THINGS IN GENERAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 14934, 6 March 1912, Page 10

THINGS IN GENERAL.

i *£. >.r:;?'4 •'; ' .'* •<■ * -'" NEWS OF THE DAY.

" ■ Perhaps * the ; heaviest cross borne by a -youug man who has begun to write for '«'•••• the newspapers descends upon his , shoulders when, as the result of delicate u inquiries among his friends, ho finds that nobody lias read what lie describes in pro- | Sessional language as his "stuff." But as ho gains experience, ho takes comfort from the growing realisation that the rest of the paper gets little better attention, and r" that tho most widely-read feature is the " Births, Marriages and Deaths" corner. - Newspapers are treated by a great proportion of their readers as a sort of lucky bag or bran dip. , ' They.diva hurriedly into Iho pages, scan tho headlines, run down tho local column, and glance admiringly or disparagingly—according to their politics— the leaders. If anything stands 'out and attracts attention they really read it. But there are few items in any issue which can be said to bo assured of being lead by everyone. The nearest approach fo such a distinction probably belongs to tho reports of the accent no-confidence debate. Yet even the preliminary writings concerning that important political crisis went remarkably ill-read even by people who were interested in tho outf come of tho affair. Nearly, overy paper in the Dominion, probably, either clearly stated or left it plainly to be inferred that the first day of tho late session must be devoid of burning interest. Nothing of importance could happen on the day when the members took their seats and were introduced to each other and yet on tho • evening of the first, day the floor .of thfe House was littered, as with fallen leaves, with telegrams irom anxious' electors, all } anxious to know how the great division had gone. That is one instance of how fc «Ven the newsiest news escapes notice. It would seem, indeed, that when some item I of special interest does claim general attention, it is less because everyone has read it than because those few who have done go forthwith make themselves purveyors of the matter, and tell everyone else they meet. THE PLAYS THE PEOPLE LIKE. ' Can melodramareal, rank melodrama, with hero, heroine, villain, hairbreadth escape, and the handful of elements that always help the play along-bo defended good? There are two judgments upon this. The crowd, who attend plays, pay fo.' admission, clap the,.actors .and cheer the threadbare platitude, answer with a vast vote in the affirmative.' The critic, who with the beat intentions in the world seeks to do good by attacking what does not appeal to him, is very apt to utter an argumentative negative; and there you are. Melodrama'appeals to the people; fj - and "for them as likes that kind of thing, that's the kind of thing they like*." Of ■ course, there are melodramas and melodrama.v just- as there are boots and boots. .A kindly "gentleman who, hind; an interest in the ■ subject recently averred in the H I oouii* of a' ai»cu3sion that plays of moderate* had their justifications,, and that ay criticise them ' severely was unfair. " Onie would not, - "he said, eat a beeffg||fg> steak in a cheap restaurant, and critidao 'it ' upon the ' basis 'of ""a I"■ first-class luncheon. ' Naturally that is fc y',{so; bat on the other hand, if the steak Hg wa? tough and b'jrnt, on© would criti- j r. i cise it as a. steak • and while at a cheap restaurant one might not expect steak to be particularly tender, there is still >■ X an implied right to have even a tough steak decently cooked. Consequently a / melodrama may bo good or bad in itself, and acted well or badly. The fact that , " some melodramas are better than others surely justifies tho condemnation of bad ■ ones. , But that is not all the argument • of those who go against the popular judg- • . ment. To take it to an extreme,: public executions and hull-fights may bo im- •' mense attractions. But no one in a decent n community contends that they are good ■. .lor the people; however well 1 they • are ; performed. The" rank melodrama, "hoary of plot and crowded with sensations and impossibilities, is not atta< ki»d by writers on such 1 vigorous grounds as 1 all that. But ■". they do : seek, I think to turn the public { mond to fresh and i better . forms of 'sfif amusement. In the end there is only one :plot for a melodrama, despite its many .'.variations; and the lessen it teaches is as < good as apy sermon. But, after all, the plan's?the thing, not the lesson, and the audience attends more to bo thrilled than , to be elevated. ,The, Police Court news gl - supplies |a, summary of one aspect of human,life./It is interesting, and it is )§ useful: and it has its lessons for those who will learn them.' Yet, eagerly though many people read it, it is far from ; being a .proper thing; to take it as the staple literature of any section of the community , outside Police .Court officials. The,'oat-' and-out melodrama is a Police Court play, si) • even to the dealing out of punishment la the i villain. Of course the melodrama can be justified, as a melodrama. Its | popularity is- enormous. The entrepreneur !|||p his \ therefore little trouble in finding ■ it lypr good. ;- r It' lias ' its place in literature, like the " penny dreadfnl" and the novels of icertain ; vastly popular and ? prolific authors. But just as the "penny dreadful" is utterly: discredited, except among small boys, and the silly sentimental novel remains the pride of immature girlish V brains, the melodrama can only live upon . unctdtured tastes, and while it lives upon ; them, '-'it does' nothing' whatever to im- . prove the way for something less crude in idea. There is something about the common type : of , " blood and - thunder" K ' play which suggests salted bran—there is - a flavour, but no food. Looking upon them seriously, it is hard to know .whether to smile at their absurdity or to sadden at; their utter worthlessness.

