All Sports Of People

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 97, 10 May 1902, Page 3

All Sports Of People

MISS Floionco Balsamic the lad\ loctarei, who is at piesent m Wellington, filing the fust tow shots in an ante-election battle against intemperance, howevei formidable an opponent she m.u appear an a. public platform. is not at aIL a dangeious person to meet 111 pmate. Miss Balgarme Mill paxdon us foi raying that she is a distinctly mationlv-lookmg ladv, amply fashioned, and lacking the hard look that is generally associated with female reformel % Whether 01 not the cyclone the ship in which she ;ourneved from S\ dne\ struck is an earnest of storms to be oncounteied here, is pioblematical, but that she will be able to cope with them theie is no doubt Miss, Balgarme come& tiom Scarboiough the Queen of the Noith of England watering places, and hei fathei is a Scotch clergyman She was not bi ought up to total abstinence, and her views on the subject ha\e been formed on the basis of her on 11 observation. She studied and passed examinations in logic political economy, and languages 111 England and Geimam 'TVas in Geimanv she conceived her strong d'shke to intemperance Note that l.er great-grandfathei was a brewer, hei fathei '% most trusted friends were brew ei s and alcohol was not nrohibitod 111 the Balgarme household She has seen underground Chinese dens, m San Francisco and Chicago, and ha.s smelt their fiagrance. and has seen the absinthe dens of Pans in their hideous ness She has traversed Fiance to pick up points about the martyred Maid of Orleans, and she has seen a good many coffin "'lails" driven in Ceylon She has stood at bay when an audience got beyond bounds, and she glones m a hot tune when the audience is not sanctimoniously limp and limph uninterested * # * In the Yosemite Vallev (United States of Ameiica) once she wa,s tia^ellin~ in a coach bound for battles with beei The only othei pa.ssengei was an English officer Snow slips abounded I>nvei veiled. Look out!" and uimpecl Officer commanded Miss Balgarme to jump likewise, and obeyed his own woid of command at the same time Below in the canvon. a pulp of six horses and a mail coach, and above the coach-wiecked tno Nearly as exciting as a hot mppting with anti-prohibi-tionists piedominating * * * The strenuous temperance lectures*, had never suffered anv illness until she got to Australia, which is the countiv you go to for a weak chest. Australia gave her a big welcome and pleurisy ' She is on the executive of the Women's Liberal Federation in England, of which Lady Carlisle is, president, a member of the Scarborough School Board, and secretary of the Women's Suffrage League. She is a clever writer, and for vears contributed to London "Echo " * * * She met Mr. Woollev in London recently Did he like New Zealand p Well, if he lived his life over again, he would like to be born in New Zealand, and live here always. Awfully kind of thei picturesque prohibitionist ' She has a brother who is a selector in Queensland and he journeved from the land of sin. sweat, and sorrow, to see her in Sydney. She goes to Bananaland when

