, and the only hope the social-demoscratcher has to eliminate his competitors is to try to look more like what his neighbour would like to look like than his neighbour looks. In other words, it is imperative that he should beat his neighbour to it, with knobs on.
Look Important.
This applies, of course, to man alone. Woman, or the seeker sex, has her own technique. She calls attention to her intentions by gilding the lily and rouging the rose. Although she can change her mind without changing her hat, she never changes her course in following the Star of Eve, which has always dominated the feminine firmament. Usually progressive, yet she pins her faith to the frock of ages, and sends the bills to Adam to add ‘em. She has done this ever since her skirt was a sort of legal brief done in parchment. Even when she has not got “a stitch to wear” she is never of “two minds with but a shingle short.” She
“A camel wearing spats.”
But when it is all sad and dun, life is a matter either of reaping and railing, and no one can reap unless he rails. These other concerns are merely sidings upon which we pause to allow the big trains of thought an open track. He who would reap must rail, for every life, by the nature of its freight, must follow the rails of its Destiny, and if perchance it jumps its rails it ends in railings. This journal is a Railway Magazine, but the railway itself is a magazine of forces which for a century has supplied the barrage behind which man has advanced and routed the
The Break Down Gang
The iron horse! He is indeed the friend of man, and if the race is to the fleetest, the iron horse wins, and will always win, hoofs, hide and hair.
Popular In Tasmania.
The following extract, containing an interesting reference to the N. Z. Railways Magazine, is taken from a letter received recently by a New Zealand Railwayman from a friend in Tasmania:
“I feel I must thank you for the ‘N.Z. Railways Magazine.’ There is no doubt it has developed into a fine journal. The articles and pictures alike, are of a high order. We all take a keen interest in Ken Alexander, his contributions are right out on their own. There is a general rush for the paper when it arrives, to see who will get first turn at reading it, and after we have read it we all want to come to New Zealand.”
“
There is nothing like fun, is there?”—Haliburton.
(Rly. Publicity photos.)
Railway Picnic snaps.—(1) Picnic train at Maidstone Park; (2) final of 100 yards R.O.I, championship (won by Mr. M.G. Valk); (3) 75 yards ladies' race (won by Miss E. Upchurch, Miss Macklin second); the Locomotive team (winners of tug-of-war); (5) competitors in the three-legged race; (6) thrills and soills in the wheelbarrow race; (7) children's race; (8) the presentation of prizes.
Workshops and Mechanical
Engineering Branches, N.Z. Railways
Engineering Branches, N.Z. Railways
The work of these branches embraces the building, maintaining, and running of all the locomotives and rolling stock that serve the transport needs of the operating service. Their activities are directed towards keeping in safe and serviceable condition nearly 650 locomotives, 1,600 carriages and 28,000 goods vans and waggons, and towards ensuring that these vehicles reach each allotted journey's end in safety and with promptitude. The remarkable record for safety and for time-keeping which is the proud boast of the New Zealand Railways is a direct and striking testimonial to the success with which these activities are directed, and to the technical skill and marked devotion to duty which are shown by the large staff of tradesmen, drivers, firemen, etc., on whom the service depends.
The Workshops Branch functions mainly through four large workshops in the four chief cities. These are factories of the most modern and efficient type in which the work of building and repairing the locomotives and rolling stock is served by the use of virtually every class of machinery, and the exercise of virtually every kind of technical skill known to the engineering industry. The product is turned over to the Mechanical Engineering Branch for operation, and the work of that branch ensures that despite wind and weather, hill, tunnel and dizzy viaduct, the lordly “Limited” and the humble goods train alike arrive at their destination on time by day or night, safe and sound.
It will be recognised that these two branches of the service are very closely allied, and that the successful and economical working of either depends largely upon the co-operation and support of the other. Although the new system provides separate control for each branch, and to a certain extent a separate organisation, the two branches are closely intermingled, and largely function through a common general staff in the Head Office. The varying needs of the running and repair services necessitate certain sections whose work is primarily confined to one or other of the branches, but that the efforts of the Workshops and Mechanical Engineering sections is harmoniously and efficiently co-ordinated is the chief task of the two heads—Mr. E. T. Spidy, A.M.A.S., Mech.E. A.M.E.I.C., Superintendent of Workshops, and Mr. P. R. Angus, A.M.I.Mech.E., Locomotive Superintendent, and their chief clerical officer, Mr. N. Ewart, Chief Clerk. The Head Office staff is composed of mechanical engineers, inspectors, and draughtsmen, and of technical officers and clerks, whose mechanical and general ability is devoted to directing and supervising the efforts of over 5,000 men, roughly half of whom are on the pay roll of each branch.
