A SYDNEY LETTER.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 250, 25 November 1914, Page 6

A SYDNEY LETTER.

THE GERMAN PRISONERS.

From Gar Svecial Correspondent,

SYDNEY, November 21

The question agitating the minds of people in Sydney this week is not the Tote, nor even wliat price the Government will pay for the wheat it. proposes to commandeer. There is a far more important one, and that is how Captain von Muller, of the Emden, and the nephew of the Kaiser, who was an officer on board that piratical craft, will be treated upon their arrival. If the treatment of the 1 ' prisoners'' ex the Koinet is any criterion, the paths of von Muller and the Kaiser's kinsman bid fair to fall in pleasant places.:-' The Germans who were captured on the Komet have been quite lionised in Sydney. They are given afternoon teas, dinners, and' suppers, and one misguided young man put them up as honorary ■< members of his club (not the German club), and the older and wiser members are exceedingly angryat his actioii. In view of the manner in which, our people have been treated by the cultured inhabitants of the Vaterland, this extraordinary lionising of German officers in Sydney is past explanation, save for the fact that thefe is section".of. socalled society in our midst which-bows. dOwn 1 the knee to anything with a handled .name or gold, laee trimmings. '

Perhaps New Ze&laiiders may rdniember hotfr-this 'Sydney society: was agog not so long ago' wlien it. was cabled that tlie'Duke ftf ——— had sailed oil a certain-vessel. New dresses.'w T -ere ordered and the; wildest; "prevailed; only to be dashed to the ground whe>n ; it ' was ■ discorer'ed that the "Duke" was; a champion bull-and not a human being at all. l . >

Why Australia'shou;klvi be.-, .saddledwith these prisoners <■ of war passeth comprehension when there are several good-concentration camps in India left over-from those years \then we were Jit war with brother Poer. , However,: von Muller and the nephew of the "Road Hog of Europe," as Lloyd George dub : bed the Kaiser in his- .Queen's : Hall, speech, have yet to arrive—if: they "ever do.' ; Perhaps,' aftei'-allj.' it is onlyj-. .a s<orm in the so-called "society'' tea--cup/' • < , CRUELTY TO STOCK.

; Australia as a.whole, and. New South Wales in particular,-prides itself' onSits, up-to-date legislation in regard to most 5 matters: In this .State the Government bakes our bread and bricks, builds our., homes, manufactures waterpipes, buys and sells the wheat,- and indulges in several other trading inatters usually left to private enterprise in the other countries pf the world. • It does tnauy. things very well, but one matter it lags sadly, behind in, .and .that is the attention given by the: Government, to. stock : being, trucked to 1 Sydney either for converting into fresh meat or for freezing? purposes. , r f . Many complaints haye been publfeJjep: |by stbek-owners about the l6ng. delays ! on' the State-owned railways ■' arid the lack of .watering, facilitiest for. stock en 1 trusted. to. the. care of .. the .Railway Department. Only tiiis week a big, trucker of sheep stated that hundreds of these dumb animals were " nine-vdays on- one train while journeying to Sydney, and, as-far as he knewj %<T not . been watered at any time oij the to the train "running into several heavy rain , and .thunder -storms some of the sheep got a little moisture, but on arrival at the saley ards over 100 dead carcases were removed from the trucks. This is a terrible state of affairs, and-the sooner stringent laws ■ governing' the carrying of stock on railways, as in force in the Argentine, are put'into operation here the better for the man on the land and. the poor beasts he has to making a living out of.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has an energetic secretary in Sydney. He conducts many prosecutions against citizens- who illtreat horses, cats, or dogs. Some day, perhaps, he, ivill have time, to tackle the Governin ent ? arid institute a; prosecution against them for this wholesale' cruelty to animals. - The Government 'might plead not guilty, on the "grounds that war is legalised murder "oil a , grand scale, and that their inhumanity to suffering stock is but a parallel to .war. • .citizen' who shoots another is dealt with by the law, in the same - way that the- private individual who maltreats a dumb animal is\ heavily fined - in- our : ;courtS. The Government'Approve's of the tvar, and apparently approves of the gross ci'uelty practised on a large scale on travelling fetockV At any rate it has been too busy with its other ventures to attend to this crying; shame constantly laid at its doors. "I FORBID THE BANNS!"

