PASSING NOTES.

Otago Witness, Issue 1764, 12 September 1885, Page 17

PASSING NOTES.

Punctual to a second, the great solar eclips put in an appearance on Wednesday morning to the proud satisfaction of the astronomers by whom this conjunction of Sol and Luna had been time-tabled with minutest particularity months and years in advance. Astronomy seems as infallible as mathematics, and has the great advantage over the other sciences that it is attested to the vulgar by the coincidence of fact and prediction in events so inscrutable, apparently, as eclipses. What would biologists, geologists, theologists, et hoc genus omne, give, if the accuracy- of their doctrines could be witnessed to by similar " sighs from heaven !" It was with thoughts of this elevated character that I got out of bed on Wednesday at the unwonted hour of 6.45 a.m. to make a few scientific observations on the eclipse. I watched the phenomenon from my bedroom window, and believe I obtained a better view than Dr Hector from the top of the Rimutakas. It was a well-conducted eclipse, and everything passed off quietly. There was no excitement either in the heavens or on the earth. Dr Hector's dismal picture of the terror to be shown by the brute creation was, I am bound to say, not realised. No dog howled; the early cat on the back-yard fence seemed quite unimpressed. Milkman and newsboy pursued their accustomed rounds nothing dismayed by the portent in the sky; cocks in the neighbouring fowlyard crowed cheerfully at the very moment- of greatest obscuration. The chief terrestrial feature of the eclipse was a ghastly, dim, unnatural yellow light spread over land and sea. Gazing upon this spectral effect I could have fancied myself Campbell's "Last Man" in the year 88,885, a.d., when the solar kitchen fire will probably be getting low for want of coals. The sun's eye had a sickly glare, The earth with age was wan ; The skeletons of nations were Around that lonely man. —but the illusion was dispelled by the voice of the baby at that moment awakening in his wrath, and by an imperative mandate from Mrs C. " not to stand there taking cold." By-the-way, Mrs C, whose ideas on Science are often original, is firmly persuaded that the bad weather of the last few days is due to the eclipse., If not, why not ? The sun draws the earth ; the moon draws the sea ;— when both pull in the same straight line, why may they not disturb the unstable equilibrium of the atmosphere ? Though I say it, who should not say it, I believe Mrs C. has made an important contribution to the theory of eclipses.

It is a hard thing that no European power seems able to leave home and wander about the world in search of "pickings" without encountering difficulties. No matter how remote the prospecting ground, there is always some friendly neighbour in semi-possession over whom the prowler stumbles and metaphorically barks his shins. Germany first jostles England at Angra Pequena and NewvGuinea, and now pur- ! suing her researches northwards cannons, quite unexpectedly, of course, against Spain in the Caroline Islands. So little known do these Caroline Islands appear to be that the newspapers in chronicling the collision deem it necessary to roughly explain their whereabouts and number, together with the manners and customs of the natives ("manners, none; customs, nasty ") ; and also the particular form of anarchy they prefer. Spain was undoubtedly first in this locality — in fact, she was thfcre long before Germany was Germany ; but for all that it is tolerably evident that the iron ohanoellor means —in sporting phraseology— to he there or thereabouts at the finish. The fact is, Germany has commenced her colonising policy so late in the day that there is now very little elhow room upon the globe, and unless content to oolonise coral reefs, she must needs shoulder her way in a little unceremoniously, arranging that her admirals, in auoh places ak the Carolines, shall judioioqsly "disobey instructions." It will be observed that the commander of tha gunboat which siezed Uups disobayed instructions in the same opportune manner as did Komaroff at Peuj-deh, The act of disobedience is not to be promptly rectified, but the Spanish Government are invited to continue negotiations in a friendly spirit. With all these unauthorised occupations it is a, oase of fy suis, et fy reste. Only a few years ago the Germans were so excessively well disposed towards Spain that they contemplated placing a Hohenzollern upon h«v throne, and there was a fearful cutting oK French throats in consequence. Now Germany deliberately treads on the hidalgos' toes, and France speaks words of peace and neutrality. Let us hope there is to be no throat cutting upon this occasion.