she has done with us The hospitality of the colonies is the most lemarkable thing about ils, the audiences critical and sharp at picking up points, and e\tiemeh mqiusitne That is what the ladv lectuier likes. She believes m tlie colonial note of intei logation Ovei in Sydney , the othci da^, Mi James Raw son Baptv sought to obtain an injunction to restiam that charming act less Janet Waldoit fiom appealing in As You Like It " Baptv wa^ formerly manager of the compam and his affidavit mentions a few details. He affirmed that Mrs A. D C'urner, the clever stage managress was leallv piopnetress of the show , and that he Baptv, found about £900 at Bombay to 'enable the troupe to tour West Austiaha and New Zealand He also swoie that Mrs Cuirier went fiom New Zealand to Sydney to arrange for the appearance 1 of the whole company there under Mr. Williamson's management and that when he (Bapty) arrived lie was surprised to find Mrs Cumei had oulv arranged for Miss Waldorf and herself at a, joint salary of £10 a week • * * Miss Waldorf, in reph . explained that the agreement with Mr Bapt\ expired in three weeks, and that he could not possibly arrange for the appearance ob the compam in that time. At am idte, James Rawson Bapt\ does not <.eem to have got hi« injunction ten Janet Waldoif has already made her debut, and installed herself in the good graces of the Sydney public. • • * Onslow residents ha\e occasion to be pi oud of their new mayor In Mr K B Williams they have a gentleman whose ability and address well bents him for any such position. He is an American without an accent, and he certainly does not consider that he is "the only pebble on the beach.' Mr. Williams was boin at Augusta, in the State of Georgia, thirty-eight years ago and his earliest memory takes him back to the time when he a dark-eyed, dieamv little coon of five, lifted up his voice in church to help his mother His parents early saw signs of vocal talent in him, and later on. when he went to Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute a seminary devoted entirely to the education of people of negro extraction, thanks to the energy of that great coloured man. Booker 1 Washington he forced ahead at such a rate that his masters pi evicted for him a distinguished career He left the normal school, and continued his studies at Wilhston Seminars winch institution also owes it* splendid results to the tireless Booker Washington and qualified for the universities He entered Uncle Samsgieat university of YaJe in 1885, and obtained his arts degree. Also, he played football and baseball with all his might. B\ the way, a Lance man asked the new mayoi why Americans placed the game with quilted clothes, masks, shin guards anklets, and pads He explained that the season is very short, frequently the ground is as hard as iron with frost, and the pads are a protection against mother earth rather than against brother collegians. The colleges pla>, a football tournament through the season, and the two best teams compete on Than ksgn ing Dav the last Thursday in November. They olav the Rugby game, with eleven men a-side. In one of the great matches between Yale and Harvard Mr. Williams played. The snow had to be removed from the plaving ground nreviousiv. and all the pads were needed' When Mr. Williams grew to mail's estate, it is not necessary to tell Wellingtomans that his voice was a thing of beautv He joined the Fisk Jubilee Singers, after leaving college and toured the world with that tuneful crowd. All the colonies know something of the Jubilee Singers' quality.

Mr Williams was biought up v ltli a lound tuin m Victona. Theie he met the lady who became his wife, and the Jubilee' Singers w ere soon to lose him When he oame to New Zealand, lie was so charmed w ith it that he made up his mind to uit travelling, and settle here. What a boon lie was to the musical w oriel of Wellington can be ascertained fiom the Messrs. Hill, Mr. John Piouse, and other well-known Wellington musicians He had never, as 1^ gc norally understood, previously studied law, aiiid he "swatted" his examinations in Wellington, and pa-ssed with flvma; colours. He obtained also an ad cundem art& degree in the New Zealand University, and set up a law office on Ins own " He did more sinking than law for a good time, was leader of Weslev church choir foi three yeairs. St Mark's foi one year, and of the Tor; ace Congiegational church choir for two or thiee years. He seems a tnflo partial to mixed religion. Although it is so many years since Mr. Williams left Yale, his old college chums keep him supplied with news about taemselves. That distinguished coloured man, the Hon. W. Jackson Lvons Registrar of the United States, is a good friend and a fine correspondent You will find his name on Treasur\ bills and bonds, and he signed all tin- bonds during the Spanish-American war Serious, earnest, and with hi eh ideals, Mr. Williams may be relied on to use his undoubted talents in the office of Mavor of Onslow for the rateI'uneis' benefit. * •* * Mr Andrew Collins assures us that the statement that he has a daughter m the Post Office and two sons in the Civil Service is quite fallacious. He has no> daughter either in the Government or m private employ, and only one son— not two — in the Civil Service. This is Mr. John Collins, who holds a clerkship in the Labour Department, which he won in open competition. He was formerly a clerk in the law office of Mr Geo. Hutchison, and, when the Labour Department advertised for a clerk, young Mr. Collins, who is a smart and very capable young man, was one of about 200 applicants for it, and pro\ ed to be the successful one. Therefore Mr. Andrew Collins is not affiliated to the Civil Service to any large or unusual extent. ♦ • • Mr. H. W Haybittle, of Palmers* on North, and bi other of Wellington Fred of that ilk, holds a novel record He has boarded in one hotel for twenty-two years. The Royal Hotel is the honoured hotel. Jack Plall, the proprietor, is having the place oainted at present, and Mr. Haybittle speaks of the ingenuity of the painter in devising warning words to wayfareis to beware of the paint. Of course, one board reads "Mind De Wet Paint " This has been an original joke for two veal's now. Somebody happened along, and prefixed "Botha" as an expression of disapproval of the damage done to his clothes. The painter genius on another wing of the hotel had gone one better. What his board said was ' Mind De Wet Paint— lt will leave a Steyn." It is understood tins joke will shortly be patented. The inventor should be protected somehow . *■ * * J. G. Lawrence Scott, retiring headmaster of East Christehurch school, of course, had the usual purse of sovereigns to go away with. He has caned hundreds of boys in Ins time. One, at least, did not resent it. The secretary of the fund received a handsome donation from a grimy worker the other day. "Thanks, very much. What name s "' "Oh, never mind the name, tell him I'm the cove he whacked more than any other bov in the school at anv time he'll know IVe got weals on mv back now , but I like him all the same." "Spare the rod and spoil the child'"