•A JOLLY- .GOOD RAIN. How ib rained- on Monday! No halfhearted mizzle, with m steamy dampness to spoil it, but a regular downpour that wouul have wetted the Sahara it was. There are many splendid things in the Auckland climate. The sun on a really hot day is glorious to loaf and bake in. A clear summer morning would put life into a sick dog. And alongside these and other good things that are scattered among the days must bo placed a jolly good rain. Too often the 31m pokes his far-reaching noso into the business, and makes the 1 city into a vapour bath. At such times tho people who are adopting Auckland move slowly about, pull their clinging garments from them where they . irk their bodies,, and swear that they would far sooner live in the South. And the true Aucklander trots around, sweating most profusely. Ho adopts a joyful mien that is far from convincing, and tells how noon one gels used to the climate. . . True at J* muggy. February, and March are our worst months, and we expect it to be like this. Bub they say it isn't nearly so bad as nor -westers in Canterbury. "No sir V You wait till the.heat of the summer has gone off and then you'll enjoy every minute of it. There's one thing, you never get a heat wave, in Auckland i! 1 - . Ana the . new-comer mops his ;v ■ brow and remarks that if this is not a i " ■ neat wave,- it's a remarkably good imitaIV. tion. .But it ;ia not tho heat that is troubling mm. it is tho unmannerly wav tin* , ;,I over-cheerful sun has of grinning at the yi earth when the earth is indulging in a little shower. Sunshine and rain make an. 1 attractive mixture in some places: in . Auckland they make steam. . I was, how- ■ ever, writing of real rain. It comes' down V JFfjf veil - so that "a man on. one side of Queon-street cannot tell a. clergyife W a hrewer on the other. The '\ v of dimS* <i qUeer lnticß| ' forming folds , crow <i«l rain drops that 1 ' wind* 5 Tiiß^»° 9 k 8 n f; 4 ' lo aecom panying side te «l j !st, ' eet breams from tram that passes stream.of if» : takii.the,pedestrian linKStSs 8 t?tl "5 str ? of aIS the pedestrian un--1 .beneath h* umbrulla, and drench

him. The torrential showers of Auckland compel every citizen to "have at least one good umbrella, and tho proportion of leaky boots hero must be unusually small. No wonder the bootshops have attractive glass fronts! This honest and wholehearted downpour, that comes on so suddenly, teaches everyone to bo well prepared for trouble; and the unwise virgin who is caught in the rain with 110 protection is very apt to go without sympathy. On the other .hand, tho wise, in their aquascutums and beneath sound umbrellas, can watch tho falling torrents with aesthetic enjoyment, and rejoice as minute by minute the downpour becomes heavier and heavier. They know they havo but a while to wait till the rain, taking half measures neither at the beginning nor at tho end, will cease on a sudden, and the clean, cool earth will show up in fresh browns, greys, and greens, all the better for the drenching. The Aucklander goes home content, and smiles upon his cabbages ; and the new Aucklander cheers up, thinks of tho gorgeous sun that has passed, and remarks that ho never saw Buch a jolly good rain before in all his life.

Thk General.