The Obserber.

Observer, Volume 3, Issue 70, 14 January 1882, Page 274

The Obserber.

I Saturday, January 14th, 1882.

Some time ago a lunatic named Marsh, who interested himself a good deal in the Wade smuggling ease, "was condemned on the certificate of Drs. Hooper and Haines to a temporary sojourn at the Whau Asylum. Like most lunatics, Marsh rebelled sadly at his fate, and by way of regaining his liberty, wrote a number of long and touching appeals to Judge Gillies, in which he asserted his sanity, and demanded immediate dismissal from the asylum. That these letters had their effect on the Judge is evident, for after receiving several *of them he exercised his undoubted authority as a Judge of the Supreme Court, and held an enquiry (under the Lunacy Act) into the man's sanity. No less than eight doctors were summoned "to attend, and' the investigation took place last Saturday morning. The result was that Marsh demonstrated his insanity in the most unmistakable manner, and succeeded in making 1 Mr Grillies rather sorry that he had gone into the matter at all. Amongst other persons examined was Dr Kenderdine, against whom the lunatic showed an unconquerable but apparently inexplicable aversion. When asked the reason of his dislike, Marsh replied indignantly, " The doctor told me to put my tongue -^ out. Wouldn't you feel insulted, Mr Grillies, if a stranger asked you to put out your tongue." The Judge said he didn't think he should feel offended if the questioner was a medical man. "Well, T did," quoth Marsh, "and I always shall. .No man shall ask me to put out my tongue if I can help it." Subsequently the lunatic expressed his disbelief in feminine virtue, and by way of clinching the matter, asked the various witnesses whether they would not . expect their respective spouses to indulge ■ in a flirtation or tAvo if they left them ,at. / home alone for ten or more days. So long as this query was put to the anedical men solely, the Judge didn't appear greatly ruffled, but when the lunatic coolly turned round and without any apparent idea of the heinousness of the offence, asked the Judge exactly the same thing about Mrs Grillies, his Honor brought the enquiry to a premature close, and fully convinced of Marsh's insanity, re- committed him promptly to the Whau Asylum.

—* -^ £ An irate elderly female flounced into this office the other day, and demanded in stern tones to be admitted instanter to the editorial sanctum. She was cautiously reconnoitred, and approached in extended skirmishing order. There was a dangerous glare in her eyes like the flashes of a revolving lighthouse on a rocky coast in a dark night. In her hand she held • a ponderous gingham. The man who does the interviewing business for this journal warily manoeuvred towards her, keeping one eye on the umbrella and the other on her teeth, which were magnified by his affrighted imagination until they appeared like a row of piano keys. The regular interviewer for this journal is a man of powerful nerve, such nervous power in fact that he is occasionally

utilised as a telegraph "office whenever the regular batteries get out of order. But though he has plenty of invigorating excitement, and a magnificent salary, he is a melancholy, sad-eyed man. None of. the insurance companies will give a policy on his life, and the touters cross the street whenever they see him coming along. They say hjs occupation is too risky. Well, this disappointed and doomed man made a profound bow to the lady, and in his blandest tones asked to what fortnnate concatenation of circumstances v/ere we indebted for this distinguished visit. The i idy wanted to see the man who put a little piece i.i the paper, to see him instantly, without any nonsense, to see him very bad ; she wanted to give him a piece of her mind, to give him (that umbrella) ; - to er— r — r — r- v—v.u — v. ' The interviewed was sorry the man in question had only just gone out a few minutes ago. When would he be back? Well, it might be ten minutes, or to-morrow. She thought people had tl a great piece of cheek" to mention her name in the paper. If she knew the man that wrote that little piece—: — . Well, it was only a joke — no imputation on her character as a wife and a mother, a sisteiy a cousin, or an aunt, or — — . She didn't like jokes. ■ Had she read the London JPunc7i ? Never ; wouldn't read such stuff. Might one ask her objections ? It was too personal. And yet this irate female was not an Irishwoman ! She flounced out again to look for the man who put in that little piece, and perhaps she is looking for him still. The interviewer sighed one of his melancholy sighs, wiped away a tear, and gazed after the retreating form, musing sadly on the eccentricities of the feminine character.

