Random Shots.

Auckland Star, Volume XXVIII, Issue 42, 20 February 1897, Page 2 (Supplement)

Random Shots.

BY

Pome \sTlte, a neighbour a name to lasti Some write—vain thought! for needful easrti. Koine write to please the country clash, And raise & din. Forme, an aim Inevar fash--1 write for luifc

3odcisg by the methods that have to be adopted to secure any public situation, toerib oo the p&rb of the candidate takes a secondary position to influence on the parb ef hte friands. In using the term public position I do not wish it to be inferred that linoaa appointments under the Government exclusively. No matter what party is in power, it has alwaya been understood that if vacancies occur energetic supporters liave a claim to consideration. While human nature ia what ib is one could scarcely expect any Government to give all the positions to relatives of those in opposition. What I object to ia the amount of canvassing that has to be done and influence obtained to secaro any appointment under our numerous local bodies, where the question of * colour' car. hardly require to be coneiderod. Tnko for instance the position of headmaster of the Woiigsleystreeb School. It would be natural to think that the appointment of a successor to Mr Worthiugton would be decided solely on the merit of the candidate, and also thab nob moro than half-a-dozen gentlemen would really be eligible. Thi3 school is one of the few prizes to which a teacher may look forward, and it would naturally be thought that there would be some kind of promotion by rotation in making the selection from the head masters of other city and the larger suburban schools. A glance at the lisb of applicant!) shows, however, that almosb any teacher who possesses certain examination qualifications aa exemplified by the letters after his name thinks ho has a righb to compete no matter even if his sole charge may have hitherto been some comparatively email school in an outside district. This is not, however, the worst feature, because absolute outsiders nob an present in the employ of the Board have also sent in application?. These gentlemen may, of course, have excellent qualifications, bub at the same time ib seems only but right thab when a really good jchool becomes vacanb the position should bo filled from amongst those afc pießenb in the employ of the Board, otherwise there is poor encouragement for young men to enter the teaching profession in the hope of ultimately securing a good poeition. For such a place as headmaster of oar largest public school something beyond mere examination qualification should be required, namely, a certain amount of experienced gained in the management of a fairly large school ; otherwise, lady teachers with the requisite letters after their names should have equal right to sxpecb the appointment.

Under the preeenb system of making these appointments, all aorta of influences are broughb to bear. In the firut place, candidates require to get their friends to work membera of the Board to ensure their names being senb on to tbo Committee. Then, if *a candidate's name has nofc been sent) on, his friends require to work the conomitteo in order to get thab body to ask thab all the applicants' name may be submitted. At) the first glance thia may seom bub a fair request, but it should be borne in mind 4bab the Board ia posaessod of intormation that the Committee has not. For instance, one candidate may only recently have been promoted, while another equally suitable may have been for years working honestly in some outside place without having had any advanca. Under such circumstances tho Board ia only acting fairly in withholding the name of ohe candidate who baa quite recently been promoted in order to let) the other man have a chanco. Then, again, the Board may kuow thab although a certain candidate appears eligible aB far aa hia letter qualification shows, yob for certain reasons he ia nob suitable for a particular position. Of these facta commibtee men may be totally ignorant. However, when the names are really before the committee the real contest begins. Influence of all kinds is brought to bear, and the unforbunato committeeman has to use language carefully in order to veil hi 3 real intentions, or else if ho speaks plainly hs may lose friends. The evil of all this ia that tho best man for the position if he reHed solely upon hia merits and neglecfeed to get influxes at work on hia behalf would not have ' Buckley's show ' of getting the appoip.bmenb. I cannob help foefing that there ia something degrading in a man having to gob all his friends to ■work in order to ensure oven getting: a chance of securing a position to which, perhaps, his undoubted marita entitle him, Yet this state of affairs exists with almoas all similar appointments uudor local bodice, and I have only referred to the WellesleyBbreeb School head mastership because thab is just now on the way. I have known csseß where the selection of a candidate in this city haR been decided by hia energetic tr?ifo buttonholing each gentleman who had a vote. When an appointment has to be mads ifc in no unusual thin? for members to arrange matters in this way : ' You vofca for ray man until the last round, and I'll Tote for your*.' Undor such a pyatem the best man are not always nppohitod, and She public service suffers accordingly.

The proceedings ab the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board hara been _ very Kaoaotoooua einoe the ' secret kiasinj; Inquiry ' took place some months back, bub the present members have decided that this shall continue no longer. In accordance with notice of motion, a resolution was moved by Mr Jamiesofi, eolemnly coneidoredi, and passed unanimously ab tho laeii meotingr, bhat. a piano iv the basement of theHoepifal building be removed bo the Board-room in High-street, Ifc has nob transpired wlißt bho exact reason la for this chance of location, 'rut I suppoie it is to entertain Hie niGmbora in bhs intervals between tho discussions on th-o GoaUey Home washine bills and the disposal of rations.