Lord Tennyson is only human if by this time he is becoming a little touchy upon the subject of Royal weddings. It is probably a dangerous thing for even hia most intimate friend to report to him the latest social gossip as to the likelihood or" an engagement between two young offshoots of Royalty. The laureate's frenzy upon these occasious is currently believed to be terrible. It would be difficult to say how many Royal weddings have engaged bis mose since he first accepted the salary and office of Court rhymester, but they are legion, and: the Court has certainly, in this respect, had its moneys worth out of Tennyson. What must oppress the poet most is the endless and hopeless nature of the job. No matter how many royal weddings he may wave his quill over, there are always more coming. It is this kind of thing that discourages. Tennyson began with the Prince of Wales and his " Sea Kings' daughter from over the sea," but by the time the poet has worked his way laboriously down to the Prince' 6 youngest 6istu-, lo 1 another auxiliary heir apparent has attained his majority, and ia just about ready to submit his neck to the noose matrimonial ; thus operations have to be commenced de flow, TetroyKm has suffered.^ good.

tleal from the "many headed beast;" how much is he Drepared to suffer from the many memberedroyal family, whose joys and sorrows he is paid a hundred or two a year to sing? One of these days a royal child will be born, or a royal maiden will be wed, at a moment when thy laureate's muse refuses to jog, even though coaxed with cigars and soda water, or lashed with wet towels and knotted whipcord. Then Tennyson will be posted as a defaulter the price of the missing ode will be deducted from his wages, and people will begin to cry out upon the practice of compelling a man of genius to write to order.

It must not be supposed from the foregoing that Tennyson's latest "official ode" on the marriage of Princess Beatrice and Prince Henry of Battenberg is a failure. On the contrary, it is fully up to the average of former official outpourings, and is a great deal more tender and musical than most of the lines the poet has penned since he became a peer. It is a vast improvement, for example, upon that recent bellicose address to the noble lords of the Admiralty, which began "You— you— if you have failed to understand " and ended with the plain and palpable threat of a sound lacking. Yes, Tennyson hag softened and sweetened in composing this latest marriage ode; has smoothed his brows, and taken off the coronet for the time being. Yet his task must have been made considerably more difficult by the circumscribed area to which he was restricted. There were so many things that it was highly necessary not to mention. We can almost imagine the " order " as forwarded to the poet by one of the officers of her Majesty's household —Sir H. Ponsonby probably. " Work out any line you like, but be domestic. Stick to the fireside. Need not attempt to trace bridegroom's pedigree and performances. > Very little of either. Verb. sap. Do not mention their Royal Highnesses Wales and Edinburgh, whose conduct in retiring to their yachts to smoke immediately after the ceremony is considered most unsatisfactory. Also severely ignore German branch of family. N.B.— Could not something be made out of Beatrice and Battenberg — the two B's and not to be's? Of course they are to be one B henceforth. This, however, is merely a suggestion of my own. — Yours, Silver Wand." But Tennyson, hampered as he was, has managed something much prettier than this. He pictures the princess moving through the mother's home between the two that love her — " Like some conjectured planet in mid heaven Between two suns, and drawing down from each The light and genial warmth of double day." It is a marvel how the laureate doe/i it, and does it so remarkably well.

The reflections of a " drunk and disorderly '" in the lock-up might be exported to be about as engaging reading as Harvey's " Meditations Among the Tombs." There has just reached me, however, a copy of a poem which the police recently discovered scratched upon the wall of a cell at Port Chalmers, and which seems written in a philosophical, not to say " chirpy," strain. It is headed " Reflections on my Unfortunate Situation," and signed with grim humour " A Boarder." Here are- the first two verses : — Oh, sinner ! oh, sinner ! what made you come here ? I expeefc, like myself, you are fond of good beer. Sure it' 6 only good stuff that our spirits do cheer, And we find ourselves here in the morning. To-morrow I expect nothing less than a week, When I'm dragged before his Worship the Beak : If I get off, 'twill be by a — [The boarder here forgot . . himself]— narrow squeik,

When I'm perched at the Bar in the morning. The lines require to bs patted and stroked down a good deal before they will scan, but it is the sentiment, not the construction, with which we are concerned. There may be an underlying vein of melancholy about the composition, but the vein is at such a depth as to be undiscoverable. The .writer is not apparently jpenttent, cl&spite his gloomy surroundings, and a possible bilious sensation about the waistcoat buttons! He still ioviagly recalls the memory of the "good beer" he swallowed overnight. Moreover, his lines are evidently fashioner! tapon the model of a popular drinking ditty with the refrain — Merry and wise is -fche motto for me, And up with the lark in tho morning. The "boßtder" in question may have been merry, but he b&d not been wise, and those who read his lay will be Inclined to hope that he got the week he expected.