Mark Twain's champion mean company of the Western Slope, had better look to its laurels. It ■will be remembered that a miner was blown sky high by an explosion, and the champion mean company docked his wages for the time occupied in the ascent and descent. The Auckland firm ■adopts the system of paying its employes monthly, the wages being disbursed usually on the first day of the succeeding month, but often later. The hands expected to receive their wages for December on the Saturday previous to New Year's Day, as it was known that work would be suspended on the Monday. They were, however, grieviausly disappointed, and some of them, who had no spare cash, were obliged to forego their outing during the holiday as they had similarly been pinched during the Christmas season. The wages were not paid until the Wednesday following New Year's Day. A little forethought and consideration on the part of the firm referred to, would have averted the inconvenience and dissatisfaction that resulted from the delay. We are very loth to credit the statement made by our informant that in holding over the men's wages from week to week the firm is actuated by such lnean considex'ations as the comparatively small amount of interest derivable from the money.

Ifc is to be hoped that counsel will be retained to defend Te Whiti, and that Commissioner Parris will be placed in the box and examined upon all his private land dealings — upon every single transaction with which he is or has been connected, as to the ten thousand a year that for many years he had the handling of ; as to the reason why the awards made to the natives sixteen years ago by the judges and Government have nofc" been allocated and fulfilled ; and as to how many of the fulfilled awards have become his property, and that of his friends through his agency. All these would have a yery important bearing upon Te Whiti's defence and upon the condition of things generally, and shoiild be known to every man in the colony. Judge Fenton, when he held his last Land ' Court in New Plymouth, remarked from the Bench that it was a disgrace to see numbers of natives asking for their Crown Grants and unable to obtain them, and he complained to Government on the subject, but with no effect. Mr Fenton was palpably not aware that the Grants that were ready and adjudicated upon by himself, had become the property of Mr Eobert Parris and his friends. Yet Te Whiti is in prison and his people are made vaga? bonds. Mr Parris is on the Bench and his friends are in very high office — even amongst the Responsible advisers of his Excellency the Governor.

In the early political history of New Zealand two great prominent parties played a nice little game of see-saw, alternatively dividing the power, patronage, and loaves and fishes of office between them. The changes of Ministry occurred at such regular intervals as to suggest something more than the mere accidental fluctuations of parties, but the mock gravity and show of solemn formality with which the farce was played allayed any snspicion of collusion. One of the parties was ShrWilliani Fox, and the other Sir E. "W. Stafford. Like two knights at a friendly tournament, these two doughty political warriors tilted at each other, were alternately unhorsed, and " shared the rewards of their prowess. Sir E. W. Stafford has retired from politics. Sir William • Fox has been true as the needle to the pole to those political principles which he marked out for himself from the moment he set foot in the Colony— he has made it support him in comfortable circumstances, whether in or out of office. Men might come, and men might go, but he has gone on drawing public pay for ever. When, through senility and the teetotal monomania, he was no longer able to lead a party, he got himself settled in a snug sinecure as a West Coast Commissioner, by which he has continued to live board and lodging free for years, and will probably die .^ in harness, signing a voucher for travelling exs penses as his final act. The example set by these two distinguished men has, however, not been lost upon the new generation of politicians. A cer- . tain firm, which is interested in enormous native land monopolies, and still, like Oliver, " asks for more," has in its ranks two members of the ' . General Assembly. To the superficial observer, these twain are diametrically ojiposed in their political views } but, to those who look below the surface, they are evidently playing a deep game, • and the Auckland constituencies are. being " done i;. on both sides." By the present ingenious arrangement the fi^ always has a friend and confidential .;. agent with the Ministry in power, no. matter ;>>;h;ich;p"arfcy is in office^ and, in fact, can manipu- , late bpth'sides of the House. The plan has been devised, and reflects great credit punning and duplicity of its inventor.

