ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 7914, 25 September 1911, Page 9

ANGLO-COLONIAL NOTES

YANKEE JUDGE ON NEW ZEALAN DELS. ''TIGHTEST WADS ON EARTH." FOGWELL AND itIS CRITICS. fc'SOH OUli SPECIAL correspondent. LONDON, August Jl. “AS OTHERS SEE US.” '‘‘There's no place like home.” S<> at least thinks Mr Kelly, a M famous Virginian judge.’’ who.-** mine appears to be confined to Virginia. I ( Dis gentleman recently cornpk-n-il a wond tour, during which lie travelled sonic 2-MMJ miles and sampled a good bit oi King George’s dominions. Tim result is that he is glad to lx* back in America, where no douhe he finds Ins humour more appreciated than eisevvheiv, aiul his comparisons of America with other countries quite to the taste of the people. This is what lie says : For peace and comfort, for good ■wages lor the working man, opportunity for talent or genius, common conveniences that in older lands havo not even become necessities, and tor all-round life of ease and comfort we havo the rest of the world distanced. And then ho goes for poor littlo Now Zealand and her people. Harken to him, proud residents in “God’s own Country' - ': Now Zealand is a country you read a lot about because it is supposed to bo advanced. I was there List summer—’that is, summer in New Zealand and winter here, and I'll never go there any more. No doubt New Zealand is a prosperous country iu spots. It is a country where the ■women vote. And it is entirely under the domination of .Scotch Presbyterians. Heaven save ,us from Ihe kind of laws they have iu Now Zealand! They haven't been able to vtop the sun shining yet, but they’ll trv to do it. New' Zealand as a country is the result of the poverty of England and Scotland. Tho people iu Now Zealand are &o afraid they may happen hack into their old starvation state that they uro tho tightest wads* on tho habitable globe. A New Zealander wouldn’t pay fi.ro cents to sao King George and Quoon Mary in a double trapeze act.

But Australia is quite another dish—a dish much to Mr Kelly's liking, thanks chiefly, it seems, to Mr Bill Corbett, of Sydney. Listen : Australia is a -country like our Middle West in respect to the people. It is also a country of spacious solitudes. There are places in Australia where a ghost would bo com- ' paniomible. The cities arc regular places. Sydney and Melbourne are clean and well oared for. The average Australian is broadminded, a hustler and a sportsman. Outside of a larrikin element from the slums of Great Britain there are no moro fairmindod people than Australians, 1 met Bill Corbett, of the Sydney *'Referee/* in his own town, and what ho did to put me in the way of hospitality almost put me out of business. The thousands of Americans who met Corbett when he was here to attend the catastrophe at Reno may size him up as a type of the Australians. The Melbourne Cup is probably the greatest race the world can show. I have seen .the Derby, the Grand Prix in Paris, the big fixtures at Shecphcacl Bay and Saratoga, and none of them compares with this race. There is no track in the world that can. com* pare in beauty with that of Melbourne. i Mr Kelly has a little to say about South Africa, which he somewhat inftdcquately describes as "a land of mineral wealth and whiskers/' and "a desolate wart on the face of nature." He waxes sarcastic at the expense of the leisurely railway service, and of Capetown. There, a native-born asked him whether he didn't think the town nicely laid out. “Yes," said Mr Kelly, "That's so. But why delay the burial?" Concerning England and the English, Mr* Kelly has a good deal to say, but •considerations of space baulk quotation. Ho saw some good in the Old Country iand her people, but a good deal that was not to his liking. As in New Zealand and South Africa .he failed, it yearns, to run across a Bill Corbett to show him round, AUSTRALIAN INNOCENT ABROAD. An "old, old story" was told at the Mansion House the other day when a well-dressed middle-aged man, Daniel Melaney, was brought before Alderman Woodman upon a charge of stealing 4:100 in Bank of England notes, from James Craigh, a Eremantlo tutor now on a visit to London.