It is not often outside melodrama that a marriage is stopped by an excited woman springing tip when the minister is asking if anyone knows of any just cause or impediment ,to the marriage. Such a scene actually took place recently in a liedfern church at Sydney, and, moreover, the lady in question brought her big brothers along farmed with revolvers. The verger promptly went out for the police, and the wedding was stopped, the clergyman being too upset to continue the service. The matter was subsequently thrashed out in a court of lawj much to the edification of the readers of papers in Sydney. It appeared that the bridegroom had been dilly-dallying with one fair maiden, in spite of . her father's remark that "he didn't want any funny business.'' At the eleventh hour the bridegroom backed out, and though the would-be bride's family stopped his marriage; with another member of the fair sex 011 one day, he managed to bring it off at another church later on. Then the discarded one demanded damages for a broken heart, and a sympathetic judge gave her £IOO to heal the wound.

The whole story rdaJs like a stage romance, and only goes to bear out the old, if trite, statement that truth is stranger than . fiction.. f After this one need not jeer at the villain in the piece or the, raggetl niothef with'the chee-ild in her arms who dramatically breaks inupon the man-iage ceremony in the ivy-man tied church to denounce the villain about to wed .the heiress as I'the maoi who married her but two shee-ort years ago." OVERSEAS CLUB VICTIM.

.. When Mr Evelyn! Wrench, hon. organiser of the. Overseas , Clubhand his sister were in New Zealand, they gave this patriotic and workL-wide, movement fresh strength. It will be of interest to those members of this club to, hear that after their return to England Miss Wrench , visited Germany to ; look up some of the; branches of the: pverseas

Club iti that country. A letter has just been received in Sydney from Mr Wrench, stating that his sister was made a prisoner at tho ftomincnccnicit of the war and was unaoU; to rir.ko bci* escape until the first week in October. She is now safe at home in London, an-l her experiences will no doubt make interesting reading should she elect tc publish them. Ever, nwmiber of thfl Overseas Club will, l,owe\er, be only too pleased to know that this charming lady has once again reached the shores of Old England. OUR GRAND OLD MAN.

It is not often in the history of any State that a servant serves it so long and so faithfully as has done Mr John Jackson Calvert, 1.5.0., who has just retired after 61 years' work in the publie service of New South Wale*,, For the last 43 years lie has filled the position of Clerk of the Parliaments, and is the solo survivor of all the members and officials who,formed part the:first: under responsible GoVer&riient. His wonderful courtesy and taet have - endeared him alike to. members of both chambers, the officials; and the public. Qutside his duties in Parliament, Mr Calvert took a .great interest in sport. He was hoii. th«r old-time Albert Cricket Club, which in- its day was the leading institution of its sort. He also held a seat as a member of the - New South Wales Cricket Associiition, and has many a time acted.' as selector for inter-State teams. In football he lias held the position of president of the New South. Wales Rugby Union .for over 40 years, and was also a member of the Council of the Royal Agricultural "Society. : Mr Calvert always t6ok a great interest in the A.J.C.,' as well, and made a name as a sporting authority, writing turf Contributions under the nom-de-plume of "Newmarket?/, and cricket articles under that of "Oid 1.Z," Up till a few years-ago.Mr (Calvert, who is a' keen pedestrian, could hold his own or rather set the pace.for a 20-mile v "stroll' to men a quarter: of a century younger than himself.' Mr Calvert was bOrndh 1830, the-same year as' Sir John - Lackey,, Sir. Frederick Darley, and Cardinal Moran, and thp. four were of ten referred to as the '' Quartet.'', They . have 1 all left indelible marks''in the history of Sydney and the: State generally.