CORRESPONDENCE

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 9305, 3 February 1892, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE

We are not responsible for the. opinson expressed by oorrespondenta. The writer's name, as » guarantee of good faith, ;mtut be enolosed in the le«erJ PESrERING INNOVATIONS, TO THE EDITOR. Sib,— lt bus been a habit of mine for as long as I can remember, to at times deposit myself in a recumbent position close up against the wall— Toed's side of tho bridge at tho railway crossing in Devonstreet. My canine instinct genorates several motives for betaking myself to this resort. The chiof is, that urchins are much more chary of casting stones about in thoroughfares than in obscure places ; yea, and big grown-up folks also I huve seen act quite differently whilst under the oyoa of tho m.my. Henco my preference for this Bpot ia easy to see, as it lessens considerably the chances of being violently assailed either by murderous flying missiles or by the powerfully given momentum to armour-clad heels and toes. Of course, 1 need not expect, nor do I either, to J fipd in such a vulnerable quarter as this is an immunity from annoyances, as I know full well that thoro is nothing that V>reathos from such are ontiroly free. But what I in this caso allude to is what may be called silly, meaningless, and nasty invecives hurled against my somewhat venerable ] self, which at times, all according to the tone of tho liver, are less or more afflicting, as undeserved, continually heaped upon anyone, cannot but be felt. There are, besides, minor inflictions whioh make, howevor little or no impression, and for that reason not worth mentioning. In evidence, 1 don't tho least bit mind any immoderate snelling I Well, after all tho diversion I dorive on this ground from the incomprehensible oddities of man, more than balance any crossss, which I may undergo. One afternoon recently, as in this favorite locality I took my post, I got quite perturbed. For lo ! a death-liko silence all round prevailed ; upper windows wore closely blinded, lower windows aecprely shuttered, walls divosted of mercantile trapping*, with all the doors Bhut ! Precisely as though some plague had quito instantaneously invested precincts, whioh but a short time boforo wore uproarious with bustle. For a while —dog and all as I am — this funeral-like aspect seemed, as it wore, to chill the marrow in my bones, dam back the currents in my veins, and paralyze completely all my faculties. Happily, utter sometime tho tension of my abandonment got relaxed, by two wayfarers Beating themselves on the lodge of tho bridge, with their boots dangling within a shave of my noao. " I say Frank," said one, "could'nt ono fire cannon balls up and down the middle of this street now without any danger of getting arraigned for manslaughter ?" ," I'll tell you what Ben," rejoined Frank, " shopkeepers now, ought to have it painted on their signboards, no admittance here, excepting when there is nothing particularly on elsewhere, that would be something like fair pay, I'll call it to outside folks." "Ah !" returned Bon, reflectively, " It's altogether nou.ht, but a crazy proceeding. They're putting too many locks by a good sight, on their for'rard flouting way, to over in any shape come up to their wished-ior speed." " But, then," quoth Frank, "It seems to me all a downright mystery, and for thia reason, too :— " Why, I am told, that there are as many aa three out of ovory four of tbe3e storekeepers havo ju«t about as much relish for this Bort of thing as pigs have for mustard I" " I Bee through it all, I see through it all," loudly reiterated' Ben, derisively; "they're gtffte back, man— that's as plain to me aa a pikestaff-*-again to leading strings, under the vigilant eyea of Mrß Grnndy, and all, like enough, too, at the instance of two or threo that would affect to bo bellweathers." Frank at this time quietly wound up the discourse by declaring it to be a caso of all-round pique —a kind of organised beggar-my-neighbor intimidation. — I am, &c, Wowf. 1 New Plymouth, Feb. Ist, 1892.