Even across the road from the museum, interesting stuff can be seen.
A piece of copper sheathing.
A piece of the ship's inner railing, a baluster made into a lamp.
A Slice of Huapai history is licked.
The old Pink Spot Dairy building, famous for its icecreams, milkshakes and lollies, will be demolished soon to make way for a carpark.
But its name lives on in a new and larger building on the same Main Rd site where the Bhagalia family will continue to run it after 16 years.
Built just after World War Two, different nor-west families have operated it since its humble beginnings as the first post office and one of the first stores in Huapai.
Graham Andrew recalls growing up working in the store with his three siblings after his mother Jean and her husband Frank Rumble bought it from original owner Mrs Savage.
They ran it from 1950 to 1965.
"It’s been an icon in the district for quite a while," says Mr Andrew, who lived in Huapai for 50 years and has strong ties to community groups such as the Kumeu Agricultural and Horticultural Society and Huapai-Kumeu Lions.
He says their family developed it into a grocery and milk bar.
"In those days we had great milkshakes with the milk straight from the cow since the farm was across the road."
Mr Andrew says "a government man" used to watch the store to ensure they upheld the law prohibiting trade on Saturdays and Sundays.
"It was quite funny."
The family built a house behind the store but there was no room for a garage so Graham and his brother built a shed as a "school project".
Red tape didn’t allow the front of the store to be refurbished because it was too close to the road.
Getting to know locals was easy with people catching up at the store and romances blossoming.
Graham met his wife Sharon because her father owned the nearby Huapai Hotel.
So did Kumeu resident Dale Wallace (nee Haven) who as a teenager worked in the dairy where her husband Allan asked her out for the first time 43 years ago.
Icecream and lollies were her favourite part of the job.
"It was like a little rural township. We knew everybody," says Mrs Wallace, whose family came from Helensville and who is instrumental in running the annual Rotary Kumeu Christmas parade.
The store was named The Pink Spot by former bubbly owner Colleen Matuschka, now Colleen McKay, who painted the place in that colour.
"There was a red phonebox in front that clashed with my dairy so I painted it and decorated it with pink spotted curtains, a fluffy seat and pink roses. All the tourists would use it."
That earned her a stand against Telecom and a stint on radio about the phonebox."It was neat fun. I also started a cafe in there with pink curtains and tablecloths and white seats. There was a large pink spot on the building with our name on it," says Mrs McKay.
The Bhagalias look forward to seeing their regular customers in the new and improved store.
Brothers Kirit and Dilip Bhagalia and Kirit’s wife Sangita and their three children Dharti, Nikisha and Nikesh say they’ve always felt safe and enjoyed the friendly, helpful attitude of customers since owning the business from 1982.
"We’ve met a lot of older people who said they used to come when they were children to get icecreams, ice blocks and lollies. They say they used to live in the area or work in the shop," says Kirit.
“Mr T. Gaunt, the company's expert, has given some very large displays in Australia. The first programme will consist of the bombardment of the Taku Forts in China by six battleships built entirely of fireworks. The ships will manoeuvre and fire broadside, finally silencing and blowing up the forts. In addition, there will be a general display, of fireworks, consisting of mechanical figures, such as performing monkeys on horizontal bars, flying pigeons, dovecotes, and cyclists riding, clowns on see-saw, etc. Then there are revolving wheels, small wheels, large wheels, and wheels within wheels, revolving suns, Oriental trees, Chinese pagodas, Niagara Falls of liquid fires, and innumerable designs, all in fireworks. The grounds will be brilliantly illuminated with Chinese lanterns and fairy lights, and a first-class promenade concert will be given during the evening by the First Battalion Infantry Band. The Cricket Ground is easily accessible from all parts of the city and suburbs, and owing to the natural formation, the displays cannot be seen without going inside. This will stop that class of people who dearly love a show for nothing.”
“There was a dreadful rush to get on the Domain Cricket Ground on the night of the fireworks. Some people waited for nearly an hour before they could get tickets, and hundreds got so tired that they went in without paying, and through a gate, too. There were some police present, but their eyes were on the fences and not on the gates, as one stout lady found to her sorrow. Despairing of entering any other way, the dame, in company with another, boldly essayed to escalade the hedge. Her companion got through all right, but the obese dowager found herself suddenly seized by the foot. With a yell she turned round, and saw a most ungallant bobby tugging at her new prunella Number Ten. She raised her umbrella to strike, when she suddenly capsized and fell inside the fence. The sudden jerk caused her boot to slip, and the constable collapsed on the other side. The contesting parties did not meet again, and the lady saw the fireworks standing on one foot. What the policeman did with the boot is not recorded.