Mr. Alfred E. Sykes, whose ' Cura Cough" is known in every hamlet of the North Island, has been in Wellington during the last few days, and has been kept busy booking orders and shaking hands. They both know and aporecdate him down here. Years and years ago he v. as town traveller ini Wellington for Sharland and Company — in fact, one of the first reoresentatives of that firm on the road" dowai at Cook Strait, and up in? Wairarapa. In 1890, he made up his mind to launch out for himself, and very soon he was established as a pharmaceutical chemist at Petone, where for four years he was kept busy physickine the population into health, and giving a. w llling hand and foot between while to gain tries and kick coals for the Epuni Football Club. Petone did not exactly w ant any reference with the young chemist. It was well acquainted with, the family, for his father had been officer-m-charge of the railway workshops there. Mr Sykes was not content to vend merely the medicines of others. He was sufficiently well up in the pharmacopeia to compound a few for himself, and he struck a real bonanza when he discovered "Cura Cough," and first began to bring it under the notice of a hoarse and coughing community. And he struck another vein of rich ore when he found out the sure way to cure a raging toothache with the preparation which he calls '"Ingo." After four years, the energetic young chemist found he needed more elbow-room, and, receiving a call from New Plymouth, he went up there, and for the last eight years has been doing his part, in prolonging the lives of the dwellers round Mount Egmont, and building up the reputation of that ironsand district for the salubrity which E. M. Smith has trumpeted from the house-tops to the uttermost parts of the earth. * • » It is in Holy Writ that faith can move mountains, and, at any rate, A. E. Sykes is now proud of the faith that prompted him to move to the mountain. Of a suiety, it needed some faith, too, for he left a clear £18 a week at Petone to be"in on the bedrock of thirty shillings a week at New Plymouth. At the present time he is owner of a prosperous business, which finds employment for about nine hands. But. Mr. Sykes did not sit down behind his shop counter, and wait for business to come to him He let the people know by new spaper advertisement what he could do for them when their breathing apparatus went out of gear, and then he started out on his bike to drive his fact? home. He has travelled a lot on that bike of his in the cause of suffering humanity. • • • There was one trip, for instance, from New Plymouth to the Thames, during which he saw and put up with quite a lot of funny things. Up at Karioi, at the foot of Mount Ruapehu, he had to shoulder his machine, and cany it. for six miles through the slush. At one resting place, in the Thames Valley, he found himself in the company of Indian hawkers, and discovered that a colony of fowls used the travellers" bicycles as tli ear regular roosts, and left them plenty of occupation for the following morning. Mr. Sykes now does that sort of travelling by deputy, and "Cura Cough" and find their wav all over the colony without needing anyspecial introduction. They speak for themselves. * * « Victor J. Daley, the Australian poet, whose, graceful and picturesque verse is so widely read in the colonies, has fallen into bad health. And just now his friends in Sydney are raising subscriptions to send him on a, wintering trip to the South Seas. .Local sympathisers may send their r practical sympathy in coin of the realm to . the "Bulletin"