There was some tall " testifying" at a meet- I ing of Saved Drunkards the other day in Melbourne. The Saved Drunkards with their friends filled the Town Hall to overflowing, a crowd estimated by one paper at " several thousauds " being turned away from the doors. The meeting was an enormous cram, and the same term might be applied, not inappropriately, to the statements of some of the speakers, each of whom seemed anxious to prove that ho had been longer a drunkard, and a worse drunkard, and a more reckless, extravagant drunkard than any of the rest. A Saved Drunkard from Sandhurst aaiid that he began to drink when an infant in arms. He remembered his mother taking him on her lap and giving him one spoonful of liquor whilst. she toot three herself. At seventeen he was a confirmed "drunkard, and iv a &ix weeks' bout spent £1200 — a big sum, certainly, for a lad of seventeen. Compared with this, the £96 bout reported by a $avsd Drunkard from Malvern, ee«ms insignificant, bujb in the next testimonies ,W& begin to get into peally respectable figures. A speaker who had -" occupied a position iv high society/ said that before he was twenty+two years of age he had knocked down £-28,000. After this he dissipated £30,000 in four months. Later still he bad (speut v two large fortunes." But this was capped again by " Billy Aberdeen," a Saved Drunkard from Castloftiaine, who announced that he had spent over £250,000 in drink, »nd had been fined £2800 " for knocking down policemen alone." After this the other Saved Drunkards probably felt that they must take, a b*ck seat, Reckoning the cost at 40s a head

average, Billy Aberdeen, whilst in his unsaved condition, must have knocked down 1400 policemen. Billy's conversion will be a boon to the police, but a serious loss to tho public revenue.

It was never ascertained, I believe, for what reason Millar, F.S.A., of Victorian and old Dunedin celebrity, adopted his peculiar sign-manual. Was it because he was an unbaptised heathen, destitute in law of a Christian name, or because he was a lord and entitled in law to dispense with it ? Millar, F.S.A., was a man of conundrums, and his idea of keeping his memory green and securing through all time to come periodic mention in the public prints, was to stamp an unsolvable conundrum in imperishable brass and set it up at the corner of every street. He knew that we could never guess it, yet would never give it up, hence would talk about Millar, F.S.A., till the end of time. Cunniog F.S.A.! We have just had another discussion over Secundo euro, and a certain " Ph. Dr." (Doctor of Philosophy?) affirms that the riddle is to be read thus: secundo, "I am prosperous;" euro, "I' am careful." But, inasmuch as secundo, if a verb, is an active and transitive verb, and never did nor could mean " I am prosperous," we seem as far off fathoming the mystery as ever. Why, I can do better than this myself: sccundo, "I further" (send you on your way); euro, "I watch over you." In F.S.A.-ish Latin this is perhaps uot a bad inscription for a lamppost.

On this subject I find space for some remarks by a correspondent: — "SECUNDO CURO." If the solution iv Wednesday's Times is to be taken as correct, the public mind will be relieved pf what has exercised it for many years; but what a satire we have staring -us in the face at every comer —" lam prosperous." How many are they that can repeat this interpretation to their own satisfaction at the present time ? I only know of one, and that is " my uncle." To put the inscription right with the timeSj Councillor Barnes —who, I observe, has been quoting Latin in the Council lately —should move that non be inserted before each verb. Then, adopting the " Doctor of Philosophy" reading, the motto would be very nearly the equivalent of the French "Sam soitci et sans suv sous," —" lam not prosperous and I don't care a ." It may be worth mentioning that Cicero occasionally uses euro in the sense of " to pay a debt." Thus the lamp-post motto, as amended by Councillor Barnes, and translated by the Doctor of Philosophy, might come to mean, " I am hard up and can't pay my debts. 5 ' How would that suit the facts as we know them ? Civis.

