Untitled

Observer, Volume 1, Issue 11, 27 November 1880, Page 89

— A note for a musician (say Mr. Wilson) — C, sharp and B natural. — I need scarcely say that I knew nothing whatever about Mr. John Abbott's domestic affliction last week.

— Many visitors to the circus complain that they suffered subsequently from headache and dizziness, and attribute it to the Electric Light.

— -"The Boy's Newspaper," a new journal published by Cassells, is a great success. On the day of the publication of No. 1 100,0q0 copies were sold.

— Wanted — Tenders for the " tile" worn by the "Horald" reporter at the reception of His Excellency,

— The sailor "who sights the swivel gun on board H.I.M.S. "Hysaue," is called the swivel-eyed gunner.

— Timothy, beware ! your perfidy is discovered. Return to Kate and make her happy whilst there is yet time.

— Mr. W. J. Hurst does not object to the chafl he gets about the pig-painting, because it is a part of his stock-in-trade.

— Queen-street was very bare of people on Saturday night — a most unusual circumstance. The reason was the opening of the Circus.

— Mr. and Mrs. Heather hold very pleasant lawn tennis parties at their residence, at Mount Eden, every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon.

— Moss Levy has returned from the Melbourne Exhibition and Cup. He has enjoyed his trip, and brought back some new ideas about dolls' eyes.

— ■ I am glad to hear that Miss Eva Williams, who fell through the skylight in front of Mr. Kempt' s rooms, is none the worse for her accident.

— The officials at the circus wore blue ribbons iv their button hole 3 on Monday night, out of compliment to Lay cock's victory in the Hop Bitters contest. Nice, wasn't it ?

— Who says that the Hon. John Hall kept his hat firmly fixed upon his intellectual head while the address to the Governor was being read on "Wednesday last. On his behalf I spurn the vile aspersion.

— Mr. W. McArthur, the new Lord Mayor of London, married the aunt of Messrs. Shera Brothers. Her marriage portion was the first money that came into the McArthur family.

There is a certain chemist in Auckland who has been trying a meat diet of rats. He says they are cheap and plentiful. Some M.H.E.'s will have to be careful. — " Chronicle."

— Elder Sorenson is having a very bad time indeed at Napier. The Hawkes' Bay folks won't have Mornionism at any price, and pelt him with rotten egga and stones whenever he attempts to preach.

— It was quite a treat last Friday afternoon to see that fine old soldier, Major Withers, -wearing his uniform in honour of the circus procession, or the Governor, who did not arrive.

— In the " City of Sydney's" passenger list, as published by both •' Star" and " Herald," appear the distinguished names of Count Rosebud and Baron Littlefinger. I presume these are American dignities.

— Mrs. Glenny, the lecturer oa the AngloIsrael question, accompanied by her husband, has started for Jerusalem. If she hurries along she will be there before the millenium eventuates.

— Captain Daldy is a very generous man. He gave a liberal subscription towards the cost of building the Beresford-street Congregational Church, and paid his subscription in Portland cement.

— Mr. W. B. Langbridge went into training for the Athletic Club's races. After reducing himself about ten stone, he found that the entries had closed, and he was too late.

— On Monday last a man came here to call me to account for a paragraph which he persisted referred to him. What do you think it was ? Why, a clipping from the " Sporting Thnes" with the word " Nottingham" altered to "this city."

— The master having got tired of the pupil's airs and graces, gave him " donko." The poor pupil, who has now got no one to put his hair in curl papers, walks about disconsolate and slates his former idol properly. The master, being a gentleman, says nothing.

— Our cricketers are buckling to work, and some good play is expected to come off this season. No one can growl at the materials supplied, as only the best arc sold at Partridge and Woollam's, Queen-street. — [Abvt] .

— In the year 1868, quartz, containing gold, was picked up in the creeks at Te Aroha by George McLeod (Tokatea), James Mackay and Captain Goldsmith. The party were, however, taken prisoners by the natives and bundled ofE down the river in a canoe.

— It is said that Sir Arthur Gordon gave offence in certain quarters while at Levuka by showing a partiality for attending the services at the Roman Catholic Church. He may do so here, too, if he thinks fit. There is no State Church in this colony.

