TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXIX, Issue 81, 7 April 1910, Page 6

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Palmerston and Powelka, Powelka and Palmerston, the police The Powelka and Powelka, Powelka Panic. and the police ! Seldom does an itinerant criminal enjoy such notoriety. Palmer ston is full of Powelkas. They are skulking in every alley, crouching in j|N l 'y shadow, fell desperadoes, with a levofver in ea-ch hand, and mas-ks made of mousseline cle soie snatched from ladies' blouses. When "good things of clay begin to droop and drowse, and night's black agents to their prey do rouse," tho Powelkas are abroad, all of them — the thin, cadaverous Powelkas, Hie fat Powelkas, the tall Powelkas, the short Powelkas, all at Palmerston. The twiceescaped fugitive from justice is making Palmerston a Mecca for the police, and while they are all trooping there from I Wanga«ui, New Plymouth, and other places, in quest of all the Powelkas, the chief of the brigand family, the elusive Joseph Powolka, may pay some attention to the localities from which the constables have moved on. Powelka (Joseph) is nearly as resourceful as tho wily Maori of Waingaroa, whoso adventures (reported in to-day's Post) seem to 6how that the police exist principally for his amusement. The Powelka panic at Palmerston resembles the garotter I scare of Wellington early last year. Groundless terror grew amazingly upon timid people here; the farce had its crowning comicality when a father mistook his father for a garotter (or the pon the father), and one severely thumped the other. The plight of Palmerston over Powelka is a very remarkable reminder that New Zealander*, in general, are not much worried by desperate ruffians. With his back to tihe granite north of M'Carroll's Gap, the Hon. "Alone I'll R. M'Kenzie is shoutDo It." ing: "This rock shall* fly from its film base as soon as I." Yesterday the bellicose Minister had a battle with Mr. Alander on the much-debated ground of the North Auckland railway deviation, and after they had fired various-sized tJiots at each othei, the angry Mr. M'Kenzie threatened to have the member for Marsden ejected from the room Thi* is not the first occasion on which Motueka's Ministerial representative has lost his_ temper when hard pressed by a logical deputationist. Such incident*, recall the scene* enacted in the days of the lato Sir Thomas Bent, Premier of Victoria. He had the explosive habit, and one of his Ministers was also a fire-eater. It was not unusual to hear of more or less violent Ministerial episodes in Melbourne when the irrepressible deputationists insisted on pressing vmie denr.Aiid. In this dull eeason, when other Ministers are mostly in coy retirement, Mr. M'Kenzio is starring almost daily on the political stage. One of his newest "turns" was performed at a banquet at Whangarei on Monday evening. "The Ministers of the Crown," •he said, "know their work best, and do 'not take any notice of the Fevere •criticisms they are constantly being isubjected to by people who do not know what they are talking about." Exactly. The remark rather supports The Post's Tecent reference to the impetuous Motuekan as "a bush Ajax defying enlight<ment." The unwillingness of these iknowing Ministers to take timely advice (postponed retrenchment till time and llhe hour forced it on them, and it is (yet to be «hown whether these omnipcient Ministers have done their work (properly. It looks as if the Premier will be soon obliged to apply some sort iof "gag clause ' to his indiscreet colleague. A London cable message conveys the tidings of a very oriThe Memory ginal commemoration on of the Poets, the evening of Tuesday, the lote Algernon Swinburne's birthday. "The Immortal Memory of British Poets" was celebrated by the British Poetry Recital Society, at a banquet where were assembled as many as> the society could gather of descendants or nearest family representatives of the great poets of the past. The project has been for some time in hand, and the society has had no light task in sifting the claims of applicants for tickets. Some had generously comprehen»ivo notions as to what constituted a poet ; others equally liberal views on the »übject of kindred and affinity. Still, accredited representatives of the families of Shakespeare, Milton, Spenser, Dryden, and Pope were discovered, as well as of poets of a later day. Apart from the very imperfect roll obtained by the process of selection, which necessarily shuts out many names beloved and revered, the sentiment that suggest- | ed the gathering seems a little archaic — i a sentiment which perhaps may in borne measure account for the perpetuation of such an institution as a House of hereditary legislators. Even if direct ancestry is established, relationship ia reduced to an infinitesimal fraction by the tenth generation, and it must requiro a strong imagination to associate a citizen of our day, in his modern environment and point of view, \t ith his Elizabethan ancestor. The sentimentalist who would retain his illusions would do well to shun such a commemoration. But the Briton may be trusted to make a banquet a Bueceas and thoroughly enjoy himself, no matter how fclender its exuise or how incongruous some of its features may be. New Zealanders will scarce forbear to smile when they read that the banquet was followed by native •ongs and a "haka" in costume by a 1 Maori

