BRIEF MENTION

Observer, Volume 2, Issue 31, 16 April 1881, Page 327

BRIEF MENTION

— Old George, the Davgaville Lady killer, lias presented Lizzie with a pair of garters ! — What makes poor Arthur C. so down in the mouth ? Is his inamorata still obdurate ? — Archdeacon Pritt's friends will be sorry to lear \ that he is ill of typhoid fever. — MissS. contributed materially to the success of the " Mistletoe" charade. —Miss Ellyett made a charming gipsy in the charade last Friday. —Things are quiet at All Saints' since the monster picnic. — G. D. Chaplin is supporting Mrs. Scott Siddons in her tour of the States. — Who is the squeaky tenor at All Saints' who will persist hi singing through his nose. — What an eloquent speech Fred made last Friday night. — A.C.S. is the coming man. He has a most insinuating smile. — Miss G. of Dargaville appeared last Sunday iv a new turliun. An "extra squeeze in the waist was also noticeable. — A Burlington carpet dealer advertises— "Best Brussels Carpets, made by Mr. Brussels himself, which can'tbeheat." — A "burlesque on Tennyson's new play " The Cup" is being written for the London Gaiety Theatre by Burnard. The title will be " Hiccup !" — Mr. J. McLeod won a sweepstakes archery match Last Saturday. As usual, the scientific marksman was nowhere. — There are two Landing Surveyors in the Auckland Customs Department now. And business is not very brisk either. — The "Sociable" at Newton last Friday night was an immense success, notwithstanding the absence of the goody-goody teachers. — Mr. Goodson, always up to time, has just opened a large assortment of Easter presents. His emporium is well worth a visit. — Mr. Martin Simonsen is going to give a picnic to his company on Sunday. It will no doubt be a very gay affair. — Where did the ten brace of pheasants come from, which formed a prominent feature at the banquet given on Tuesday evening- by a well-known Arm. — Bob Smart, came up to town from Tauranga last Saturday. He has been in the National Bank there for some time, but has been ordered to Wellington. — E. W. Burton says that a century hence the population of the {Australian colonies will exceed thirty millions. — Look out Fred, for the warlike William is bending up each " corporal agent " to the execution of some dread purpose. — The Soldene Troupe with Rose Stella as 'jirirna donna were at San Francisco drawing crowded house in " Olivette," when the mail left. It is doubtful whether they will visit the Colonies. — John and James A., who, a short time ago, were modest well conducted youths, are going the way of most city young men, to the sorrow of their mother. Silly boys ! — Mr. Simonsen acts wisely in only perniitfring his daughters to sing occasionally. It would be a pity if their fresh young voices were to be strained by overwork. — What's the matter with Arthur P. ? Is it blighted love, or is his stomach out of order ? His friends are very anxious about him and watch his movements carefully. — Mine host of the Kaihu Hotel at Dargaville and his better half have returned from a visit to Auckland. Joe is delighted at his wife being " observed" by "Eva." — Mr. R. K. Davis who recently came into possession of a very comfortable fortune, 'left on Thursday last week by the " Eotoniahana " en route for England, accompanied by his wife and family. — The Choral Hall on Saturday night was crowded for the first time during the Society of Arts' Exhibition. The music, not the pictures, appeared to be the attraction, —The youthful secretary of a suburban Episcopal debating class has recently developed an affection for barmaids that is positively abnormal and alarming Take care Mr. E., beware ! they're fooling thee. —Next week's Observer -will contain the opening chapters of an intensely exciting novelette entitled " Plague-smitten" which will ran through two or fat most) three issues only. — There is an Irish waiter at the Hotel. He asked me, " Would you like some celery, sor ?" " I would," I answered. "So woxild I, sor," said he, "but there's none." —We hear that the young women's Bible class at the Newton Sunday school referred to last week intend to follow the example of the young men, by seceding in a body. — It is said that there is not sufficient work in the Customs Department for such energetic individuals as the brace of captains aud Messrs. D. and C. and that they will shortly be promoted to— Howici. ' —Martin Simonsen bears the character of being aniartinet with his orchestra. Is it a fact that at the first rehearsal in Auckland he summarily dismissed three members of the orchestra because they played one false note ? —It may interest that ineffably perky personage "the nephew of mine uncle" to know that in three short months Lord Mayor MeArthur Ims gained the 'reputation of being "the most unpopular chief magistrate that ever graced London's civic chair." — Alf C. leaves for Napier again to-day. Maria, Fanny, and Maggie, charming Maggie have kissed him for his mother, and he returns to' his home with blissful remembrances of happy moments spent in Auckland. — Three so-called gentlemen who were in the stalls at the Theatre on Monday night, conducted themselves most disgracefully. Luckily (for them) we don't know their names, as our informant wouldn't give them up. — Charlie Ewen, agent for the Bank of New Zealand at Waipawa, came up by the "Tararua" last Wednesday. His friends will be glad to see him, but sorry that he has come np on account of the serious illness of his father. — Somebody tells us that the gentleman in charge of a certain Auckland school is sweet on one of the lady teachers. We ore glad to hear of it, and hope to be afforded the pleasnre of recording their alliance in the blissful bonds of matrimony, very shortly.