— Mr. Bracken, of the " Saturday Advertiser" (which, journal, by the "way, seems to have become much more readable of latej has been kind enough to send me a copy of "Paddy Murphy's Budget" a very clever and amusing collection of parodies and burlesques. Nothing better of the kind has been done in the colony.

— Arbitration is becoming quite a fashionable mode of treating Court cases. At the last sitting of the District Court no less than four distinct awards were read out. The lawyers do not miss their fees, the Court costs arc paid and the arbitrator get his charge also, so that everyone is satisfied, except of course, the loser. -

— Mr. Bartleet Langridge of the " AssociatedNews and Advertising Bureau" has sent me a copy of" " Pan," one of the latest society weeklies published in London. It is printed on pale sea green paper and isexquisitely got up. Geo. A. Sala appears to be a leading contributor.

— The following is a result of the Otahuhtt Bazaar : —

A swell that was awfully clever, Asked Miss Curly the price of the weather ; • - "Five shillings," aays she, "and five shillings my fee-" And lie paid for the price of the weather. .

— Mr. F. G. Rwmgton says he's not going to Fiji as a missionary, and he should just like to find out the name of the rival agent who put the report about The mistake seems to have arisen from the fact, that Mr. Ewingfcon is one of the party accompanying Bishop Selwyn on a mission cruise.

— The Baptists talk of sending home Harry Driver to England, paying for his training for the rnmisfcry in Spurgeon's College, and presenting him witha purse of fifty sovereigns on his departure from Auckland. Lucky dog, Harry! "Almost thou persuadest' me to be a parson."

— The City Surveyor ought to walk round to Fort-street, now that the triumphal arch trouble is over, and look at the wall of Mr. H. P. Barber"s new store. It projects about two feet on the footpath, which is a " barberous " shame. Excu3ethe pen and the bad spelling.

— • Mr. Robert Graham ought to have entered for the Athletic Club's races. The other evening I saw him running to catch the train at 5.30 p.m. When ha was about thirty yards from the station the guard called out, " All aboard," and Mr. Graham put on a spurt and finished in grand style. '

— " There was an old woman who lived in a shoe," so goes the old song. Aud that identical shoe was manufactured by an ancestor of Garrefct Bros., who thus immortalised himself. The presont firm turn out first class boots and shoes, as one trial will show.-» [Advt] . .

— How came it that the Auckland Spiritualists were so much at fault as to go down to the mail steamer to ineefc the great Spiritualist head centre. Dr. Peebles. Some reliable medium might surely have been found who would have told them the I>r. wasn't on board, and saved them from such a fool's errand.

— While the arch was being; finished off on Friday morning last, Charlie McMurdo was amusing himself and delighting a crowd of admirers by stalkingthrough it at a slow march, and with umbrella defiantly cocked in the air. He claims the honour of having first done " The Grand Promenade" under it.

— There has been trouble among the "devil's own" at Tauranga. Eddie Moss received a writ from his "learned friend," Mr. Foster, claiming £1000 damages for slander. Eddie says that Mr. Foster will earn his eternal gratitude if he can prove that he is worth £1000.

— Dean's Minstrel's performance on the 9fch. November, resulted in the manager and secretary handing- over the creditable sum of £34 to the Sick, Accident and Library Fund of the Fire Brigade. Over £52 was in the house, one of the largest amounts ever taken in the liOrne-street Hall.

— A certain country storekeeper has been earning a reputation for generosity by putting his name down on a subscription list in aid of a widow and orphans for £10. It now transpires, however, that before doing anything, he arranged with the widow for the sum in question to be deducted from a debt owing by the do ceased husband.

— Mr. Wooding (successor to Messrs. Mc» Gready, Thompson and Niven), has asked me to state that the books vended by his firm are of a very different class to the famous " American Bible" about which I had something to say a week or two ago. They consist solely of the standard works of famous aiithors, well and strongly bound, and must not be confused with the " bogus" jobs of Yankee touts.

— A Cambridge correspondent writes : — To the Editor of the Observer —Sir, — Can any of your Waikato readers inform me, why a certain well-known settler in the vicinity of Cambridge, who, till lately was never remarkable either for the elegance of his costume or for his attendance at divine service, has lately started a frock coat, a new white hat, and every Sunday helps to swell the numbers of the St. Andrew's congregation ?

