PASSING NOTES

Otago Witness, Issue 1784, 30 January 1886, Page 17

PASSING NOTES

The Synod is> dead. Peace to its ashes. Tts existence was short, but scandalous. Nobody remembers having seen such <i Synod before, aud there is a general desire that we may never look upon its like again. It is related by the moral and veracious JEsop that when the frogs prayed for a king, Jupiter flung them a log, which lloated about in their marsh with much dignity and entire incapacity to do the smallest harm. The frogs complaining, however, of the inactivity of King Log, Jupiter, in anger, sent them a stork — which gobbled them up. I have seen synods presidud over by stolid King Log, but never one so scourged as this has been by the severities of King Stork. Nobody was safe from him, not even the oldest and most venerated frog in the marsh. Take the following typical incident. Mr Downie Stewart was venturing to make some remarks in protest against fche treatment meted out to the Roy. Dr Stuart, remarks which ought to have elicited the ready sympathy of the entire Synod, when the Moderator, who had several times interrupted, " rose from the chair :" — Mr Stewart: I do not know whether the Moderator is going to speak ? The Moderator : lam not going to speak ; 1 am on tho watch-tower, however. — (Laughter. ) Mr Stewart, continued his speech for a time with the Moderator "on the watch-tower," till the following occurred : — Mr Stewart . I may say, Mr Moderator, your standing up there is very irritating to me, as I

do not know when you are going to stop mo

The Moderator : I will not stop you unless jou are out of order ; I will sit down. Truly a most vigilant, active, and poremptory King Stork, of whoso beak the vicious digs will long be remembered ! Several reputations have been hashed during this Synod, the Moderator's worst of all. Dr Copland, on tho other hand (I note the fact with pleasure), preserved under trying circumstances his own self-respect and the respect of other men. As for the Synod collectively, it had set itself to assign the good things at its disposal on the principle expressed in an elegant Scotch proverb : " Gie yer am fishputs to yer am sea-maws." It has accomplished its purpose and won a great victory. Be it so. 7 'i.vtriv causa Diii (?) placint victa Catoai ! But what will become of Professor Macgregor ? .He has given up philosophising — teaching the ego and non-ego fables, and has betaken himself to the decayed and infirm, both in body and mind ; and last of all, for all the Synod cares, ho may pass through the rest of his life God- forsaken and forgotten. Nor will his family be in much better straits, so far as the Christian (?) Presbyterian Synod of Otago 1886 is concerned. The Rev. Mr Borrie proposed a motion congratulating the professor on his new appointment, thanking him for the earnest way in which he had discharged the duties of hi* Chair, and finally " commending him and his family to the blessing of Almighty God." But the Synod by 18 votes to 4 carried an amendment in which, in a modified sort of way, they congratulated him on his inspectorship, and thanked him for his past services in diffusing questionable moral philosophy, but entirely omitting the invocation of .the Divine blessing. The omission of this part of Mr Borrie's motion is so significant that it looks as if they wished Almighty God to take no further interest in such a wayward philosopher. The whole affair reminds one of what Rabelais satirised in the conversation between Panurge and Brother Fretlon-fredonnant-frGdonille as to what should be dove of Bpistemon, whom they suspected of heresy. Panurge asks : '• Is not this fellow a lank heretic ?" The Brother, whose brevity was unique, replies " Much." Panurgo : " Ought he not to be burned ?'' — " Ought." '• And as much as possible?" — '• Yes." , '* Without any parboiling?" — " None." '■ How should ho be roasted ?" — "Alive."'. " Till at last he be?"—" Dead." •' What has he made you?" — " Mad." " What do you take him to be ?" — " Fool.'' Take care, reverend gentlemen, lest your late philosopher retaliates. Ifc is all very well to joke, as one of your number did when discussing Mr Borrie's motion by suggesting that it should read as follows : " That the Synod express ifcs gratification at Professor Macgregor having decided to attend to luuatics." Intemperance of speech, and a few other traits developed by the late Synod, are initial symptoms of mental aberration ; and what then ? , With what object precisely are the police pursuing their ghoulish cemetery researches into the original ownership of the " Severed Hand ?" The telegrams this week report that another grave has been opened, and once more the remains of the disturbed occupant are reported "intact."' Unless tho purpose be to keep alive the " mystery," it is difficult to see what motive impels the resurrectionists to their ghastly labours. Why dig up more bodies? That some body has been mutilated is plain enough already. There is the hand itself in evidence. What does it matter whose body? IF the Howards ami Godfreys do not chouse to explain where and how they got the hand so much the worse, for them. Their silence will as.