DUNEDIN D.L.F. LITERARY AND DEBATING CLUB.

Otago Witness, Issue 2929, 4 May 1910, Page 84

DUNEDIN D.L.F. LITERARY AND DEBATING CLUB.

Motto : " Union is Strength." The usual weekly meeting oi the above club was held on Tuesday, April 26, 1910. There was - the usual attendance of members. It being cpan meeting a fair numbar of papers were sent in, varied and interesting. Lady Es.«r, who is staying at her home, aant U 3 an aocount of an experience she had with a horse which nearly ended her career. West Coaster sent in a paper on " Early Rising and Alarum Clocks," from which I extra.t tie following:—"Early to bed and early to rise makes a. man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Such is the decision of convention, and we are her slaves'!" 'Tis the voice of the sluggard, I have heard him complain, ' You have waked me tc-o soon, I must slumber again.' " There ideas are instilled into us in our infancy with such persistence that we, whether we admit it or not, are convinced in our heart of hearts that early rising is truly a virtue; while he who rises late is a criminal of the worst type. A friend of mine who once had a strong and noble intellect h now a harmless, gibbering idiot. Wli-j Simply because in an accursed moment he bought an alarum clook. . . . For hours he lies sleepless, his nerves palpitating with anticipation of an awful awakening; at last, tired out, he falls into a light sleep, and dreams of friends with shaking heads and juggling bones, when suddenly the "thing" begins. Truly the alarum clock has much to answer for. Blue Violet wrote on the flower from which she takes her name: —" Of all the flowers that greet the spring, Where wind 3 are cold and 1 keen. When cloud and sunshine fight to reign, the violet is the queen." The violet is a popular favourite with nearly everyone on account of its sweet perfume and modest beauty. Of this beautiful flower poets have shown themselves true lovers. The national flower of France is the violet. It was a flower Napoleon loved, and was adopted: as a family badge. . . . And so the sweet violet blooms year after year, , bringing with it fresh hopes of coming joys, and to some the sad memories of bygone days. . - Shasta sent an interesting essay on " The Choir Invisible." She wrote: —" We have no sensational adventures, no melodrama, but a quietly flowing story of lives lived quietly in old Kentucky. John Gray, a young Kentucky schoolmaster, believes himself in love ■with the beautiful but shallow Amy Falconer. In reality, he is in love with his ideal of her —a very different thing. ... In the awakening that follows on the shattering

of all John's air castles, he finds out that he loves Mrs Falconer, Amy s aunt. Mrs Falconer is a true gentlewoman with a fine character, but her husband is still aiive. John determines to go rignc away and fight his own battle. He has reverses, and finally drifts into an engagement with a girl whose parents were his stauncbest friends. Then Mrs Falconer's husband dies, and John cannot go to her, as he is already bound. She lives her life, and he lives his, and though they never meet, they are truly bound to eacii other by a love which cannot fail or lessen. John becomes a judge in time. Li the end he sends his son to be with Mrs Falconer, to tell the true story of the years that lay between, and because he wishes her to be to the son the same inspiring influence that she had been to his father. The idea, underlying the story is that an ideal can mould and develop a character: a, high ideal, whether inspired by a dead writer or a living person, can, if constantly adhered to, so inspire a man that whatever misfortunes he may meet with hia character will never deteriorate. The flute-playing minister, who finds his history written in terms of music, sets the keynote of the whole book. ' The whole events in history come down to me with the effect cf an orchestra playing in the distance: single lives are sometimes like a great solo. As for the people I have known, or know, some have to me the sound of brass, some the sound c.f wood, som>3 the sound of strings. Only so few yield the perfect music of their kind.' " James Lane Allen is the author of this charming bock. The Helmsman contributed a paper on "The Forest," by Stuart Edward White: " Who hath smalt wood-smoke at twilight? Who hath heard the birch log burning? Who is quick to read the noises of the night? Let him follow with the others, For the young men's feet are turning To the camps of purest desire and known delight." Some time, no matter how long, your journey will reach a spot whose psychological effect is so exactly like a dozen others that you will recognise at once its kimship with former experience. Here physical likeness does not count at all. It may possess a waterfront of lathis or sawdust, or an outlook over broad, shimmering, heat-baked plains. It may skirt the impassive fringe of a forest, or it may skirt the calm stretch of a river. But whether leg or mud, wood or stone, its identity becomes at first sight indubitably evident. It. is the beginning of "The Long Trail," or, a.s it is generally termed, " the jumping-off place." . . .But perhaps the strongest of the influences which unite to assure the kinship of the " jumpingofl places " is that of the ccrner shop. You enter through a narrow door and find yourself facing two dusky aisles, separated by a narrow division of goods and flanked by wooden counters. So far it is exactly like the corner of our rural districts. But in the dimness of these two aisles lurks the spirit of the wilds. A hundred ghosts of odours mingle to produce it. The reek of the camp fire is in its buckskin, of the muskegs in its sweet grain, of the open spaces in its peltries, of the evening mieal in its coffaes and bacons, cf the portage trails in the leather of the tumplines; and once the smell cf them is in your ncstri's you cannot but get away on making camp— The Helmsman gave some interesting stories of the above. Texas Jack contributed a very amusing yarn (original) on " The Shearing of tho Dog," which is to appear in full in the page. Areta read an extract from " Bachelor Betty," a very amusing book describing an Australian girl's adventures in London. Thelma contributed by giving us a short description, of a holiday. Roxana was with us for a few minutes to say " Good-bye," as he is going away to New Guinea in search of fame and fortune. There are great developments in New Guinea at present, and, as Boxana says, there is always a place for a white man. New railroads will have to be built, new buildings so up, and so on. We all wish our chum R:xana every good wish for prosperity. I desire to thank all those who so- kindly sent in papers to our evening's enjoyment. Syllabus for May: May 3. —Which is the more contemptible in vcur opinion—the miser or the soendthrift? (TexES Jack leading for Spendthrift, and Areta. for Miser.) May 10.—Should the cars be permitted to run en Sundays? May 17. —Boxana's lecture on his trip to England. May 24. —Papers on Victoria the Good. May 31.—Open Meeting. And June 3.—Our Social, and don't forget it, D.L.F! ARETA, Acting Sec.