The old adage says " two of a trade can never agree." It becomes more and more certain every day that the " old adages " are terrible liars. A millionaire friend of ours went to McMaster's well-known shop, at 2J=2, Queen-street, the other day, and found a first-rate helmet hat (there are three qualities 3/6, 4/6, 5/6} to suit him at once. It took two to make a trade, and they agreed perfectly. In this case the adage proved only a " White lie." — [advt] .

— A message fr m Hamilton, dated Wednesday at noon, says :— "Hamilton is all alivejto-daywith people going to the new diggings. Every wheeled vehicle and horse has been pressed into service. Much amusement was created by the spectacle of Von,' the ' Herald's' correspondent, making hisjway with another gentleman in a spring trap and tandem with spruce flax rope ribbons. For the last day or two the order of procedure has been caucuses and mysterious whisperings under the verandahs and at the street corners, the general opinion being that something rich has been found by the ' Company.' " — Messrs. McMillan and Larkins seemed to be in an extraordinary state of excitement at the landing of the Governor. Failing to get near the platform they dashed up in hot haste to Government House, arrived there in a state of profuse perspiration and stationed themselves near the door to await the arrival of Sir Arthur. As His Excellency ascended the steps to the Hall the pair stood well to the front, but singularly enough the Governor failed to recognise them, although they both " smole" unctiously, A whispered consulta. tion ensued, and. then Mr. McMillan turned in at tho heels of the suite. He came out again half a minute later looking very crestfallen, and then both he and his partner left. Query .^What had happened ? — Everyone has heard the story of the New Zealander who, when on a visit to the old country, puzzled a bar Hebe by innocently asking for a glass of colonial beor, but a gallant Colonel, who hails from Tauranga, was under similar circumstances, rather staggered, when on asking for a glass of brandy he was met with the response, " three or six." He replied that it was rather early, and he would be contented with one. Hebe said, "we never make one." "Oh, nevermind" said the Colonel " give me two." Said Hebe "we never make two." " Then [hang it, give me three" said the Colonel, 'if that s the custom of the country, I suppose I can manage it." He was handed a small glass of brandy, which he drank off and held out his glass for more. Again he was asked, " three or six." He said I have already agreed to take three and you have only given me one." It was then explained to him that "three or six" meant threepenny worth or sixpenny worth 1

— Since the publication of a recent issue of" the Observer, the pupils of a certain Auckland School have been compelled to " fly round" pretty briskily by |W irate tutor.. The feeling of injured innocence cm ♦he part of the victims was remarkably strong and a caucus was accordingly held, when it was determined to ****%. t] je Observer for relief. The muse was invoked, . and the f ollowing piece of doggerel penetrated as a dire revenge :— " v Sir, do you know our master, A fiery man he is, He is always in a temper On rainy days like this. If you do not pay attention He roars out like a bull, " S Ive you a & ain to mention You 11 stay in after school." He goss into his dinner And eata and drinks away, Nor thinks about the sinner With forty lines to say. But if he has had leisure, Or his French is not thought wroni?, Then sir, he is as pleasant " auu Kj As our lessons, sir, are long.

— The only citizen of Auckland that objects to Mr. J. M. Clark's election as Mayor is the Town Clerk. He is angry at the return of another obstinate Scotchman, who will have his own way, and looks back to the pleaßanb time he had when Messrs. Isaacs, Prime, Hurst, an I Brett were ma^ ora.

— While the Circus Cavalcade was passing through Queen-street on Friday afternoon last, a wellknown citizen vras offering to lay even money that the serpents handled by the snako charmer were merely Yankee toys cleverly articulated. He may now thant himself that no speculative individuals heard his declartion.

— Now the great boat race is over, everybody is surprised (Trickett did not show in frontespecially those who backed him. I heard a friend say the other day, "Ah, if he had only put himself outside one of Harry Richmond's Cocktails, the result would have been different."— Hot the slightest donbt nbout it. Stranger, try a Cocktail at the Nevada.— [Ad vt]. — Mr. Hayter, who seems a good-henrted, if somewhat eccentric customer, called on me to say that he still conducts religious services at Newmarket, and is as big a man as ever he wns. I wish, though the rev. gentleman didn't smell quite so strong of Acetic Acid When he comes near you, it's as if a very pungent and disagreeable bottle of smelling salts had been opened. _Mr Nelson says that the reason he refused to subscribe to the testimonials to Mrs. Stonier and Mrs Stevens was that he does not approve of people leaving their own parish churches. Very good, Mr. _Xs elson, bu v one lady lives in St. Sepulchre's Psrish, and the other in St. Mary's, so why did you allow them to attend at St. Paul's for so many years ?