Apropos of the cardsbarping story detailed in lasfe.issue, we have received a number of letters asking how, or in what way, slicing a small piece off an ace or a court-card assists a swindle. We naturally have not much experience in these matters ourselves, • and have therefore had recourse to a well-known " sport," who, under a little friendly pressure, has let us into the secret of two or three well-known card dodges. This authority avers that clipped cards was one of the favourite methods of cheating in England some years ago, but is now 'too well known to pass muster, save in very second rate gaming-houses. The meaning of clipped cards (or tapering cards, as they should properly be called) is that they are larger at one end than the other, as shown in fig. 1.

To prepare them the sharper, with a keen pair of scissors, or, better still, a penknife, cuts both sides of every court-card and ace, beginning with about the 30th part of an inch at one end, and sloping off to nothing at the other end* It will be readily understood that if all the cards are placed with the bevel the same way, and one of them is then turned round in the opposite cl.u % eetion, it will project on each side of the narrowest part of the pack by one-fifteenth of an inch, and therefore can be easily recognised by the sharper, however carefully they may have been shuffled. What applies to one card will do so in like manner with several. Thus, suppose the sharper has turned all the court-cards one way and the low cards the other, he can, according as he cuts at the one end or the other of the pack, cut a court-card or a low card as lie pleases. This we merely give as an example, for clipped cards can be used in a variety of ways. Some sharpers make use of cards cut with a double bevel ; it is the same thing under another form. Thus, for instance, the court-cards are so cut that their sides are convex, as in figure 2, and the remaining cards with their sides concave, as in figure 3. The result with these cards is the same

as with the preceding, save that the latter afford even greater facilities for cheating. The more expert the sharper, the more delicate the bevel ; indeed, our informant says he has seen cards so slightly cut that it required the minutest examination to detect that they had been tampered with at all.

The waistcoat dodge of exchanging packs, exposed in last week's paper, is now ilhistrated by figure 4, the sharper, of course, being without -his

coat. We also give an engraving of an easy way of neutralising the cut, -which goes by the name of -t the bridge." Professor Hoffman describes this artifice thus : — The " bridge" is one of the oldest artifices in use amongst sharpers. If neatly executed, it is very difficult to guard against it. Its object is to neutralise the cut, and thus to retain the cards in the order in which they have been arranged by the sharper to favour his designs. The sharper, grasping the pack of cards -with his right hand, first bends them smartly over the first finger of the left. He then bends back the upper part of the pack in the opposite direction, so as to form two outward curves, as in figure 5. This done, he passes

the upper portion of the pack beneath the other, as if merely shuffling the cards. The two bent portions are thus brought face to face, and the gap* produced by these two arcs (figure 6) forces the cut to be made rather at

that particular spot than at any other. The smallest space between the two portions is sufficient for this purpose.*

♦ The curve of each portion is, for the sake of clearness, greatly .exaggerated ~in the illustrations. The actual "bridge" is imperceptible, save under very niinute examination.

The attempt of certain publicans in Auckland and at the North Shore to stop Mrs Bridget Mooneyand other pxxrehasers of fruit stalls from selling ginger beer on the Bllerslie and Takapima racecourses was a very paltry piece of business; and reflected but little credit on either their gallantry or generosity. Mrs Mooney is a very hardworking woman, who has for over eleven years attended the meetings of the A.8.C. ; and what little she could sell with, her fruit could not materially interfere with the large profits made by the hotel-keepers. At the North Shore Mrs ' Mooney's takings were 15s against expenses amounting to nearly £5, and yet we hear of two publicans claiming £20 a-piece from the Takapuna Jockey Club because Mrs M. broke her contract and sold half-a-dozen bottles of aa-atecl waters. The sooner these racecourse contracts are amended the better. There can be no reason why the purchasers of fruit stalls should not, like the publicans and proprietors of the Good Templar booths, be permitted to sell jerated waters. The committee have no right to show one person more favours than another. Either all should be permitted to sell Derated waters, or else the special right should be sold to one man, who could re-let it as he chose.

