IN THE REPORTERS ROOM

Observer, Volume 9, Issue 529, 9 February 1889, Page 10

IN THE REPORTERS ROOM

By M. T. Cask.

i ' !TV^ ' YOU 8° *° see Baldwin on Monday, [ JLJ* O'Managan V asked the religious editor. | ' I didn't pee you there. I suppose you did the cheap on Mount Eden ?' ' I do not see any reason why people should not view the performance from Mount Eden. I am sure it could be better seen from there than in Onslow Park itself. I went all the way, simply because I was too tired to clamber up the mountain.' ' Signor Farini did not seem overpl eased with Mount Eden, and Baldwin remarked that the outaidn attendance waii remarkably good. He must bear in mind that very few cities are gifted with such vantage points as Auckland. Farini seemed lo think that the Takapuna racecourse would be more profitable, but again he will discover that the infernal volcanic cone will disturb his calculations.' ' Why do the religious world disapprove of such performances as Baldwin's ?' demanded the chief.'' 'By some people they are classed with boxing matches, horse races, etc., whereas they are really of great scientific importance.'' ' I saw Purchas senior out there on Monday,' said the police-reporter, ' but I expect ho went more in his medical than his clerical capacity.' ' Not much use going in either, it strikes me, 1 said the religious editor. 'IC Baldwin made a mistake and came down /lop, he would not have much need of either parson or doctor.' Providence has a good deal to do with it, as Philson remarked in connection with the typhoid epidemic last year. We seem pretty free from thai scourge this year.' ' I suppose the City Council lay the llatloring unction to their sonl that our present immunity from disease is i.tlribufablc to their assiduous efforts.' ' 1 shouldn't wonder. If you take a walkround the suburbs, you will be myssli'ied to account for the present good health of the city. In many populous stree's there arc no drains of any sort; refuse water flows into the unchannelled streets, and festers there most offensively. Luckily, prr.--<>nu! cleanliness is better attended to than heretofore, but the Council can hardly claim credit for that.' ' I saw in the papers the other any,' remarked the religious editor, ' that tho employes of the Council were highly insubordinate. Now, as heavily-taxed ratepayers, have we not a perfect right to know all the details of Uu3 business '? j If there is any fun going about, why should we | be debarred from the full edjoyment of it ?' i ' Perhaps there is not enuu.qh to go round,' ' replied tho police-reporter, ' and you know how accretive the Councillors are. I should very much like to see the letters that passed between the belligerent subordinates. Couldn't you get Evans to move that they be published ?' ' I can't say. As a rule, Evans is very affable and courteous, but his sudden elevation to the dignity of a regatta judge may have unsettled his equilibrium a bit. I admit that he tilled the oliicemost admirably, and can't speak too highly of his new idea that no one but the judge should know when rowing boats had passed the wiuningposi.' ' Thai would he a capital thing if the judge bad a little money on the race; but, otherwise, I can't see that much benefit is derivable from the change.' 1 I'd as soon be referee in a'prize light, as judge or umpire in a rowing race. Take the recent regatta for instance. -Just become the sub-com-mittee, who had the placing of the mark-boals, bungled their work fouls resulted, and quarrels and protests came thick upon one another. The whole of the odium falls upon the umpire, who, however fair and unbiassed in his decision, must offend some of the competitors, and provoke animosities that it may take years to allay. 1 1 But someone must lill these offices,' contended the chief, ' or else the sports could not eventuate. Of course, the proper preventive of such results is palpable. If every man on the committee does his own individual work well and thoroughly, the risk of such unpleasantness is reduced to a minimum.' ' Wasn't that a very strange case, O'Flanagsn,' asked the religious editor, ' that was brought against Kane for obstructing the railway people atEllerslie. 1 ' It was indeed,' responded the police-reporter. ' Kane got over a fence simply to lessen the crush at the gate, and he was prosecuted for obxtrucHon. Luckily for Kane, the presiding magistrate had a keen sense of the ludicrous, and this extraordinary manipulation of the English language tickled him immensely. The absurdity was so ilagra-nt that Theo. Cooper, who appeared for the prosecution, was content to cry a go. But the incident shows to what lengths lawyers will go in their endeavours to make up a charge.' ' Talking of charge,' remarked the religions editor, ' reminds me of those noble lines that concluded Evvington's last letter to the Herald. No wonder that his heart burned within him, and "he felt as if he could charge a whole battalion." ' ' That's the worst feature about lawyers and land agents. They arc always wanting to charge. What would Ewington charge the battalion for? Had he been effecting a loan on mortgage for them, and deemed himself entitled to a heavy procuration fee ? 1 You misapprehend me altogether, OTlanagan, I understood Ewington to mean that his soul was so stirred by the thrilling lines, that he felt he could battle against any foe in defence of a good cause.' •Oh ! I understand now. That puts a different aspect on the thing altogether. I begin to think Ewington is getting ready for a seat in Parliament soon. You recollect how Edward Cooper felt it coining on a short time ago, and stood for Ponsonby. He acknowledged frankly that he had long wanted to get into the House, and he thought the opportunity had arrived.' | 'In his case the electors held a different opinion, and he gracefully reposed at the foot of the poll. But our friend Ewington has been carefully and gradually working his point, and now, between Gospel Temperance members and

I property-tax malcontents, he stands a more than passable show.' 'He did,' said the police-reporter. But he has missed his grand show. For years he has posed as the unflinching foe of the property-tax ; he has denounced it in the most unmeasured terms, and been regarded as its most dangerous enemy. But when the Premier wired his intention of coming to Auckland to argue the point with him, what does Ewington do? Instead of joyfully embracing the splendid chance of at once springing into political eminence, he followed the example of the American coon, and exclaimed, " Don't shoot, Major ; lam coming down." This episode will politically kill him.' ' But you are quite wrong, O'Flanagan,' said the chief. He li going to do battle for the opponents of the tax.' ' Bay you so ? Did he not beg all opponents of the tax to forward a note of their objections to him ? Did he not state that, unfortunately, he had lost all his own notes and memoranda on the subject ? What bosh ! such an uncompromising antagonist of the property-tax should have his notes and memoranda where Vaile has his— in. his brain. As it is now, if the Major prevails, the defeat will belong to those whose objections have been forwarded to Ewington — he having lesfc his ; if the Major comes off second best, Ewington will claim the kudos. But, as I said before, this exhibition of the white feather on Ewington's part has lost him ground, much more ground, perhaps, than he thinks. Let us irrigate.'