— There is a lady in Auckland who is very proud of an old silk dress wliicli slie treasures up most carefully— tlie value of it consists in a large rent which her friends ore informed was done by the Duke of Edinburgh, who, whilst dancing nt a ball, accidentally trod upon and tore the skirt. Money wo uld not buy that torn old dress.

— A very agreeable little picnic party spent a pleasant afternoon last Saturday near Vaurhall, North Shore. Itwos quite an unpretentious afiair.and ended with strawberries and cream and French tig. The participants were a portion of the flock at St. Paul s and two of the leading lights of St. James's Association. "Quiz heard all the particulars on Sunday.

— The Government ketch, "Santa Cruz, lately purchased by Mr. C. Wilson, turns out anything but the rotten old craft she was supposed to be, although now 18 years old. The " Santa Cruz" was built by Messrs Money Wigram of oak and teak, with copper bolts, and oompetent judges, who have examined her, certify that she is good for another 20 years. Mr. Wilson only paid £200 for her.

—On Sunday week, when the wharf was crowded with ipeople who had gone down to see the circus horses and animals belonging to Cole s menagerie landed from the " City of Sydney," Mrs. de Vceux was heard to remark, in a supercilious tone, What com-mon-looking people !" Did she suppose that the 0011. ton, of Auckland would go down the wharf on a Sunday afternoon to see horses and animals.

— At Waters's the other day, a prominent public citizen, after an outspoken doubt whether he opuld afford it or not, called for roast duck. He duly received his Is. share of the piece de resistance ; which, being scraggy, did not satisfy, whereupon he called for the proprietor, and with ill-concealed anger, asked how it was he did not receive a whole roast duck as set forth in the menu.

— Respected K.M. gets into a suburban 'bus. Passenger— -Why Mr. B. this 'bus doesn't pass your house !

Magistrate — I'm going to the jail. ' Chorus of passengers— To the jail ! ! First Funny Man— What going to try your own prescription ? ■Second F. M.— Couldn't you get hail ? Third F. M.— Well, it won't be so hard on him after all, it's not the first time he's been there.

— The other day two gentlemen were on board the North Shore Boat. One had with him a very handsome well-bred sheep dog, and the other, an M.H.R., tendered £5 for it. The offer, however, was declined, as the. dog was the property of the first gentleman's son. With a fox-and-grapish sort of smile, the M.H.R. then commenced to undervalue the dog, and pointing at some hairs, said : " Look there, those hairs are not the right colour." "Oh," replied the other coolly, " a little lampblack will soon alter that."

; — Mr. Wilson, the renoAvncd tenor, has asked me to contradict the rumour that he is going to Sydney. He thinks it might injure him with the puplis, to whom he is teaching " Good-bye, Sweetheart, Goodbye." Mr. Wilson is also extremely anxious that the public should be told there was not £120 in the tbeatre on the night of the professor's concert. He says he thinks he ought to know the rights of the affair, as the money department was left entirely to him.

' — Concerning the recent murder of Lord Mountmorris in Ireland, the "Chiel," in "Vanity Fair," has the following : A correspondent writes — " Poor Lord Mountmorris wrote, only a few days before his murder, to a creditor of his in Dublin, asking him to renew for the third time a bill for Jfc2o, adding, ' For a year and a half I have received no rent. My income does not exceed £1000. I have just got decrees against my tenantsexecution to be stayed until after the harvest.' He attended the ball given at Cong, the other evening, by liord Aridilaun. All the guests went armed. Lord Ardilaun next morning found a deep grave dug in front of his own hall door."

