LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14235, 4 December 1909, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

i ! • ':;. M - have audience for a word or two." ■ ''*** —Shakespere. Tub newspaper reports of Parliament would ? nc orom.>"ly unpalatable were it not for ii personal skirmishes that occasionally C"Y a piqmint sauce to them. Oddly SS&'"" the s * won of peace and goodwill * earth approaches, the frequency of these seems to increase. The other Evening Mr. Dillon was goaded by the memL forlovercargill Into an explosion. " I'm •'* hypocrite,'' exclaimed the so-called wool IlL'ofHftwke's Bay, "I am a straightforward man ; I »m no psalm-singing indi- ■ 'dual-" Evidently Mr. Dillon had in his Blind's eye some member of Parliament whom he suspected of cant and hypocrisy, but as no one was indiscreet enough to tit the cap. the House was deprived of what lye promise of being a lively and entertaining scene. Then came a smart passage 0 arms between the Prime Minister and iff- Baume. the learned and loquacious member for Auckland East. Alas! that Castor and Pollux should full out and call one ■.pother name-" just like any two ordinary people. ■';•: There was a time— there seveial times— it seemed not unlike' v that the portals of the Cabinet would open and admit Mr. Baume from the little knot of suppliants patiently waiting on the ministerial doormat. But all hope of ; that happening has now vanished. The Prime Minister has resented with consider* j able feeling what he describes as Mr. Baume's assumption of political arroi gance," »nd Mr. Bourne has as hotly retorted by accusing the Prime Minister of " pettiness, irritability, and, should he say, narrow jnindedness." Thus has a breach been created between these two great men, due it may be to insistent importunity and hope long deferred, and now

They stand aloof, the tears remaining Like roc** thai have been rent asunder J A dreary sea now flows between.

All romance is going out of the world. We are content to watch with unmoistened 4 «ye the passing away of Government House, and now we have an account of a royal f -wedding in the South Seas, erstwhile a itgicm of mystery and barbarism, that reads : as if the ceremony had tpken place in ParI Hell. Everything was severely conventional. Jh* wedding cake was made in Karangahap© Road, the <Inaky bride and her bridesmaids wore ihimM«ring satin costumes made in i Qoeen-sfcreels, the church was carpeted, and the organ played appropriate music. Gone ars the days in Tonga of which the poet ] wrote.—-V in summer garment* 1* our limb* arrayed, 1 Inroad our walstft the tappa's white displayed: • thick vrrath* shall form our coronal, like apring's •; iad.rontid our nocks shall glance the hooni - itrbift: ' 3 to ihatt their brighter hues contract the glovr Ot the dusk bosom* that beat high below. Yet it was here that Captain Cook and his officers narrowly escaped massacre. The foul deed v as to have been committed-while the! strangers were being entertained at a torch-light dance on shore. But the plot miscarried and the great navigator and his companions managed to get sway with their Ktw. A hundred years ago Tonga was a laud of romance. :* It is still a beautiful land

,;Inhabited by a fine native race, but its old |Slftg«ra»ed'and strictly .respectable. 1 'For rose&uwed and strictly respectable. For f •which I J suppose we all ought to be profoundly thankful. • "' ~ '

/There* is, it seems, a project on foot for gelding a great musical festival in Australia, or rather a round of musical festivals. One cannot stay the course of a river, but I sometimes wonder whether the cult of music in the colonies is going to prove an unmixed ; : blessing. At present we seem more likely to produce a race of fiddlers than * race of philosophers. For ten people : learning foreign languages there are thousands learning to play the piano. The majority of - girls' in New Zealand know far more about crotchets and quavers and demi-•emi-quavers than they do about syntax or prosody.l am a lover of music. I believe with Shakespere that the man who has no |music ini himself, nor is not moved with concord, of sweet sounds, is fit for treasons, irratagems, and spoils. . But we are in danger of falling a prey to the Syrens. We V 6 in danger of becoming a music-loving . people, which is fatal, I believe, to national |rirility.!:ln this balmy climate we want rousing and Invigorating. Too much music w apt to make us a race of Lotus-eaters •no r«ntxnuntal degenerates.

When astronomers differ wise men hold jtkeir tongues. Mr. Wragge has discovered i,«nwmoas; spots on the sun, «nd predicts mm they are likely to cause earth disturTO3. m Mr. Stevenson, on the other hand, ooes not think that anything of the kind 1 likely to 'happen. The world in general goes on its way heedless of what may occur. tftat after all is the best thing it could do. « has ceased to worry about the probable °LS >BSlb,e " !l If the sun is " spotty" well and 8 0w '. We take the word of the astronomer "-fci If he tells us th.it the earth is .bound, to respond," we do not greatly. trouble ourselves. There was a time when "lew predictions would have caused many | B°od people sleepless nights, and more pangs and fears than wars or women have. . But $■ are all wiser no *- We say "how interesting," and go our way thinking no pore of . the matter. And in the long run Nothing happens. < '

Btrikes JUst now are '" the air, which , fjfnapa.accounts for a dream which one ; ni«»,r *L o,re »P°ndenls had the .other and i, . ' dreamt he was in heaven, m heardt a labour agitator say to a ff HP. of horny-handed angels, " Bio wed 15-7 hu * n ' l admitted a non-unionist. if2f?''-W» * hrow down your harps and 8° on strike." * l

lu,y v° t tci J. hear and read of Baboo Eng-!&-^Maori English has also a disS2l? et H. , ' of its own - An exchange * M tho allowing as an example :—

"To Mr ,_

food J r had . Men this house. I had a 'MM.-: i x * l **>' is not worco more then And *f l . oin K to S iv « you— 10s. m ! leve the house were it is, just in™ 1 * 'Ending now, because bho bildS "°h ver good to sift it. The floor '■■'■*L "' and il nev last for twoo C y T' my friend - I like to stay Bt«v.j *u to far away from the coach tal* ' th ;, the neares to the stable the EM r g° od ,J;hmg.of it only the iron; 28 ->2 r£Z' }*& lor,R > 9fefc high, 7 wide ' »a fi? i U8e ' 2 window are broking. *■%s?*?. \ dor rot very good, JS» r fcWfj no paper, ling Ringing jr not cloce ' toel f, ei . bedroom, water ■«"»«—\our faithfully friend, MB, " N,N ' K » PETKK PfHANOr, HS^ 6 Replied. Taranaki." n ....-".'. qP:-i is another $i. : fi- i 8 notice to a' l the. pakheas ■$*J*«i« •■"/ not t0 g° fol ' to cut 80me fflmtu- !■!*■?*'■ on Hen&rca land. Must J » to-day. Thoso pukehas who do »»"'m" ai ' M lai,d no excuse. Those WwiK«al:^ wood -I take the -court. Bow Henares land no excuse. Those *«« the wood I take the court. mm aotiee.—(Signed) Hknare Miaccno,