All Spoprts Of People

Free Lance, Volume II, Issue 98, 17 May 1902, Page 3

All Spoprts Of People

IF Dr. Peebles the much-trav-elled spiritualist lecturer now in Wellington were to shave oft his fine white beard and weai a dark wig, he might persuade the world that he w as twenty-eight instead of over eighty. He is suipn&mgly alert, well set up, broad-shoulder-ed and is young in svery respect except that of years. This youthful natnaroh, m the course of a pleasant chat, on Tuesday last, told us he was born in Vermont, down East in Yankee Land, but, although Uncle Sain was his godfather his parents were Scotch He was educated in Calvinism, and was as irrepressible as the average child of robust physique. When young Peebles began to develop in muscle, he also began to think out a, theology for him&elf . and as he took for his four evangelists, Hume Paine, Volnev. and Voltaire, he did not omte airne at orthodox results "« * * He found time to take degrees as M.D.. M.A., and Ph D in the Philadelphia Uiuveisitv, became a pastor of the Umversalist Church for seven a I years, and yearned for light on several subjects that were dark to him. A Quaker spiritualistic medium first <-et him thinking of spiritualism, and he has practically been a convert to it ever since his thirtieth year. That is to say, for fifty years his mind has been completely made up on the subject of spiritualism. If it has tended to abstemiousness, then, on that account alone, the good it does is apparent Dr Peebles neithei smokes nor drinks, and he doesn't eat animal food. • • • Although he is a medical man. he doesn't believe m diugs. He is also, as; he puts it "savage against vaccination, and he is a rigid anti-vivisectionist. His prescriptions would probably horrify the drug-giving lymph-injecting medicos of the old school He thinks there is enough brute in human nature without injecting cow . He believes m lngiene, pure living, and good diet His home practice is large, and he keelps thiee doctors- gome: to cope with disease m his own special way. During the great Civil War he lectured throughout the States on anti-slavery, and he helped Abraham Lincoln to emancipate those 4,000,000 slaves in the early sixties He wais also one of the organisers of the Good Templar movement, and wasi the first grand chaplain of the order This is Di Peebles' fourth trip round the world, and that reminds him that he was nea.rlv wrecked off the coast of New Zealand thirty years ago It seems he was proceeding to Hongkong from Dunedin, in a sailing vessel, and thirty-eight days out they ran on to an uncharted rook in a dense fog However, he got to Hongkong all right, and lived to tell the tale. Among other things Dr. Peebles is a woman's suffraeist a peace advocate. Freemason, and an Oddfellow, and he has given to literature about forty volumes, and some bushels of pamphlets. Among his best; known w-orks are "Tears of the Ages which provoked much discussion, and went into six editions, "Three Journeys Round the World " and "Death Defeated," givine the psychic secret or now to keep young • • • Has Dr Peebles ever been ill ? He does not look it. He has not an unsound tooth in his head, his eye is as brio-ht as ever, and he ha<s still an ear for^mnsic, for he was applauding; ?.s