' — The members of St. James s Association with their friends participated in a social gathering on . Friday night last. Game 3 and dances were pleasantly « dispersed, and the company enjoyed themselves, not.v \ withstanding oft-expressed dread that the Observer man should be present incog. I had a peep in towards midnight, and beheld little TV. J. N. enveloped in a ; lordly claw-hammer endeavouring- to pilot a buxoxn lass I through the mazes of the schottisehe. There were very ... few -wallflowers, but plenty of refreshments. The only "/mishap was the sudden tripping up of lougthy Mr. ! S^-t . In the polka he slipped and fell mo3t ignominiously. He blushed and apologised most profusely. . — "Some papers, "says "Truth" of September 16, "seem to take pleasure in inventing and propagating malicious stories about the private affairs of the Eoyal Eamilj-. Every few months we are told that the unsatisfactory pecuniary condition of the Prince of Wales is about to be brought before the House of Commons. liast week it was stated that the contemplated expedition of. H.R.H. to Australia had been abandoned, because he could not afford the expense, and the Government could not come forward in the matter, and the Queen would nttt. All this mischievous nonsense is pure fiction. The Prince does not go to Australia on account of the reasons generally stated in the papers, which surely are amply sufficient to satisfy the most sceptical." ■ — There are a thousand and one name 9 for popular drinks, but "J. Nib " completely floored the waiter at one of our best frequented bars the other day. An energetic insurance agent had just secured a life, and there and then produced his implements of torture fjr his victim to sign, seal, and deliver. Thevictimhad some difficulty in writing with the agent's pen, so he turned to the waiter and said, " Give me a ' J. nib.' " The waiter replied, "Yes, sir," but presently came back aJid asked him to repeat the order. Again the victim Bald a "J. nib," and this time the waiter was obliged i&willingly to confess his ignorance of the particular tipple required. His mind was, however, made easy when heard it was a pen, and not a drink that was wanted.

— The 8.8.8. (bhie-blooded boss) of the "Waikato Times/'raay be interested to learn that his uncl« the Earl of Mount-Edgcuinbe and the Ladies Edgcunibe, who were staying at Alnwick Castle with the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland during the festivities which followed the arrival there of Lord and Lady Algernon Percy, arrived at Cotehele House, Cornwall, on October 3rd, along with the bride and bridegroom, tin a visit to the Countess of Mount-Edgcvunbe. Lord and Lady Algernon were 'met on the evening of there arrival a short distance out of Tavistock by some fifty tenantry of the Cotehele estate, all mounted and bearing torches, who rode in front of them till the house was reached, when lafter Lord Mount-Bdgcumbe and his son-in-law had addressed tlie cheering crowd from the front of the house, they were entertained at dinner. The grounds were illuminated, and an electric light blazed on the top of the ancient tower of this unique ancestral seat.

tincture of romance running through it, I shall have so much to say of myself, which, while it may be displeasing to myself, may be of interest to your readers. It was said of Sir Robert Peel, by the printers, that they used up all their capital I's in his speeches. Now, that may be very well in the case of a great statesman like Sir Robert Peel, but in the case of an humble individual like J. C. Firth it may be very much out of place. " Biographer : Well, sir, there may be considerable force in what you say, but inasmuch as the character of a rising nation is moiilded in a large degree by those who have laid its foundations, how can posterity be benefited by the faults, virtues, failures, or successes of thenancestors unless they are made known. Therefore I am sure the public will excuse any appearance of egotism, from the necessity there is, if your biography is given at all, of its being recorded in this way and at this time. Mr. Firth : If that be your opinion, I have made my protest, and I am at your service. Biographer : Perhaps we had better begin at the beginning. I will first ask if there is anything remarkable in the events of your boyhood? Mr. Firth : I was born in the East Riding of Yorkshire. My father was descended from a line of Yorkshire yeomen, not very different from the sturdy English. yeomen of that part of the country. He enjoyed no particular advantages arising from rank or wealth, and being a younger son had, at an early age, to push his own way in the world. From his boyhood he was fond of horses and athletic games, and one

Biographer : I should suppose such a man would hardly escape the turmoil of politics. Mr. Firth : You are right ; he was an ardent Liberal ; he was a strong supporter _ot the antislavery movement, was very active in the agitation to secure the passing of the Keform Bill, and was a prominent member of the AntiCorn Law League. His fertile powers enabled him to take the field as a pamphleteer, and he "aye much support to the popular movements in that part of England. Well, at length, in 1841, having amassed a fortune, he relinquished his school, and embarked in commercial pur-

suits. Biographer : I should think that his previous training would hardly have fitted him for such a change. Mr. Firth : You have guessed aright. My father was a king among his. boys, but his knowledge of the world outside was little better than that of a child, for he had one great fault, though a lovable one, lie always believed people to be better than they really were. I will give you an instance. Owing to this trait in his character he had gradually dropped into the position of general referee for the whole district. If two neighbours had a quarrel they asked Mr. Firth to act as mediator ; if a man was in difficulties the first person he came to was my father ; if auybody was known to suffer injustice, my father was sure to take his side in the matter, however strong the other side might be. If a poor fellow- had not a friend in the world, he was always sure of a friend in my father. Many a time have I known him to

leave his home at night and go to pray at the bedside of an acquaintance, or stranger, -it mattered not which.

