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Lyttelton Times, Volume LI, Issue 5602, 7 February 1879, Page 4

The amateur detective is a loathsome creature. So is the blow-fly. Yet both

have their appointed sphere ofT'T ness. Though sei/'interest Betg sU*’5 U *’ both in motion, they both work foj 111 common good. Stenches' attract who becomes the scavenger of the r« e ’ heap/purifying garbage in the * a , l dorous fire of decompositKTji, y. allures the other into become & terror of evil-doers, and he tbs* j comes the benefactor of society, i z n 6 ' character of the medicin maLr), I - The insect is, however, the sup e ' being, for he goes about his dirty v£ in the daylight, buzzing with h on °*T loudness. The human creature pro , in the dark hours only, hating the a and seeks iniquity with cat-like trJ!) in the dark places, in order tw he may be paid for his We have them both in Christchurch The fly has been familiar as a honl’ hold word lor a quarter of a centurv but the other has only been brought to light lately, by the capture of auudrv unwary specimens, who have been d«u with by Mr MeUiah. In that gentle man’s Court instructive information t the habits of this new-found species has been given. How many 0 f these creatures there are, and what are the profits of their trade, are mysteries to which no man can give the clue That these wretches do good, who will deny ? . For as the knowledge of their existence, and the ignorance of their real strength make them feared, public | decency must be the gainer. Whether | emboldened by success, or rendered desperate by the scarcity of plunder caused by their own efficient watchfulness, they have lately taken to levying black mail in a reckless manner. And there is reason to fear that some of them have sometimes, otherwise and more grievously, overstepped their self-imposed duty of guardianship, result has been capture, exposure and punishment. For punishment is the lot of the amateur detective, if he make a faux pas. As mankind, though it profits by the labours of the blow-fly, hastens to despatch him, so society turns also on its new-found ally. The benefactor blow-fly of the insect world is sometimes punished for his loathsomeness by confinement in the box of the larrikin, there to buzz in sorrow for a limited period for the amusement of his tormentor. ’The human blow-fly is likewise confined for various limited periods, we observe up to twelve months, by the society that is not grateful to him for the good he does. The end of this confinement is not the same in both cases. The insect is released only to meet extinction of some kind. He is either smartly and mercifully flattened, or he lives long enough on a pin to repent him of his misdeeds, or he undergoes a slow process of vivisection known only to youthful ingenuity, through pressure of which he grows “ small by degrees and beautifully less.'’ The human blow-fly, onthe other hand, has the privilege, when set free, of returning to his haunts. Is this difference a pity ? We think not, for the more fortunate creature, though loathsome, does some good though unwillingly in his abominable way of life. Impaling, however, would, there is no doubt, improve him.