Metropolitan Notes.

Clutha Leader, Volume I, Issue 34, 4 March 1875, Page 6

Metropolitan Notes.

(From pur Dunedin correspondent.) I have heard and read of many painful cases that have come tap in our Courts of Justice, but none so bad as that of Carrick v. Pyke, which occupied a great deal of time this week, in the District Court here. The case seems to be this. One Carriok, who ever he may be, sued Mr Vincent Pyke for L2OO, being his alleged interest in the \Southem Mercury, 5 " which Mr Pyke had lately sold to another party. It seems that Mr Pyke, whom we all know to be a simple minded, honest, honorSable man, had come a little down in i- 1 the world. He had met, with many losses through coming in contact with • sharpers. Being of a very soft and un- ' suspicious nature- he always tell a victim to those designing knaves. : After a long struggle, during which he .' made it a point of paying every one, to his last farthing, and never taking a ; single cent off any one, ho became rather low in funds, and having been connected with the goldfields for some r time, he thought it an excellent training for an editor, and resolved on becoming one.. Henco the l Southern Mercury.' In these circumstances he wanted assistance and advice. Mr Carrick came forward. He told poor Pyke he could do anything and everything in connection with a newspaper, that he Carrick was a man of great literary ability.. Pyke saw through him, saw he was a sham — a humbug. Nevertheless, although he saw clearly that Carrick was a cheat, a literary imposture, a man totally unfit to do anything, he could not refuse him what he asked, and in his simple childish weakness actually engaged him at a salary of L 250 per annum. Were there ever such impudence on the one hand, or such innocent simplicity on the other. But let poor Mr Pyke speak for himself. I quote from the 'Guardian.' Speaking of Carrick he said : — " I never contemplated any connection with him other than as an employe. He J tried to persuade me that he was a man I of great literary ability, but I found he had none. I was seeking his advice, j but found he was a man of no ability whatever. I did a worse thing than take him into my confidence — I . engaged him. I was under the impression that he was a good -newspaper authority. He made no hand at all--— nothing but confusion. I was obliged to take it out of his hands and do it myself. He was utterly unfit for the position. He was neither capable of selecting toatter from the { Star,' overlooking the correspondence, nor even of writing a " local." He was then tried as o nice clerk and publisher, and afterwards kept the books. I never could understand these books ; they were so excellently kept that nobody could, understand them but Carrick himself. He remained in my service until the 2nd of May, when the paper passed out of my hands. I afterwards spoke to Mr Creighton, and got him on the 'Guardian' staff as reporter." What self-sacrifice ! He found Carrick knew nothing, and therefore took him into his confidence. Found he could do nothing, yet was, and is willing to pay him L 250 per year. Nor was that : all for after he required him- no longer to do nothing, he got him a situation as "reporter on the < Guardian.' I confess that when I heard him* tell his simple unsophisticated tale, turning his childlike faceup towards the judge, imploring justice, my heart bled for him, for there he stood the personification of outraged, injured innocence. How it may end I cannot tell, but if Mr Bathgate does not give Carrick something — six months at least — I will-cut : his. acquaintance, and never dine with him again, or even drink a glass of wine in his company. But I have my doubts. I know there is a prejudice 1 against poor little Pyke, on account of his relatives, for the Pyke family as a rule are a cruel, greedy class, living on their more gentle fellow creatures. Not so our Pyke, who is gentleness itself, receiving many hard blows, but returning none, as he wriggles his peaceful way through this false, treacherous and: wicked world. Alas, poor Pyke. I had a conversation the other day with an esteemed friend of mine, who is a! City Councillor, and lately Mayor of; Dunedin. After other topics had been i discussed, I enquired how matters were j proceeding in the present Council, j " Weel, man," said he," i( we are i getting on wonnerfu' noo, but, hech, sirs, we had ah awfu' time a wee while i syne. Ye maun ken that things, were' gay bad when I had a motion o' resigning through self-respect. In fact the scenes were simply disgracefu', and whiles gar't the pickle hair o' my heed staun on end." " Dear me," said I, " and how did you manage to conduct "matters so well during your term, of office ? There were 'no such, ', ongoings then." "Ye may weel say ; that, freen, and, though say it my xnysel, there never was a' "Mayor amang them that managed things as I did.. But to'inak a lang story short I'll tellye a'-ahoot it. In the first place I maun! tell ye* ittaks a great deal o'.. tack &c manage, a toon cooncil, especially a colonial : toon cooncjl. As a: rule, they are .strange, stupid -bodies,, toon cooneillors. Weel. ye ken before IPyrsfr Mayor, My 'Fish M'd< the i chair, 'and ho. w^'awfu' severe °h^sj zypl jumping;^^ ; up ' anjl>d'iug x& $.- or 4 e £.^ en w e were, J a). w;ee /wraiigi and gay aften.fwten wa T we're.'- richt rtae.. In-fect ifo pu£ th^fear a^eathcQa^s

