LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 11783, 12 October 1901, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

*' Let me have audience for a word or two." —Shakespere.

The function of the reunion of old colonists passed off very successfully, and was a credit to all concerned. One marked feature of the affair, and a pleasing one, is that the descendants are combining to pay honour to the few pioneers that are left : paying that homage to age which is so sadly wanting in the rising generation. If it were only for the moral influence which this commemoration has in that direction it would be worth all the labour and money involved. It is a saddening thought ;■> think that soon the la.st of these whitehaired men and women will have passed from the scene of action, and that their places will know them no more. 1 doubt whether some of them will ever sec another anniversary, judging from their feebleness. There was one amusing incident in the speech-making at the commemorative service. One of the speakers was holding forth on this land as " flowing with milk and honey." when the pioneers arrived, when another speaker, seeing that he had got his comrade on the hip, said that some of the earlier arrivals had, when they got to Auckland, found that the cow was not *' in it." As a matter of fact" the first cow imported into Auckland was brought from Sydney in the Chelydra, by the. late Mrs. Coatcs. mother of Mr. Jas. Coates. of the National Bank, and came in charge of the late Jerry Waite. lam afraid that the "milk" which the perfervid orator saw "flowing" must have been from "the cow with the iron tail," but then there was not even a " bloomin'" pump!

There is one matter which should be seen to in the Cost-lev Homo, mid that is that the law should be amended so as to g..e the manager some power of detention and control over the inmates. It is said that men can go out when they like, that the manager has no power to prevent them, and that if he attempted to do so lie could be prosecuted for a technical common assault. All that can be done after they have had a fly round is to exclude them from the Home, when they go to High-street and haunt the vestibule of the offices of the uoard, until they are let in again to the institution, till the next impulse comes upon them to come to town. There are men whom the Board can do nothing with, and are their despair. It is understood that jux. Napier, one of the members of the city, had undertaken to make representations tc get the law altered so as to make control of tne inmates more effective, but nothing has appeared in the papers as to whether he is moving or not in the matter. Tne present loose state of affairs must be destructive of discipline, as some of the inmates, old " sea lawyers," are just as well up in the legal aspects of the case as the Board or the manager.

A parson the other Sunday was speaking of the use of " D.V." (God willing), and said that its use for common events was likely to bring the phrase into ridicule. There were some people who would not, insure their property or their lives, as indicating a mistrust of Providence and set- < ting aside by implication the divine controlling power. In this connection I remember a good story. A pedantic schoolmaster in Auckland advertised that he would " open an academy in Chancery-street on Monday, D.V." But he inserted the words in full Deo volente. The active and intelligent printer's devil wrestled with the conundrum somewhat unsuccessfully. The , schoolmaster, to his horror, next morning i saw in all the glory of leaded type that he would open the academy on Monday, " Deo volante." He went- round to the newspaper with- a club, but the P.D. lay low. and thus escaped the indignant punishment which the irate demagogue intended t) inflict upon him.

At the social given to Mr. J. Currie, late town clerk of Grey Lynn Borough Council, some curious facts were brought out. It was stated that some poor people who could not pay their rates had had them paid for them by Mr. Currie out of his own pocket. So carefully did he finance the borough that from beginning to end of the history of the Council they had not had to pay more than £40 for interest on overdraft." He had held almost every office under the Council, half-a-dozen of them outside his office of town clerk, and was therefore a sort- of Pooh-bah, with this distinctionthat the ratepayers got all the benefit of it. Mr. 8. C. Brown referring to MrCarrie said he was not " smart" enough, but a plodder and honest as the day. He was now going into well-earned retirement, having a row of houses. Mr. J. Rosser said, amid roars of laughter, "And yet you say he is not smart!" Mr. Brown said in Mr. Curries case it was " the power behind the throne, and lie paid a welldeserved tribute to Miss Currie. who had assisted her father in the work, doing work for which otherwise the borough would have bad to pay. It must be very gratifying to Mr. Currie to find his work and himself so thoroughly appreciated. As Mr. Ambury said. "When old servants come to give place to others, they generally got the oack door, or people paid for a cab to their funeral, and thought they had done enough when they had done that. It was a comfort to any old servant, and especially to an old public servant, to remember in his old age that his set vices had been appreciated in his day, and that his name was remembered. - ' As a collector Mr. Currie was immense, and it may be said that Grey Lynn lost less rates than any Borough Council, for as Mr. J. W. Shackelford very truly said in Kiplingese of Mr. Currie—

He is little, but he's wise, He's a terror for his size.

In the discussion on (he Government fleet the other clay in the House Mr. Fisher stems to have "struck oil," and the most surprising part of it is. that he owns up to the fact, although oil is scarcely in his line. The wretched story of the Tutanekai's trips has come out at hist, in a sentence. Mr. Pirani, who is the Diogenes of the House, brought out his lantern and pointed out that " there had been considerable increase in the various items of the Tutanekai's expenses. The only item that there was a. saving in was washing." Yes, it all comes out in the washing, even to the guests who ate invited on the steamers and "deadheaded." It could scarcely, either, have been on the Tutanekai that the testimonial to Pears' soap had been laid to heart—" Two years ago used you* soap; since then have used no other!"