"Those who want to wind up the King's Birthday appropriately, and at the same time secure an hour or two of pure enjoyment, will do well to visit the Domain Cricket Ground on Monday, evening. The Crystal Palace Fireworks Company, whose local representative is Mr. W. H. Hazard, have arranged to carry out in its entirety the grand programme that was somewhat wantonly interfered with on its first presentation, last week. Every precaution has been taken to suppress the exuberant larrikin, and the public may feel confident that their comfort will be conserved. The display includes a series of fairy illuminations, rockets, bombs, etc., in bewildering variety, and; will wind up with a realistic representation of the historic bombardment of the Taku Forts by the British and French some forty years ago. This is the battle in which the French admiral is alleged by a veracious bluejacket to have committed suicide by shooting himself, while the British admiral exhibited what appeared to be cowardice, but that is another story. There will be a musical concert with appropriate items and the Battalion Band will attend and play a number of selections.”
“The Harbour Board appears to have pursued a very blundersome policy in the matter of powder storage. After spending pretty nearly £1500 on a hulk, and paying a man something like £2 a week to look after her, month after month has gone by and not en ounce of powder has been stored in her yet. And, by all accounts, there is no likelihood that any will be stored there. These extravagant blunders are too frequent.”
“The powder hulk has proved its title to be included amongst the list of the Harbour Board's white elephants. During the year, it has involved a loss of just about £80 on working expenses, to say nothing whatever of interest, depreciation, insurance, and other charges. The cost of the hulk was£ls6o, so that at 5 per cent, this represents £78 for interest, and, at 10 per cent.,--£156 for depreciation. Seeing that the gross earnings of the hulk are £12 17s 4d per month, it is difficult to see how it is going to pay expenses, apart altogether from the other charges.”
“The sensation of the week has been the blowing up of the powder hulk — or, rather, not so much the blowing up as the "Herald's" account of it. The "Star " lamentably failed to rise to the occasion, and Grandma evidently registered a solemn vow to get ahead of her reptile contemporary, or bust. She got ahead per medium of three and a-half columns of penny dreadful reading, surmounted by thrilling and awe-inspiring double-column headlines. Undoubtedly, the most wonderful part of the affair was the narrative of Finch, the caretaker of the hulk. Anybody who will deliberately remain for hours in a burning powder hulk is either a hero or something else. However, 'tis a certainty that nobody can contradict Finch's yarn, even if he desired to do so.
"Grandma's thrilling yarn was rich in unconscious humour, and the further it went the richer it became, leading people to the supposition that the frenzied scribe who wrote it drew his information from peculiar sources. The gem of the whole collection is undoubtedly this thriller: "A workman engaged on the erection of a house at St. Helier's Bay had his hat blown off, and another had to make a second attempt to light his pipe."
"This, when you come to think of it, is simply sublime. Evidently, in Grandma's opinion, it is quite an uncommon occurrence for a man, even when working on a roof on a windy day, to have his hat blown off, or to make two attempts to light his pipe. It's lucky we don't have a powder hulk explosion every day. If we did, the venerable female would go mad — or madder than she is already. “
"The buried remains of 85 bodies have been exhumed by construction of the second runway at Auckland Airport - angering local Maori whose ancestors were unearthed.The airport company first discovered koiwi - skeletal pre-European remains believed to be more than 600 years old - in March last year.
An archaeological report of the findings has been sent to the Historic Places Trust but members of the Makaurau Marae, in Mangere, say the desecration of waahi tapu must stop.
Marae spokesman Saul Roberts said that Auckland International Airport Ltd was shown burial sites in the proposed second runway "before a spade was put in the ground".
The airport company was granted authority by the Historic Places Trust to go ahead with the $32 million project, so any remains accidentally dug up could be removed."
The marae authorities expected one or two exhumations, but 85 sets of remains have been taken, and they say there could be many more.
According to this site:
"Makaurau Marae is one of many Marae in Mangere that are affiliated with the Tainui area. The people of Makaurau Marae are affiliated to the sub-tribes of Te Waiohua and Te Akitai, and have direct links to Te Ahiwaru, which is a descendant of the Chiefs of the Tainui Region."Te Waiohua once held the mana as tangata whenua over the Tamaki Makaurau area, the isthmus of Auckland, with its last paramount chief Kiwi Tamaki defeated by Ngati Whatua as recently as the late 18th century. I was aware that the Mangere area was where the Waiouhua people fled during the war which ended their hold of the isthmus.