a'andjustdidasheliked. Weel, when Igot into the chair, Fish was : awa, and for a while I maun say v they were verra unruly. But I let them hae there am way, and as I was na verra sure when they were in order or oot o' it, I gid them the benefit o'' the doot, and just let them talk awa. But they sune tired, for deil a ane could hear himself speaking, as a' the rest wad speak at the same time. At last 1 got telling them the best way tae ken what a man was saying was tae listen tae him, and tak turn aboot. Weel, in a wee while they began to dae as I tell't them, and we i got on nicely. Indeed ye wad whiles .hae heard a prin drapping, and I hae seen some o' them, taking a cozy nap when the businoss was going on. But, oh sirs, after Mr Ramsey got into the chair things were different. He had nae experieace in sic matters, and he 'made an awfu' mess o' it Then, ye ; see, Fish was back, and naething wad dae him but he wad teach Ramsey, but I maun say this for Mr Ramsey, that,. ! wae a' his shortcomings, he was a lad , that wad never be teached by onybody. There the row began, some coonoillors backing aine and some the ither. That apothocary body stuck tae Fish like a bit o' his am sticking plaister, and bleithered at a fearfu' rate. Then the soda-water man drove his machine into Fish, and Fish as was natural, dived into him and his water. But things are greatly improved o' late, and Mr Ramsey is doing unco weel for a young man. But, as I remarked before, it taks a great deal o' tack to manage a toon cooncil — especially a colonial cooncil."' The ' Guardian ' of the. 24=th inst,, gives the following deplorable account of Dunedin. — <( Let anyone who believes in the salubrity of the atmosphere of ; Dunedin pass through the main streets ; late at night, or on a Sunday morning when the- atmosphere is still, — being as yet undisturbed by the movements of the populace ; and his olfactory senses will convince him of the fact that even the city of Cologne itself with its infinite variety of iui pleasant odours is outrivalled by this infant town of Dunedin. I If the evidence of his sense of smell is ; insufficientJe_^him^uso. .his ,. eyes, and mark the*rllth"t-rat'prey.ades every street, ; and almost every house. Only yester- i day a paragraph -in. our -columns, drew attention' to -the ••stinking -cesspools — ■ they deservfi_na j..then. name — underlay-- ji ing premises in Rattray-street, and only I reveal6oi'bythe ;? dem6litron of the old! buildings.* Can a?nyone doubt that there j' are hundreds of 'other buildings beneath; the floors of which lies similar abhorrent! •accumulations 1 Is it not a =known fact that, practically; and truly, Dunedin; is altogether destitute"; of .proper ! efficient sewage accommodation. ? We ! hay'a been grinning at "Dirty Cromwell" long-enough. Let us beware of -the. future in < store for Dirty Dunedin* Where one life was : sacrificed in the Kawarau village,, one hundred will be sacrificed ,by similar/ neglect in " the metropolitan city." The picture is overdrawn. Still -.there is a;' little truth iri it, -which is: generally the case with articles in thatjournaL Indeed I can bear witness to the fact of there being I many " sti-nfeing-oesspool's "- -about the city. One evening, not many weeks ago, I called at a certain newspaper office in High street, when the -stench was most abominable. I never was so glad as when I regained the street, and could breath the, so called, fresh air again. Since then, I have visited the same place, and, I must confess, that the smell was not so bad. Still, there was a disagreeable odour lingering about the office, as if it had been lately the den of some filthy animal. I may remark that on this occasion the editor was out. - The same paper contains this remarkable announcement :— " About 40 of the immigrants by the Garelochand; City of Dunedin were despatched to; Oamaru yesterday evening, by thes.s.j Comer ang. A -number was also for-! warded to Invercargill, by the Wallabi.The immigrants on board the City ofl Dunedin were yesterday removed fromj that vessel to- the ' Quarantine Island."! Now, I am puzzled to know how thej immigrants of the" City of Dunedin j could be sent to the ' Quarantine Island] after being forwarded to Oamaru and Invercargill on the same day? lladj the statement appeared in any "otfierl journal I would have suspected some! mistake, but the Guardian being in-j fallabley cannot err. At all- events' it, is; the first well -authenticated ; case, of ' human übiquity I have ! - met with.! After all, the Irish philosopher was | evidently 'ai ; sea, who 'declared "that ii man canuot-be in two places at once • barring he be a bird." I.see that; our; -John,; -that is John Armstrong, Esq. M.P.C., comic lecturer j surgeon; ." dentist jv&c> &cr -is causing a i great sensation^ in the '-Mount >Ida ; distinct. He gave a lecture * the /-other evening on ternpefarice in' Naseby. Afterwards he, opened a "bi?anch lodge oif <xood "templars, and enrolled twehtv five -members on -the r spot. ; It Vas remarkable, toy that the "tfirsf '"'.man " that oame'forward'and sput-dowji: <his name was ' and. old- woman. '•• But -John was^always th^ ', deyU;at persuading the ladies. ;. Few, ; Mve J *,^qme .^under /his hands whohave'not yieliied Kim.'sometMngr^generallyia'iooth.',, Hut ritj-was too bad -of him d;o .?afeal i away?* the,; old woman% liberty ari^ reduce? her 4he sad, cpriditioWbf being:il r Gbod'Tetii|.larl ! 'the ! BrotKerho:Q^^ ?°M'* ]c' c^hgiput4t i:Wo^i& rii'oye a great "access j? IMM Mmil&M

jpersuade the women, and the womea iwould soon ipersuado , their husbands. |He possesses great attraction in th& |eyes of the fair sexj being six feet two, jhandsomly p^opartioned^ and has asT " purty * a faeo as- woman ever cast eye on. Then he is so healthy looking/ .and so jolly, not like tho most of tho Good Templars who. are generally withered, pale,, sickly, shaky shadowsof humanity. Ah John-, your the boy for bewitching them* I mean the old women, not tha shadows.