Really for enterprise and ' go' Yankee showmen aro uneurpasaed. Who but themselves would havo thought of buying for exhibitiun purposes ths alleesd saurderer Bubler'f< hat .and boots, and V7ho elae would have fchouirht thorn worth the price they fotched ? I rnußß say I fail to sec? wherein lios the attraction in those uniovely relics Americana ate 'imaginative onoufjh, as we all knovr, bub it would boat even a Yankae fco conjure up a vision of tho notorious tftficftl himself by simply gazing at tho nob feoo dainty boots which once adorned his foot So, too, with tho hat, which is probably a poor thing in hats ; of the • slouch ' type, no doubt, old and weatherboaten, and intrinsically worth say threepanco. And yeb, becauae a man accused of atrocious crimes has happened to wear the bhiut>, its price goes sjp scores of dollars aad ib w eoappod up ea an atferacbioa:

in the show line. Ib seema to prove that the Americana hanker after that sorb of thine:, otherwise the articles would never have fetched the price they did. I would like very much to know who gets thia tidy little sum of money. If we are to beliove Mark Twain, the Yankee police have a. keen eye for dollars. If, as he would have us believe, they let contracts for advertising on the body of a losb white elephant until their detectives can find it, would they stick at selling a paltry hat and pair of boots to the highest) bidder? The trouble is tbao they may be tempted to create a supply to meeb the public demand, thab is to say, produce a Butler coat, or a Bufclor necktie, if he wears one (or if he doesn't), and so on, as opportunity offers. The nearest old clothes shop would gladly Bupply their requirements, and who could say the things were nob the murderer's ? For that mabter how do the showmen know they have gob hold of the genuine articles ? One pair of boots is very like another, and it would nob be surprising to 6nd Butler's boots on exhibition in half a-dozen psrts of the States ab the same time. If he is hanged, of course the prize will go up like a rockeb, and the multiplication of exhibits will increase in proportion. Bub eurely there is eomething degrading and unnatural in the whole idea. A spirit of curiosity is as natural in mankind as in monkeys, bub it generally seetna to be a morbid and unhealthy spirit, and ib is surely pandering to the public's lowest tastes, to urge old and youtag to 'walk up' and g&zo upon Romo memento of an inhuman monetsr. If the exhibits were something out of the common one mighb understand the attraction. If an enterprising showman had got hold of Joseph's coat of many colours, or a relic of the lale Noah's Ark, there would bo some reason in the rush of the public to gaze upon these marvels. Bub Butler's boots! Whafc, I wonder, are we'coming bo?

It is obviously a mistake to speak of the women of this end of tho century as the weaker sex, and a little incident I read of the other day goea a long way to. prove ib. The inevitable bicycle wus a;;ain tho cause ot woman's triumph, only in thia case ifc was nob the fair one who wa=! riding it. She was eroding a suburban thoroughfare in London, when down dashed a cyclist at top speed, scattering the pedestrians right and left, and ringing his bell in lordly fashion. Instead ot making a detour to avoid her, the cyclist kept straight on, expecting the lady to hop ouC of the way. This ' kind of riled ' the fair one, and she determined to teach the unmannerly rider a lesson. A collision was inevitable. Everyone paw that, and straightway gathered round bo watch. The lady, who was by no means a pigmy, braced herself for the ordeal, aud, as tha bicycle struck her, swung sharply round and puehed against tho wheel. Rider and bicycle wenb sprawling in the mud, amidst the jiierß of tho onlookers, while the lady, giving her pkirts a contemptuous swing, flounced across to feho footpath with a smile of triumph on her face. The unhappy cyclist picked bimaelf up and lifted the remains ol his machine over to the footpath, where he sat down to contemplate the damage. Then, without a word, ho put the thing oa his shoulder and carried it away.

In these dull times a war scare ie ahnosb a welcome relief in the monotony of dry as dust, every day eventß, especially as ib ia nob our war. The trouble in Crete bus furnished the newspapers with sensational copy, and their readers with food for discussion, bub there are no sisrns of panic in this blaesed colony, nob even on tha Stock Exchanee. It's a serious business enough to thß Grebes, tha Turks, and tho Greeks, who are struggling in a vain endeavour to gob at each other's throats. The Christians and Mussulmans, in Crete are fighhing, Greece wants to settle the business ott - band and restore order, bub Turkey doesn'b want any interference from Greece in what she regards as her own preserves, and the Greab Powers have had to step in, occupy tbe principal towns, and demand that both Turkey and Greece Bhall ' handa off.' The good old Turkey is doing as she is. bid, bub cocaey little Greece, in defiance of all warnings, has rushed in full of warlike ardour, baa captured a forb, killed many Muiselmans, and taken a hundred Turkish prisoners. There ia frantic enthusiasm in the little kingdom of Greece, while Turkey stands by in fretful inactivity, crying aloud to the Greab Powers, • Hold Greece back or we'll have to demolish her.' Then saith the Powers unto Greece, ' Thua far shalb thou come and no further,' but the Greeks pursue the even tenor of their way all the name, and the world looks on and wonders whab ia tho game thab is being played.