The Auckland International Airport was cited as an example of the way recent major developments for Auckland have been proposed on or near to the last remaining pieces of Maori land. After hearing submissions on behalf of the Auckland Regional Authority and the Civil Aviation Division of the Ministry of Transport, we are satisfied that the Mangere site was not chosen, as some thought, because some of the affected lands were Maori land and therefore easy to acquire. It appears that a number of other factors influenced the site decision made by Cabinet in 1955. By the same token there was no indication that Maori land was involved. No consideration was given to the fact that Maoris ought to be protected in the ownership of their land. We were referred to only one factor seen as an obstacle, namely "that the area was high quality agricultural land (dairying)".
"Such was Auckland when it had been struggling into a position of importance for a dozen years, when it was a portion of a “borough” of 40,000 acres, when it had caught a foretaste of the gold fever, and when it was preparing to take on “Parliamentary Honours.” Ponsonby was a blank of waste land, Upper Queen Street, in embryo, and Shortland Crescent and Wakefield Street the only outlets to the east and south, and these two very rough. Wakefield Street, the better of the two, was blessed with a grade of one in eight or nine in those days; but all the omnibuses for Onehunga had to take it. Verily, Auckland's early road engineers were horse-killers of the first magnitude. No engineering difficulty whatever was there to hinder Wakefield Street being started at the foot of Victoria Street East, and finished at the top of Alexandra Street, at a level which would have served for all time, and better than any that has been since found. Wakefield Street, which Mr. Swainson mentions so favourably, is of less value and importance to-day than it was then. Indeed, the street might now be made from Victoria Street without cutting through property of much value, while the allotments abutting on a street with so sensible a grade would soon be very valuable. Whether Auckland ever will get a reasonably easy grade out of the hole in which the business part lies is now doubtful; but it had excellent chances in those days.”So, yes – in the main, Wakefield Street’s gradient told against it becoming a major centre in early Auckland. But, people still lived, worked and died here. It has a long and eventful history.
“The newly-erected Protestant Hall in Wakefieldstreet was opened last evening by a public soiree and musical entertainment, under very auspicious circumstances. The hall was crowded to overflowing throughout the evening, and numbers were unable to gain admission. The building had been erected under the management of a committee of the Protestant Association, and is intended as a place of meeting for the members of the association, as well as religious purposes. The building is plain, but very suitable for a somewhat numerous assemblage. It is 40 feet long by 24 feet in width, and possesses vestries at the back. There is also a small gallery over the entrance suitable for choir or orchestra, which was occupied last evening by a strong band of instrumentalists. The building has been erected by private subscriptions, and it is confidently hoped will be free from debt before the year closes. It has been put up at a cost of £170, by Messrs. Coote and Co., £120 of which has already been subscribed, and the balance paid by promissory note falling due on the 21st December. The interior was gaily decorated with flags, banners, devices, and flowers, and showed that great pains had been taken by the committee to ensure success on the opening night.”
“UNLICENSED DANCING-PLACES.
To the Editor of the Daily Southern Cross. Sir,— Immorality is undoubtedly very rife at present in Auckland. It therefore behoves every respectable person to inquire into the cause, and use his influence to root out the evil, as far as lies in his power. Your able and well-directed efforts, both in exposing abuses and pointing out their remedies, and also in opening your correspondence columns so freely to any remarks made with a view to improvement, deserve the thanks of the community. I need, therefore, offer no apology for troubling you with the following observations. After some little inquiry and consideration, I have come to the conclusion that dancing-places are a very fruitful source of evil in Auckland ; in fact, I might call them the hotbeds of prostitution, for many a young person is led to her ruin through attending such places …
A dancing place is also kept in the Protestant Hall, Wakefield-street, the management of which I am not so well acquainted with, but believe it is carried on in the same manner as above.”
“After being arranged by the officers and teachers the whole marched up Wakefield-street, preceded by the band of the Auckland Band of Hope, down Symonds-street, and over to the Domain, the band discoursing lively airs all the way. The children — dressed in their best clothes, and carrying banners with appropriate devices— were a very pretty spectacle.”