Biographer : Don't you think he would sometimes be imposed upon 7 ' Mr. Firth: Of course, as I advanced in-yearg, I could see that my father's kindness wasofteWJ abused, and that he was sometimes shamefully imposed upon. Indeed he knew it himself. But as he often said, " I had rather help some undeserving than that.. otjiera who really need aid should be sent away wanting. " Of course these traits of character were hardly such as would secure success iv commercial pursuits, especially without any previous training. Nc\ ertheless he conducted his business with more or less success until 1546-7-8. In that year came a terrible crash, caused in the first instance by the Irish potatoe famine, and in the general bad harvest, not only did the weakest go to the wall, but the strongest were borne down in the waves of a commercial di aster, unparalleled in its severity. The end of it was that my father lost his fortune. His mills were sold for a song, a valuable coal property was practically given away, and a magnificent property was practically destroyed at a blow. But he was a strong firm man. He regretted nothing for himself. He said to me one day, " i think more of losing your mother's fortune than all be*ides." I replied, "never fear, father, you have done your duty to us and to your fellow-men, and God will help us." He added ' As for me, God has willed that I should lo?e my property, lest, perhaps, I should have lost my soul." After everything had been sold, one of my uncles purchased his furniture andfarmingimplements, for everything he had in the world was sold. We lived in the old home, my father re-opened his school, and I went to work in earnest on the farm, in which in better days 1 had always taken a deep interest. Kverybody was very kind. We toiled on together, my eldest sister keeping house, for my mother had died many years before. My father often talked of emigrating to New Zealand, but nothing came of it. Biographer : H<>w old were you at this time ? Mr. Firth : I was twenty-one. I had been actively engaged in my father's mills, and had acquired acknowledge of commercial matters, and hnd passed through an experience which, though bitter and trying, has never ceased to be valuable to me. Three years on the farm with my previous experience made me well acquainted with agricultural pursuits. Biographer : I should think you must have found farming dull, after the busy life you had led previously. Mr. Firth : No, I had a fancy for it, and entered into it heartily, as I have since done in New Zealand. Well, after a while, my uncles offered me the management ef their business with a small share of the profits, and, as my previous five years' experience in my father's mills had well qualified me for the post, I at once accepted it. Biographer : What were these mills ? Mr. Firth : They were cotton and woollen mills. For three years more all went well, but one day I received a message that my father had been taken seriously ill. It was in fulfilling one of his pastoral duties, for he had never severed himself from the Ministry, that he was seized with a sudden chill, took to his bed, lingered for three months, and then died, as he had lived, a true Christian. During my father's illness the attendant physician had to visit a family afflicted with small-pox, thus he brought the disease into our house, and my sistor was suddenly prostrated with its terrible ravages. I was again summoned home to find that our one servant, struck with terror of infection, had run away. The position of the household at this time'was such as it is neither easy to imagine nor describe. I should not have referred to this except to place on record what I considered at the time a very noble act of devotion. The daughter of one 01 my father's humble neighbours, who, like the rest of the people, loved him greatly, directly she heard of our accumulated calamities, came and offered her services as a servant, and all through^ the long and terrible illness of my father and sister that good girl faithfully discharged her duty. At length my father was buried. The whole country attended his funeral, and it may well be said of him that " the memory of the just is blessed."

Biographer : I think you said a short time ago that your father meditated coming to New Zealand. Did the same idea now occur to you?

Mr. Firth : Yes. Realising the small remains of his once handsome property, and selling for what it would fetcli liis choice library — a thing I have never ceased to regret sinee — I scraped together enough money with my own savings and my sister's share of my mother's fortune to invest sufficient for her maintenance, and then with a few hundred pounds I began the world afresh. In 1854 I left England for Victoria, and in conjunction with an old schoolfellow of mine, Mr. W. B. Smith, arranged to commence business in Auckland.