mroiousK as a \oung 'vii at Doloios' concert the othci night H<> sa\s lie came neai cl\mg," too It was fiom vaccination' His anti-vacci-nation campaign staited from the tini" of Ins reco\erv. Dr. Peebles as we have hinted is a vegetauan. He tasted his last chop thirt\ years ago, and pork has toimd uo place m his menu toi foitv \ears or so. And he seems to thrive wonderfully well without them If \ou doubt it. just have a look at him. A B. Worthington of Temple of Truth notoriety. C'hustchurch i« still moving around. We last heard of him at Melbourne and Adelaide Now he crops up in print again He advertises thatlhehas started a "ladies jjiuld m connection with the Sydney Unitailan Church, and that in doing: so, lie is assisted bv a lady who acted in the same caipacity for him in New Zealand twelve yeans ago. A Sydney narjer advises fathers and husbands of laches intending to join the guild to inquire into the history of the- founder's career in Christ church. either bv searching the local press or through the police. Or they might, consult Mr. J. M. Hornsbv M.H.R." of the Carterton pa/per who, if we mistake not, assisted to expedite his departure from Christohurch. No doubt Mr Hornsbv could assist anxious inquirers with a testimonial. * * * Dr Kdgair Carr <=.aid a tow words, or so at the annual meeting of the National Council of Women, at Napiei last week. The doctor does not want any new women Wonder if he prefers the old brand of fainting, hysterical nonentities-, without a thought beyond pug dogs and crochet. The doctor deprecated muscularity m females. Then, he went on to say tha.t 'if, for no other reason, women should not entei Parliament, because they "« ould be physically unfit for the stiain." Dr. Carrs logic does not seem, to be very sound. Physical incapacity being the drawback to thenentrance from his point of view, why deprecaite muscularity p ♦ * * He also sand, ' Women's clubs meant neglected homes," in the same bieath that he told his hearers that they had a 'right to claim perfect equality with man." Men really do love to conserve the privilege of whisky drinking and eaird playing in the shelter at a club far from the eve of the Clnnamanraiding bobby. When woman ns*"3 to the occasion, and demands the right to gamble and hnuor up equally with man perhaps the lords of creation will how vm lop-sided their arguments aie * * * Mr. Richard Mothes, Petone's mayor is distinguished above his fellow -men in that he guided the stew of the Prince and Pnncess of Wales through the Petone workshops last year. He was mayor than, and he "got in" a<ram the other day w ithout an y trouble. Public duties take up most of Mr. Mothes days and nights. He holds every position the suburban borough council can thrust upon him. He represents Petone: on the United Hospital Board the Charitable Aid Boa.rd. and the Wellington Harbour Board. • * * He is a trustee of Wellington Hospital Board and Wellington Chantable Aid Board No other mayor in this district has ever held all .these offices in one year. Giving practically the whole of his tame to the nubhc Mr. Mothes turns ur> at every Oddfellows shivoo that comes round, and he lias the rank of Past Provincial Grand Master Also, he is a Freemason, and Past Master of the Lodge Ulster and a grand officer of the Grand Lodge of JNe<w Zealand. If any of the local institutions and societies want a guinea they make Mr Mothes a president 01 \ ioepresident, and he never refuses to be the one of to give the other

Hus new Worship ot Kaion, Mi. James B Tan, favoured us with a call the other day, and told us se~ oral things m a stentorian voice and a bluff and hearty mannei while he marked time and smote the aar with a leg of mutton fist. Here are a few of the things. About sixty-eight years ago his father had a son, and called him little Jim. The child's lungs were sound, and the street^ of Torouay, m Devonshire, resounded to his wild whoops. When he was old enough to bang" dough, bang it he did, for his father was a baker. He turned up one day at the Admiralty, having eiven up the bread business, and. lost in admnation at a boy who could give a speaking trumpet points in a heavy sale they made a jack tar of James Tarr ' Paddle steamer Argus, boss, six-gun sloop, on the West Indian station." This was before the Crimea, and Karon ought to thank providence that Mr Tarr's boat did not have to go to Russia to get blown up When the future mayor left the navy, he took to the sea, and we find him aboard the old "Maori." with a lot of settlers for New Zealand. James T'arr thought it was a tidy spot, and had ideas of coming back. He went home with what he calls one wing of the 57th Regiment, known to history as the "Die Hards." He went to the Emigration Office in London, and asked to be sent to New Zealand. "You're not the kind of man we want," was the only satisfaction he got, but Karon evidently doos not agree with that officer * * » However, James Tarr could not be bluffed, and, in 1872, he paid his own faie in the good ship Halcione. Mr John Law son, Auckland's Official Assignee, and Mrs. Napier Bell, wife of the great harbour engineer, came out in the same ship. He took to wharf lumping when he got to Wellington, and if you saw the mayoral hand you'd believe it. Also, he worked for the Town Bo*urd for a bit, but it is as the "Bashful Milkman" that he has made his mark. He has toted milk from Kajoii until the sound of his early morning tread 1s 1 the signal for hundreds of housewives to turn out, and he is the father of twelve children, seven of w horn survive, and are aU married * • • His Worship has retired from the milk trade, and Ins son, Jack Tan-, reigns in his stead. He says he is tired of milk, has kept free from lawyers and doctors, and he does not appear to be ailing anything He says he is not a saint, and, as a proof, remarks that he has stood for mayoral honours three times. This last time he has been captured. It's a little premature, he thinks, to talk of the Greater Wellington scheme, but he thinks, like the white elephant, Karon will eventually be squeezed into Wellington. He is a great advocate of economy. By the wav the Karori Council will probably behave itself during the Tarr regime, foi we should imagine he won't brook any nonsense. We will guarantee that Mr. Tarr will be heard whenever he desires to speak, even though the stiff est wind that ever blew is roaring through Polhill Gully * « • The restless, bright-eyed O'Loughhn, yclept George, who>, as secretary, buzzed around like a circular sa,w at the Liberal and Labour Federation "hop," in the Foresters' Hall, Tory-street, on Friday night, has been content, up to now, like the cobbler of history, to stick to his last — we mean hammer. George is a Wellington boy, and George's father is a Port Nicholson boy, and George's mother is a Poneke lady. His progenitors saw the light at Day's Bay and the lightsome son played his earliest pranks somewhere in the same vicinity. By the way, the Wellington branch of the Liberal and Labour Federation is the strongest in New Zealand, numbering as it does ofiO members. This is not a bad record considering that it

