LOCAL GOSSIP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15002, 25 May 1912, Page 1 (Supplement)

LOCAL GOSSIP.

BY MKROUTIO.

BiSPOP CSOSSLUT having set the ball roll•c the Auckland pulpits are resounding with more or less illuminating disquisitions on that fascinating but weird problem, « What becomes of us after we are dead ?" If all the pulpits in Christendom were to eM tho task of solving the riddle, from now till the crack of doom, I doubt whether they .vould get much further than they are to-day. Away back in the early history 0 the human race, it may be millions 0 vears ago, when man first raised his eyes to "the starry firmament, he probably wondered whether life existed on the mysterious globes of light which he beheld hanging in the sky. He knew nothing then of tie science of astronomy, but though we can peer now into the depths of the heavens, and can measure the weight of a planet, and foretell the coming of a comet, man is stilt wondering whether the celestial bodies are inhabited, and knows no more on that subject than his primordial ancestor.

I turn from the theological speculations of to-day regarding the after state, arid taking down my Plato, read what the pagans of twenty-four centuries ago had to M v on the same interesting theme. Listen to Socrates talking to his friends, Cebes and Simmias, a few hours before his death. " Beyond all question the soul is immortal and imperishable ; and our souls will, indeed, exist in the other world. Now we can see how terrible is the danger of neglect. For if death had been a release from all things, it would have been a godsend to the wicked ; for when they died they would have been released, with their gouls from the body and from their own wickedness. But now we have found that the soul is immortal ; and .so her only refuge and salvation from evil is to become as perfect and wise as possible. For she takes nothing with her to the other world but her education and culture; and these, it is said, are of the greatest service or of the greatest injury to the dead man, at the very beginning of his journey thither."

Socrates then proceeds to unfold what he and others thought occurred when the body died. He says : " The genius who has had charge of each man in his life, proceeds to lead him, when he is dead, to a certain place, where the departed have to assemble and receive judgment, and then go to the world below with the guide who is appointed to conduct them thither. And when they have received their deserts there, and remained the appointed time, another guide brings them back again after many long revolutions of ages. . . The orderly and wise soul follows her leader, but the soul which lusts after the body flutters above the body and the visible world for a long time, and at last is forcibly and reluctantly dragged away by her appointed genius. And when she comes to the place where the other souls are, if she is impure and stained with evil, then everyone shuns her, and will neither be her companion nor her guide, and she wanders about by herself in extreme distress until a certain time is completed, and then she is borne away by force to the habitation which befits* her. But the soul that has spent her life in purity and temperance has the gods for her companions and guides, and dwells in the place which befits her." Socrates was a wise man, but his wisdom was not great enough to enable him to fathom the unknowable, and though wiser men have } lr*ed since his day. never yet has such wisdom been vouchsafed to any mortal.

It is a far cry from Athens to Waihi, but what is transpiring in that modern mining town has a more direct and vital concern for thousands of men and women than all that was ever said or done in the classic capital of ancient Greece. There is probably no tragedy in industrial life comparable with that when work in a great mine ceases. The society which had grown up around the mouth of the shaft is stricken with disintegration and despair,* businesses hng.ish and finally decay ; homes are rooted tip and destroyed; families are broken up and scattered; old associations come to an end ; old friends part for ever, and life for thousands is never the same •a before. That is what happens when a mino gives out, and it is no longer possible to work it at a profit.' But that is what happens, though in a lesser degree when a strike brings all operations to a standstill. And in addition the sluice gates of creel suffering are opened, and innocent women and children are made to feel the pinch of hunger. Ido not envy the men whe have been instrumental in bringing about the present state of things at'Waihi. Their responsibility is greater than I should care to be saddled with. The present time, however, in not one for indulgutgih blame or criticism. .What everyone desires to see is the speedy termination of the strike in the interests of all concerned . —its speedy termination on a basis that will give a. guarantee of a definite and 'Ipsaroanent settlement.

Nero, we are taught to believe, fiddled »hile Rome burned. What are the Government doing to extinguish the industrial Conflagration that seems to be breaking ;,ottt in different parte of the Dominion'/ You ;ill Imrdly credit it, but nevertheless it is a fact, that they are actually issuing :'■:.*■ small pamphlet to show why honey ;■' Mould be eaten! They tell us that " not ;■only. is honey the most wholesome of all »«eets, but it is the most delicious. No preparation of man can equal the delicately.Havoured product of the hive. Millions of flowers are brought under tribute, presenting their tiny cups of dainty nectar .w.; be -gathered by the busy riflers; and ''hen they have brought it to the proper : ..consistency, and stored it in the wonaiouily wrought waxen cells, and sealed ,» With coverings of snowv whiteness, no »«e tempting dish can grace the table at 'to most lavish banquet." All this is very Wetty and interesting, but is this a time , to be talking about honey?

Has the press being doing an injustice ; W the new Minister for Labour, or is Mr. Wurenson getting a trifle mixed ? One ■ ™? the public is informed that Mr. Laurtold a reporter that he had been in , communication with the Waihi , wgine-drivers, and the next day Mr. Lauren is credited with having told another r* r was it the same—reporter that neither j*;n 0r the Labour Department has had f| wmraunication with the Auckland or : j"'Waihi engine-drivers. The secretary w« j lB Auckland Engine-drivers' Union °° a uone his best to confound Mr. Lauren- ™{' or the reporter, by stating that he did SWaph tb the Minister, and he pays the e |?«ph Department the compliment of *S*» Bat ' n c * ue season i fc brought him a »ft , etna P s there are more happenings labour Department than are dreamt s>y Mr. Laurenson.

of my acquaintance tells . *:wat he received quite a shock when ■'&&s.> on the authority of Mr. Ewingor\L ' at at Waipa and Waiotapu " each goiter l ants 100 (not 100) trees a tri«l ' ' and some have planted 1600 •Ewfoif ' lay -" * suggested that Mr. lairi?. l trees were probably not as 'M"Mt an orchardist called " trees," littk'hi *?' ' n ? ton meant just putting tttil j— into " oles already prepared a* fl , ea s ln £ round them. But even then Mm , l st friend refused to be coml>ltofei. and insisted that if such wonderful ■'■■■• ! PS WWe em Pl<»yod in a State orchard drive F J M Was once proposed, they would Ha . a e ?L tllß Chinese out of the business. liP? 1 100 ° a day meant 125 every '$&'&* two and " a bit" every minute, a trte an y chardist who could plant wS®Ssi&± few minutes was a pretty tint ffir 1 - Nevertheless I am confident l«e«r W » : * m ß ton was rj '&> if * oal^ *** to explain it. 7