GALBRAITH'S GALL.

NZ Truth, Issue 73, 10 November 1906, Page 4

GALBRAITH'S GALL.

Since the well-deserved dressingdown he received m. these columns over the blackguardly per police— of the. reporters from the Athletic Park football ground, a few, weeks back, the shipping agent's clerk, Neil Galbraith, who instigated that caddish, and high-handed proceeding, has been very sore and goes about referring to the reporter of "Truth". as a "blanky. little rat" (he does not say "blanky," be it understood ; but a ' moral paper like "Truth" cannot, of course, print the word suoh a refined gentleman does use) 1 . Galbraith has also struck out m a new line and is raising a squeaky, water-front rodent squeal at the daily papers for not printing fuller particulars about the way the S'Afri-. can toa-ballers are dusting down the effete English Rugby men. This, from the man who has been so brutally insulting to the local press ; who has practically said ' he" didn't igive a dam for. the papers, and the Union could get along without thorn, is not only astounding arid laughable but it shows what an arrant' bounder this shipping firm's clerk is and how his hide must be to enable him to turn round and ask favors of the papers lie lias ienorantly and insolently flptited so very recently, and of which he has exhibited himself the worst enemy. This is not the first time Galbraith has put hte oar into the business of the newspapers. When the All Blacks were busy knocking corners off British teams m the ,cold country, he was one of a deputation of cranks from the N.Z.R.11! that waited on Mr Seddon to ask that "father of his country" to use his influence or something to get fuller reports of the matches cabled "out. Naturally, the deputation had to wait some time m an ante room before gaining access to the Premier, and during this wait the gentleman wham • Galbrait-h now stigmatises as "a — — rat," who formed one of the deputation, was taken aside by the Press Association representative and ■ told ' that there was no need to wait- on King Dick, as the Association had already d~:;---patched orders for fuller cables' to be sent and that he had himself, a few minutes previously, informed Mr Sed-'---don of the fact. Naturally the gentleman m turn informed the deputation of the uselessness of waiting and wasting time to ask for something which had already been granted unsolicited, and he suggested a discreet withdrawal. Galbraith loftil- pooh-poohed the sensible suggestion. He had been preparing laboriously to make a splurge and impress the Premier with the- idea his own head was full of, i.e., that he was IT • and he was not going to be done out of his opportunity, and the chance of getting "his nyme m the pypers." So the deputation waited oh Dick and that astute statesman, ever alert to make it appear that he was "the whole shootin* match," otherwise "the whole . team and a valler doc under the seat," knowing already that the thing was assured, listened to Gal Wraith's hot air-factory working overtime and then gravely assured the deputation that HE would sec to it that their desire was attained. Of course he was laughing up his sleeve all the time ■ and so were the members of the deputation —all but Galbraith, who .took himself with the ghastly seriousness of

his humorless race— being well aware that the "concession" was a foregone conclusion. Such is this light of the Rugby realm, who, when it is to justify his crazy craving for news, of football he does not see, crawls to and hectors alternately the Press he affects to despise at times when he can see the game for himself. As to the "rat," this paper will willingly admit that Galbraith ought to be a judge of rodents and their habits, for he's done a lot of underground rooting, m football matters, himself, m his time.