— Minnie, dear, Avhy do you make the little I girls bring a whole packet of needles to school, when they only require one ench ? They say you must be in leagne with the needle manufacturers to work trade tip a bit. —This (Thursday) evening, Miss Martina ! Simonsen will make her appearance ns the heroine of ] "La Traviata," The part is a mo%t exacting one, requiring special powers both vocally and histrionically, and we shall be interested to see how the young lady pulls through. — A gentleman in the Board of Education office ordered a dress suit from Murchie specially for the Opera season. On the opening night he appeared in the dress circle resplendent in a graceful claw-hammer, white choker, and immaculate kid gloves. She was not there however, and he was bitterly disappointed. — What a pity it is Mr. Simonsen does not include " Les Cloches de Corneville " in his repertoire. His company could play it splendidly. Eiccardi would , make a capital Gaspard, Benham is the Baillee all over, Martina Simonseu would play Germaine divinely, and Madame might condescend to amuse us as Serpolette. — What is there about saw-mills that renders them so attractive to the artistic eye of Mr. Charles Blanfield ? His paintings of them certainly exhibit a great amount of talent, but the generality of people would not care to have pictures of saw-mills hanging in their drawing-rooms. — A local lay preacher was fearfully disgusted the other Sunday morning. He had been requested to preach in a suburban sanctuary, but on ai-riving there he found the place closed and not a saint, a sinner, or anxious enquirer near. He waited till half-past eleven, and then walked home muttering curses loud and deep. — Members of the Civil Service Cricket Club who arc in arrears with their subscriptions had better shell out at once. It is said the Secretary intends to summon all the defaulters. What an interesting list of mimes would be supplied ;to the ladies. It is to be hoxjed that Gus is not amongst them. — Mr. Willie Baker has been ungallant enough to tax some of his lady friends with inserting in lust week's Observe]! the par. about his injured arm. Freddy regards this as a sorry sequel to their tender condolences, but declares that baptism has had an indurating effect upon the natural softness of his hearb. — The ladies and gentlemen of St. Mark's Choir are anxious to know if the enquiry after a certain number of asses is meant to reflect upon them in any way. They trust that, although one of the asinine species does affect the district, yet that he is nui generis. He has no associates there ; he left them all at home. — The singing last Sunday evening at St. Matthew's Church was excruciating. The choir very carefully kept several notes behind the organ all through the service, and the organ, as if gratified at this acknowledgement of its superiority, uttered a grunt of satisfaction or a shriek of delight at the termination of each chant and hymn. — The Alphas caught it properly last Saturday, and received a most unmistakable thrashing. Poor Captain J. B. J. was quite disconsolate. Charlie C, Martin M., Willie X., and Fin F. talked tbe mutter over on Sunday, and the two latter were so much affected by the dismal reminiscences of the previous day that they were almost incapneitnted from teaching their classes. — Tlie head of a well-known firm of tanners whose office is between the National Bank and the Star office, might have been seen early on the morning after the fire at his brother tanners, hurrying from one Insurance Compnny's office to another, his coat tails Hying behind him, and his countenance a picture of anxiety aud perplexity. Why ? —The following lines ajwojios of the marriage of the Baroness, Burdett Coutts, to Ashinead Bartlett, are terribly cruel :— Now Hymen's torch is lighted, now Cupid's task is done, O, may this wondrous wedding turn out a happy one. But let us hope the parson in decency refrained From reading to that couple why marriage was ordained. — It is said that Minnie was so incensed at what appeared in the Observer, regarding her style of drilling the children, that she took up a chair and dashed it on the floor in a violent ebullition of