ON THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 11203, 25 October 1899, Page 3

ON THINGS IN GENERAL.

| — A FORTUNE IN THE STREET. Has it ever struck anyone who "does the city " on Saturday evenings, between sunset and say ten o'clock, what a fortune there is jn Queen-street between those hours ? If lomeone, with the capacity for running a idow that Barnum possessed, could hit upon some plan by which those streams of people wandering up and down, up and down Queen-street could be induced to pass through a turnstile at a shilling per head, he would in a very short time rival Lipton's thousands. Exactly why the people throng the town does not seem clear. They waniier aimlessly from the Grey-street firebell to the wharf, and only vary the monotony by turning round and going the other way when the end is reached. What they want is some cheap place of amusement, where they can hear good music and see a good artist, for an hour or so, and then stroll out again to talk and chat, for you will observe that nearly every Jack has his Jill dangling on his arm if you scan the crowd on a. Saturday night. What they want in short is a music hall, not of course that odious kind of thing that Mrs. Chant and others so strongly protested against in London a year or so back, but a place of amusement with educative influences —a place where you promenade or sit down and hear the masters of melody interpreted •by first-class artists. For a proof that people have a liking for this form of amusement, one has only to look back at the Exhibition, which was crowded nearly every evening long after the people had seen every exhibit in the stalls. Hundreds of people went merely to heat' the orchestra, and see their friends. If 'the prohibitionists only knew it they have in this proposal a strong lever for good, because five out of every six young fellows who drop into a hotel on Saturday evening, only do so because there is really nowhere else where they can meet friends and talk over the week's events. THE KILT MALIGNED. A correspondent, who evidently hails from the other side of the Tweed, writes an indignant letter to "The General," on the insulting treatment which has been meted out to the kilt by the American people. The letter is as follows It appears that America has decided that the kilt is distinctly indecent. This has aroused the ire of a canny chiel, and he addressed the enclosed "slogan to his countrymen, through the medium of a London paper, recently. It must be read slowly and impressively to be appreciated. It will, nae doobt, be of interest tae the pawky Scots of this toon : — foots wha line, wi' haggis fed, Fcots wi' noses whusky red, Lvin' in each droonken bed, Wakken a' o' ye. Vhatirs the rogue 'at say the kilts Are indecent ? Put the loon in stilts. Kick him for weeks and week. Wring his luggics till he shrieks. Blnid. There's bluid 'at must he spilt. Stick yer claymore tao the hilt. Come the warld at us in arms, Oor legs will shock them wi' their charms. This may be good Scotch, but it is certainly had poetry, and if no better champion of the kilt conies forward, it is to be feared that America will continue to treat what she considers scant attire with scantier courtesy. If "The General's" memory does not play him false, the incident which gave rise to this outburst of indignation occurred somewhere in the backwoods of America, where the ill-informed but strictly virtuous inhabitants protested against the performance of a Highland fling in costume. It must he admitted that the parody of "Scots Wha Hae" is a weak one. and the first line shows that the writer had in mind that famous parody which, recited in an assembly of almost cost the luckless entertainer his life. The first three lines ran: — Scots wha hae, wi' haggis fed, Scots win frae brave Jlodden Bed, Scots wha sold King Charlie's head. It is said that the stanza was not completed, in the hurry of his departure. But to return to the subject of (he kilt, it is evident that the Americans are not the enlightened peopk that we have taken them to be, if they imagine that— That which is chaste above the waist Is improper below the knee. OCR RETURNED VOLUNTEERS. ; A great deal of annoyance and heartburning seems to have been occasioned by the rejection of some of the men sent to Wellington to form part of New Zealand's volunteer contingent. One can well understand that after the amount of loyalty and enthusiasm shown on their departure from their homes, every man must have felt something of martial'enthusiasm stirring in his veins, and a final rejection at headquarters must have come as a rude shock. Auckland is not alone in having a few of her sons returned to her as not complying with conditions, but it must be felt that whether these men were competent or incompetent, a great wrong has been done them. If they were competent men, the horsemanship test, which they had to undergo at Wellington, could not have been a fair one, and if. on the other hand, they were admittedly bad horsemen, the authorities here are sreatly to blame for allowing them to forfeit their situations on the off chance of being selected. It is a. poor return to offer a pntriotic voung man to allow him to practically cut himself adrift from his surroundings, and then send him back to his native place, to be sarcastically told by his fellows 'to " learn to ride a wooden horse. Such conduct, besides betraying an utter want of feeling, will, no doubt, have the effect of making volunteers more chary of offering their services, only, as thev would express it, " to get their leg pulled. THE EMANCIPATION OF THE CHURCHWOMAN. The Auckland churchwoman has at last, obtained her due from a liberal-minded Synod, and will in future be able to secure a' fair amount of representation by voting at parish meetings, and at the election ol synodsmen. It is remarkable that this power has been withheld fot so long, and it now remains to lis seen whether the gloomy predictions of the opponents of the innovation will be realised. " What is the use of granting a vote to women ?" urged one member, "Thev don't want it, and probably will not use it." But it is surely fair and reasonable to assume that as church women are willing to do far more than their share of parish work, they should have some voice in the conduct of parish affairs. Several supporters of the measure were most candid in their comments on the want of interest .n church matters shown by their own sex, and equally warm in their commendation ot the efforts'of the womenfolk. And so, after much irrelevant discussion, interspersed with more than the usual amount of slush ana Bentiinentalism, the measure got through, and another step in the emancipation ot women was recorded. Where we will bring up eventually it is hard to foretell, possibly women will usurp the cassock and gaiters and lawn sleeves, and man, poor man, may vet be driven to scrubbing the church floois and collecting at church bazaars, with ever a " longing lingering look behind at the good old days when members of his sex were wont to conduct matters with exclusive ownership. OUR UNDERPAID CLERGY. Another matter must strike the casual listener at the debates of the Synod. Heports on various missions are gone through in all their tedious lengthiness, and new funds are piojccted, with terrifying suggestions of house-to-house collections and other means of worrying the overburdened taxpayer. But never one word about a subject that must be palpable to everyone present, and that subject is the miserably inadequate pay received by some of the clergy. It 18 all very well for city canons and archdeacons to sit dewr and devise interesting schemes for converting the heathen, but they should never forget the truth of the old maxim, "Charity begins at home." The avenue to a churchman's career at the present time is by no means broad and green, but is beset everywhere with difficulties that might well deter young men from following the calling. Hie average curate, in addition to pursuing his theological studies, has to devote limself to parish work, and is as a rule miserably recompensed, receiving in many cases less pay than a boy just leaving school.. And yet presumably lie has to dress decently, i in order to fulfil the precepts of the church, % an( l spend not a little in the purchase of exv pensive theological books, It is hardly likely that a change in this direction would i=L\ make a curate's existence rosy enough .to excite cupidity, and it must be felt that a ]i\ change is imperatively necessary. Some of. fei'' the country clergy, too, are wretchedly paid, §£ and it has been stated that the Maori clergy Jpi- on an average receive a lower rate of' pay Mk than common labouring men, in spite of the l j ~ fact that they are supposed to have - culti- | . vated tastes, and to regard as necessaries {;?• wha* their ancestors would have looked upon » luxuries. The Gbhbiui* • I Mi ■