NAPIER NOTES.

Hastings Standard, Issue 16, 14 May 1896, Page 3

NAPIER NOTES.

[FBOM OUK OWN C"lU:E*P»>M>kjit._ Xapikk, This Day. TWO UNFOETI NATF.S. Before Mr Turnbull this morning the man Orr, who was reman tied last week for medical treatment, and who be«n certified as infant-, was committed to the lunatic asylum. A tirst-oflend-Ing drank was leniently dealt with. nOSFITAi B.UX. The Grand Plain and Fancy Dress Ball in aid of the fund of the Hospital was held in the Gaiety Theatre last night. The function was very poorly attended —about forty couples but it was undeniably select. The perfumed

odour of haughty exclusivenes which permeated t the atmosphere oppressed the plebian onlooker with a due sense of his unimportance, and left him vaguely wondering if this were Iloaven. l>ut, seriously, the affair from commencement to end was mismanaged. I always uphold that class distinctions, so long as they are not rigid and aggressive," are essential in maintaining the discipline of our social system, and as long as there are uiti'erenc-es in education, refinement, and intellect, these class distinctions must exist. I Jut it is utterly ridiculous that a handful of snobs responsible for the success of a ball in aid of the funds of a local hospital should issue invitations to their sisters and their cousins and their aunts to the exclusion of the great big-hearted public who would delight in giving what it could ailoi'd towards Mich a worthy object. The snobs before mentioned discovered their error on the eve of the ball, and —history repeats itself like the Sc:ip'ii'a! man who gave a feast in ancient times tinder pretty similar conditions, they were forced to send out into the highways and byways 1 >egging the society of Napier and his wife. I bit Mr Napier and his wife—a self-respecting couple —weren't hav ing anv, and a blight- settled 011 the efforts of the frogs who would be oxen. At the conclusion of the hall the cm nibs were collected, and having tilled about* twelve baskets, they are to-night handing them over to the tender mercies of the unmuzzled Napier youth, who. for the paltry sum of 2 - a head, can dance himself .sick"and absorb lemonade until he goes oil' in spontaneous combustion. the wk itiiei:. The weather here yesterday was simply atrocious. The rain fell, the wind blew, and the heavens frowned upon us. for was it not the first day of the Napier Park races Old Sol lias a dead set on the Park meetings, and lie does not take; much trouble to disguise it ; but, -notwithstanding his displeasure, the city, wrapping himself in mackintoshes and arimd with umbrellas, braved the eloquent stinks of the Taradale swamps and hied him oil" to the races.