-ttrv<lly be. taken into account when th«y are sentf-mrd. 11 loolc us though tho police were all.^i<^^^, to jirovp that Ho .varrl and his frißJuls- h.ivu nol supplemented conspiracy by munli'i-. (Juery :--(!<mlil a presumption of murder In; founded on the fact that the conspiratots had in their -possession, a human hand ? If it could Messrs Howard aud Co. might find themselves under the cogent necessity to speak. The very awkward question might be addressed to them — What have you done with the rest of the body ? The Ohristchurch police, I fancy, must have been reading the French sensational novel by Boisgobey (horrible name !), in which the problem is to discover the owner .of a severed hand — a lady's — left in the clutches of a trap which guards the lock of a banker's safe. Caught by the- trap, the depredator has cut off her own hand, or got an accomplice to cut it off, in preference to waiting to be released by the banker's people — and the police. This story recalls another in Herodotus, where a thief, caught in a man-trap which holds him by the waist, persuades his brothers to cut off and carry away his head, to save the family from disgrace. Yet another story of the same sort comes from India. Two English officers sleeping in a bungalow were awakened by the fall of something in the room. Striking a light they caught sight of a pair of legs, the owner of which was retreating through a, hole mined under the wall. To seize the departing guest by the heels was the work of a moment, but not by their utmost efforts could they haul him back into the room. They pulled at his legs, but some person or persons outside had got hold of his arms and were pulling the other way. Presently the resistance ceased, and the officers drew into the room — to their horror — a headless trunk ! The party outside had cut off their friend's head and run away with it. Why had they done that ? To prevent his being identified. A queer kindness, certainly ! If tho case, had been mine I should have preferred to bo identified. However, there is no accounting for taste ! In tho Boisgoboy story, which all thu time, I suspect, is rnnning in the heads of tho Christchurch police, to find the owner of the hand was to find the plunderer of the banker's safe. But in the Christchurch

case why this zeal to unearth the original proprietor of the hand ? lie hasn't done anything. Let the dead rest in peace. OF the parties to the "mystery," it ought to be sufficient to met© out a due reward to the liviDg, With the translation of Dr Moorhouse froro Melbourne to Manchester the prayer ior rain will no doubt enjoy a revived popularity in drought-ridden Victoria. And why not? If such a supplication is not merely included in our church service for ornament, where shouM it be used more frequently than on the parched plains of Australia ? True, it was framed for a moister climate, where it was impossible that it should be used long in vain, but if its efficacy were admitted it should have been offered up unceasingly in these colonies for many a year past. According to this view Bishop Moorhouse did his diocese ill service by his famous dictum in favour of irrigation versus prayer, aud is directly and personally responsible for the droughts that have prevailed since. The same highly interesting controversy has, I observe, been revived in connection with our own present water famine, which is by comparison a very poor thing indeed. Prayersfor rain were said in several of our churches last Sunday, and an enthusiastic correspondent, signing himself "Joshua," writes to an evening paper triumphantly pointing out that within a few honrs we had " a copious supply of what we needed." Copious ! Well, let that go. A special intervention of Providence, like a gift-horse, must not be too exactly criticised. But from the farmers' point of view there was some little shortness in the allowance. Still, the rain has fallen since moderately, and ifc is going