In the House of Representatives on Wednesday the debate on Captain Russell's motion to reduce the Public Works Estimates by £500,000 was continued, and lasted all the evening. Captain Russell originally proposed it as an amendment on that of going into Committee of Supply, and it has been carried as against that, and has • become a substantive motion. It has not, however, been carried as a motion, and though nothing can be taken away from it when put to the House, it can be added to indefinitely, and several' additions to it are likely to be moved. A number of alterations in the running of trains, to come into force on the 2-ith inst., are announced. The train leaving Palmerston for Oamaru at 10.41 a.m. and the train leaving Oamaru for Palmerston at 1 p.m. will be discontinued. The trains now leaving Dunedin for Port Chalmers at 2 p.m., 9.55 p.m., and 11.55 p.m., and the trains leaving Port Chalmers for Dunedin at 10.30 p.m. and midnight arc cancelled. A train will leave Dunedin for Port Chalmers on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 p.m., and on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 11 p.m., returning from Poi-t Chalmers at 10.40 and 11.45 p.m. respectively. The 3.15 p.m. train now leaving Clinton for Invercargill will be cancelled, and one will leave at 2.16 p.m. on Tuesdays and Saturdays only. The time of the brain leaving Invercargill for Clinton at G. 20 a.m. is altered to 6.40 a.m., and it will run to Gore only, except on Tuesdays and Saturdays, when it runs to Clinton. A number of alterations in the hours of starting of other trains are also made. At the City Police Court on Wednesday, a lad named Edward Hughes was committed for trial on a charge of breaking into and entering a dwelling-house off George street and stealing therefrom £9 in notes and 22s in silver. For working horses while suffering from sores under the harness, a contractor was fined on Wednesday at the Police Court in all £3 14s 6d, with the option of 14 days' imprisonment. The prosecution was undertaken by Mr Macdonaldforthe Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Society. At a meeting of carriers at Mastertou a deputation was appointed to wait on the Minister of Public Works regarding the railway charges. It was resolved, if no reduction is made, to form a company to compete with the line to Wellington, charging 6s per baje for wool and 35s per ton for goods. The Tuapeka Times reports that an accident under rather peculiar circumstances happened on Monday to Mr T. D.evine, a miner working in the Gabriels Tailings Company's claim. While attempting to step over the jet from the high-pressure nozzle the water struck him on the leg, and threw him over with such force that in falling he had the misfortune to dislocate his right collar-bone at the shoulder. The accident is one of .a rare kind, and very difficult to set right again. The Queensland Goveminent propose shortly to introduce a bin further dealing with the Polynesian labour trade. It i s stated that the bill will fix a period for the totfal abolition of the trade. The manager of the Kaitangata Railway and Coal Company has asked us to publish the company's explanation in answer to one or two statements in the letter of "A Miner," which appears elsewhere in this issue. With regard to the statement that a mumber of men miraculously escaped being killed, Mr Watson has shown us -a letter received from the mine manager at the time of the occurrence (about two mouths since), in which he reports the occurrence as follows : — " The only foundation for the report is that the first morning the little engme. was working A. 01?-rk ? wbflo Jpwer-