Being presumably a man of brains, Craigh really deserved to lose his money, for he was taken in by perhaps tho moat ancient play of tho confidence trickster repertoire. His statement was to tho effect that, on August 4th, he was walking through tho Zoological Gardens with a companion, to whom ho had boon introduced tho day before by a fellow-passenger on the, ship by which ho had come to England. A parse was dropped by Melaney, / who ■passed on. Witness and his companion hailed him, and ho camo back, thanked them profusely, and suggested that they should go to tho refreshment-room, which they did. Melaney there said that he had inherited a largo sum from a deceased uncle, who had made his fortune in Australia, and ho wont into a long story nbout tbo probate being saying that ho had a long lawsuit before his claim was established. Ho named Sir George Lewis as one of his legal advisers. and added that under a codicil of the will he had to "dimito” a certain snm for tho relief of individual cases of distress. His lawyer, ho said, had advised him that tho terms of tho codicil must bo complied with. At this point Craigb’s steamer-found friend chimed in with a suggestion to tho effect that as tho fortune had boon made in Australia, some of tho money set apart for charitable purposes ought to bo distributed there. Melaney welcomed tho suggestion, and suggested that Craigh and his friend might like to bo the middlemen in tho case. Of course, ho said, I shall require proofs that you an l people of substance. The upshot of the conversation was that Craigh went to the London office of the Commercial Banking Company of Sydney and drew out. <£loo in notes, lie l then met Melancy and the other man, at a restaurant in the city. The other man exhibited notes purporting t > be of Hie value of *£2.50, and 'Craigh produced his .£IOO for Molanoy’s inspcctioa. After some conversation the prisoner .sat down and began writing. a receipt for the money which was to be handed over for charitable purposes, and while doing so he asked witness to show him the .£IOO a second time, Melanev picked them up and walked with the other man to the door, and disappeared. A few seconds later the thought struck Craigh that he had been duped, and he followed, but no trace of the men could bo seen. He then hailed a taxi and drove to the hank, and thou to the police offices. A few hours after Melancy was arrested. Ho had in his uossessiou

a Hank of Ireland note and two Swiss notes of sbf each, eighteen imitation pearls, five imitation emeralds, ami eighteen imitation rubies, but no Bank of England notes. According lu tho police evidence MeJaney had been convicted in South Africa, ami ho had been sentenced to two months’ at tho County of London .Sessions for obtaining money by means of a trick-substituting a bogus precious stone for a real one. MManov, who is a member of tho socalled “Australian gang,” was sentenced to <dx months’ hanl labour. Graigh’s steamer “friend” Ims disappeared, and if is quite unlikely that the West Australian will set eyes on him or the notes again. THE ENGLISH SCELLING CHAMPIONSHIP.