The importance of this allied force can be well illustrated by pointing out that of the total railway operating expenditure of approximately £6,500,000 (the last published figures relating to the year ending 31/3/31) roughly one-half was debited to these combined branches.
The repair and renewal of locomotives and rolling stock in the workshops necessitated the expenditure of roughly 16 per cent. (over £1,000,000) of the whole railway operating charges, while about 33 per cent.(over £2,000,000) was represented by the varied far-flung activities controlled by the Locomotive Superintendent. In addition, new rolling stock to the value of over £388,000, was designed by the Locomotive Superintendent and built in the various workshops.
Headquarters of the Workshops and Mechanical Braches, New Zealand Railways
(Rly. Publicity photos.)
(1) General staff room; (2) Mr P. R. Angus, A.M.I Mech.E. Locomotive Superintendent; (3) Mr. N. P. G. Ewart, Chief Clerk; (4) Mr. E. T. Spidy. A.M. A.S.Mech.E., A.M.E.I.C, Supt of Workshops; (5) Mr. J. Ewart, Acting-Asst. Loco. Inspector; (6) Production Office; (7) Mr. W. Flanagan, Acting-Loco. Inspector.
(Rly. Publicity photos.)
(1) Record room; (2) Typistes; (3) Mr. R. J. Gard, A.M.I.Mech.E., Designing Engineer; (4) Car and wagon section of the Drawing Office; (5) Locomotive section of Drawing Office.
Conducted bySheila G. Marshall .
Until Recently, A Woman's Face Was Her Fortune, And Man Demanded Only That she should be a decorative possession—something he could display with pride as discovered, won, and belonging to him exclusively. It was quite unnecessary for her to be au fait with the books of the moment, to be at all informative about distant parts of the globe, to discuss matters political, scientific or religious. Her “limited” intellect was to be devoted to matters within its grasp; as a girl, to such mysterious rites as deportment, and chiefly to the perfection of her charms to ensnare the desirable husband; later, the making of jams and the maintaining of a comfortable home. Great things in themselves, you may say, and sufficiently absorbing. This state of affairs was admirable for the woman who had distinct physical charms worthy of development and exploitation, who could find in her face ample material for meditation and construction, whose “brain” was fully occupied in the service of Dame Fashion. As a result, she became the belle of innumerable ballrooms. For two “seasons” she reigned supreme, appeared everywhere, always dazzling, remote, but somewhat silent. It was only a question of time, but inevitably, some susceptible male succumbed to her carefully prepared attractions.
A brilliant wedding, and no more. Like a meteor she swam into society's orbit, danced her brief hour, and vanished, as Cinderella.
Why ? Because about her was nothing solid nor permanent. Poor ephemeral little ghost—where are you now? And what has become of the smile that won so many hearts in the ‘nineties?
But we have forgotten that often pitied and often respected puzzle, the plain woman, of whom there are thousands.
To this determined army, bereft of the dimples, deprived of the liquid eyes, the sweeping lashes, and the exquisite retrousseé noses, for which kingdoms have been won and lost—to these women we owe the fact that at the present time brains are recognised as not only valuable but compulsory feminine attributes. Indeed, at a famous Women's Club recently, a debate was organised on “Brains v. Beauty,” and it seemed that what a woman can produce, what she can discuss, what she can impart, were definitely more to be desired than the mere possession of a lovely face.
Of course, occasionally we see some fortunate woman who can flaunt her
To these women, whose brains demanded activity which their faces could not provide, to their courage and achievements we owe it that men are forced to acknowledge the capabilities of a woman's brain. Think of the books they have written; the pictures they have painted; the good they have done among the poor—think of the happiness they have brought as nurses, as teachers, as missionaries! What has beauty to show compared with such a record? Merely here and there a Cleopatra, a Helen of Troy, an unhappy Mary Queen of Scots, a vivacious Lady Hamilton, a tragic Marie Antoinette. Freed from the necessity of appearing divine, a woman can now be human. She can use her brain wherever she wishes; can demand attention by undeniable prowess; can exercise her gifts of intuition, of clear sight and quick thought. No longer will the plain woman be neglected and pitied, for she has it in her power to rule the world.
It has been said that “The light that lies In women's eyes, It lies, and lies, and lies.” Perhaps, but not the light of her brain and her soul.
March and April, cooler days, when we must part reluctantly with the diaphanous draperies of summer. It is still too early to think seriously of our winter clothes, and autumn ensembles are so attractive and neat. You need something smart and tailored for street and office wear; something that will match the chic angle of your “bowler” or “Robin Hood,” with its jaunty feather and air of mediaeval hunting. Also, you have to consider the ever pressing question of a limited purse to cope with the demands of Fashion.
Everywhere can be seen the new light tweeds, soft yet warm, in entrancing woodland greens, leaf-browns and russet golds—suggesting berries and fruit.