to fall immoderately sooner or later. There can be no doubt about that. The Maoris, who so certainly predicted a dry summer, are now predicting an equally wet winter, and are even removing their dwellings to the hill-tops, lest another, deluge come upon us. If the probable date of the first real downpour could only be judged, with whatmarvellous results might a general prayer for rain bo offered the day before. Even Bishop Moorhouse would not surely prohibit special supplication if he clearly saw that the ordained laws of nature were strongly on the side of an immediate and favourable answer. That was where the shoe probably pinched that sturdy prelate. But one thing particularly noticeable about "Joshua's" communication re the Dunedin arought is his disposition to pat the Yen. Archdeacou Edwards on the back, and invest him with all, or nearly all, the credit for Monday's shower. Now, only one gentleman in modem times has claimed the power to tap the heavens single-handed, and that was Professor Pepper who used a cast-iron kite and sundry other paraphernalia, and even then failed to wring a tear from a single cloud. Archdeacon Edwards, it is needless to say, had no kite or dynamite, and did not resort to pyrotechnics of any description. Yet "Joshua" studiously magnifies his efforts above those of his reverend colleagues in other churches, and says: — "The Veu. Archdeacon Edwards is deserving of the special thanks of the faithful for the earnest supplication for rain offered by him at St. Paul's yesterday "—thereby of course implying that the supplications of other reverend gentlemen were somewhat less earnest, and virtually claiming for Archdeacon Edwards that " alone he did it." This is, no doubt, scarcely the view that the Archdeacon would endorse, and it may not be amiss to recommend " Joshua " to submit his future correspondence upon such subjects to the revision of his pastor. Prayers for rain may be very well, but if they are to be followed by contentions as to the share each supjilicator had iv the result, where is the matter to end ? We shall have among our clergy, good, bad, and indifferent rain-getters, and they will ho valued in thirsty lands according to their record. When live sportsmen fire simultaneously at a pheasant and the bird falls, it is well known that each man has killed it. So let it be with our clergy and prayers for rain. Let the credit of the resulting shower be divided fairly and equally among all who fired. No monopoly. There can be no doubt that our ten-million loan — the scheme that a few weeks ago seemed to hold out such visions of plump prosperity has been roughly handled of late. Leaderwriters throughout the Colony have cursed /it bitterly, and now the Dunedin merchants have stretched the unfortunate embryo upon the floor of the Chamber of Commerce, brought their combined weight to bear, and jumped solemnly upon it. Any'loan, whatever its bulk, mv.it be more or less amenable to such prossure as this, and the chances of recovery aro uncertain. It was noticeable, however, that among those who asvsisted in the drastic proceedings of Tuesday evening were a considerable proportion who did not object to the teiimillion loan personally. In fact, they rather liked the look of him ; but from very affection they were loth to entrust him to the tender mercies of the present Government, or indeed of any Government. Speaker after speaker emphasised the fact that it was not the borrowing but the spending he feared and naturally enough, no doubt, with four millions of the 1 ten virtually booked beforehand for the East and West Coast railway, and a tremendous past expenditure on unreproductivo public works staring them in the face. Perhaps it was natural if, under the circumstances, a few of the speeches were pitched in a tone of bland egotism. "Borrow, my boys, until you are black in the face, if / could have the spending of the cash, but beware of Governments." In confidence strict I may mention, Tluifc a million, or even say ten. Wouldn't cost mo a shudder, if only the rudder Weie handled by capable men. Hitch the loan to the chariot, of progress, Let tho " its " change to "''shall be" and "must " And with me the postillion to drive the ten million' You shan't see the interest for dust. ' But it is evident enough that the ten millions nre drifting farther and farther from our grasp

