PASSING NOTES.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 10625, 21 March 1896, Page 2

PASSING NOTES.

Next to having risen to tha possession Of illimitable wealth from the proverbial shilling there is probably no prouder boaßt than to have been the discerning patron who bestowed it. Mr Seddon claims, or it has j been claimed for him, that he has risen to; his present dizzy height from small begin- | nlngs. Ido not know whether at any epoch in his career he was friendless and possessed of onlyone_smallcoin. .Norisitnow.nec.es-,1 sary to inquire, Jf he cannot, lay claim-to the topmost -niche in the temple dedi-' cated to -self-made men, he is -atleast entitled to a ,bigh ,one in that of philanthropic Tha New. Zealand Time3 tells a ; story ; about $Ir Ssd.don being waylaid by a little boy fix years of age who begged employment for his sister, almost the only prop of-a-destitute family. The Premier, struck with the intelligent and manly manner of the little boy, made in- j quiries, found ibis ,story;true,-and ,gavefthe desired assistance, with the assured result,.wel are gravely informed, that the family,.are. now; placed in. a fair way of doing well, and it is .sagely surmised .that the little boy may himself y«fc become Premier of New .Zealand. In such an event ,-no doubt a large portion ,p£ the .honour glory will be reflected back on'Mr Seddon. By way. of contrast to the, above let me itell' another story in whichithe central figure is not the Premier,of New .Zealand. -Anexalted personage was crossing London Bridge many years.ago.when he was accosted by-an " in-' telh'gent and manly " looking young -fellow, who.besought help. It was given, and, in the shape of money wherewith to. purchase' a basket of fancy poods to ba sold frgm door to door, and ,tho [benefactor's heart .swelled, at his good.deed. 40 years 'Ogo,and what do you think that young man^s worth now? Well, he isn't worth a shilling, and lie hasn't paid for the basket yet. Story for story, and I make the editor, of the New Zealand Times -a present of mine in exchange for' Us. i

In the words.of.the music hall classic,'theaverage citizen "dunno w'ere 'e are1' over" the conversion-schema that was at one stroke of the pen to relieve the city of its debt— »j!.,_postpone.its ,payment.to some indefinite;1 period, in the -.futnre, ,and also place the City Fathers .in poss6Bsioa of ample funds lor the prosecntion of necessary works. Iti

was ,a'ibeantiful ,dream, akin to -that jof;

Ahmschar, who, standing.in .the.baaaar k with v a basket of glassware at his feet, was dreaming of the wealth he wasabout to aconma-. late. With the proceeds,of the basket he" was to boytwo J«.skete,.and so ( bn upon a Bcaleof geometrical progression until he was ' in a .position to' demand tha .hand of the daughter of the Grand yizier. In revenge .for the rglnotance of .her father, he was to affect'indignatipn,' and would spam the young lady as ehe knelt at his feet. Unfortunately, ,inithe .reaUsm ,of his. waking dream, he .spurned;the : baßket which; stood before him,,and the contente.the basis' of his aerial'fortunes, were destroyed. We— that is, the bnrgesses of.Dnnodin—go to the English bondholder witjh a 4 per cent. i£ 100! bond haying a cnrrencyof 40 years or more,' and we jasjj ;him to give us in excbanga, for it ithe.vbpnd v he .holds, which .bears, 7'. interest at .B.or ,7 0r,6 percent^ and itarminable in, say, 1901. .He says >"V«ry well, what willypu give me for my £100 bond?" We reply that the actuarial valne of" that, bond, jnow, is £112-?43, ' ;But ,he ,iqsistp,v through 'the .bank, that At is worth 4o MvV £iIT, and if he .will -not take a penny less■we cannot make him sell. It ,sebms io'me; ■ that r it ;.ib at : this point that Mr iEish •and* Mr Waies.beginto.difEer. Mr Fish^says the; bonds ought cp sell at such and such a.price,' and Mr" Wale* replies that they .will not,^ . and lie^citeß ; in .proof .Qf-his . such as* have been sojd. ' Could not we pass an act or .something to .compel tho bondholder to ljsteri to reason and sell at' : the actuarial value? It Jb intolerable thatl the British "jnfeßtor/' ; as jßalletin .calls bim, should so resolutely oppose a measure oEjuatice. :. , . ' ' ■■' ••