has been instituted but thiee years. As George points out, he performs secretarial duties foi the love of it. -*-■■*■ Mr. Arnold (J.P., and many other things) beamed around at the social, too, and looked after the money end of the show . He is the treasurer of the Association. If you are lucky enough to get a yarn on with any of the federationists, they will tell you that Edwin's heart is an expansive organ, and his pocket generally at the disposal of anybody who has been in gaol, and wants a fresh start. There were a good many beaming faces at that dance w e!l-know n in politics, and other lines of business. • • « v ' Jack" Stratford, the president of this branch of the federation, said his dancing days were done. Tom Wilford pressed the weighty Irishman to foot it, but he said he could not dance as he had a sore throat. Mr. Straford used to be a master baker, but he cast his bread, or the proceeds thereof, into the ban]*, and he is doing dqugh-ty deeds for lots of local organisations now. He was one of tlie first members of the Trades Council, and wasn't he for some time president of the hilarious Hibernian Society ? We think so. He has a richly-toned voice, and a mellifluous brogue, and the chances are he has an Irish jig concealed about him that would break out on the least provocation. » • • The Hon. James McGowan was there, but "Jimmy" did nothing but look brainy and talk to the ladies. Tommy Wilford was the darling of the hour, and he had the best-cut pants in the room. Mrs. Tasker discussed grave subjects in a heliotrope blouse and black skirt, and smiled for no one but "Our Tom." George Fisher retired, with other celebrities, to the supper-room, ate trifle, drank a modest ginger-beer, and turned up some yarn 1 ? -from the scrap-book of his memory. * * * Noticed a callow youth, with a shook of beautifully "banged" hair like an Abyssinian chief's, sawing the arm of an unoffending- girl six inches longer than himself, in an absurd manner. Wonderful what styles these society pets <ret. Wouldn't dare to ask that gorgeously hirsute one to shave us any more. Noticed , also, a gentleman of six feet two. with a chronic "string-halt," and a girl in black, with a pink patch on her bodice , he did not stop spinning like a top for two hours. Altogether, evervbodv had a jolly time and the catering was right up to the mark. Even the politicians said a good word for it. * • * Mr. Frank O'Sullivan, the rubicund herald angel for Pollards' Opera Company looked in upon us a few days ago to let us know the show was at hand. And he stayed to gossip. He tells a good one about the alleged ill-luck attaching to the number thirteen. Most theatrical people are superstitious, and the Pollard people no less than others. The management hates to commence a season on the 13th day of the month, and no member of the company will stop in a No. 13 hotel bedroom This, of course, leads to artistic shifts o.n the part of hotelkeepexs. One season, at Christohuroh, hotels were very full, and Frank, who was rather late, found, to his surorise that tihe hotel at which the company put up had a room still unoccupied after all sorts of makeshifts had been resorted to in order to provide for all hands. • * • The licensee made a virtue of the fact that he had kept the room vacant for him. purposely. Frank went to bed. tired out with his exertions. When he had fairly settled down to balmy sleep, one of the jokers of the company out his head in 'and yelled, "Number thirteen. Mr. O'Sullivan!" "What!" exclaimed the ruddy one, and hopped out of bed. He took a candle outside, and