11' the opinions of certain gentlemen who are -wont to pose as authorities on sculk'is and sculling for the benefit ot visitors to the riverside at Putney were to he. railed upon, tlie easiest ivay to make moi'ov in tlio near future would bo to hack Ernest Barry to boat the Australian Fogwell in (he race for the championship this day month. I ogwcil ha- been practicing diligently ovory (Lay (bar Sunday) since his arrival at Putney, but his work does not please the waterside quidnuncs. They admit that tho Antipodean is a “nippy” sculler, who mav make Harrv go his hardest for a oouplo of miles, but they cannot, or will n-'rt contemplate tho possibility that ho will lie able to stay with Harry over the long championship course from 1 utney l-o Mortlake. “He does too much with ins arms to stay,” is tho verdict of thes-* auidnuucfi, and some of them refuse to ‘admit that Fogwell has any pretensions to bo even in tho first night of sculling meoi. . _ Tho truth of tho matter is that logwell has not been trying to impress the watchers on tho banks by racing -with liis trainer Jack Arnst, bnt has been doing steady work only, and Looming during long outings all he can concerning tho peculiarities of the course. He realises fully tho great value of familiarity with every detail of tho river, and tlie landmarks twist Putney and Alorilako. Therefore he and Arnst have spent a good deal of time in studying those thing;. Usually their outings havo run o\or an hour and a half, and on sovoral occasions they have taken spins over the full course. ... Fogwell sec-ms very well satisfied with himself, and is keeping very well indeed; His Australian built boat, which went astray after his arrival is now safe in Phelps’ boat house at Putney. Ho, howover, will not, it is understood, use this boat until tho last week of his training. Meanwhile both Fogwell and Arnst arc making u&o of shells kindly lent them by tho popular “Bossy” Phelps. A number of old hands at Putney say _that Fogwell reminds them of John /Teenier, the ex-American champion. Teenier was hero in 1886. whilst Beech and Gan-: claur wero training for their first match on the Thames, a race that Is always remembered because both men were rowed to a standstill. Beach just managing to scramble homo a winner. Toemer, whrai ho was hero, defeated Geo. Perkins and Neil Mabtereon in the professional handicap, but was defeated in the final by Beach. At the close of the race Beach, on being asked who ho thought was the better man, Hanlan or Teem or, chcro tho latter. Teenier was undoubtedly n good man. In America ho defeated Hanlan in October, 18S5, and again- in August, 1887. bnt the Hanlan of those days was not tho Hanlan of 18S2. Toemer also boat, and was beaten' by Oaudanr, whilst he also went under to O’Connor. So, on the whole, Fogwell has no reason to be displeased with the comparison. TUB WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP. The hope that the match between FogwoH and Barry would load up to a World's Championship race on the. Thames in tho near future appears doomed to disappointment. It is said that Arnst will not consent to scull for the title outside Australasia unless he receives JJ7SO. That is over three times the amount that is regarded by patrons of the sport hero as the limit, and is an impossible sum. The British public, if approached through tho medium of some popular paper might contribute something towards bringing Arnst to England. but it is doubtful if even the “Daily Mail” could raise .£750 by popular subscription for such an enterprise. Professional sculling has no great following hero to-day as was shown by the indifference displayed when the “Sportsman” and other newspapers were asking for subscriptions towards Barry's expenses in connection with his. Zambesi match with Arnst.

In tho salad days of .professional Betilling such an appeal to tho public would have brought in all that was required iu tho course of a couplo of weeks; today money for professional rowing is so tight that it is difficult for any man to find stake money outside his own jacket. We have evidence of that in tho recent Barry-Albany match. Albany’s stake monray was raised by tho patrons and members of clubs with headquarters on tho River Lea, but most of tho ,£IOO put down for Barry was his own money, and up to the present ho lias received littlo or no support for his race with Fogwell. Tho first deposit of -£IOO put up by him iu connection with this affair was Barry's own,, and it is said that ho will have to find tho best part of tho remaining JllOO himself.

Under those circumstances how can Arnst expect to receive £750 expenses. Where does he think such a sum is to como from? No other sculler has received anything like that amount; indeed, it is quite questionable whether any sculler at any time has even asked for half that amount for a visit to the Old Country. ■ Arnst must remember that the value of, a champion sculler cannot bo gauged by that of a champion at any other phase of professional sport. Promoters of boxing matches can afford to offer big inducements to first class men, for if .the public want to soo them they must pay. But a sculling match on the Thames, no matter how important, cannot produce a “gate” in the true sense of tho word. All the money that can be taken is that for places on the accompanying steamers, and tho amount thereof, loss expenses, is usually divided between the men. In. any event, it would not bo sufficient to cover such expenses as Arnst is said to require for a championship race in England, and if it be true that no smaller inducement will bring him Home, tho champion can say goodbye to all chance of making the trip except at his own expense. [According to a recent cablegram Arnst has stated that he will not proceed to England unless .£IOOO is forthcoming, as ho is engaged in a lucrative business, but if Barry is willing to row him on tho Parramatta ho will allow him ,£l5O expenses.]