WITH THE BARDIC CLAN

New Zealand Times, Volume XXX, Issue 6492, 11 April 1908, Page 5

WITH THE BARDIC CLAN

Song sweetens toil however rudo the sound.—Prior. THE MESSAGE OF STARS. ‘Air Nikola Tosta, the American Inventor, is about to attempt a feat which. Sir Hiram Maxim has declared, wIU- bo the nest great achievement of science; namely, to bring the * artli into communication with the planet Mars/*—Says a contemporary. The silent moon and silent stars. The yet unspoken word of Mars. Or signal from the sky— For these things science hopes and waits. Least, so Sir Hiram Maxim states. And people wonder why. If men could sc© such things to-day So many million miles away What would their signs avail? With other worlds at beck and call. The mighty constellations all Would tell a wondrous tale. Good wishes wo wrmld interchange. And busy keep their stock exchange; '‘Gilt edges,” quote a few From ordinary little “floats’’ To “corners” of the wildest oats We’d show them how to do. It seems to mo that men aspire To knowledge which they don’t require In this cur present state; We talk of neighbours in the sky. Ignoring those who live close by, And leave them to their fate. Man/ not content with earth alone. Would telegraph or telephone Till gossip crowded spacej Already clust’ring clouds of wires Entwine the chimney stacks and spires. The latest news to trace. Why look for signals from the skies While everywhere before our eyes Are duties clear and plain? The truest scientific plan Protends th© greatest good to man. Diminishing his pain. So much is science gossip worth. Gazing at stars, neglecting earth; Behold our slums and poor. The things which men are meant to trace Aro not a million miles in space. But at our very door. JOSEPH WEBSTER. TO WHOM WAS THE SERMON PREACHED The minister said last night v says he, “Don’t bo afraid of givin’; If your life ain’t nothin’ to other folks, Whv what’s the use of livin’?” And that’s what 1 say to my wife, says I, “There’s Brown, that mis rablo sinner, He’d sooner a beggar would starve, than

give A cent towards huyin' a dinner. I tell you our minister’s prime, he is. But I couldn’t quite determine. When I heard him givin* it right ana left. Just who was hit by the sermon. Of course there couldn’t be no mistake. When ho talked of long-winded prayin’. For Peters and Johnson, they sat and scowled t 1 At every word he was savin'.

And the minister he went on say, “There’s various kinds'of cheatin’. And religion’s as good for everyday As it is to bring to mcetin’ I don’t think much of a. man that gives The loud AmenS at my proachin'. And spends his time the following week In cheatin’ and overrcachinV -'N I guess that dose was bitter for A man like Jones to ©waller; But I noticed he didn’t open his mouth, ■ Not once, after that, to holler. Hurrah, says I, for, the minister — Of ooutso’l aaid it quiet— Give us some move of this open talk; It's very refreshin’ diet.

The minister hit ’em ©very time; And when he spoke of fashion. And a-riggin’ out in bows and things, As woman's rulin’ passion. And a-comin’ to church to sec the styles, I couldn't help a-winkin' An' a-nudgin’ my .wife, and says I, “That's you,” And J guess it set her thinkin’.

Says I to myself, that sermon's pat; But man is a queer creation; And I'm much afraid that most o' the folks Wouldn't take the application. Now, if he .had said a word about My personal mode of einnin', I'd have gone to work to right myself. And pot sat there a-grinnin'.

Just then the minister says, says he, "And now I've come to the fellers Who've lost this shower by usin' their friends ; v. As a sort of moral umbrellers. Go home," says he, "and find your faulty. Instead of huntin’ your brothers'; Go home," he says, "and wear the coats You’ve tried to fit on tho others."

My wife, she nudged, and Brown, he , winked. And there was lots o' smilin'. And lots o* lookin' at onr pew; It set my blood a-bilin'. ; Says I to myself, our minister Is gettin' a little bitter; I'll tell him when meetin's out, I ain't At all that kind of a critter.