I have eaid that the -var scare has not affected our Stock Exchange, for the very good reason, possibly, thafe things wero exceedingly dull before the presenb Cretan trouble began. There is a pretty general belief amongsh those who have studied tha situation, that tho big English and foreign speculators have gob the Auckland people •oo toaßt,' as bhe saying is; thab ia, loaded up with all sorts of mining shares, without capital to work their mines, and a disinclination to keep on paying calls to provide funds wherewithal to test the properties in which they have invested ail tboir spare cash. We have been told all along thab we have been asking exorbitant prices for our mines in London, bub have pooh poohed the idea, believing all we b&d to do was to hold oub for the prices asked and bhey would ba obtained eventually. We elected to piny a waiting game, and ib seem 3 we are to be treated to proof of the old saying that ita a game two can play at. Ib is possible, and nob improbable, tbab the outside speculators, having failed to bring Auckland mine owners to terms, have come to some sorb of an undemanding amongst bhemßelve, not to compete against each other, to select the properties they wash ultimately to gab and then patiently stand by until the lecal owners are prepared to sell at the purchasers' terms. The supply is in excess of tho demand, and the sellers will acb wisely in being moderate it) their demands. Shareholders may bake my advice if they chose: it ia to hold oa to such shares aa have a market value, or mines thab have good pro3pecba of getting gold, and sell or drop what haa after a year or two's experience been proved to be worthless stuff. Above all things, look carefully into new ventures, a perfect shoal of which ia ready to be launched on the market at bhe first semblance of another boom.

Another of the beautiful fictions of my childhood has jusb passed away, In fact has boeti busted and gone up the flume, and I am left to rnoura over ibs ashes, and ruminate generally over the uncertainty of thinya terristrial and worthlessness and genoral emptiness of life on ibis mundane sphere. I had co often heard people say, wheu aa i> guileless child I strewed myself round with a view of absorbing all the information bhat reipht come in Kiy way, and even in later life when I lifid risen to the pinnacle of disinterested criticisms from which I now view makers, Buch and Buch a thinp would happen, bub once in a blue moon bbab I began to cling to the pleasing fiction bhat the blue moon was an abstract) thing, a something never to be realised, and yet a something conveying an infinity of sympathy. Row auothar of my idola, has been shattered, and I have to sib down among the rn'nt and the pleasing fancies j wiiib wfeich I bad endowed ib and which J

have been broughb aboub my ears. For, lo and behold, oa 1a36 Sunday evening the impossible was realised, and there was a b'ue moon. Owing, no doubf;, feo some peculiar state of the atmosphere, combined with some unaccountable peculiarity of the Bansob, a distinct) bluo colour was imparted to the face of the luminary of the night, Ib was, in fact, blue in the face. I have never Beb up as an astronomer, and, beyond the vague explanation for the bluenoas ot the moon, which was sufficiently marked to ba palpable to tho most colour blind, which I have given, I can otfer no suggestion unless ib is that the colour was due to exceasivo coldness in the moon itself bringing about) bluonesa of the tace of the man in the noon.

On mature consideration one manages to see a few small points of comfort to in part atone for the loat superstition. It serves bo widen ooe'a horizon and forms soother ground for arguing that possibly the moon is mado of green cheese. It might even be adduced aR evidence on a prospectus of a company formed to work the moon as a chee?e quarry. Then when a man comes up bo me and tells me that I only tell the truth once in a blue moon it will be a j^rain of comfort to know that his expression does nob necessarily mean bhab I never tell the truth, and instead of reducing thab man to such a state as to render him only fit to tuifll the dutiea of an inmabe of nn asylum or hospital for the rest of his life, aa was previously my custom, the sting of liir> remark will bo removed and it will suffice me to break a few of his limbs and blacken some of his eyes. Then when a creditor comes up to mo and tries to insult mo by the expression that he does not believe I pay my dobta once in a blue moon iL will show bhab feho poor deluded wrotch harbours a belief thab some time in tiie future .subsequently a momont of madness may seize me and I may pay him. Truly it is botter so, and perhaps it ia not aa altogether unmixed cursa thab there is such a thing as a blue moon.