[To be continued.]

— The real reason for the reprieve of Fijian Joe has, at length, come to light. It appears that the Government intimated to Abel that he, like the rest of the civil servants would have to submit to the the ten per cent, reduction. This was gall and wormwood to Abel's noble spirit, and he threw up the job in disgust.

— Here is a capital story of a troopship •. "In the ladies' cabin were four wash-basins, one of which was much larger than the others. There were three ladies in the cabin whose husbands were about equal in army rank. The women always think they have a right to presume on .the rank of their lmsbands when taking choice; of berth, &c, and there was a great discussion' as to which was entitled to the big basin. ' It was referred to the paymaster of the ship, who .could settle nothing, and eventually to the captain. He gave a decision worthy of Solomon. After first asking them if they would abide by his decision and not give any more trouble in the matter, which they readily agreed to do,' he' .said he thought it, was only fair that the oldest lady should have the biggest basin. That ■basin was never' used during the whole voyage' out."

No. 10.— Mr. Josiiia Clifton Firth,

You will see that I have adopted, an entirely neAV style in the present biography. The innovation was none of my choosing. It was to some extent forced upon inc. I had selected Mr. J. C. Firth as the subject of the next "Pen and Ink Portrait," but as I wanted a. few facts to complete gaps in the information I had already obtained, I adopted the bold step of waiting on the gentleman himself with a view of supplying them from his own lips. I found him in his office, a small room in the mill, remarkable for the plainness of its furniture and fitting?, and having met with a courteous reception, I went straight at the point by saying, — "Mr. Firth, you will notice that the Observer has been giving the biographies of leading citizens. Yours has been selected for this week, and I have been deputed to wait upon you in order to ascertain if there are any points'in your life, an account of which would be of advantage to your fellow citizens." To my surprise Mr. Firth strongly objected, and it was only after much persuasion, in which I shewed that 'there would be no impropriety in the course I proposed, and that a narrative of his struggles and successes would certainly be instructive and beneficial to thousands of readers, that he [at last consented to give answers to such questions as I might put. At length he said : " Your object may be a perfectly good one, but as the incidents in my life have been so divers", and with a strange

day while riding a horse bare-hacked in one of his father's fields he was thrown, and received some injuries This incapacitated him from active exercise for some time, and diverted his attention to literary pursuits. At that time — about sixty years ago — schools were very rare in Yorkshire, and education had to be acquired under endless difficulties. My father adopted the plan of attending all the schools within his reach, remaining at each one in succession just as long as the master had anything to teach him, and then going on to the next, until at length he had acquired all the knowledge of the most capable teachers in that part of the country. The result was that he became a good classical and mathematical scholar. It seems to me that he must have been a man naturally well educated, and of an iron constitution, for I remember that he \\ as an excellent equestrian, whilst as a pedestrian he was superior to the majority of men. He was master of four musical instruments a good singer, and an excellent shorthand writer. He became strongly impressed with religious views, and finally was ordained a nonconformist clergyman. He built, with the assistance of his friends, a pretty little chapel at what was then the village of Wyke, in Yorkshire. I have often heard him tell that, on the very spot where the chapel stood, he had frequently, in his fondness fur sport in early days, attended cockfighting. Biograph-'r : And he built the church to compound f<>r his youthful sins, I suppose. Mr. Firth : No, I don't think so. My father was never a man to compound anything. He always followed his convicti«>iis whatever the consequences were. If he went in for cockfighting he followed that, and if he became convinced that cockfighting was a very bad practice he abandoned it as heartily as he had before^supported it. Well, at this small chapel he laboured for twenty-five years without stipend. I ought to have mentioned that after he had acquired all the knowledge that the teachers were able to give him, and finding no special fi-ld for his talents, he opened an academy, which lie conducted for a quarter of a century with great distinction. It often gives me great : pleasure to hear from his old pupils in different parts of the world of their successful enterprise, their stories of the old time in the Manor House Academy, and of how much they owe to the firm manly teaching they received from my : father. In school he was the master, but in I the playground lie entered heartily into their sports. ■• t football and cricket he was an adept, and was in fact chief man on the playground. He wiw a firm friend of the temperance cause, and as a public lecturer on temperance he had few equals in that part of the country.