It appears that the two boys who travelled on foot from Invercargill to Dunedin, alter various hardships and adventures, in order to see their future King and Queen, the Duke and Duchess ot York, who were feted and presented to their Royal Highnesses, and received photographs with the Royal signatures, have scarcely been living up to their privileges, as they have been committed to an ° industrial " school. Certainly their inarching episode was a record of oluck and self-denial, and when they reached Dunedin. half-starved, after having slept an the way under haystacks, bridges, and in railway vans, even the police had not the heart' to do anything but shelter and succour the waifs.

It is gratifying to learn that the Southern artists are going to be represented much better during the forthcoming exhibition of the Auckland Society of Arts than they have been for years past. It has always been i matter for regret that we have seen so little of the work of our Southern artists £>£ late years, which was formerly so familiar to us. An interchange of. pictures- at the

several exhibitions between the artists of the several centres of population would ho. of the greatest advantage, would be of benefit to each and all, and have an important educational effect. In this connection I notice that Mr. E. W. Paytori, the principal of the Elam School of Art, lias been down to Wellington to consult with the Wellington authorities as to the conditions under which the school will obtain the grant under the Technical School Instruction Act. Hitherto the school has only been open for four days a week, but this month it will be opened daily, the principal giving his whole time to the institution. It is contemplated next year, in addition, to have evening classes, which is a felt want, as there are bright boys and girls who are unable to give the time to the day classes Mho could come to the evening classes.

Private letters from the Cape state that though the plague has entirely disappeared a greater plague has arisen in an epidemic of crime, the scum of the world having gravitated there. It is also said to be honeycombed with treason, notwithstanding the wearing down of the Boer forces. One writer says: "I think the war wilt dwindle on for a long time vet. Os there are at least 20,000 Boers in the held. Some of the ' regrettable incidents' neve* appear in the papers. It is stated that when order is restored there will bo a rush to South Africa from all parts of the world, and that the keen competition will bring wages down." The writer expresses his intention of returning next year to God's Own Country"New Zealand.

A lad of the. Remuera public school, expupil 11. B. Bayly, who went away with the Sixth Contingent, writing to Mr. Heriot, his old master, says, The Free State capital disappointed me, and when we arrived at Pretoria, after what I had heard of the place, I was still more disappointed. One of the very few sights to see are the artillery barracks. They are considered by the military authorities here to be the largest barracks in the world. Taking them altogether they ■ cover ten acres of ground. I had the pleasure of seeing President Kruger's residence, and that was another illusion knocked to pieces. We expected something out of the ordinary, but it was just like an ordinary house, and if it had not been pointed out to us we would have passed it by. The only distinction it has got. is two carved lions outside nil the steps." Trooper Bayly says trekking in the wet is not nice, but in good weather it is a fine outdoor life, and he. means to do his .duty as "a soldier of the King" to the finish.

The ceremony of depositing the colours of the late Thames Naval Corns (now Thames No. 1 Rifles) in St. "George's Church. Thames, on Sunday next, is an interesting and important function, and I hope to see a good attendance of Auckland volunteers. We can scarcely expect to have around the colours of our colonial corps the associations clustered around those of Imperial corps, but it is a beginning. and as time rolls on, and New Zealand becomes a nation under the protecing segis of Great Britain, the colours of our corps will become matters of deep and abiding interest. No one who has seen old soldiers leaving a regiment- for the last time, and leaving the colours under which they had fought and bled, could help noticing the wonderful hold they have upon the men's affection and reverence and the great moral stimulus they present to men to do their duty to the last.

'"Circumstances rdter cases." Formerly, when coroners' juries were not paid, a policeman would hunt for hours to catch a stray juror, as hi? presence was the signal for men to slip round the corner, in order "to see a man about a dog." Now what a change has come over the scene! They are tramping over each other's heels to "catch the policeman's eye." They fall across his path promiscuously, inadvertently, and accidentally, and are consumed with a burning desire to do their duty by their country. Even "the new J.P." does not claim the privilege of his high office, but instead adopts the Prince of Wales' motto, "Ich dien," (I serve), and pockets the official remuneration with a smug joy.

At the Ponsonby bazaar at St- John's this week Mr. Parr, who opened the function, said that he was glad to see that the Wesleyans could extend their church operations without recourse to raffling, which was only another form of gambling. It was to their credit that the Methodist Church set its face against such methods for raising money for religious purposes. Nothing could be said against the honest sale of work. It is impossible to ban gambling while the churches, or any section of them, favour ecclesiastical gambling. At the late sale of work for St. Matthew's Church there were notices posted that no railling would be permitted, which is another healthy sign. Mekcctio.