©very day ; and the " boom," if it comes now, ■will be a very distant-- boom indeed. Neither -•amateuruor professional politicians will have the liandling of much more borrowed money ah present; so that we, who had unbuttoned our pockets to receive perchance the driblets, must Jieeds button them up and get to work again. A "Desceudent of Balaam's Ass" has been communicating to the Argus some criticisms on the morality of men and other animal?, the comparison being, as he asserts, greatly iv favour of the other animals. Balaam's ass, in the single utterance recorded of her, made, if I remember correctly, a very sensible, though perhaps somewhat egotistical, speech. She said, 44 Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since 1 was thine unto this day ? What have I done unto thee that thou hast smitten me these three times ?" Balaam's reply is not recorded, but it has been generally understood that tbe prophet sat rebuked, and that the ass had the best of the argument. This is a warning to prophets and an encouragement to asses for all subsequent ages, aud the writer in the Argus uses it to point a moral against those theological prjphets who lift up their testimony against evolution. Why should you feel insulted, he asks, when invited to recognise " beasts " as your poor relations ?—? — Have beasts ever been guilty of the hideous vices and crimes that i>re reported every. day in yriur police courts aud newspapers ? Do beasts madden aud kill themselves with drink ? Let a cab horse have a month's holiday iv a paddock, and let his driver go out on the j "spree" for the same time, and which of the two will, as a rule, behave himself the more decently ? I once saw a civilised Englishman leading a monkey down the street; the mau was very drunk, but the monkey was very sober. I never saw anyone more ashamed of his company than the monkey was of the man. These things being so (and we cannot deny them), it follows that our moral contempt for | the brute creation is a little Pharisaic. The | terms " ass " and "beast " applied to a man are terms of offence, possibly actionable. Yet, in i the only recorded speech of an ass the ass spoke | excellent sense. The phrase " You talk like au | ass " ought therefore to convey a compliment. Of course it doesn't, which fact goes far to prove the total depravity of human nature. Similarly, remembering that beasts always ar« obedient to | the laws of their nature, what finer compliment i could be piud to a man than to say to him, " You , behaved like a beast"? Yet, ten to one he t would be offended ! Too plainly the " two- i legged animal without feathers" — as Plato defined the human biped — is an upstart, and for that reason ashamed oF his poor relations. Cms. |

Lord Salisbury's Government has sustained a defeat, and are expected to resign office. An amendment to the Address-iu-Iteply was moved j affirming the desirability of cutting up laud into allotments, and this being supported by mo-;t of the Liberal party and Mr ParnplFs followbig, was carried by a majority of 79. Parliament was then adjourned until next day. The ceremony of inducting the Key. J. Glbb to the pastoral charge of the First Church was performed on Wednesday. In the evening a social gathering of the members of the congregation was held in the church. The usual addresses were made, and the new pastor was the recipient of a pulpit gown at the hands of the ladies of the congregation. The returns of gold entered for duty for the Colony for tiie year ended December 31 show an increase of 74250z (valued at £26,818) over the gold so entered for the previous year, and this is tbe first increase over any preceding year since 1880. The gold entered for duty in 1884 was 220,9460z (value £021,797), and in 1885 237,3710z (value £948,615). In the Resident Magistrate's Court, Palmerston, on Tuesday, an information was heard against William Walker, the holder of a wholesale license, charging him with selling a gnllou of whisky, when tbe smallest quantity his license permit fc<xl him to sell was two gallons. Mr Levi, for the defendant, submitted that the 159 th section of "The Licensing Act 1881," under which the information was laid, did not create any such offence as to quantity, merely prohibiting any person from selling "liquor which he was not liconsed to sell." The magis- j trate (Mr H. W. Robinson) upheld Mr Lovi's contention, and dismissed thY case. The Committee of the Hospital and Charit- j able Aid Board met yesterday, and transacted various business. It transpired amongst other things that several local bodies had failed to pay thfir f-ontributious, aud that one — the Roslyn Council — had declined to do .so. The Board resolved to request the Government in these eases to stop the amounts out