Sergeant-Ma )oi Ranisa,\, who lias iu s * letiied horn the police toicc an a weileamed su pel animation allowance, is well-known in Wellington, wheic up till same eight veais ago, he was one or our mo s>t familial in&titution.s. "ho does not lemember the builj, hfteonstone figure and the full, round face of the sergeant who was in charge of the Lambton Quay station, and used to cross swords with Tommy Wilfoid and other budding advocates over the b.M Court table in Inspector Thomsons time'- And what a lot of excellent stones, theie were extant of which tJie gallant sorgeant-maior was the hero 01 central figuie. Here is one of them which ma\, or may not, be true — * * * It relates to the time when Ramsay was meiely a full private m the • foorco" down at Dunedin He wa,s told off to look after some bather^ who were alleged to be shocking the proprieties bv bathing on t.he foreshore mit nodings on." The vigilant officer concealed himself at a point of vantage, and was rewarded bv the sight of two adults dipping. A charge was laid and t.he offenders dulv appeared at Court to account for their goings-on. Ram?av was put in the box, and got on all right till the lawvei for defendants cioss-ex-amined him * * * Queued the counsel You saw defendants plaintlv?" I did." How fai off were thev?" 'A hundred yar-r-ads." What were the sexes?" "Dunno " "What, you sav vou sun them plainly, and yet vou cannot tell us the sexes?" I cannot." And the case, of course, collapsed On the rising of the court the lawyer twitted Ramsav on his innocence. How the divil did I know- if they were Protestants or Catholics?" Tableau Mr. Fan, who was defeated b> Mr. Tarr for the mayoralty of Karon, does not seem to be fretting himself to death over it. Karon-ites, according to Mr. Fair do not want progress, because it increases the lates The people of the borough leason that, as their parents drove in bullock dravs, those vehicles are good enough for them. It does not matter that all the other suburbs are goin? ahead strenuously to improve themselves, Karon will preserve her magnificent isolation. Some of these bright mornings, Mr Farr fancies Karon will wake up to find its population emigrated to Island Bay, or elsewhere, especially if the Melrose mayor gets that extension of the tramway. You would haidh imagine, to look at Mr Fan, as he sits crouched over his architectural draw Hiss that he had been a bicycle champion in his day. He hails from Chnstchurch, and is a Christ College boy. In earlier years he was one of the first to ride the high bone-shaker bike in Christchurch, and he instituted the Pioneer Bicycle Club, and was it^ captain for some years. He won the ten-mile championship aw av back in his vouth, and was going to try on the same day to capture the five-mile also. H^> wa.s dressing for the> event, and a betting man came along to the tent. He was anxious to know if he w as going to start. Why? Oh, because he had some money on him. Such an antipathy had Mr. Farr to betting that he went out of bike-racing there and then. And still the Karori people would not elect him mayor ' Mr. Farr's father was known as the "Antediluvian." He came to' the colony m April, 1800 eight months before the first four emigrant ships. The antediluvian and his wife were the first white people to marry in Canterbury. When Mr. McDonald resigned the mayoralty of Karon, twelve months ago, the Council

elected Mi. F<\\i to the majoialt\ \\ hat gigantic schemes for the piogiesfe at the mountainous boiough must fall thump,!! now that the people piefei .1 Tan to a Faj 1 is impossible to estimate The late Fied Vause, ionneih piopnetoi ot the Wakatu Hotel, At Nelson, did not live long aftei peifoimmg has sensational tea.t of entering the Wn tli's tigers' cage. Appaiently. the daring Boniface was m peifect healtli when he braved the perils of the felines' den, and careeied around the cage in the tiger-drawn chariot He fell sick almost immediately afterwards, and died on Apul 30th. The pluck\ hoteJket per had more than a local reputation foi leckless coinage It is a commentary on the mutability of human affairs that he should safely brave the ferocity of those denizens of the forest to fall undei the dread hand of disease a few v eeks latei . * * ♦ Mr. P. L. Hollings, Masterton's new ma^ or, is a humourist Returned by a majority or six, the Masteiton people say he buzzed with merriment. When he «aid he was too full for woids," the populace veiled 'No'" and asked him to 'come an' 'ave another," and when he remarked that they had turned the ;\ oung hor«e into a mayor," the piize pumpkin giower reckoned he couldn't beat that much. He s>aid he would do • in the past what he had done in the futuie." Who knows what the past has in stole for us? Mr. Richard How ell, of Maharahara Hlast Woodville, is a fortunate kind of poet. He has been pouring out verses of a nia>rtiaJ and pathetic style concerning the \anous battles, sieges, fortunes" through which the New Zealand Contingents have passed in South Africa, and he has taken the troubled bring them under the eves of Roberts, Baden-Powell and other British generals, who have not only not begged Mr. Howell to desist but say they liked his veise. Finally, he sent a copy of his poem, "The Gallant Seventh," to King Dick who liked it so well that he ordered 500 copies just before leaving die colony. These he intends to distribute during his travels abroad. We aie afraid, when this news gets abroad, there will be a horde of wild-eyed, longhaired poets and poetesses at large in this colony, and on their way to Wellington to demand from Sir Joseph Ward the reason why no order for 500 copies of their immortal lingoistic jingles has reached them from the Government The Princess Radzivill, who waft sentenced at Capetown last week to two years' imprisonment for forging the signature of the late Cecil Rhodes, belongs to one of the oldest and proudest families in Poland. In the sixteenth century one of her husband's ancestois was Queen Consort of Poland, and, like many another queen, had her unhappy romance and an untimely death. She was secretly married to the heir to the throne before he succeeded When her husband became King of Poland, the nobles were' enraged with their rovai master for allying himself with Barbara Radzivil, and urged him to divorce her and make a fresh alliance with some roval famih but the sovereign was a lover as well as a king and he positively refused to divorce his

