RANDOM NOTES.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 252, 12 February 1877, Page 2

RANDOM NOTES.

" A chiel's amang- ye takin' notes, An' faith he'il prent 'em." —Burks.

By MAGGUFFIN.

THE AMENITIES OF JOURNALISM. Newspaper proprietors evidently believe in tlie motto, "Opposition is the life of trade," and if there be truth in the adage, most of the New Zealand journals must be doing a roaring business. At regular intervals the Angel of Discord appears to visit the various centres of civilisation, and breathing upon the members of the Fourth Estate, an internecine paper warfare forthwith ensues. For a long time the effects were felt at Marlborough, where the Times and Express kept up a pitched battle extending over years. Napier experienced a visit, and the local journals maintained a lengthy interchange of compliments. Southland is still in the throes of a chronic warfare, and the Times and News at Invercargill vie with each other in the kindliness of their remarks and the high appreciation of the abilities the one editor has for the other. As if jealous of the prestige thus secured, the scribes of the two principal cities of New Zealand— Wellington and Dunedin—are doing their level best to claim superiority for their respective cities, and as in each case the duel is a triangular one, it may be amusing to watch the outcome, and see which will win the palm. The struggle of the Wellingtonians, however, dates afar back, and they have so far progressed that instead of referring to " our contemporary," or the Times, Post, 01* Argus, as the case may be, they address their remarks to Perrier, Gillon, or Anderson. The Dunedin belligerents have not been long 011 the war trail, but it must be admitted that they have gone into the business with such an evident relish that they bid fair to leave their opponents in the background. A.s, possibly, our readers may not have seen the papers mentioned, we will give a few specimens of the polite literature indulged in, and they will be able to judge of the love and harmony reigning in the dove - cots to which we have alluded. In Dunedin, the Battle of the Platform had scarcely been fought when a fresh casus belli arose with regard to the merits of the representatives of the Times, Guardian, and Star on board the excursion steamer Wanaka. The High-street journal collated the letters oi _ p spondent, and published them as a supplement, drawing attention to the matter in

the following modest manner : —" We ask our readers to compare it with the literary slop and childish drivel which the same trip has produced through contemporary columns. We think it is only right to say that the piquant and graphic pen which has contributed the interesting articles to our columns from on board the Wanaka was that of Mr. A. W. Hogg, an experienced and honored member of the Fourth Estate attached to this office ; and we take this opportunity of expressing the satisfaction and thanks of ourselves —and, we believe we may add, of all our readers —for the exceedingly interesting account he has furnished of a visit to these, some of earth's grandest scenes. In justice, however, to some of the other writers whose accounts have appeared in Duntdin, it is only fair to state that their descriptions bear internal evidence of having been born of that peculiar state of blended enervation, and ennui, and bodily and mental lassitude and bile which we have doubtless all experienced when slowly recovering from a bad attack of sea-sick." Its evening contemporary would appear to hold a different opinion with regard to I the lauded contribution, and its estimate of the abilities of the scribe is commented upon in the following candid manner " We are justified in saying that the let_ ters or telegrams published in the dian are, in many respects, false, and dis = creditable alike to the man who wrote them and the journal that published them. Some of the statements in the Guardian are fabrications, some falsifications, some misapprehensions. It is to be sincerely, hoped that on future occasions men of gentlemanly feelings only will be employed instead of inexperienced scribblers whose talent displays itpelf in ribaldry, and vents itself in statements alike opposed to truth and good taste." The Daily Times, having exhausted the vials of its wrath upon its morning contemporary, would appear to be following the French tactics of retiring the farther back to make the greater spring ; and no doubt, when its victim has recovered sufficiently from the worrying received at the hands of its evening enemy, and begins to show signs of vitality, it will aga" \be hi the hands of the toiler. Of course, I om not in a position to judge of the veracity of the Guardian's Special Correspondent,

and consequently cannot say whether or not he has drawn upon his imagination for his facts. For my own part, even were such proved to be the case, I am quite willing to pardon the deception for the pleasure derived in perusing the light and cleverly-written sketches. Drawing upon the imagination is not confined to Colonial writers, and the great Anthony* whose volume was scribbled while he was seated straddle-legs across an engine, and is now looked upon as an unerring authority and text-book upon matter Australasian, could not be charged with being too matter of fact where a good story or an amusing incident was to be manufactured. Truly matters look lively in the metropolis, and the leaders of public opinion are setting a good example.