THE CHANGING SCENE

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 69, 14 December 1907, Page 5

THE CHANGING SCENE

A BIRD'S EYE VIEW.

(By a Casual Chronicler,)

The Minister for Labour, it is reported contemplates changes in tlio "Labour Journal" which are expected to make tho publication more attractive to the public than at. present. A copy of the January number has reached "A Casual Chronicler," -through the courtesy of Mr. Millar. In its new cover of palo blue limp lambskin, decorated with red and gold, tho littlo booklet prepares one for tho charming contents, which are printed on art vellum. Mr.' Andrew Collins contributes a striking article in his well-known paradoxic style, entitled! "Stirring up Conciliation." A Limerick competition is begun, and prizes, consisting of billets in tho State Departments, nro offered for tho best 'last lino" for tho following verse:

An eloquent statesman named Findlay ! Declared the political wind lay In a Socialist quarter, And therefore we... oughter—

A prize is also.given, for, the person who sup. plies tho source'of the-following sentiment!. "It makes me sick'. 'Ere I'go lookiu' for em> ployment, an' they gives mo work!!" The butchers' award is translated into verse by Mr. ■J. As-cr-ft, and ' the editor announces that ho has accepted the challenge, of the "School-Journal"- to a scissors-and-pasto contost. A clever feature is the supply, in rorostic form; of tips for tho month's racoß. Every reader of- this sparkling little periodical will in. future be buried free if. ho keeps < the coupon for 60 years. A striking contriTwit Ton is "The lay. of the"'.'Orny.' 'And," '. by ' I an anonymous writer. . We quoto one. stanza:— ■ -. . .

With shovel and pick we're mnHii"r nnink to the. dawn that shines through this'mist* murk—; ..Tho.dawn to_be,_when beer.is freo,..and..thero'« __ no more worry and no more work. j 100 long in chains have we bowed to Brainß. Up, toilers, up, and display some sand; End all these wrongs, for the earth belong* to tho 'orny 'cad and the 'orny 'and. Wo anticipate a large Sale for this bright and amusing publication'. ,

- "It-is a suggestive discovery," said a local contemporary, which kept its grip of things in spite of tho fire, ,"it is a.suggestive dis-' 'cdvery that of two species'of wootllice in a' s'.ibTantarctic islet' one is 'iound also in. New Zealand and another in South America,■■ It is interesting to know for tho first time tho \ genoral geology, of these islands, distinguish- ' ing tho" sedimentary from the plutonic; to i discover in Campbell Islam! moraines; a.certain proof of former glaciation. Much study : and discussion will bo necessary to unfold the • significance of theso latest discoveries." If is wonderful,to think that while tho rest o{ us are thinking of firo hose, there arc jour< nalists'working out these'deep problems., '

,< "We aro,a few, a very few, people, doing very wall on one of earth's nicest little pad-, docks, far from the madding crowd, but wo have unwittingly been taught to regard our* ,! selves as the salt of the'.earth, and that, thv )' wholo universe is impatiently .waiting to' see what Now Zealand's next load—social or polii tlcnl—will bo. They don't even know of the country, nnd wlion you say you are from New Zealand, theydonjt r even evince etirio* < sity enough to ask yoir aboiit the place—they ', I simply'' don't care by re- ; turned Now'Zoalanderst .. ' '.'. '- ;