found that the managei had caietulh pasted brown papei o\ei the fatal number. Whethei lie slept on the mat, history sa.-seth not ♦ * » By the w<n, Tom Pollard, who is a thirteen hater, also once backed that number on a totalisator for divilment The investment returned him £20. but he is not converted yet. Talking of towns, Frank O'Sulhvan gives Wellington an easy fust place among the four chief centres as a show -place. Wellington., however, does not turn out to comic opera as Auckland does. "W elhngton likes drama, and lot* of iub\ gore, circular saws, and the cold, sad canvas waves. A few Dunedinites with nothing better to do, generally stroll along to a new show, look in and meander thoughtfully homeward when it's over They don't know whether it is a good show 01 not. If it should be, they think hard over it for a veai or until the same show comes their wav again, and then they roll up in then thousands and enthuse. * « • Christchurch is a good v.et- weather .how tow n. The festive youth in the Catv of the Plains has a bike and a river and it the elements are promtious he takes his future happiness either for a spin on the bike or a row on the Avon instead of to the theatre. Of course, a kinematogranh show brings the young couples along There are opportunities in. the gloom that are always- worth the price of admission. Mr. Seed, the inspector for the Wellington branch of the S P.C.A. has giown a large heart. He did not taive up the case for dumb animals because there was money in it, for he gets a good many more metaphorical kicks tha.n half-pence. His father was the owner of a racing stable in Leamington, England, and Mr. Seed cannot ride' He has learnt the colonial accomplishment of driving a bu~q;y though, and he is. on this account, an accredited judge of horse quality. He knocked about England in pursuit of his avocation as a cabinet builder, and the cabinet woik in the law courts and other solemn buildings in London owe something to his skill. * * * However, being a Seed, his thoughts naturally tinned to sewing, and he took Singer's into his confidence, and Fold machines for that him m England for many a ears When he sold out the visible, supply, he went to Melbourne with his share of the commission, and did a. little in the general agency line, and then Singer's asked him to to Tasmania for them. Mi. Seed, thereupon resohed to face it despite Tasmanian devils," tigeis, etc., and ten feet swamp worms, tree kangaroos and 'bunyips," and he ultimately travelled every hole and corner of Tasmania He has been bushed" in the wilds more times than he can count on his fmgeis, and he ow ns he has even begged for food This is not a novelty m ' Tassy," and v.c don't know of anybody who has not demanded a pannikin of "dust" from the stations when travelling in the lonely wilds. Mr. Seed, of course, felt humiliated, but he £>ot over that m time * * » Mr. Seed is not a desperate-looking luffian, and Tasmanian travellers aie evidently pooi judges of character On one occasion while diivmg ri his bu?^ he asked a bushman on horseback the wa\ to get unbuOied At the Mime time with the instinct of the canvassei, he reached pocketwards for a card No you don't '"" veiled the terror-stricken 'bushie,' who had thoughts of pistols, and "got" as hard a«i his hoise could take him leaving the future inspectoi still bushed Mr Seed doesn't know if that affrighted Tassv is going ft