of the subsidies due to these bodies. A deputation of the Moa Flat Estate tenants waited on Mr Joseph Clarke last week desiring him to use his influence to have the Heriot railway extended. They also, as his tenants, requested him to alter the agreement so that the owner of the soil would receive one-fifth iustead of one-fourth of the grain crop in future. ! Mr Clarke at once acceded to the request, at I.ho same time remarking that he did not wish any of his tenants to work the land at a loss. A rather sensational incident happened on board the Tui (reports the Wellington Times) during her last voyage from Foxton. The steamer left on Friday night, having on board passengers for Wellington some 14 individuals ot thau class which conducts " three-card trick " performances and lotteries, invites investigation into sleight-of-hand tricks, and makes ar honest living by the practice of similar mysterious amusements. The steamer had just got over the bar when a difficulty arose in connection with the payment of passage money. The sporting gentlemen (who had been to the Fox- j ton races and were returning with full pockets) asserted that an agreement had been made for the conveyance of 10 of them at reduced rates The difficulty speedily became a row, in the course of which the passengers became so excited that the captain of. the steamer, on entering the saloon and threatening to call his men down, was promptly knocked down. Upon this Oaptam Pope, who did his best all through to settle matters amicably, stopped 'the boat and tried to get lights shown, in order ftiat he might go back into Foxton and leave his obnoxious passengers there, This however, he was unable to do, and consequently he did the next best thing, i.e., brought tbe steamer on to Wellington. The scuffle Was a very rough one,

and in the course of it the steward of the boat received tome injury. The Public Works Department have interfered with the Christchurch. firm of founders whose tender was accepted for tiie construction "of locomotives, as it is said that a large quantity of material used in constructing has, contrary t<> specifications, been imported from England. The specifications stato. that the whole of the material required in the construction of locomolivf» must be worked in the Colony, and that nothing, except in a crude state, must be imported, with a view to encourage local industries The price paid for the construction of these locomotives is about 27 per ceut. above those imported from England, and it is understood that notice has been served on the contractors to the effect that a large quantity of imported material has been condemned, as it bears marks «f foreign workmanship. The Auckland Star, referring to Samoan affairs* says : — Everything conspires to render the occasion favourable for New Zealand assuming tho ontrolof 'the Samoan Islands. German aud American susceptibilities will be less offended by a New Zealand protectorate than if this cast-iron I rule of a British Crown Colony were introduced. i The Hawaiian proposal for a South Sea confederation under guarantee of the Great Powers being dismissed as chimerical, there is another possible solution of the difficulty, suggested by the coincidence of Sir Julius Vogel (the Colonial Treasurer) and the Rev. Shirley Baker (the Premier of Tonga) being resident at Waiwcra, Mr Baker is known to have definite aims and aspirations for the creation of a great island kingdom, his idea being to unite all the Mahori people of the South Seas archipelagoes under the rule of the TongaiiH, the superior and conquoriug branch of the race, sometimes called the *' Anglo-Saxons of the Pacific." Tt is not unlikely that King George's sanguine Premier may be pouring his schemes into the willing ear of the speculative Sir Julius Vogel, and that the latter is being dazzled by the prosjjects of all the islands in that way ultimately becoming confederated with this Colony. The adjourned half-yearly summoned meet-: ing of the Loyal Dunedin Lodge, M.TJ.J.0.0 F., was held at the lodge-room on Thursday evening. There was a good attendance of members, ;md after dealing with several minor matters ihe auditors' report and the annual balancesheet were considered. The balance-sheet showed that with a membership of 145 the Lodge had accumulated funds tj the value of £5523 15s 4d, of which amount J55035 is placed at interest averaging 8 per cent. During the >ear the amount paid for sick benefit was £183 3 'j. 4<l, distributed amongst 25 members. The report and balance-sheet were thought highly satisfactory, and