"J come from the Dominion," said the man ~ 1 froiii Lantbton Quay; . Said the man in Piccadilly: "Name your . driiilc. Sinco Tve honrd Sir Wilfrid'Laurier I haw always softer Jolt .■ ■ ■ An interest in hearing of your frozen cotton i ./■bolt, :■ ■ . . ■, . '.- . Where .you chase the morfy wombat for hi» * ; pretty furry pelt,— It is Winnipeg's the I think?" "T come from ■the Dominion," Mid ' the man from liumbton Quay.; Said the man from Piccadilly: "Not a word! Here's a health unto the. Maple—you can, so* I know* my Kip.; , ; , I've ofteir thought I'd visit you. I mean tv '•. iiiake the trip, / foi there's nothing like, experience to give a 1 • : man- a gripOf the meaning of the Empire, so I'v< heard.". ■ . i "I cOmo'from the Dominion," said >the. hum' ' 'from Ijfinlbton Quay; \ ; Said tlio man from Piccadilly: "A cigar? ' How is old Toronto looking? Trade is boom- ; ' ■ ing, I suppose: For I iiotirso that the export of your wheat . just grows hnd grows, • Tell me something of your country—of your ", i i Lady of the Silows, . ' .. : . . What you do, and what you think, and how ,' you are." ' ; "I come from tbo Dominion," said the ma» from Lambtpn -Quay; 4 ' . .■ \ : \ .".That object of the world's admiring-gaze. Where Dr. Gibb, the bookie, Mr; Bodley, am : "! the tote, ■','.'■ • And the Socialistic statutes and tho turbini '. 1 ' furry boat, ' '•..;'.'■; And the team of-football; champions, and > thousand things' of note, • Make Time a. rapid whirl of noble days." ] But'the'riiiiii-from Piccadilly' turned a cold , :nnd vacant slaro '" ' : "On the flabbergasted stranger from tho Quay, . • Who, despairing, shouted VScddon," but ho l met a stony glare : r! And a look of utter boredom, and the Don- ;■; doner said, "Sir, I have studied up the Empire, and thero ' i isn't anywhe.ro Such a country as you'vojust described U» ' mo." ■ '• ''" i s

Most people have failed to note tho luanj | remarkable coincidences tlint wore.a fcaturs of tho i'ccont fire. Tho evening paper pointed - out. two of thorn: "It is somewhat of a"coinoidonco. that tho Premier and throe of his ' Ministers should bo away from Wellington at the'present moment." It might be added \ that when Mr. Carroll and Mr. M'Gowan' met on tlio lawn at 4.17 a.nii—exactly 81 minutes aftor 2.0G a.m., curiously enoughit was noted that Mr.' Carroll met Mr, M'Gowan at exactly tho sanio instant as Air. M'Gowan mot Mr. Carroll. Our contbtnpoJ ' rary's othor coinoidenco was not only a striking oiio, hut also a very strong bit of arithmetic. "Tho passing of tho Houses of Parliament took placo," it said, "almost oxactly 18 months after tho passing of Richard John ,Scddon. Perhaps, the coincidence Is symbolical of tho changing times."' What is still more remarkable, ami equally symbolical or the'changing', times, is that tlio" exact interval between tho dates' was about o4f) days. Perhaps tho most striking coincidcnco, howover,, was tho fact that nobody expected tho tiro.. ./''.>

For two .days nftor tho firo thoro was no roforcnco to tho maoo. Civil; it be that tho portion who mourns herewith is tho only mourner of that institution? Some, for sontimcntal reasons, Olden seasons, Memories sweet, Felt alnrhl as In pyjamas i They were shivering in tho street Somd for prosy papers !ying In tho dear old stuffy place, Sotiio for Bellamy's were crying— I was weeping for the mace. Ladies monrnod in kitciion blouses For tho Houses ./"•." \Yhefe, ah mol Snugly sitting With their knitting ' \ Jicard &a loud JCB-

Not of records was I thinking With a drawn and pallid- face, From the conflagration shrinking, I was dreaming of "the. mace. Never more, upon the table - In tho Babel, , Or beneath _■-.-' .v In Committee . i • (Oh, the pity!) ' ?'■■ ■■! Will it make-me'hold'my-breath. lieavo your idle lamentation For the things they, failed to grab, / Do not weep tho devastation ; ' '-' -Of the room of R. M'Nab. ■Coin will buy/another building, But the gilding ''.'" Of the mace- '•' ' - ~..::;: And tho essence .',',■ " ..-""'.Of its. presence Nothing human can replace. ■I alone, it seems, am grieving,- / Mine is sure the,hardest case— .• It dawn; the crowd is leaving— Oh, my'heart! The Mace! The Jlace! /A' cable message from YoTk says:— "A man shot labour leader's who'were •conferring, with Governor. Guild, of Massachusetts, at. the latter's residence'in.Boston. '-' 3'he man-says he meant'ito shoot .the Goyer- . por.' l '. There would -thus" seem to 'be Hood, reason, after all, why labour leaders, jhould not dress'like governors. Jn moleskins' ' Ses safety.. •' .■j ■," : - • '