Mr Seed bought hoises toi the Singei Compaq for \eais, and this is wheae he got. his know ledge ot the beast _He lias been to Afuca, and was at Capetown before the Kimberle\ iaihwn h. itwas opened. Fortunately, toi his peace of mind, he is unacquainted with the suffeimgs of troop-horses in the wai Mi Seed lias had five children none of whom suivne. His sad losses have somewhat chastened him in spint, and he wears a subdued expression. Retiring m disposition, the sight of ciueltv dispels at once any diffidence he ma\ feel, and those people who traaifegiess the principles of humamtv know full well that the inspector can be gnmh determined on occasions. ■* * * Mi. H. Arnott, connecteel v ith the Napier bianch of the Mutual Life Association, and at one time on the staff of the Kclinbuigh ''Scotsman," is a champion golf plajer, and before he went m for tailing lives.," acted as ooach to the Palnierston North, Nelson, Blenheim and other golf clubs in the co!om What he does not know about the foozling game is .lot worth learning During last week Mr Arnott was visiting Dannevirke on Mutual life-taking business. He also found time to instruct the recently-formed Golf Club m that town in various point* of the game. The Waneanui Club is endeavouring to secure Mr. Amott's seivices as coach during the season. Since his anival in New Zealand, he has had a few exciting experiences, on one occasion being nearly orowned whilst crossing a rivei. In fact, he was given up as drowned, and his friends vent into mournine on his account. He also had the mournful s:atisfaction of reading his own obituary notice in print In spite of that depressing fact, and his habit of taking lives on the slightest provocation, he is a genial gentleman, u ith an entertaining conversational style. He will go into raptures when talking about that great journal, "The Scotsman." And the M.L.A. will go into raptures when they hear how many lives he has nobbled this tup. Two newspaper men at least fell in at Dannevnke. » • * Miss Olive Fitzs-immons who i<- at piesent musical directress of Dixs Gaiety orchestra, took to the piano at the age when most youngsters are taking to soothing; syrup She \\a«sbom in Masterton, only seventeen \oais asn

so it is not hei age that gives her a light to be called a veteian musician. She played publicly at the infantile age ot eigl-t, and she has played before the public evei sine© Her teacher was Hen Yon Reisenberg. Her father, Mr. FrUsimmor.s, who runs the Workingmen's Stoic, in Tory-street, says she cond acted her first orchestra m Dunedin, a.t the age of fourteen. The ancient pi ess of three years ago remarked that Olive could play, and up-to-date papeis do not show any disposition to question their accuiacy. * # * B-, the nay, the dark-skinned little lad.\ nont into the musical directress mdustr\ some time before Percy Dix captured her. Northcote's Kinematoeraph Specialty Company gave hei a chair and carte blanche to accompany the pictuies in her own style. She is well known at the Hutt and Petone, and is highly popular at both places. Wellington audiences have watched kinematographs to Olive's music, and have said a good many nice things about her. She is still hard at woik" stuching her art, and at such an early a.g? it is no sanall credit that fi>he has been given a position formerly occupied bv Mi Hawkin, R.A.M., and Mart amo Cadzow respectively. * * * Mi. H Fielder, whose fumituie emporium is the show - place of Manneisstreet, when he is not serving his country on the bench is engaged making them and every other kind ot furniture. Being reasonabb 7 smart, a Lance man suggested one day last week that he must be a colonial. He admitted the soft impeachment. \\neie was he bom ? In London. He left the modern Babylon when he was teething, a matter of fifty years ago. and his paients brought him up on the soil and other nourishment down in Canterbury, where \mi father kept an hotel. When the lestless youngster was big enough to lift a sciuare, and grease a saw, he leaint the "carpentering trade, and had not an idea, that one day he would contiol more haaids in the furniture tiade than anyone else in New Zealand. *■ In 1883. he came to Wellington as a builder's lournevman, and his chief implement of trade was a claw-hammer. Now lie wears a coat of that description. It seems, someone told him a ma i wa« a fool to woik for a boss, and so he took his money out of the savin e> bank employed labour, and built

up tlie handsome business with his name above the door. Mr. Fielder takes a keen and intelligent interest in civic affairs, and, although he was beaten at the last election there is not the slightest doubt that he is a coming man all right. And there will be no flies on Henry Fielder as a city father.