“It will be seen by our advertising columns that another public trial of the Thomson's road steamer lately imported here is to take place to-day at one o'clock. The course will be from the foundry of Messrs. Fraser and Tinne, up Alten Road and down Shortland-street, along Queen-street, up Wakefield-street and along Symonds-street, and down Alten Road to the point of departure. We understand it will convey a trolly loaded with pig iron, so that there will be no difficulty in ascertaining the exact weight it is drawing. The trolly will be loaded with ten tons of pig iron. Carters are cautioned to keep out of the way with their horses to prevent the possibility of accident."
"A horse belonging to Mr. James Bryan, a fuel merchant, was drowned yesterday afternoon in the following manner :— There is a vacant allotment of ground in Wakefield-street upon which is an old long-disused well. The boards which covered the well over, being rotten from age and long exposure to the elements, broke in, upon the horse treading on them, when the animal fell in and before aid could be brought to draw it out was drowned."
“THE CHINESE DEN IN WAKEFIELDSTREET.
The Chinese den in Wakefield-street, on which Detective Hughes and his myrmidons made a raid on Sunday evening last, has been in existence, according to the detective, for more than 12 months; and, when the character of the place is borne in mind, it is somewhat surprising that the police did not pay the establishment a visit long ago. It is whispered that Ah Gong Kee's abode has not been exclusively frequented by Chinamen, but that several well-known Auckland citizens have been in the habit of dropping in of an evening at the house in Wakefield-street to indulge in the body-and-mind destroying practice of opium smoking, a habit which, once acquired, is said to be more difficult to break off than that of dram drinking. “
“Last week a Chinaman named Ah Fook, a storekeeper in Wakefield Street, Auckland, reported to the police that about two a.m. six men entered his shop and asked to be shown over the premises. They said they were policemen, and one was pointed out to him as a sergeant and one a detective. They remained about a quarter of an hour, and then left. After their departure Ah Fook discovered that four opium pipes and 4s in silver, the latter of which were in the till, were missing. Subsequently, Detectives Quirke and McMahon arrested a man named Joseph McDuff Otway on suspicion of being concerned in. the theft. The accused was brought up at the Police Court, and remanded. Sergt. Gamble intimated there were several others concerned in the case, whom it was intended to apprehend.”
“On Monday morning Dr King, the Medical Officer of Health for the city, and Mr Goldie, Chief Inspector of Nuisances, accompanied by a N.Z. Herald representative who was passing at the time, paid a surprise visit to the Chinese colony in Wakefield street, for the purpose of making an inspection of the sanitary arrangements of the houses inhabited by some — such as, for instance, those who kept shops and were in direct trading relations with Europeans, and those living with their wives and families were found in as good condition as are premises occupied by the average colonial. Some, however, were discovered to be in a shockingly bad condition from a sanitary point of view. The back yards were covered with rubbish of all kinds and rotting garbage, while under one house was a pool of black slime that must have been accumulating for a long time. So bad was the state of things that even in the open air the visitors were compelled to saturate their moustaches with disinfectants in order to allow of their proceeding further. Some of the interiors of the houses were still less inviting. Beds and pallets appeared to be everywhere. In what had been a one-storied structure and in an attic above the ceiling and under the shingles were several beds, while the living rooms presented a picture of undreamt of squalor and filth. Everywhere in this class of house was an overpowering and nauseating smell of opium fumes so strong that Inspector Goldie had to have all the doors opened to let in fresh air before the rooms could be inspected, and then all the party suffered from nausea and severe headache for the rest of the day. Judging from what could be seen opium-smoking and gambling seemed to be the chief, if not almost the only occupations. Though it was not then noon, the appliances for "fan-tan," etc., appeared all ready for use at any moment, while at least a dozen of the little lamps used for lighting the opium were burning on the pallets on which the smokers recline, ready with the pipes, for those who wanted to indulge in the habit. The parties were able to witness the operations of lighting the pipes and the method of smoking, and the ultimate result — the result being the figure of a man, huddled under a lot of old clothes, insensible to the world. One Chinaman, who appeared to be in charge of one of the houses, took the visit very coolly, his only grievance being that the duty on the opiate was too high. The opium smoking, however, was not part of the mission of the health officers, the object of the visit being to inspect the sanitary condition of the premises. The result was that it was determined to at once take steps to condemn at least one of the dwellings as unfit for habitation, and proceed to force the occupants to put the places into something like a sanitary condition. Dr. King said of the houses of the class described, that they were in the worst condition of any he had ever seen.”