were unanimously adopted. In moving a vote of thanks to the trustees (P.P.G.M. Harrop, P.P.S. Keith "Ramsay, and PH. M'Queeu) for the careful manner in which -they had managed the funds of the lodgp, P.P G.M Deacon congratulated the Lodge on its flourishing condition, and stated lhat he was q dtr- sure that no other lodge in the Colony could show such favourable results. The vote of thanks to the trustees was carried by acclamation. During the evening P.G. Drew was presented with n very handsome certificate as au acknowledgment of hi.s services while in the chair. The Londou correspondent of the Melbourne Argus writes : — " I should like to give you a notion of the kind of men that Mr Parnell will bring with him as representatives of Ireland. It is impossible to go through the whole 86, but we have information of some of them which is interesting. Mr J. (rilliooly, of Cork County, is a draper, and son of a coastguardsman ; J. Shei-han, of East Kerry, keeps a hotel ; J. Stack, of North Kerry, is a small farmer ; T Walsh, of North Cork, a working carpenter ; W. Abrahams, of West Limerick, a nurseryman ; A. Blanc, of South Armagh, a working tailor ; P. J. Condon, of Tipperary, keeps a public-house ; L. P. Harden, of Leitrim, is the son of a blacksmith ; B. Kelly, of South Donegal, is a grocer's assistant; T. O. Hanlon, of Cavan, is a grocer; J. 51. Byrne, c{ West Wieklow, a custom-house officer ; Mr Conway, of Ltitrim, a schoolmaster; J. J. Jordon, of Clare, a dealer, the son of a small f armer ; J. Leahy, of Kildare, a small farmer ; H. Campbell, of Fermanagh, private secretary to Mr Parnell ; L. Connolly, of Longford, and J. Nolan, of Louth, are proprietor and manager respectively of a dancing saloon at, New Brighton, near Liverpool; and Mr D. Gully, of Mayo, is a reporter on the staff of the Nation." The recent prognostications of the blacks that heavy floods were imminent (says the South Australian Register) have already been verified, and soon the grass and vegetation upon which stock thrive will be springing up like magic. It is a fact worthy of the attention of Sir John Lubbock and other distinguished entomologists that the natives have arrived at their conclusions regarding the weather through observing the ants, which this year are said to have removed their habitations from the ground to the trees with the idea of getting out of harm's way. Whether these insects have means unknown to human beings of forecasting the weather, or whether their migration to higher latitudes is merely a coincidence, is a point upon which we cannot pronounce authoratively, but it is a fact that the blacks have implicit faith in the prescience of the tiny creatures. Dr O'Docherty, M.P., and late of Queenslaud, only heard of his election to the Imperial Parliament on his arrival at Cooktown. When he was met at Brisbane by a number of gentlemen, he said that he owed his election for Meath to the large amount of money sent from Australia during the Irish famine. He thinks that Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, by accepting knighthood, lost his popularity in Ireland, otherwise he too would have been nominated for the Imperial Parliament. He thinks that Mr Gladstone will grant an Irish Parliament similar to the Colonial Parliaments, and he asserts that Ireland wants nothing more. The Irish will settle the land question equitably, be always friends with England, and strengthen the Empire roost loyally. A scandalous exhibition in a shop window here (writes the Paris correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald) has been drawing such crowds as to block the pavement on the Boulevard dcs Italiens. The attraction in question is a picture on which a red glare is throwi\, aud that represents a heap of corpses and heads of French soldiers, torn uniforms hearing the numbers oi" regiments now in Tonquin aud Madagascar, the pyramid of mangled and bloody remains of humanity being surmounted by the head of M. Jules Ferry /'inventor of the disastrous " Colonial policy," which has caused the horrors here | pourtrayed) standing out in strong relief against an orange-coloured background ; and a crow ii desconding, with ouUtretchod wings, to enjoy (ha f«>ns(. This hi k'uii-. picture of one of ihe d - irk r>ides of " ;(!orimit, war has so greatly disgusted ?url scandalised Mm "powers that be,'' aud that have allowed Garabetta's friend and shadow to bring about