temper. Now, dear, you know that was very wrong, and in future we do hope that you will remember the advice of good old Doctor Watts when he said, " Children, you should never let your angry passions rise." — A youngster while upstairs in the Exchange Hotel the other night, was so desirous of being considered fast that he pretended to be drunk when he was not, and challenged any one in the room to produce more money than he could. It was subsequently discovered that the sum total of his capital was three and sixpence. But he thought he hud effected a great impression on the fair Hebe, and he was content. — A high clerical authority in the Church of England stated, the other day, thaf not only whs he a conditional iminortalist, but that most of the Episcopal clergymen were also, but they deemed it expedient to keep it dark for the present. Dr. M. of Piirnell, however, is shortly to deliver a series of sermons on the subject. What will the Revs. A. W. W. and W. M. say then ? — A curious feature in Mr. Trevithick's picture of the Auckland Regatta,, is tbe fact that he represents the wind as blowing directly from the East and also from the West at the same time. Some of tbe schooners are represented as bowling down the Harbour with a spanking breeze right astern, while the unfortutuuate vessels just in advance of them find it necessary to beat against the wind. — The following lines are dedicated to Lotti Wihnot and other famous " mediums " : — Of all the shams and the shoddies Which truth in society finds, The spirits (not punches and toddies), Are the worst with their blinks and their blinds ; If the spirits are out of their bodies. The dupes must be ont of their minds ! — Adelina Patti recently appeared at Nice in the " Trovatore," " Soiinambula," and the "Barbiere." It is reported on good authority that she received £600 for each performance. That's a nice remuneration, isn't it? Adelina has sent Camdnx, of the Referee, a line | to say that so long as she can go to her Nice, there will I be no necessity for her to apply for assistance to her " uncle." | — Mr. Wickham appears to know more about the ownership of the Observer than we do ourselves. During the last few weeks his journal has credited no less than three people with having "an interest" in the paper. According to it, Laishley, Brett, and the nominal proprietor are all in the same "swim." What a happy family they ought to make. But why not add Wilsons & Horton and Braine to the list. It would sound better and be quite as likely. i — People are lost. They "disappear." They disappeared from London last year to the number of 12,000. But they were recovered to a very large extent — recovered or accounted for. Some of them were murdered, some committed suicide (about 250), some went to sea, and some quietly came back again and all was forgiven. Still, on the whole, when December was reached there were 166 of whom no account whatever could be given. Their disappearance was a mystery, and j remained a mystery. — Says the Frisco News Letter : "The newspapers of Australia and New Zealand especially the weekly journals are a source of wonder in whichever department of journalism we consider th 6m — whether for quantity, quality and variety of interesting and instructive matter they contain, the careful composition and selection of subjects, or the style and get up in which they are presented to the reader. Neither this wealthy city or Golden State posseses one such paper as is issued weekly to the citizens of the capital of even the smallest and poorest of those colonies." — The locality in the neighbourhood of St. James's Hall must be pretty lively on Monday evenings. When Mr. E. W. Burton rose to deliver his lecture at St. James's class last Monday night, a brass baud was playing in an adjoining bailding, while a church choir was practising for a concert in another portion of the hall occupied by the Association. It may easily be imagined that harmony there was none, and that the opposition uproars were sufficient to drive the members of the improvement class to distraction. Eventually, the more serious nuisance was removed, the choir consenting to betake themselves into the church.

