Complaints about public transport addressed

Strong complaints were made by Cr Macdonald at the meeting of the St. Kilda Council last night regarding the inadequacy of the present tram service to St Kilda, and of the resultant overcrowding and inconvenience to passengers.

At crush times, he said, the cars were crowded from the Post Office to Cargill's Corner, and he thought a remedy could be effected by running a through car to St Kilda every 15 minutes, charging 2d over any distance.

The Mayor and Cr Harris also spoke on the matter, the former stating that the City Council would commence the duplication of the line to the terminus in a short time, and then they would be better off.

The tramways manager had assured him that he was doing the best he could, and that when the duplication was completed there would probably be a 10-minute service throughout the day.

He did not feel inclined to approach the City Council at the present juncture.

It was ultimately decided, on the motion of Cr Macdonald, that a deputation, consisting of the Mayor, and Crs Cameron, Harris, and the mover wait on the Tramways Committee of the City Council in regard to the matter.

• The decline in the value of greyhounds, following an alleged abandonment of the sport of coursing, was much discussed at the Magistrate's Court at Christchurch on Monday.

A number of witnesses admitted that the profits of the sport had been in the betting, the races for the most part being sweepstakes.

Mr Bishop, S.M., commented severely more than once, saying that, ordinarily, he was assured that sports were taken up for their own sakes; it appeared that coursing was not a sport at all.

Several witnesses who were more or less intimately connected with coursing laid stress on the part the bookmakers had played.

In effect, it was alleged that the abolition of the bookmaker had meant the abandonment of coursing.

It was no longer possible to bet easily, though one man remarked naively, "If you know your way about, you can still 'get a bit on' sometimes.

• A conference has been arranged between the hairdressers' assistants and the master barbers of Christchurch, touching the demands of the former for certain increases in pay and alteration in hours.

A Press reporter was told by one of the assistants that at the moment there was a great dearth of capable men throughout the Dominion; none were available for employment in the four chief centres.

The reason given was that young New Zealanders would not take up the work, with its long hours, scarcely healthy conditions, poor pay, and lack of prospects.

In other trades, at 45, a man might expect to reap some benefit from his experience, but at 45 a barber could look forward to only unemployment, as no one would employ an old hairdresser.

So far, the ranks of the assistants had been recruited from England, but that supply might cease, as the men who had come out from England were convinced that they were better off at Home on 28s per week with tips, than they were on 50s out here, where tipping is unknown.

A master hairdresser, who was asked about the matter, said that there certainly was a dearth of expert assistants. He had been trying for three months to find a suitable man to fill a vacancy in his own business.

The end of it all, he thought, would be the raising of the price of a hair-cut to one shilling, as the extra expense would have to be passed on to the public.

- ODT, 21.2.1912.