CANTERBURY CHAT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 9966, 31 March 1894, Page 2

CANTERBURY CHAT.

[from an ex-resident in takanaki.] The excitement over the Licensing Election is over for the time being, but I am sorry to say that the agony is likely to be prolonged to a limited extent, because of the resignation of Dr Foster, one of the elected. He was a moderate, who favoured the full 25 per cent reduction, and, as he was the only one elected on that ticket, he has resigned. The question is, who will the Government appoint in his place. Some are afraid that a rabid prohibitionist may be nominated, but I do not much fear that. Of course the publicans are highly jubilant at the result of the elections, and the prohibitionists are proportionately depressed. I never expected that their weakness would be so emphatically demonstrated. Clutha is the only place that haß carried prohibition and in Christchurch they can only muster 4000. There i no doubt that every single male, female, or parson prohibitionist voted while the other side showed great apathy. It may safely be said that 90 per cent of those -who did not vote -were in favor of remaining as we are. The election completely refuted the gross libel ot the prohibitionist that New Zealand is a drunken nation. Throughtout the excitement I did not see any drunkeness. There is gre it complaint among the poll clerks. They were kept at work forsome twenty hours without a break for which they were to receive the magnificent sum of 12s 6d. It is now a week since the election and yet they have not been paid. Some of the returns were a very long in coming to hand. The excitement has done an immense deal of harm to business. Generally at this time of the year the painters and paperhangers are busy, but this year, with the uncertainty none of the pubs are being painted, other businesses have also suffered. If only prohibition had been carried in Wellington and Dunedin, what a splendid prospect it would have been for Christchurch.

A stranger in this town was looking for a friend's house on Friday evening, and stood a few moments irresolute before a gate, which he thought was his friend's. While waiting in this condition, a young man and young lady came and stood at the next gate, and commenced hugging each other with ardour. Said he : " Dearest, I could hug you for ever and ever." The gentleman who was waiting, feeling a sudden nausea coming over him, broke in on their rapture and asked them if Mr So-and-so lived there. The young lady turned a moment from her absorbing occupation, and in an annoyed tone said : " Oh ! go away ; it's next door !" The stranger left on tho instant. Messrs Lovoll and Christm:is, one of the largest London importers of butter and cheese from Taranaki, writing to Mr R. Cock, re tho irregularity of shipments of butter, say : —We would again impress on you that it is a most unfortunate thing for all of us.that the shipment* of butter from New Zealand have been so irregular and so far apart, as the long interval which elapses between the arrivals of the vessels necessitates our supplying our customers with Australian butter. The Rimutaka, which left on January 22nd last, cannot possibly be here before the 7th March, and then again there will be a long interval before the arrival of the Tainui and the Ruahine. This state of thing is very detrimental to the interests of the New Zealand butter trade, and we sincerely trust that something will be done before next season to remedy the irregularity, and to lessen the intervals between the sailing of the vessels." There were about fifty excursionists left by the " Glenelg" for Kawhia on Friday evening. They return in time for early train, on Monday morning. One of our local carpenters on being asked what his opinion was of the building trade in New Plymouth, advised his questioner to take a saw under his arm and go and try to get employment. He would soon find out that it would not be an easy thing to get a job. Many men i had been allured to town on account of the glowing accounts of the trade here, but most of them had to return much poorer than they cime. The proceedings at the Onehunga Borough Council were unusually "lively the other evening, and Mrs Yates, the lady Mayor, had a series of wordy disputes with her Councillors. Cr. Tapp kept insisting on speaking after he had been ruled out of order, and the Mayor said: '• You must sit down. lam the person to dictate to you." Cr. Tiipp replied; " Oh, no, you'ro not. You can't go as you please.'* (Laughter.) The Mayor: "It is for me to dictato to you, I say. Don't speak to me like that!" Cr. Tapp: " Oh, no, missus; you're not going to do that." (Laughter.) The Mayor (with severity): " You have spoken once. You cannot speak again." Tho principal bone of contention was tho sanitary state of Onohungu. Dr. Erson in a letter alleges that Onohunga is in a bad condition of hoalth, and that typhoid fever was consequently rampart. ' This was vigorously tackled by tho Mayor, who spoke in decidedly strong language of Dr. Erson and his charges. In the course of the proceedings she was at daggers drawn with Councillors Tupp and Jackson ; from the former of whom she required an apology for " insinuating " that she had kept back certain correspondence, which whs not tendered; and the latter defied her ruling when sho applied tho " cloturo." A party wero waiting on the platform of the railway station. Miss A and Mr B were apart from tho others, and when tho train drew up they found thomselvcß oppobite the very last carriago, which was empty. " Come along," said thn young gentleman, " let's get in here." " No, no, not that carriage," replied the lady ; "I object to too much osculation.' E<SAY ON COFFEE.—They say that CoilVo ooines frmn un island called Ceylon but my mother sa>B the best Cnffi o nhe vor bought coineß from her'groc^i who rollb CBEA6EB Al OoFfBB.