A Nice Young Man

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 11, 17 September 1874, Page 4

A Nice Young Man

/. s A narrative of the "doings, of an' .individual wbo arrived in: this .Colony in an B-glishi, vessel in; the 'month of July last, and Who, uritil afew daya'ago,* was i pronounced "•' a f "very \ipce ' young' fellow "by all with' whom he had; come, in contact, will no doubt prove interesting to' our readers, while thelfacts stated I are likely to, be borne out (shortly -by evidence given in the, Resident ;:Magis--trate's Court. , The person in - question, who is rather repossessing in appearance, came, out, here as a steerage passenger, and;., as soon ;as he t landed, donned a fashionable suit of* clothes, | and went to a leading hotel stating that he was . a military captain, and accompanied by a valet who turns out to be a passenger by the :same, vessel. The servant, however, appears to have been one of the victims, and does not seem to have suspected that his master was merely an impudent adventurer. The Captain, who had luggage enough to satisfy the most sceptical of hotel keepers, became unwell on his arrival, and was confined to his bed for a considerable time, during which, he was assiduously attended by day by one of the Waiters, and at night by his servant. Upon his recovery he began to talk in a decidedly • tall ' manner, speaking of a few thousands as a mere trifle of what he possessed, and expressing an earnest' desire to find some suitable means of investing a little surplus cash. A hotel at a distant seaport town - happened to be for sale, and this fact being communicated to him, he; at once intimated his intention of purchasing it if possible. He borrowed money from the waiter on some pretext or other, promising to make him manager of the said hotel, and is also understood to have borrowed money from the man who acted as his servant. On the strength of this he left Dunedin ostensibly for the purpose of negotiating the purchase of the seaport hotel, and in a few days - returned with the intelligence that everything had been satisfactorily arranged. In fact, he exhibited the receipt for the purchase money-^over L 3,00 fact that raised his credit greatly in the estimation of everybody, and then went to a well known hotel keeper here, and wished him to undertake the task of making some valuations in connection with his new purchase. The hotel keeper alluded to — rather too old a bird , for the gushing, subject of our story — wishing a deposit dpwn, and also thought it strange that a valuation should be required after everything, according to the Captain's statement, j had been settled* The deposit required was not forthcoming, and the valuation 1 business fell through. The next attempt was on the credulity of a barmaid in another centrally situated hotel, to whom the Captain told all his plans, showing her the receipt, and ending by engaging her at a high salary to act as his barmaid. She jumped at the chance, i gave her employer a short notice of her intention to leave, and in all probability would have left, had not the real purchaser of the seaport hostelry made his appearance in Dunedin shortly after, and thus upset the Captain's plans, whatever 1 they were. Two or three men — waiters in hotels, we believe — had also been promised lucrative situations, but were, of course, disappointed. What makes matters worse for them, the Captain is said to have managed to •obtain a few pounds from each of them, being invariably unexpectedly short of cash at the moment the engagements were made. He purchased an elegant buggy anol a pair of horses-^-whether fpr cash or on credit we do not know — and occasionally drove about town, to the imminent danger of his own life and limbs and those of persons who happened to be, driving in the same street. He gave out that he was possessed of considerable station property in : this Colony, and we are informed on the strength of his other assertions, succeeded in obtaining credit to a considerable amount from a number of tradesmen. He left the hotel he first honoured with his presence rather suddenly, and when his bill—^rather a long one — was forwarded to him'f did not respond in the way the landlord w r ould have wished. His luggage was. then examined, and the contents of the boxes and trunks— some of which had been pointed but to the waiters as containing valuables of immense worth — were decidedly peculiar as to what they contained, the examination ; not being at all satisfactory to tho .proprietor of the hotel, One of the" Captain's latest proceedings was to send a telegram to some persumably imaginary individual in England^ containing a request that several thousand pounds worth ] of Consols might be sold out immediately.: He obtained a copy, of the telegram/ with, respect to which some further par- ' ticulars are likely to come out..- Onithe. strength of this copy he" endeavored to carry on a little longer, but on- Satur--day his career a was cut short by the Polices— « Daily Times;': :•..:■. ■•.-, ■..-:• . [The " Captain " above referred . to^ was brought up- at the R; :M, ; Court; on Mottday, when the above facts were confirmed^ At • his ow_ request 'he was remapded till Thursday week]. . :

True courtesy is neither more nor less than kindness ' towards Svery one, and in social:;circles. . j It: t has "regard? to . the com-; fort and' interests of society, in general* aridj of individuals in particular^ f and \ seeks, in every 1 proper Vay, to make ay agreeable" .and happy.