Herbert Spencer, in his "Sociology," has shown how early education, associations, and personal interests give to certain minds an incxirable bias, often wrong, and sometimes mischievous. If Herbert Spencer were in New Zealand, lie -would discover a new species of bias — the bias of land monopoly. Just as Herbert Spencer shows that men educated in the most absurd or immoral doctrines are so blinded by bias as to regard them as the perfection of dignity and morality, so some of the land-grabbers are thoroughly conscientious, having actually come to believe that in filching for their individual selves enormous areas of that land which ought rightfully to be the common property and heritage of the whole people of the Colony, they are magnanimously conferring vast benefits upon the present and future generations. Mr J. C. Firth, per example, owns an estate of some 70,000 acres in the Waikato, and has an eye on some 30,000 more adjoining. He has some 4000 or 5000 acres under cultivation. The bulk of the land lies waste. Yet Mr Firth, through this bias we have been spealcing of, feels a glow of virtuous pride under his waistcoat when he reflects, or seems to reflect on the enormous sacrifices he has made, is making, and yet means to make, by monopolising the land in his own hands. : t is not covetousness, that actuates Mr Firth, but mere bias. A pious man like Mr Firth would scorn to be covetous. Even when he does a good stroke by raising the price of flour, it's only bias. If Mr Firth were to secure the entire land of the Colony, and turn it into a run, it would be just bias, and nothing more. Then, hurrah ! for bias.

We should, not ourselves have referred to the annual meeting of the parishioners of All Saints' had not the Herald of last Saturday put in a long leader about it, which is very unjust in its tone towards the Eev. Mr Edwards. The incumbent and the parish of All Saints have received from this gentleman continued and gratuitous assistance, and now he receives for his acts of kindness, as payment, an attempt on the part of our leading journal to show that Mr Edwards was making the pulpit of All Saints the subject "of a bargain" in which there was a " great display of worldliness." This is most unfair. Mr Edwards made a bonafide proposition to Mr Bree, by which he was quite willing to abide, and which would have been of the utmost advantage to the parish. If, in a private conversation, he said that he supposed ultimately the sum of £50 would be supplemented by something more, there was nothing of a bargain in this, and assuredly nothing very worldly, for £200 a-year and the parsonage is not a very great amount of worldly wealth. We do not hesitate to say that it was a mistake not to have closed with his offer. If he was the right man in the right place, it would soon have been seen, and no reasonable amount of stipend would have been refused him ; and if he was not the right man, it would soon have been seen also, and no harm done. Since writing the above we have been glad to notice Mr Boardinan's letter in Monday's Herald, taking the same view as ourselves as to the injustice done to Mr Edwards in the Herald's article. It was unfair to pen such an article without thoroughly understanding the merits of the case. 78 0 clergyman ever connected in any way with All Saints' has been so uniformly kind and liberal in his service, or has given such a universal satisfaction in his ministrations, as the Eev. Mr Edwards. He need not fear justice being done him by the parishioners, who understand the whole circumstances.