“The recent disclosures in Wakefield-street had their sequel in the S.M. Court on Tuesday last, when three Chinamen were summoned for keeping dirty premises. The Health Officer and Corporation officials testified to the unsatisfactory condition of the yards, and by way of excuse John pleaded their dirty state was due to the recent heavy rains. Magistrate Northcroft, however, was not to be taken in so easily, and in passing judgment said he was asked to believe that Dr. King and Inspector Goldie were perjuring themselves. The defendants were sharply spoken to and impressed with the necessity of keeping their yards clean in accordance with European ideas of the fitness of things. Now that a conviction has been recorded, the authorities should not relapse into their former apathy, but see that periodical visits of inspection are paid to these wretched hovels, and make the 'heathen Chinee' live something like a decent life.”
“The Chinese laundrymen are doing a big trade in Auckland, thanks to the women and to the youthful fops who like their shirts made spotlessly white for something less than nothing. There is one laundry in Grey-street where unpatriotic idiots of both sexes send their clothes to be ironed by the evil smelling Chow, while poor and hard working white women are thus deprived of the work which should be theirs, merely for the sake of saving about threepence on a dozen articles Those who patronise the Chinaman in preference to their own countrymen and women deserve to be sentenced to pass a night in one of the Chinese dens in Wakefield-street. They wouldn't send any more clothes to a Chinese laundry.”
"IMMORALITY IN AUCKLAND
YOUNG GIRLS RESCUED FROM CHINESE DENS.
At the instance of the authorities of the Door of Hope, a visit was paid to certain Chinese tenements in a lane off Wakefield-street by Mr. George Goldie (Sanitary Inspector for the City Council), and Dr. King (Health Officer for the city), accompanied by Sister Francis, of the Door of Hope. Two young girls about 19 were found in one of the houses, but one managed to get away from the rescue party. The other said she had been brought to the house the previous evening while under the influence of drink, and did not know where she was till morning. She said her mother lived in Newton, but she preferred going to the Door of Hope. It is intended to get the other girl into the Home also, if possible. Several girls, it is said, frequent tumbledown and extremely filthy houses occupied by Chinamen in the vicinity of Wakefield-street.”
“On Sunday night the Auckland police authorities made a raid on a Chinese gambling house in Wakefield Street, and arrested the occupier (Chee Fong) and 25 other Chinamen. It appears (says the Herald) that complaints have been made by the European neighbors of the proceedings going on till three and four o'clock in the morning, and also by Chinamen who alleged that they had lost money there. A warrant was accordingly taken out under the Gaming and Lotteries Act, and it was decided to execute it last night, as the Chinamen come in from their vegetable gardens in the suburbs to have a little amusement after their own fashion. The expedition was well managed, and there was no leakage. Orders were given for a number of police to fall in at the Barracks, after the night relief had come in, and they only received their instructions and a knowledge of their destination when ready to march. On reaching Wakefield Street the force marched across the street to Chee Fong's well-known establishment. Sergeant Lyons and a detachment went to the rear of the premises to cut off the escape of the Chinese in that direction, while Sergt. Gamble led the way in through the front entrance (which was found open) followed by Chief Detective Grace and his men, the police forming the support. The Chinese were completely surprised, and a stampede ensued. Some made for the back exit, only to fall into the hands of Sergt. Lyons and his men, while others got under tables, beds, and down cellars. Only one man made any resistance, but there is little doubt they would have resisted but for the police being nearly man for man. Chief-Detective Grace, about half an hour after the force got in, was searching in a likely spot, when he came across a Chinkie, his pigtail protruding, who had been lying quietly coiled up all the time under a bed, and hauled him out. The Chinaman strongly objected to the bracelets being put on, but on understanding the situation more fully he subsided. Another got down a cellar, where he was pursued by Constable Charles Brien, who got his uniform partly damaged in the scrimmage. The Chinese were in two rooms, and apparently at two tables, playing fan-tan. A quantity of Chinese cash, counters, tokens, dice, money, etc., were seized. In a short time all the Chinese were handcuffed in pairs, and were marched, under escort, along Abercrombie Street and Lorne Street to the lock-up. The party were followed by a large crowd. The scene at the lock-up baffles description. The guard-room and corridor were filled with police and handcuffed Chinamen. The fun did not fairly begin till Constable Clark (lock-up keeper) came to fill up the charge-sheet with the names of the prisoners. The services of Mr Thomas Ah Quoi were invoked as interpreter, and but for his aid the police would have been wrestling with the names of the accused till now. The prisoners on being searched had in all nearly £4O upon them, in gold, notes, and silver."