—A good story is told in connection with one or the Government offices. Just before the visit of the officer whose duty it is to put the broad arrow on all Government property, it was discovered that one of the rulers wno missing. Of course there was great consternation among the officials, one of whom proposed that a subscription should be raised to buy anew one. Another discovered a better plan. There was *. very long ruler m the office, so he cut it in two and filed the ends quite smooth, so the deficiency was supplied. —Accidents will happen in the best regulated newspapers, and we are not ashamed to confess that in last week's " Things not generally known " there were a couple of very questionable "pars" that would have been much better left out. The Lance blackguarding us for this slip is, however, uncommonly like the Devil reproving sin. A hasty glance through a few recent issues of that highly toned print, reveals the interesting fact that in the papers of January 22nd, February sth, 12fch, 26th, and March sth there were "Newsy Notes " of the most glaringly indecent character. — The Herald, in the issue of Monday last, favoured us with the usual weekly report upon the " eloquent and highly instructive discourse " delivered on the previous day by " His Grnce the Archbishop." Our contemporary informs us that " the evening devotions had reference to the lona mors or ' happy death,' which takes place on the second Sunday of each month in the cathedral." This requires some looking into by the authorities, who deal specially with corpses. What is Dr. Goldsbro' about that he has not collared the fees on these monthly hnna mors? How is it that these "happy deaths,' which take place monthly in the cathedral, are not duly notified to the Registrar, and dealt with under " the Statute that case made and provided ?" — The paragraph in last week's Observer about country jiostinasters being aimo.ved by people calling for their letters after office hours, reminds a correspondent of a plan abopted in the early days of the Thames goldfield, when there was a branch post office at a chemist's shop. Anyone going after office hours could obtain his letters on payment of a fpe of twopence. This was a great boon to the miners living up in the ranges, as they could not afford to lose half a day, going down for their letters in office hours, and. did not object to paying the small fee. — A bevy of girls from a fashionable milliner's in Princes-street were wending their way home the other night closely followed by Auckland's most amorous solicitor. The merry old fellow is a married man, but does not confine his attentions to his faithful spouse. He loves the whole female race, and wa3 ( we blush to tell the tale ) blowing kisses to the girls in front of him. It was broad daylight, bnt bo didn't blush. Nor did the girls ; they seemed to like it, and turned round as often as they conveniently could to smile encouragingly and and giggle at the lawyer who was rolling himself along with the swagger peculiarly his own. — To the Editor : Sir, — I noticed in your paper the other day, a paragraph concerning a friend of mine, and therefore hope you will insert this explanation. The piece of ground the lady fenced in has stood unused for many years, nndbeen made the receptacle for all sorts of rubbish. My friend naturally thought it might as well be made (good use of, and consequently had a temporary fence put up to prevent her pony from straying. A fellow bought the place directly, because he saw this his neighbour's outlay, and for no other reason. His religion, which had better not be named, excuses such acts of neighbourly love and friend ship. — I am etc., The Lady's Friend. — A lady "svlio recently married a wellknown clergyman, was, till within a brief period prior to her marriage in a curious dilemma. She had three suitors. They were all nice fellows, and she didn't like to pain any of them by a rejection, but it was unavoidable. She was a long time before she could make up her mind as to which of them was most eligible. At last she accepted the parson, and he, fearful lest she might alter her mind if allowed much time for reflection, hastened the wedding, and finally carried oft' the prize in triumph. As Shakespeare remarks, "There is a divinity doth hedge a parson," which renders him peculiarly attractive to the susceptible feminine heart. Under ordinary circumstance, in any case where a parson has three, six, a dozen, or more rivals, we would back him against the field and give long odds into the bargain. — lii answer to " One who likes to learn "we have no hesitation in saying that the man who would demand the return of an engagement ring <w a right, must be an insufferable cad. When an engagement is broken oti', it sometimes happens that the lady returns her lover's presents, but oftener than not he asks her to keep them as a sign that though they can't be lovers they mean to bo friends. If it is thought desirable that letters should bo returned, the gentleman sends hers to the lady with a request that his may be posted to him as soon as convenient. [N.B. — We never have been engaged, and it is to be hoped never will be, but a careful perusal of the "Answers to Correspondents " in such periodicals as Wedding Bells, The Girls' Own Magazine, The London Journal, and The Family Herald \ leads us to the above valuable conclusions. l