Of course the Abigails are all tyrants, want Wednesday evenings and Sundays out, followers allowed, ape the manners and dress of their mistresses, occasionally go the extreme length of stealing the affections of their masters, and do many other very naughty things. But isn't there something to be said on the other side ? Sometimes servants complain that they are half -starved by their mistresses, in other cases they are worked almost to death, continually snubbed and downtrodden, sometimes their wages are not paid, and they are often persecuted by the unwelcome attentions of lascivious old sinners "under whose roof they ought to ■ be regarded as sacred from harm. Take one case, which has come to our knowledge. A man in. one of the suburbs advertised sometime ago for a servant, promising good wages and a comfortable home. One girl of tender years, who secured the. place, found it dirty, ill-furnished, and the family ill-fed. Her bed-room Jwas hardly fit for a dog-kennel, and she was often kept at work from sunrise till midnight. Add to this both her master and her mistress were addicted to intemperate habits, and whenever they indulged in a carouse, kept her running to the hotel for liquor. To intensify matters, the family led a cat-and-dog life, the wife became jealous of the servant, and whenever a calm succeeded a storm thp blame was saddled upon the unfortunate and helpless girl. Her wages being considerably in arrear, she only awaited a settlement in order to seek another situation. But her position at length becaino unbearable, she demanded her money, when site

was threatened with the terrors of the law on a trumped-up charge of stealing. Ultimately she left the place in disgust, sacrificing her wages rather than put up with such a state of things any longer. The ,above facts, have been communicated to us from a thoroughly reliable source, and if challenged can be substantiated by names.

Apropos of card-sharping, we hare received the following : — " Dear Mr Editor : Two young fellows arrived a couple of years ago from England, have been working at the Northern Wairoa as bushmen, and have occupied a whare between them. By hard work and industrious, steady habits, they had managed to save a couple of hundred pounds, which they singularly, enough kept in the hut. Some weeks ago, they acceded to the request of a number of well dressed " gentlemen" for a night's lodging, the weather being unusually bad, and in order to while away the time a game of euchre was proposed, and carried into effect. The stakes were moderate, and the strangers lost repeatedly, until the bushmen had won something like £50. They then unsuspectingly allowed the play to run high, and before another hour had gone, the same old story might have been repeated regarding them. They had lost nearly every penny which they possessed, and the liquor which they had indulged in, prevented them from seeing that they were being systematically robbed. Next day, however, they found that they had been duped by two old birds, and should either happen to drop across their path, some satisfaction for the money 'will be taken out. One of the victims is, I believe^ at present in town, and should he be successful in his search, there are certain facts which he.is in possession of, that will make a public exposure almost inevitable.

The spectacle of two well-known North Shore residents going about with their visual organs in a state of deep mourning has been one of the interesting sights to be seen in Queen-street during the past week. One of the gentlemen is Mr D. A., a man binder the middle height, and a near relative of a personage who holds a very high office in the Government of the colony ; whilst the other is Mr IT., a powerfully-built, muscular fellow, who has the reputation of being a bit of a, bully. During the holidays Mr A.'s son was placed in charge of one of the Worth Shore strawberry gardens, where in fine weather 'Arry is wont to regale his Mary Ann with a dish of the luscious berries, mingled with the prime of lacteal fluid, and the saccharine yielding of the cane. While engaged in the congenial task of watching these gardens, young A. met Mr U., who sternly ordered him away, and, on his refusing to go, struck him a violent blow on the ear and banished him from his Eden. Subsequently the boy's father, Mr A., met Mr TJ., and asked, " What do you mean by bullying niy son ?" to which Mr U. replied laconically, "Oh! you want one too, do you ?" and, suiting the action to the word, shot his brawny fist into little A.'s eye, recalling in the mind of A. vivid recollections of the recent exhibition of the electric light on board the Africa. Little A. belongs to a fighting family. In an instant his" warlike spirit was up, and, darting a look of defiance from his eye (the other was severely damaged), he placed himself in position, and went straight for his big opponent. -For a few brief minutes there was a complete bonleversment— in fact, one of the most exciting scenes ever witnessed in this tisually serene locality. For some time the bulk and long arms of the heavy weight had the best of ifc, but pluck at length triumphed. Little A. got right in on "the big 'un/' and gave him a tremendous thrashing, severely damaging the classic lines of U.s noble countenance, and compelling him to cry "peccavi," apologise, and promise to behave better in future. This explains those black eyes.

