RANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 116, 17 May 1902, Page 4 (Supplement)

RANDOM SHOTS

"ZAMfIEfIT

Some write, a neighbour's name to lash; Some write. — vain thought — for needful cash. Somewrite to please the country clash. And raise a din. For me. an aim I never fash— I write for fun.

The amazing—and in this instance selfish—apathy of Auckland citizens in all matters of public interest, political, municipal, philanthropic, and even patriotic, was once more instanced over the alleged meeting- of citizens to discuss Auckland's celebration of Coronation Day. The meeting was not at a prohibitive hour of the day for business people, if one may so express it, yet the number of those present was ridiculously and shamefully small in proportion both to the importance of the occasion and ♦o our population. A mere handful, of persons were all who thought it worth while to take the trouble to answer the invitation of the Mayor to disenss how absolutely the most important day of the reign shall be celebrated. And these few men were the same set. who are always to be found at such meetings as this, the handful without wh<pm there would have been no Patriotic or More Men Funds, the handful who for years past have been left to do every mortal thing, demanding any expenditure of thought, time and trouble in Auckland, an 3 who, for the most part, have been scoffed at for their pains. Tor, it is not perhaps the incurable apathy and laziness of the Auckland man in the street in such matters that is the most contemptible, but his cheap and unjust sneer that the few who do time after time come forward are actuated fey those meanest of motives, self-interest and self-advertisement. The ol'l excuse, "Business is business; I can't afford time to leave my business to philander over your children's celebration," or your this or your that, is commonly given. Chit upon such pitiful meanness! There is I verily believe, more damnable selfishness, more stinginess, more evil 01 every sort, .sweltering under that loathsome and canting phrase, "Business is business," than anyv>ther in the language. These things are your "business, my apathetic friend, and if you refuse io recognise the fact and loaf on these occasions, you merely Hbcstp-T* heavier burden on the shoulders of others, and if you do, this, then -it all events have the grace to acknowledge your debt, and do not add insult to injury by pretending that you are excluded because, in the common phrase, "These fellows push themselves forward." 4?' i"l 11i i<i"l"i"i14"t And, again, do not once more call upon Queen-street to do everything. We of Suburbia must help on these occasions now and in the future. "Let ns have illustrations," you say. Well, Queen-street has provided that free show for us for every occasion of rejoicing during the past twenty years, and it's just aboiit time we outside that thoroughfare put onr hands in our pockets and assisted to pay the piper, since we are not above calling the tune. And now, having1 scolded my fill, and let off steam, so to say, let me add my humble appeal to those of others who have spoken and written on this subject, and bespeak the hearty co-operation of every ''gr own-Tip" in the community towards making Coronation Pay one that will live for all time in the memory of the children of this city. It is not merely by subscribing according to our means to the entertainment of the youngsters, though that is a most obvious and imshirkable duty, but by resolving that everj r personal effort shall be used to increase juvenile jollity. Since we are not to feast the children publicly, let us do it right royally at home, let it be a sort of extra superb 'Xmas Day. and let the city entertainment be only one of the joys of the day. It is so tremendously well worth doing. Giving children pleasure is building up for them an inexhaustible credit, on which the drafts of memory will never and can never be dishonoured. There is nothing we can undertake so certain of return, nothing more worthy; for, after all, as Longfellow says of the childroc: "For what are all our contrivings, and the -wisdom of our books, "When compared with your caresses and the gladness of your looks.'' Wherefore, gentles all. lest my importunities become altogether too wearisome, let me ask you to remember your own childhood, and to resolve t~ work with heart and soul and pocket for our youngsters —yours and mine as well —on Coronation Day. li"i"&"i"i"i"i"s"fr'ft We are not likely again to be subjected to the auction nuisance, .or the machinations of speculators over entertainments in Auckland. To the intense satisfaction of the entire community, the speculators suffered from a severe slump in the Amy Castles reeerved seats gamble. The desire to hear the soprano never Teally reached fever heat, but .there were hundreds upon hundreds who, much as they would h'aA'e liked to hear her, stayed away on principle. The result was that