tlic" new departure" that was to have ruined the Colonial prestige of "perfidious Albion," that the picture hus now been covered with a ouri.nin. Everybody of taste and refinement con.idered the painting- as a horror not to be tolerated, and approves its beiug covered. But this horror of the portraiture oi the necessary aiivl inevitable monstrosities of war on the part of those who vugard war as a necessary and inevitable clement ot human existence, and who would applaud war, " colony policy," &c, if only tliu fighting proved successful for the French anus, h-'eins hardly logical. Genesis and Nature are certainly at variance, says I'rofebsor Huxley, vepljing to Mr Gladstone's recent article, but by no means Religion and Science. The Mosaic record and the record of the rocks, he maintains, are totally irreconcilable even if the Hebrew word which is translated "fowl"' be taken really to mean "cockroach "' — " and I have great faith," Professor Huxley is is careful to wltl, "in the elasticity of thai tongue in the hands of biblical exegetes." He then goes on to prove that Knglibh in the hands of ingenious scientists is hcarcely lest, elastic than Hebrew iv the hands of apologetic theologians. The antagonism between religion and science seems to him, he says, " purely factitious,"' but that is because he defines religion in the simple words of Micah as "todo juetly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God." This conception of religion (says the : Pall Mall Gazette) may be "as wonderful an inspiration of genius as the art of Pheidias or the science of Aristotle" ; but it is futile to pretend that this is the whole connotation of the term in the minds of those, whether learned or simple, who habitually use it : and, after all, the meaning of a word is a question for a majority quite as much as the passing of a bill. The Micah-Huxley definition of religion may one day become dominant; but meunwhilo it is a mere playing with words to pretend thus to smooth the .strife between science as it at present exists ami religion as it is at present ' understood. The sketches of Australian and New Zealand life and scenes which Mr G. A. Sala, contributes to the Daily Telegraph in London, and which are from time to time published iv our columns, appear to be highly appreciated at Home. A reeci.t number of the Home News says : — " The prayer of Burns ' 0 wad some pow'r the giftie gie u>, to see oursels as ithcrs sbo us," is being granted in the case of our Antipodean fellowsubjects. Mr Sala'. 1 . letters to the Daily Tele-g-aph become more and more amusing and instructive. They perform a double office. They will give Australasia the views of an appreciative observer on themselves and their country; they .serve at Home to dispel many false notions on things Antipodean. The letter published on Friday last, November 13, is full of humour and significance. Necessarily these communications are sketchy, and if Mr fcJala, as everyone hopes sincerely he may do, escapes from the Bluff without being driven mad ' by the liquid complexities of Maori nomenclature,' he will doubtless elaborate his notes. In moi'e thau one place he hints that he ha>> not '■•aid all he has to say. lie does not hesitate to confess that he has learnt much .since he ha*s been in Topsyturveydom which the merest schoolboy might have bson supposed to know. When, therefore, he finds him-'ulf once more in Mecklenburg Square, he will be expected to unburden his soul more fully than he has yet been able to do." In view of the demands made on local bodies for the repair and maintenance of school buildings, tht; following delightful sketch of the residence of a teacher in the Greymouth district, on the West C«ast, given in a recent inspectorial report, will be read with interest : — " The teacher was living in a hut in the immediate vicinity of the school. The hut was purchased by him for £1, aud he has expended upon ifc the sum of £2 10s in procuring tongued-and-grooved timber for lining. The necessary labour was performed by himself. He has also made a very good swing for the children, and an easel for the school. As he has shown a disposition to make the best of the circumstances, I beg to recommend that the commissioners refund the sum of £3 10s expended by hi-n on the hut. If a new school is built, the hut will bo handy as a fowlhouse." The bailiffs have beer put on board the barque Hudson at Lyttelton, at the suit of the Timaru Harbour Board, who claim £650 for the Fervices of the tug Titan when the Hudson was aground oft" Temuln. The Hudson's agents consider the claim exorbitant. The N.ZJ. Kefrigcratiiip; Company ore inviting applications for shipping space in flic ship Invercanjill.