WELLINGTON NOTES.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXV, Issue 14061, 16 May 1906, Page 5

WELLINGTON NOTES.

[From Our Correspondent.] WELLINGTON, May 15. What the Magistrate characterised as an extraordinary proceeding was disclosed in the Magistrate’s Court this morning, when a young womai\ named Mary Wiltshire was charged with having used obscene language in Frederick Street, and witli having been drunk. The evidence showed that_ the defendant was in a house occnpied_ by her father in tho street in question, when the landlady heard her make use of obscene language., The landlady com- ■ plained about the- matter to tho police, , who entered the house, found the defendant intoxicated, and took her into ■ the street, where she mad© nee of | further obscene expressions to them. | Dr M’Arthur, S.M.. said thM +1 ’c wmoe | bad no right to arrest tho defends.n..-. ■ He warned the a censed tf at_ if the pro- | ©codings had been brought in a propoi manner he would havo dealt with her severely. He had spoken to her about her conduct times without number when she had approached him in his private room, and it seemed she v, r.e going lower, very much lower, down in the social scale. The charges here ■ dismissed. ' A motor-cyclist had a. rough time o. it near Wellington the other day. ID was riding down the Jo-hmronyillc Gorge, and a rooster, with all the defiance of his race, crossed the trncx There- was a collision of feathers, and the moior-hicycle won, but only for a moment. Rom© of th o debris got into the works of the m-mhinm There was a sudden jolt, and the rider was nitchcd into the ro n d, which retalipt°d by inflicting considerable personal disfimirement. Then the owner of the bird lonked up. and the poor, battered motorist was further stunned by: a demand for about £5 oomnensation for the death of a prize rooster, y The following interesting article on Maori art appears in this evening’s “Post":—ln a shod of the Museum yard a veteran Maori, Neko, and bis two sons, with modern tods, are fashioning images on the old-time from squared logs. They: have been”' brought from Rotorua to carve posts for the outside of the pa that is to be built in the Exhibition grounds at Christchurch. They smoke_ placidly, hut their hands are nlicd busily, so that tho “ raw material ” rapidly takes shape under the keen blades of industry’s weapons. A very largo piece of timber is daily expected from the to-tara forest in the centre of tho North Island, for the great gateway of Wnharou. This will require a slab 20ft long. 4-it 6in wide, and about Gin thick, a big piece to handle. A “ Post ” reporter, after glancing at the skilful workers, remarked to Mr A. Hamilton, director of the -Museum, that he had beard of considerable quantities of “ Brnnimagcn, ” “ Maori on v ics ” palmed on to the nnwa’-y. “ There i-s no doubt,” rep’h'd Air Hamilton, “that a groat deal of very poor carving is done' nowadays for sale to tourists. Bv poor, I mean it is of a character that no Maori of th.c olden time would consider correct. For instance we see so,mo beautifully-carved paddles, w : th elaborate patterns and ornamentation, I but often th n y are as much as an inch and a half in thickness in some parts of the 1 blade, where th© carving 1 is.in the highest relief. It would be impossible, to find any thing of this kind in the carved paddles date. With regard to weapons, the majority are carved in softer woed than the ako of old, and are, in other respects, clu.msv and badly proportioned.” “Many people interested in the preservation of the old-time arts of the Alaoris,” Mr Hamilton resumed, “ had advocated the establishment of a school, for the carving of curies at Rotorua, or some other centre. There was little doubt that much good might be dons if such an establishment was properly (jupervised, as there was no reason to doubt that the carving abilities.of many Maoris of the present generation were quite equal to those of their .forefathers, and they had, in addition, the tools of the pakeha, which enabled them to do the work with much greater expedition. None of the old tools were need now. Using them would be like reaping a field of grain with a sickle. There were still many of the older men who would be able to give valuable help in defining tho various styles that were recognised by tradition. Incident-ally, such work would provide constant employment for a number of families. , If the various mats, kite and baskets made by the women could ako be produced at the suggested establishment the us© of aniline dyes, which had now become so prevalent, could be discouraged, and the old Native dyes could be again brought forward. Some people would at once say, ‘ Why produce curio® for trade purposes?’ To this might be replied that the demand for such things would always create a supply, and already the country xvae flooded with greenstone cut in Continental workshops, and even worse ‘ greenstones ’ ’ which were not greenstones at all. Tourists were constantly seen departing from Now Zealand’s shores with what they fondly imagined to bo MAori curios, and these were sometimes exhibited in English ‘ and Continental collections as specimens of ‘ Maori art.’ These things might bo made by Maoris, but they were not Maori art of the old school. It was quite certain that with the increased tourist traffic and the improved facilities which Now Zealanders had for visiting their ancestral homes, there would be a greater demand for souvenirs and relics- of tho. Maoris. Why, therefore, should this legitimate demand not be met by arranging for a supply of specimens which, at all events, would conform to old canons or art, and would not mislead persons in, other countries who- based their judgments of Maori art on articles which were not made in accordance with the ancient ritual?” In any revival of Maori arts care should be taken that the question of using the best kinds of flax should not be lost from'sight. In former days great precaution was exercised in discriminating betw stjj i th© va rious/fib--ee and appropriating them to special uses. Nowadays, there was much danger of some of these kinds of flax being lost through the process of clearing the land. The Government had rightly been exhibiting great solicitude in ensuring purity of milk, butter and so on, and it is therefore argued that similar efforts should bo made to render the quality of Alaori souvenirs irreproach- . able.