Now study the sketch here of an autumn suit, with quaint period sleeves of darker tone, which fit in beneath the attractive little jacket. The skirt is made in four flairs, the two side portions definitely shaped towards the hem, fitting snugly round the hips. Notice that skirts are still long, not too much so, but quite half-way down the calf. Finish your costume with a jabot of crepe de chine and frilled cuffs.
Gardens
So many women are keen gardeners. They are never so happy as when, armed with trowel and fork, gloved and hatted, they can spend two tranquil hours among the weeds and slugs. “There is such a thrill,” a friend said to me the other day, “about watching things grow!”
Certainly there is an immense satisfaction to be had from your garden—if you are tired, worried, or bored. If you feel that your husband is a heartless brute; that your children are noisy, exhausting little animals; that your friends are absorbed in bridge or the “talkies”—just look at your garden and consider what can be done. But beware lest you become a slave. We all know the gardening “crank,” and rather shun him. Let your garden be a pleasure and not an obsession. Imagine your joy when you can gather an armful of flowers of your own growing, when you can appreciate your own colour schemes. An hour a day in the fresh air, working among growing things, will give you rest and happiness.
At Night
—S.G.M.
Tangiwai .)
There is a great revival in store for our native flax resources, if the proposal that New Zealand should replace imported jute wool-packs and sacks with phormium tenax manufactures is vigorously pushed ahead. The stories of the enormous profits made by the great wool-pack companies in India give point to the suggestions made in several quarters that the Dominion's resources in this direction might be further developed.
Not only would the hundreds of thousands of pounds annually sent out of the country be retained at home by the establishment of a wool-pack industry, but new life would be given to a languishing trade, the milling of the leaf, and the stimulating effects would be reflected in other businesses. It would be interesting to see extended the many possibilities of an industry that was our earliest trade. Flax, the Maori-dressed fibre, was shipped from New Zealand to Sydney a hundred and forty years ago. Even the most modern of machinery cannot dress the flax leaf better than the Maori wahine did with her pipi-shell and her stone pounder.
Besides cordage of the best, our flax has been made into excellent sails for ships, and a paper has been manufactured from it. Perhaps we are only at the beginning of a new and wonderful era for the familiar and plentiful and easily grown harakeke, one of those characteristic plants that are emblematic of the real New Zealand. Let us hope that there are millions in it. All that is needed is a reasonably economical process; the market is great and ever-growing.
His Excellency Lord Bledisloe, who exhibits so keen an interest in all phases of New Zealand life, has given his benediction to the cause of the preservation of the ancient Maori arts of carving and weaving and house decoration. His kindly concern for the survival of all that is fine and picturesque in the Maori's characteristic culture is one more proof of the fact that the distinctive customs and art of the native race are appreciated more highly by travellers and other temporary sojourners among us than they are by many New Zealanders themselves. The same remark applies with force to our native vegetation, the splendid forests that no exotic trees can ever adequately replace. It is the intelligent visitor
One of our national treasures in the Waipoua Forest is a kauri tree with a circumference
“Musing on the lovely world and all its beauties one by one.”—Bliss Carman.
Picturesque Oriental Bay, Wellington, New Zealand. (Rly. Publicity photo.)
As to timber content, the short but huge trunk is the equivalent probably of half-a-dozen cottages. Some of its branches are the size of a good large tree. It is fortunate that this greatest relic of our wonderful kauri forests, now reduced to a remnant here and there, has never been readily accessible to the sawmiller. Indeed, it is doubtful whether any sawmill could handle such a tree, even if the bushmen succeeded in felling it. Some of the big kauris felled by the axemen and sawyers in the North were beyond the capacity of the mill saws when they were, with difficulty, brought down the creeks, and lay in the mud for years and years. The timber-man prefers a more moderate size in tress.
We must take care of that old-man kauri, and of his forty-foot companions in the grand Waipoua Forest. Fire is the one great danger, and eternal vigilance is needful. Nothing is so inflammable as a kauri forest. Luckily, Waipoua is high country, and has a heavy rainfall, and is well guarded by the foresters, otherwise the careless gumhunter and the smoker would have left the country a blackened waste long ago.
Bessie McKinlay
The Franz Josef Glacier, South Island, N.Z.