We have received a number of indignant complaints respecting the brutal treatment of travellers at the Northern Hotel, better known as " The Stone Jug." If but a tithe of tlft allegations are true — and we have no reason to discredit our informant, who has attached his signature to his -letter — the matter properly comes within the scope of police injury. On the 3rd instant the wife of a gentleman in business in Queen-street, accompanied by another lady and four young children— the eldest only eight years of age — visited Point Chevalier, having made arrangements for a conveyance-to meet them'at 6 pan, in order to bring them back to town. . Seeing, however, that a ram storm was coming, they sought shelter. But before they could do this the storm came on, and they arrived, after three hours in the rain, almost drenched to the skin, at " The Stone Jug," kept by a Mr Curnow, who opened the side door, ushered them into a private sitting-room, and bade them make themselves as comfortable as they could imder the circumstances. The party called for some slight refreshment, and awaited the cessation of the rain, or the arrival of a conveyance. A little before 5 p.m., while the downpour of rain continued, Mrs Ournow flounced into the room where the two ladies and the children were sitting, turned the children out into the passage, threw their hats and wet overclothes after them, and peremptorily ordered the whole party to "make tracks and clear out." One of the ladies firmly declined to go out into the rain, upon which Mrs Curnow abused her in most insulting language The room being shut against them, the party had to stand for more than an hour in the passage Themarried, lady gave the address of her 'husband, and' offered to pay for any accommodation she required ; but the woman continued her tirade of coarse abuse. Luckily a vehicle came up, and the party were glad to escape from their unfortunate predicament. Since then the husband otM one of the ladies has written to" Mr Ournow de-H manding an explanation j bufc, though nearly a week has elapsed, he has received no reply. Ifc seems almost incredible that any woman couid be- " guilty of such cruelty to one" of her own sexmuch less to a number of young children, and we think the police ought to institute inquiries into the matter with a view to prevent a repetition of such conduct. ••$/•

A similar complaint reaches us with regard to an hotel at the Wh.au. Two travellers had taken the train from Auckland to Henderson's Mill, but on their return to the station found, to their disgust, that the train had, without notice, left half-an-hour earlier than usual. Wo conveyance being available, they set out on foot, and reached the Whau Hotel hungry and footsore. They asked to be furnished with a cup of tea and something to eat, but, after ten minutes' delay, the landlord informed them that they could have nothing, as the fire was out. The travellers were not even asked to sit down. Disgusted with such treatment, ""they resumed their journey. It is high time that publicans of this class were taught a salutary lesson, and made clearly and unmistakably to understand the terms and conditions upon which they hold their licenses. Living in localities where they are rarely subject to close police scrutiny, £hey seem to have become ■imbued with the fallacious notion that their function is merely that of a "grog-seller," and that they can with impunity insult or refuse accommodation to any respectable traveller who is .not willing to stand at the public bar and i( knock- down" money in drinking the vile compounds that are often sold under the name of spirits. The great question, of the week has, without doubt, been the disgraceful delay in the delivery of the English mail. We aver without hesitation that in no other Australasian city could such a monstrous inconvenience be perpetrated on the public and the Colony generally without summary vengeance being taken on someone. It is useless to pretend that the Government only is in fault. The same thing occurred several months ago, and on the ground that it was the first time, and that the lache should not occur again, the Press were silent. Now we find that literally nothing has been done, either to expedite fumigation or hasten delivery, and without doubt the fault lies at the door of three persons, Messrs. Brophy, Barnsley and Biss. The first two are, in our opinion the sinners, and if the Government had an ounce of common sense it would give them something to remember the arrival of the January mail by. The very idea of the whole Colony being inconvenienced, and an important mail delayed simply because of the supineness of a couple of well paid officials, is monstrous, and will very properly make ixs the laughing stock of Australasia.