“At the Police Court to-day the adjourned cases against 25 Chinamen for either being concerned or found in a house in Wakefield Street kept and used as a common gaminghouse were called on. The Crown Prosecutor said that owing to the holidays he had been unable to prepare the cases, and he asked, therefore, that a remand be granted until Monday, 1st February; There were seven Chinamen among defendants who lived at a distance, and it would be hard to ask them to wait until the trial, and he, therefore, asked that the names of these seven be eliminated from the charge-sheet and discharged. Mr. Northcroft then discharged the following :— Sara Woh, Wellington ; Ah Chong, storekeeper, Taranaki; Charley Wing, steward, Wairoa ; Ah Law, cook, Gisborne ; Ching Sup,. gardener, Wanganui; M. Lee, shopman, Wellington ; Kee Jang, shop assistant, Dunedin. The other defendants were remanded until 1st February, the bail being enlarged. Mr. Cotter appeared on behalf of the defendants.
“Last night the police raided a Chinese gambling den in Wakefield street. In three small rooms they found 60 Chinamen playing dominoes, fan tan and smoking opium, and arrested 22 fan tan players, who were handcuffed in pain and taken to the Police Court. A number of other Chinamen came down to bail out ten of the accused, bat they refused to go unless all were bailed. Two intended leaving for China tonight with a large sum of money. The prisoners are chiefly suburban gardeners who knock down their cheques and hare to return to work again in a week or two."
"Last evening a party of deteotives and constables made a raid upon a Chinese establishment in Wakefield Street, under observation by the police authorities for some months past. There they found play in full swing and captured a fan-tan paraphernalia. The Chinese tried to escape in every direction, and one or two fought desperately to get away. Twelve men were arrested and taken to the police station and subsequently bailed out."
“The police raided a Chinese gambling den in Wakefield street last night. A game of fan-tan was in full swing. The Chinamen made a rush for the doors, but were met at every exit by the police. The banker and his clerk were discovered under the gaming table. Thirty-one arrests were made. The Chinamen were handcuffed in pairs, and marched to the lookup, Money was discovered on the men ranging from £5 to £50. At the Police Court, the keeper of the Chinese gambling house was fined £25, and his two assistants £3 each; the others £2 and £1 each. "
“Verily, we are a hypocritical people. Last Monday's paper contained the news that speculation was brisk at the Takapuna Races, and that during Saturday the sum of £10,338 was passed through the totalisators, making the total of £29,335 for the three days, as against £23,914 for the corresponding meeting last year. Mark the nice distinction that is made between totalisator speculation and gambling. Totalisator speculation is within the law —the law shares the profits -- it is not gambling, but speculation. On the other hand, in the same issue of the newspaper, is a sensational account of a raid made by a detachment of police upon the residence of a Chinaman in Wakefield Street and the capture of upwards of thirty Chows for the heinous offence of playing their national game of fan tan for small stakes.
“Of course, the people who planked the £30,000 on the totalisator at Takapuna were not gambling. Neither were the horde of bookmakers who had paid the license fees and who carried on their business of betting under the approving eye of the law. Therefore, it would have been an outrage of the public conscience to have raided and arrested them, and marched them to prison manacled to each other. But with these Chinamen it was different. Public gambling on horse races is right and proper, and is entitled to the protection of our highly virtuous Government, but private gambling in the seclusion of a dwelling-house at such an infamous game as fan tan, is monstrous, and must be suppressed.
“It may be said for the Chinamen that the occasion was their New Year festival, that their laws and religion do not esteem playing fan-tan for stakes a sin, and that they were not corrupting the morals of young and innocent persons. But that is beside the question. Gambling is a crime in the eyes of the country, and a scapegoat being necessary to illustrate our loathing of gambling, let us raid the Chinamen, and fine and imprison them. It is an offering that is sure to satisfy the public conscience. But, at the same time, is it not a satire upon our hypocritical self-righteousness that this thing was done just when the officers of the Takapuna Jockey Club were congratulating themselves on record business on their totalisators ?
“True, these Chinamen are foreigners. But if we are so anxious to suppress gambling, why should there be one law for the Chinaman and another for the European. If the police had continued their highly-moral crusade on Sunday night, and had raided the several clubs in Auckland, would they have discovered no gambling— would they have found no stakes being played for with cards higher than the small amounts that these Chinamen gamble for at fantan? The police themselves can answer that question. However, the public conscience has been vindicated. Thirty Chinamen have been fined for gambling at fan-tan.”