If you are not already aware, you will find on enquiry that New Zealand is officially represented in Australia by Trade and Tourist Commissioner L. J. Schmitt. But in a recent chat with his daughter, who is at present on holiday in New Zealand, I gathered the impression that we are also ably represented in Sydney by a whole family of unofficial Commissioners. Take, for example, Geoff, Mr. Schmitt's younger son, a pupil at Waverley College, Sydney. Though a small fellow of ten, he is a powerful advocate among his contemporaries of the attractions of New Zealand scenery. Well-armed with photographs and the other paraphernalia of a publicity go-getter, he gets his teacher's permission periodically to give lectures to his classmates, and while they sit enthralled he tells them stories of the Maoris, of alpining, of hot springs, and of shark-fishing in the waters of the Winterless North. I believe that he is also quite capable of booking trips for the Christmas vacation. His work cannot be checked off in statistics but it helps to sell New Zealand! There is also Pat, aged twelve, and Bernard, four years older, who very loyally do their share of the great work.
Among women I have met in Australasia, I know of few with a more delightful personality than Mrs. Schmitt, whom I had the privilege of knowing intimately before she left New Zealand. Devoted to her family, strong-minded, and very capable, she tops these qualities with an effervescent flow of spirits and a sense of humour that endear her to everyone she meets. It is not surprising, therefore, that she has made herself very popular in Sydney society, and that the functions at which she acts as hostess with Mr. Schmitt are always most successful. She takes an absorbing interest in everyone with whom she chats, and more especially so if they are New Zealanders. She makes everyone share her infectious gaiety. Like so many other public women of to-day, too, the keynote of her character is simplicity and kindliness, as many a stray New Zealander, temporarily hard-up, could testify. Together with Lady Julius and Lady Braddon, Mrs. Schmitt is a patroness of the New Zealand Women's Association. Membership of this Association is confined to people born in New Zealand. The Association is quite a strong body, and does excellent work in making New Zealand known in Sydney social circles. It also entertains distinguished New Zealand visitors, holds regular luncheons, and a special annual luncheon on Dominion Day.
Mr. Schmitt brings to our representation in Sydney not only a wide knowledge and experience of modern business, but qualities of an exceptional kind, for he has a magnetic personality and an unusually clear and acute
Proceeding Over The Auckland-Westfield Deviation.
A special train near Auckland, North Island, N.Z. (Photo. W. W. Stewart)
While Miss Schmitt has been having a delightful time staying with old friends in various parts of the North Island, she never forgets her responsibilities as the daughter of the Trade and Tourist Commissioner. One maxim to which she is devoted is: “Buy New Zealand-made Goods,” and she puts that into practice with a thorough-going loyalty that New Zealanders as a whole would do well to emulate. It is a habit that she also has in Sydney, and one that she communicates to her friends there. At home, Miss Schmitt is the right-hand support of her mother, whom she assists in the constant round of entertaining which is an essential and important part of the Commissioner's work. She has her mother's infectious spirits, and a most vivacious and winning personality. She does regret New Zealand. “Would you like to be back here?” I asked her. “Oh, yes,” was her enthusiastic reply; “Sydney is a wonderful city, and everyone is so delightful, but I do not like the sweltering summer heat after equable New Zealand. Luckily we live not far from the water, and I spend all my spare time in the summer, surf-bathing. And Sydney surf-bathing is 'swish.’”
Certainly New Zealand is fortunate in being whole-heartedly represented by such a delightful family.
Wit and Humour
News from the Zoos.
Words having the same sound but differing in meaning cause children much perplexity. The earliest names they learn are those of animals (including of course the human kind), and the language of adults is best understood when it circles round dogs, pigs, and such like simple subjects. The little girl who called her Teddy “Gladly” had been happy to find a hymn sung frequently about “Gladly My Cross I'd Bear,” and she had re-arranged the eyes of her pet dolly bear so that they would be cross-eyed too. It was an altogether different child who felt certain that all women loved young bears after hearing the hymn:
* * *
Foreman (on excavation job): “Do you think you are fit for really hard labour?”
Applicant: “Well, some of the best judges in the country have thought so.”
* * *
The hall porter in an Aberdeen hotel was relating his experiences of the latest arrival to the boots. “Yes,” he said, “I carried his bag up three flights of stairs, and at the top he slipped something into my hand and said: ‘That's for a cup of tea.’”
“And what was it?” asked the boots. “A! pesny?
“No,” replied the hll potter, “a lump of sugar.”
Grocer: “You want a pound of ochre? Is it red ochre for painting bricks?”
Small boy: “No, it's tappy ochre wot maw makes puddin' with.”
* * *
He was very hungry, so he pushed open the swing doors of the restaurant and entered. It was a rough, ill-smelling place, but he thought he would try a cup of coffee and something to eat.
The waitress brought coffee in a thick, heavy cup.
“Where's the saucer?” inquired our fastidious friend.
“We don't give no saucers here,” replied the girl. “If we did, some ill-bred ignoramus would come blowing in, and drink out of his saucer, and we'd lose a lot of our swellest customers.”
The Power Of Advertising.
“It's no use Harold, motoring has no further attraction for me—in future I'll do all my travelling by rail