Ido not suppose there is any .town,in the' colony where .the aqtiqns .of .public ,men are more keetdy Jajid watchfully .cnticia^dlihan; in Ihuiedin. Ko,dQubtAhiß,isilargoly,dne.to the facilities afforded by the editors to correspondents, and to the rigidity of the rule regarding anpnjmitv.. if, tjherdoiie, a public man can Bncoessf oily run -the gauntlet of the ? " Fair,P,lajrg " ,and '.^JosJacea ".an.d "Nemos," *«., w,e "inay 4JO ,^o -bed .arid sleep theieleep : which je thejcepwd.of ( tihe just. Bntdf pnthe other■hand-jwe.aie,to.regsffd .even.afair prp-! portion jipf'J^p wei'may: shudder at j(;he .cqrrcpt ponditipn oi public I affairJs,.- 'Let ine .set:, -jlr -i£prrisoo'--waa!i accnßed«f^utnirig-his CQ3t. Pe .prosed that I his assailant "'iiad' -misqaoted ' "bim. Mri Pinkerion Jaas bean charged with Ahe same thing, and. .has made >• soniewhat feeble rejoinder. -Beas^qlent Trusteeajhpn^Bt' men, 'arejp^MigjS pith ,spr.ts ; of oriiHes, .oi ] which njjpotijsin is t^e least, l?ecans,e they askedior'an additional £1000 fdr'the year. Then the Ednoatioa Board has been flatly convicted of having .acted ipcoasistently in two cases of ;appoint^p.ent iV^itthin ,t,s7 : o^lays. This discharge ..of. .epistojar^.aidi;ery|' ; npt to mention the fusillade apont'ininpr grievances. that is conbinnaUy going on, is not a bad' record for a week. It is to be trusted that no caatiesl rt*Jtor ;has ibeen .noting fof; record our .conSantioug t disposition as -a «ommTmity. If there has been such, let it be fcoped that he will note as a palliative the prevailing (Rationality, ar^d charitably sup- • pose jjh^t itihas .been unnsually excited by. the near approach ef the ariniy.arsary, which pericdically emphasises it. "With that plea onr reputation is oaf e. ■-'''■.■'.-■'

The big gooseberry wesson is bow in fnll swing. Parliament has long ceased to sit, ana the newspapers suffer from lack of news and the public from 4eai&ta of > excitement. In snch timea tbe faddist has his opportunity ; the cranfe is very much abroad. If the great* jsea serpent is ■-absent"-for a season, we have always vaccination (or nonvaccination) with ,us, and ,th,e perennial federation questionis ever on tap for discussion. Daring the past few weeks, however, the political -pot, has .again commenced to simmer, and we may expect to see and bear it boiling fiercely be.fo,ce.mariy months are over. Candidates!or political honours are baginnirg to bestir themselves, and the yoics of the demagogue is" heard in the land. iSoddon, Stout, Ward,. M'Kenzie—all are on the stump, ea^h .of them more impressive and more patriotic than the other. In fact, the most-remarkable feature of tbe present poiitical fruit season has been theunprßcedeated crop of patriots. Ido wish we couid freeze some of th,ena and export them at a profit! However,' the of patriots is, no new ißdjnstry.ih* Angio-Sazondom. A?;wfie oldWalpole said/'" Patriots'spring tip libs mushrooms.:; I xsould raise fifty of them within four-and-twenty hours. ' I have raised many of them in one night." I lijasp and believe .that onr;N«w Zefilwi patriots are of more .enduring growth; but time alone will ehow. .-

To -those of ns w,ho were present at the Tecent Medical "Congress; ip seemed that the lot of the medical practitioner was a happy one. His days filled with conge&ial "and remunerative professional work, and his . evenings devoted to study, varied by social enjoyment.— such eeeined to be the "life cf trie modern medico. The following " interview," however, sent to me by » correspondent who clipped it from a colonial newspaper, will serve to show that there is a reverse side to the picture, and tha| the doctpr's existence ignot all beer and skittles :—

"My dear fellow," said my doctor to me, "yoa'haxe do idea what we hays to put up with.: B I call to sae a patient frequently I am 'trying,to run up a bill' ;if I don't', 'it is shameful neglect.' If I manage to get to church, ftpd am "called out, I hear afterwards •■working the Bob Sawyer dodge on Snnd&y, Eh, doctor?' If I am so busy that j cannot go, I am sure to be asked, 'How is it that you doctors arfc all atheists ?' If my wife calls on people, 'jt'is because she is trying to get patients for ins'; bnjt jf she doesn't, it'is because sbi is,'top stuck up.' If I cure a patient quiekjy—get credit, yeu say ? Oh, dear no; the patient ' wasn't; half as bad us the doctor tried to moke out; why, he was quite well in a week'; but, on the other hand, should the case develop serious complications, ' Ab, the doctor never understood the malady; in tact, lie was worse when he had been taking the medicine a week than whan -we called him in.' If I suggest a consultation, it IB 'only because I dpp/i; know what is' the matter'; if I pooh-pooh the idea as unnecessary, I am..'afraid of showjng my ignorance.' I am expected to, so to speak, cast a horoscope on a baby's life, and tell its mother what its Bihueiitß will be. If I can't do that, I 'cannot possibly know very much.' lam alro expected to foresee'Ml the 'ilh that flesh is heir to' six months before they come. I once lost a patient , trbom i treated for influenza bßcaoso I did not