ing the men, in putting steam on the engine, biew one of the small half-inch cocks out of the end of the bteam chest. The start he received unnerved him for tho moment, and lie reversed the engine handle, the result being that the boxes were driven down the incline instead of being held back, and reached the bottom before they could be pulled up sufficiently to prevent a conclusion There was no one received the slightest . injury to my knowledge. — . . . ." With regard to the alleged kindling of gas, the mine manager, in reply' to a letter from the general manager, writes under date the Bth inst. : '• There never has been any accumulation of gas fired in the new workings to my knowledge. The gas at two ' blowers ' has been lit as, it was by this means the 'blowers' were discovered. . . . The occasion when the men went home was when some canvas was knocked down, cutting the air off the heading." The other point dealt with in "A Miner's" letter is the death of a young man, one of the employes, our correspondent alleging that he was " buried as quick as possible, and the public heard no mort 1 about it; everything seemed to be hushed up in a few days, with satisfaction to nobody," This case is mentioned by Mr Binns in his annual report on the control and inspection of mines, and i.s referred to as follows : — " On Thursday, the 9th April, 1885, at about 4.30 a.m., George Carr was engaged attending to the pump at the foot of the new engine-plane in tho Kaitangata mine. Some distance above him two men, named Mackie 'and Blaney, were engaged in ballasting the incline. The method adopted was to fill a truck and, having spragged it, to lower it to the necessary point, and there tip out the gravel. Of course, had anybody been engagod below on the incline, this method would have been inadmissible; but there was no reason why Carr should have been iv danger from a runaway tub. Unfortunately, however, at the hour mentioned he was iv the way, and when the loaded tub, having overpowered Mackie and caused Blaney to slip, rushed to the bottom, Carr received serious injuries which, at 8.40 the same morning, proved fatal. From the evidence it may be gathered that after the accident Carr was conscious, and conversed, but could give no account of his position at the time the tub struck him ; also, that very few hours before the occurrence Mr Shore charged the deceased with having on the previous night fallen asleep at his work, which he denied. I was at Mount Hamilton, in Southland, when tho unfortunate man died, aud upon arriving at Kaitangata, within about 32 hours, was astonished to find the inquest over, and the verdict recorded as ' accidental death,' with the following rider attached :— ' The jury are of opinion that the mode adopted by the Kaitangata Coal Company in lowering boxes) on the incline where the accident occurredc by hand labour is deserving of censure.' On making inquiry, I elicited the following information : On the Sunday previous to his death Carr informed Robert Davidson, engineman, that it was his intention .to go down and have a good sleep, and in the ensuing conversation he stated that he was in the habit of sleeping at the pump. Coupled with Mr Shore's suspicions and the fact that not only did he not get out of the way of the truck, but was unable to give any account of the way it struck him, I came to the conclusion that the unfortunate young man was sleeping at the time." Some cases of importance to sheep-dealers were heard at the Rangiora R.M. Court, when fines were inflicted in three cases for having infected sheep in the saleyards. In one case the sheep had been purchased at Addington a few days before, and, shown g signs of having been dipped, they were purchased in good faith as being clean. It was suggested that pos&ibly no inspector had been present at Addington on the rlay of sale. Under the circumstances the Magistrate inflicted the lowest possible penalty, and promised if written to to do his best to have the fine remitted. There was a fairly large and very representative attendance at the public meeting re defence held in the Garrison Hall on Wednesday night. Rear-admiral Scott in his lecture, which was lengthy and exhaustive, condemned the nature and extent of the preparations undertaken in this Colony upon various grounds, and recommended our relying mainly upon torpedo mines and quick-firing guns of the Hotchkiss pattern. He also advocated the employment of Volunteers only as a defence force. The meeting was subsequently addressed by a number of speakers, and several resolutions were passed.' These were to the effect that the Government should be asked to consider the advisability of decreasing the proposed defence expenditure, cancelling the orders issued for big guns and corresponding ammunition ; and that our Volunteers were capable of providing the protection needed by the Colony without the employment of a permanent paid force. It was decided also to invite the various municipalities and public bodies throughout the Colony to unite in bringing pressure tn bear in order that tlipse resolutions might be carried into effect. Our Wellington correspondent telegraphed as follows on Wednesday evening: — Sir Julius Vogel (who is just speaking) says the Government will not make Captain Russell's motion a Ministerial question, but will vote against it. It is rumoured that Sir Julius Vogel and Mr Richardson are standing out against the rest of the Ministry in the East and West Coast railway interest, and that Mr Stout is strongly disposed to resign. I hear another amendment is to be moved — viz., that the Otago Central and North Island Trunk line be not included in the half million reduction. At a meeting of the Auckland Board of Education held at the end of last week a resolution was carried that the board pay to the Official Assignee the £200 claimed by him as part of Inspector Peacock's estate. Although already paid to Peacock Judge Gillies' decision made the members personally liable. An amendment that tho members personally pay the money, £28 each, was lost, Messrs David Goldie and Theo. Cooper only voting for it. Mr Goldie said he would • willingly pay £28 two or three times to get rid of some of the other officials. Sir George Matthews, jun., lias money to lend. Entries for the ninth annual show of the Otngo Agricultural and Pastoral Association, to be held at Tahuna Park on November 25 and 26, will close on Tuesday, 17th November. The estate known as Heslqrfcon, ' Canterbury, is offered for salp by private treaty. Full particulars V,'ilJ be fpund elsewhere, Tenders ai'o Invited for sowing, harrowing, and rolling for the New Zealand Oil Mills. A 4500-acre estate in the W.iikato district is offered for sale by private treaty. Messrs Gibbs, Bright, nml Co. have artificial manures for sale. Messrs MWrdell and 00. will sell an improved farm in the Wairio district on the 3rd pi-ox. Mr George Matthews, jun., has new season's seeds on salq. Mr John Everest will holi} a sale of household funrituro and implements, at Goodwdod House, on the 15th, '