America, as revealed in the newspapers, a oi-i, ? ives> one the impresAGilbertiar sion that the population Court. is divided into two classes — thoso who have the hard work (the vast majority) and those who have tht fun. It appears that the pleasure-seekerh toil harder in the pursuit of novelties than the real worker* do in making wealth to be disr.ipated by the giddy minority. The "smart setter?" are said to be made happy for a daj if the} can discover a new way to get a headache or indigestion. Henco came the popularity of the backward dance.' and tho topsy-turvy supper, with black coffee first and soup last. However, about the best "Yankee notion" recorded foi some time, was yesterday's cabled newft that the Federal Court of Alaska had decided to put to »ea with a boat-load of prisoners on trial for various misdemeanour. Apparently the court- feared that lawless friends of the accused would provoke trouble if the cases were taken on shoe? Hence the judicial life on the ocean wave, the prisoner?' home on the rolling deep. Kocked «n the cradle of the deep, the alleged offenders will dream of the excusef to make on the sunny deck, amid scenes of coasta' and oceanic splendour. But perhaps thcie in morr sanity than eccentricity in this, cruise of two thoueand miles, jI. « one way to ensure some imprisonment foi persons who have been at war with society. America's land court? a>e full of gaps for the easy escape oi the powerful, and possibly the marine tribunal, even if it give,-, nothing movf-. dreadful than a term of seasickness, may be an impiovemenl. The sympathy which criminals enjoy in the United States recently drew a sarcastic- remark from Mr. Andrew I). White, thr 'octogenarian sage of Ithaca." He suggested that the State should purchase the Waldorf Astoria, or pomd other hotel in New York, confine all tkfi murderers in it, and "dine and wine" them until they die of gout.

Two Justices of the Peace will preside on the Bench at the usual sitting of the Magistrate's Court to-morrow. -Mr. W. R. Haselden, S.M., is otherwise engaged on Railway Appeal Board matters. The interesting particulars relative to the Barry brothers, scullers, which were given in last evening's Post, were supplied by Mr. Charles Janion, whose name erroneously appeared as Janson. The following ladies and gentlemen have agreed to act as examiners for the scholars' annual Scripture examination, to be conducted in July by the Sunday School Union : — Mesdames G. W. Darvall, T. H. Gill, and A. R. Atkinson. Miss Helyer, Messrs. T. H. Gill, M.A., LL.B., and J. B. Hopkirk. A number of animals which had been exhibited at the Sydney Royal Show were brought back by the Manuka last evening. These comprised three Hereford bulls for Mr. G. F. Moore, of Kai Iwi, a Clydesdale mare for Mr. J. Bourke, of Opaki, a stallion for Mr. J. Cullen, Christchurch, and two Border Leicester sheep for Mr Nixon, of /Canterbury. The Wellington Choral Society mEerts a notice in another column with reference to the weekly practice. So far this season the society, under Mr. J. Maughan Barnett's conductorship, has confined itself to the perfecting of Elgar's "The Black Knight." New music, in the shape of Elgar's "Dream of Gerontius" and Coleridge-Taylor's "Hiawatha," will be put into rehearsal to-morrow evening. Some individual with more time than sense has been whittling away a portion of the exquisite carving in the Maori house at the Dominion Museum. The house is so situated under the present arrangement of the museum that it is practically a separate room, and anyone inside could not be well seen by the caretaker. In future, those who wish to see the house will have to apply for permission from the caretaker, for it is pow to be kept locked up. Judgment was delivered by Mr. W. R. Haselden, S.M., to-day in the case of Mildenhall and Eason, contractors, a claim of £75 18s 3d, against Thomas William Bron, for balance alleged to be due on the erection of a house. Defendant counter-claimed for £100, alleged damages for unskilled performance of the contract. Expert evidence had bten taken, and after perusing it, the magistrate decided that defendant should not be compelled to pay anything on the claim, and should recover judgment on the counter-claim for £45 16s, balance between claim and counter-claim, with costs (£ls 2*). Mr. Wilford appeared for plaintiffs and Mr. Dix for defendant. A dispute as to the cost of the installation of an acetylene gas plant in a hotel at Reefton formed the subject matter of a judgment given by Mr. W. R. Haselden, S.M., to-day. The case was one in which H. W. Daviee and Co., who installed the plant sued Francis B. Stallard for £61 15s, for I work done. It was shown that plaintiffs agent made a representation to dedendant that the gas plant which he installed would run a sufficient number of hours to render it unnecessary to re-charge it during the evening, and not to cost more than Jd a light per hour. Commenting on the case, the Magistrate said that the contract was a peculiar one. It was to be carried out, he stated, according to the representations of the agent, who was not asked by either side whether he made the above representation or not. Therefore, I defendant's statement had gone uncontradicted. Plaintiffs, on the evidence, could not recover, and he accordingly nonsuited them. Mr. Haselden intiiq&ted that he. would make an exception in this case by not allowing costs, each defendant to pay his own expenses. Mr. Gray appeared for claimants, and Mr. Blair was for defendant. According to the Dunedin Star, an instance of a fantastic trick was displayed for the delectation of a mocking audience at the local Police Court a few days ago. "Three young and respectable men had, it seems, committed a breach of the bylaws of the Ocean Beach Domain Board. Their crime was that they had bathed in the surf on St. Clair Beach after 7 o'clock in the morning. There was no charge of indecency or of misbehaviour ; it was not even asserted that the beach was lined with rows of shocked visitors. Their iniquity was that they had done at 11 o'clock what anyone might do with impunity before 7 o'clock. That there are degrees, shades, and variations in crime we know ; but we require strong evidence to prove that the hour at which they are committed constitutes the difference between innocence and guilt. If seabathing in .suitable costume be a healthy and desirable relaxation at five minutes to 7 a.m., by what process does it become a punishable offence at five minutes past 7? The answer, in this instance, is that the act becomes an offence under a bylaw adopted by the Domain Board as far back as 1888. It is against this bylaw that the three bathers protested, and their action will, we hope, compel the board to justify their bylaw or approve its abolition."