twenty-four hours after Ihe auction the speculators were, with ill-eonc?alcd anxiety, endeavouring to push off their seats "at their purchased price without commission or profit. This was no good, so lady touts were sent round lo the houses in Princes-street and Sy-monds-street, etc. The story these females told was ingenious. "Mr. was not able to get tickets yesterday, but said if you wanted to go you could buy these from me at 10/." That was the way it ran. But that fish wouldn't bite either. One lady rang up her husband and on returning to the door ■ saw a badly scared lady tout scurrying up the street at top speed, her head no doubt filled with visions Of the indignant housewife setting the police after her. On the night itself the agonies of the speculators were comical in the extreme. Telephones to the clubs, to hotels, and even to private houses were kept busily going, and when this proved abortive the almost weeping touts offered the seats at six, five, four shillings, half-a-crown, and even two shillings, and this before the curtain went up. During the progress of the concert one individual obtained a capital dress circle seat (which cost about 12/) for —as lie elegantly put it—"the price of a couple of pints." It was a great and glorious downfall, and means that box office or auction speculation is killed to:1 ever in Auckland. For despite all efforts there were many empty seats, all of which had been bought at high prices at the auction, including nearly a whole row in the very best part of j the circle. Melba —so Herr Benno j Scherek states —will come to New Zealand. Well, if she does 210 doubt the price of the tickets will be high, but whatever it is, it will stop at that, and we shall know where we are over the matter, Has any reader of this paper any immediate intention of becoming" a' grandfather? If so, let me offer '"Punch's" advice, "Don't." To be sure, as it is one of those things —one of a few in this life — usually aianaged for one, circumstaiß. which one ha*, no control may result in one's becoming a grandfather, but the preliminary measures are in one's own hands, and again I would say, "Don't." Beware marriage in view of a prospective possibility of grandparoncy. The reason I urge caution in this matter is that a very hard case has just come under my notice which discovers the amazing j&, that under our present laws in New Zedlana a grandfather, is responsible for the maintenance of his grandchildren, if the father is unaole or iifiwiiiiiig to support them. It seems extraordinary, but, then, so do several other things within the law, and there it is for hard fact. The cirstances in this particular case are as thus. The old gentleman's son married against his wish, and, as the family had anticipated, the match turned out disastrously. There were from the start constant bickerings, and subsequently the son cleared out for 'Frisco, leaving tha wife and child. The grandfather then offered to take the cliikl, but the mither refused to give it up., and through the Charitable Aid I?oard s'K'j I be old mall for maintenance fees. From enquiries made there seems no doubt this is the law, but just conceive of the monstrous injustice of it all. And, as Miss Squeers would remark, "is this the TienQ." rji t^i (•£-* rj-i fj-i »jj-i r^> f£* pjj|» r -J* Of course, there is "no harm in asking," but it is hard to repress a smile at the "darned cheek," as Artemus Ward would say, of Mr. 0. Sullivan's request to Lord Rosebery for a cool £100,000 ("at least," he says) of themoney left by Cecil Rhodes for Empire consolidation. Mr. O. Sullivan (of Sydney) wants to place a statue of "Australia Facing the Dawn" on the tiny island known as Fort Deni-, son in Sydney Harbour. It is, Mr. Sullivan says, to eclipse the famous Liberty statue at New York, and will be a delight for all time. The passengers and crew of every vessel that arrives in or sails from Sydney Harbour must see it, declares the enthusiastic O. Sullivan. Tens of thousands of persons on harbour steamers and boats will' Contemplate it with pride, while millions of people in the course of time will be reminded of the great event which it commemorates by gazing upon the statue from the shores. All very true and very nice, but one doubts if the trustees" of Mr. Rhodes' millions will comply. If they do we must in New Zealand at once apply for two gigantic figures of King Dick, one to be placed on Rangitoto, Auckland, so that it can be seen ten miles out at sea, and the other at Port Nicholson «Heads, Wellington, visible a similar distance. •l"5"?"?"J"F"?"l;"J"E' It seems odd, somehow, to us in New Zealand, to read that Mafeking boasts a croquet club. One still associates that gallant little town with the thunder of guns, and the crashing of a very different sort of ball to those which click together across the verdant lawns when the now fashionable game is in progress, jsut a croquet club exists, and if must be a very smart and fashionable affair, for in the "Mafeking Mail," a few copies of which reached me this week, a dance for the members was announced, tickets 10/6 each or £1 double. It was to take place on April 2nd. I hope it was a success. The same paper observes in a local that, "The Irishmen have arranged to celebrate St. Patrick's night with a supper and a high old time. If it is anything so high and old as the St. Patrick's night of the siege, '.t will satisfy the most exigeant Pat. The supper begins at nine, and ambulances may be ordered for any licrar, according- to individual taste and capacity." But that Mafeking, peaceful as its enjoyments seem, is yet in the midst of war is demonstrated by a column "order" from the Provost Marshal in j another part of the same issue of the! paper. These detail the methods by which the alarm will be given by day and by night, and the order concludes: "In the event of these signals being made, all inhabitants of the town, who are not required for purposes of defence, will return at once to their houses. Doors and windows to be closed, and all lights extinguished." That brings the present state of such towns as Mafeking more clearly before me than yards of descriptive reporting.