foretell an attack of rheumatism which came on three months later. In all cases, if they get worse, the fault lies in the medioiue; if vtisy, get.well, it is ! the goodness of Providence.' If i.eend:in my bill, they say'he is iu a terrible, harry for ; his money '_; if I don't, it.is •' so uu-.business-lik*;.'"'.But we get,well paid' do you eay ? My.dear sic,.if I received payment for .opejhslf.l do, I should die from .shock." •After-readiDg the above I ,-can forgive even Dr Sfcenhouse his .patulance —if not :his poetry.

I went to the Trebelli concert the other evening, and, as in duty bound, enjoyed my pleasure sadly. The great "hat" nuisance , -was very much in evidence. In front of me was seated a gaunt and bony female, whose •hat was adorned with what looked tomelike a bird of paradise struck i by 'lightning, and I -am now,suffering from a crick in the neck /produced hj much looking round corners to geta glimpse of ths performers from time to time. My bonyffriend, however, appeared to divine my intention, -and -kept moving her head (and appendages) so as-to block .my view as" far as possible. I do : not often go to concerts, or-other public entertainments, but I have quite made ap my mind what to do the,next time Ido go. I ■shalLtake with me a large pair of tailors'shears, and shall clip a passage through the hats and bonnets that interfere,with,my view of thestage. Qf course .Ishall give myfair antagonists every chance of removing the offendingparaphernaliabefore resorting to extreme measures. I was afraid to suggest anything of-the sort atthe Trebelii concert as the lady in question was a powerful and .determined-looking "ilidy," and, besides, was accompanied iby a stalwart admirer,.who would (probably have.punched my.headif I had dared to suggest that his : sweetheart s'honld removerher.hac. I.snrjpose it is toolatein tbedaytobesurprisediat'anything, but it does seem to me extraordinary ■ -that well-meaning;people,6honld;(3eliberately go ;to ccqnoarts r or theatres, with "headgear built so as to obstruct their.neighbours'..view, arid thus spoil their enjoymentifor the whole evening. ■

Perhaps, however, this infliction was a punishment entailed ion me <fot my iparsimony in going to .the ~one shilling seats. •I am a meek and modest man, and generally 4j> :go to .the shilling .seats .when: I am unaccompanied by ladies. I have never been able to,dete r ,mine i what princirjles decided the occupants of the difEer'ent •classes of seats at Danedin entertainments. •At the theatre i generally se,e my pawnbroker and my barber, with their .respective.families, gorgeous in purple and ,:fine linen, 'proudly looking down on me from the aristocracy of thedress circle, while poor "Civis" is contented with a modtfat coine.r in .the stalls, or. even the-pit .on occasion. It may be that these favoured mortals are the fortunate' .recipients of passes, bnfc on ,this point lam happily ignorant., However,, the fact remains that in JDunedin, no matter how dull ' the;times are;tthe people must ;be amused,1 and turn tout in ,thousands to oheatre and; Circns-r-whioh arc cash linstitationa,—while ■ the givers of .credit, such as grocer and draper, may snSer. I remember some ygars . ago accompanying a 'legal friend! to the circus one evening. We were content with a lowjy .seat, or, rather, stand.' In the front row ,b£ the -.bpst seats, how.-; ever, sat sAyell-dressed, youngish' man, .with. ;bis wife and ..three .ohiiclren^all evidently ( enjoying ,to. ,the full ( t':e .quips 'of ,the, clowns and the skill of .the riders.' J noticed that the man of law seemed struck, .by the appearance of this happy family, and eventually he explained to me that he bad ■ seen the paterfamilias ,that morrring in the Rasident Magistrate's ■Court '".up" on.a judgment snmmqns, which'. had been promptly dismissed ;by his Worship ,as there -was no" evidence of means! The race of 'the'Micawbersis apparently not ,yet extinct amongst us. " ' Civis.