beautiful spouse. She was crowned Queen Consent two yeais aftei the accession oi her husband, and six months aftciwaids died, poisoned it was supposed, by bei bitter enemy, the King's mothei The Pnnce&s, who made so free with Cecil Rhodss's, name, wa>s the daughter of a Russian Count. *■ * * Seigeant James Conn, who hails horn Dunxxlm, and belongs to the Seventh Contingent, did his full share in the fight at Bothasberg. He leceived a bullet near the hipbone, which opened up a. tunnel through his body like a young donga," as the hospital nurse remarked. His hat and coat were riddled with bullets, and he is keeping as a cu.io the handkerchief that he earned in Ins .ight pocket, because it has eleven bullet holes through it. Seigeant Conn can positively account for at lea^t one Boer. This individual rode straight at hum, shouting Hands up," and leceived a, full dose of New Zealand lead at a range of seven A 7 ards. Conn also gives the only first-person leport of Lord Kitchenei's speech to the Seventh that we have yet come across. Here it is — Colonel Porter, officers, non-com, officers and men of the Seventh NewZealand Regiment, — I rode these Meary miles to-day to tell you that I am proud of ;\ ou. The large capture of 773 Boers and also the many thousands of sheep and cattle is entirely due to the gallantry displayed by you New Zealanders. You are all an honour to the little country from which you came. lam glad to think that the Boers happened to strike against you. You taught them a lesson they will not soon forget They lost 70 killed and 100 wounded. I«m writing home to your Premier the new s of vour gallant conduct. Good-bve, men." * » * Gv>neial De la Rev, mlio captuied and lcleased Loid Methuen, appears to have erv favoui ah ly impressed the colonial tioopers who have come, in contact with him. One of the New Zealand men who has just come to hand from South Afnoa tells a, story in that connection, which will bear repetition. One of his felloe -passengers on the way home was a Queensland Bushman, who, along with a party of others, had been made prisoneis bv De la Rev's commando. This particular Bushman said he w r as ''gone through" very thoroughly by a Boer, who eased him of £80 that he had on his person. His protests were vain, but wooing De la Rev a few days later, he advanced boldly up to him, and made his omnlainfc, at the same time expressing his colonial opinion that stealing from the person war, not exactly accordma: to the rules of war * * t De la Rev heard the stoiy patiently, and, « hfii it was over, quietly asked the trooper if he Mould know again the Boer who had eased him of his cash. The Queenslander had no doubt he could pick him m a crowd. De la Rey paraded his commando, and the Queenslander, being sent for, speedily identified his man. The Boer was searched on the spot, and the £80 wa.s found on him It was proved to be the Quecnslandei's property, and De la Rev handed over the purse, and, under his directions, the offending Boer was sjamboked. That is the kind of man De la Rev is. There are no flies on hi lv

Mr Charles Jeffs, a Canterbury pioneer, who recently eked, at the age ot 7b, has served his country well. He married twice, and is the father of twenty-seven children, forty-two grandthildien, and three great-grandchild-len. Happy is the man who has his ciuner tull of them. Happy the man who has to supply enough of the 8d torn -pound loaf and the 5d quart of milk, and the requisite shirts and boots tor Ins twenty-seven arrows? Imagine presiding over a breakfast table laid for twenty-nine, and darning the socks of a &core and a half children, the morning fight for the blacking brushes, and the sorting out of school-books! The reiteration of the name Jeffs at school, and the pale teacher's dilemma in punishing one Jeff twin when the other offended, would be unadulterated happiness. Ma, I want a piece er breadanbufcfcer'" from twenty-seven lusty after-school throats! Oh, yes \\ e'll admit "Happy is the man who has his ouiver full," not to speak of the woman '