PASSING FANCIES

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81917, 31 January 1907, Page 2

PASSING FANCIES

liy "Qui;'.'' I.:;ir.- an- burn. not made. Nich is | I,v |jv>j>ii>-ir belief. iiuL liar, are i,,.-.i|.-,' 100. 'lin-j. go tdough a process of training, 'and lln'y lie in cir-,-u,asi,iiicc, H1.J..-1 them. There iiro u.l soils and conditions of liars. There ;,,,- natural liars, ami lliniaUii-iil liais, i.-civ an- born liars, aii'l llill ' s tlial -timwul," -ike Topsy. 'Jlii'ii lli.'l-u ijre born liar who perfect, himself by lung practice. Ik' lie* m "ehool, tells lii- master Ik- was "kept home' wh-eii tin- young dog was stealing apples; in- lies at Inline, tolls his iiiotlu-r ho h-iis "kept in" when in icalily 1"-' "'as playing leap frog up the side streec. ; ilo lies at tilt counter; swears tin: ! tweed displayed to a eounlry giccnj iioni "o,; me Im.-s llivi'.' I a yard when it was purchased as a I -job" I'm- about three suilliugs a chain. lie lies at home, swear, lie gave .half a m>\ .-reign to a blind uinsieiaii every day last week when asked to aceounl for Ids shortness of easli; whilst ill l-ealily he has linen tricking out his gill with liiiei-y, or investing his money on the to.niisulor, «itli the usii.il con :-.i-.|iii'-.!ei-. And i.<- finishes Ins villi-<-at in I'.gliling a judgment siuuinons in :lie courts, swearing on tin; liook and Im all Inals blue, that on aei-ount of wet wca.licr and broken t me, toolli-ai-lu-, earache, and other can e.-, he ha.-, not earned anything like .C2 a j week for the last, twelve months.

t'oniical thing, isn't it. when yon com.- to mink of it'/ Wha.': The deliberate way in which settlers growl at the local' bodies for. not making roads, bridges, and culverts, whilst ad the time the said siutler* won't give the iocal body the money to work with. Somewhere about last Septcm her it was decided that a certain rale would have to be collected in order to carry on the necessary public works. Ihe'siiniiiier lias nearly gone, and the tunc for rapid and cheap contracts ended. And it is only now, with, the threat of a 10 per cent increase staring them m the face, that ratepayers Conceive it their duty to pay. In the middle of the winter, when roads are axle deep, drains and culverts choked, metal wailing Iff the roadside, ready for spreading, the irate ratepayers arc going to growl again, and swear that it's all the council's fault, or the road board's fault, or the Lioveriiiiient's fault. Whose fault will.it bo* Why, slow-paymg rittepayeifi. No one else's. Not a bit of it. l-'ouiteen appointments to the Upper House. Hut that's nothing to the thousand and one disappointment*. Listen to the wail of the illiterate cockatoo away in the backblocks. The man who always "voted solid" for the Government, and always rounded iij> his hands to vine and barrack for the Government candidate; who turned out his best gig and his faniiiy barouche, with the wife's oh.l slow jogging mare, on election days to aid the Liberal cause. Can you imagine, what he says now J Overlooked, neglected, pushed to the wall and out <of sight by men who have never Uond a hand's turn for the Government, except by bitter and unmistakable lios■tiiity in season, ailil out of season. Can you hear him growl?

Listen I.) live big-minded Liberal in the town, who cried ".Seddon for ever'' until i was liuur.se; who sacrificed his lime and )o*l custom by bis unswerving loyalty to the party who so long held the reins; who always met the political big guns us they passed to

and fro, smirked, smiled, and fawncU upon tliein, in the hope of favours to tome. Can you imagine what he

List.'ii to the men wi>o believe that long service to the party should have its reward in an Jl.L.C.diip. Listen as they foretell disaster and downfall to a Ministry which deliberately promotes to power strong opponents, thus to give them the greater opportunity of becoming vcriiy a thorn in the flesh. Listen to the prohibitionist who thinks the Upper House] is too strong for the "trade." Listen to the other fellow, who complains of the appointment of the no-license man from Chriitchurcli. JJut bow many

Eii-r noticed the howl of tin.' railway employees if a Sunday U'ain is suggested? Ever hoard the leatheilunged street orator roaring mid bawl ing the doctrine of tile rights of the people? Kvcr heard tile chap who reckons people, including railway men, ought to lake Sunday oil', and keep it holy* And have'you ever heard it said that the railway men, and the bus Mien, and the tram ear men, and tlic butter factory, men, don't want Sunday; 'You wouldn't, believe it. would you! But some of them don't. Railway men don't, apparently. They don't seem to want fresh air on Sunday, or to be in bed, or swelter in the garden. They don't want to go to Church, some of tiiem. But they will sit and stew In a public hall to 'listen tei a lecture. How if they can a. tend lectures, says "(Juiz," why can't they run trains?

Have you ever reckoned up the amount of perspiration that drifts into the family garden on Sunday morning? Somewhere about a 'hundred gallons in ,\'ew Plymouth alone. Paterfamilias, busy the rest of the week, is a slave on Sunday uiorniit". Casting asi.le the habilmeiits of eitv civilisation, he dons tne old sweater that did street duty several months ago, an old pair of lower garments, that he'd be ashamed ; u s l iow |,i lu . self in if a policeman were about, sticks a battered .straw cady over his blossoming curls, takes spade, rake, fork, and hoe, and slaves the moriiiu" througn. "Better the day the better the deed" is his motto, for he onlv works on the better Smidav, the line Sunday. He's to be found in every .street, on probably every other section, digging away. | s Sjunidav la hour recreation to the man who is perched upon an office stool all the week: It seems like it.

"Citizen" writes; "What's .'the matter with (.'nurtenny sheet as an exanijilu of niuuieipaj nog c 'ect'« Haven't vi.u seen the asphalt breaking up there, near liie boot factory ?'' Ves, J had noticed it, but was going lo let tne borough council oil' this time. Coiirteiiay street is a disgrace light thruugh, when you come 'lo'look at it. its asphalt is growing wot so and worse. The roadwav between (lover and Liardcl streets is ns good as any electric battery to ih L . ,„;,„ u „ the l bike. The footpaths,— well they're beautifully undulating as a rule, with the exception of a gulch or two here and 'there.