Some Christmas Numbers.

Observer, Volume X, Issue 629, 17 January 1891, Page 12

Some Christmas Numbers.

THE ' OBSERVER • TAKES THE CAKE.

From nearly every part of the colony we have received letters of congratulation upon the excellent Christmas Number of the Observer, and especially upon | the Calendar for 1891 presented to our readers with that ! number. A Gisborne correspondent writes :— ' Yoit deserve a good compliment for the calendar (1891). It's the best the Observer has ever issued. 1 Wellington opinion is voiced by our correspondent in the following terms : — ' The Christmas number of theObserver, with its grand almanac, all in Wellington say, takes the cake from all other publications this year.' To show public opinion from a different point of view we publish the following regarding ! Granny's Little Pranks. i ' Paterfamilias ' writes from Waipu as follows : — You really should speak to that grandmother of yours up there, and stop her taking the twist out of poor innocent country people like your humble servant. She told us, per Weekly News, six or seven months ago, that she intended to present all and sundry who would pay seven pence for the Xmas number of that paper, with a ' beautiful picture. This work of art was to depict a grand landscape (or seascape) of New Zealand scenery, the first landing of Captain Cook here. This puff | raised our expectations to a high pitch, I can tell you. Why ? Because Granny is rich ; with a plant worth ten& of thousands of pounds, and no sparing of expense to make it a success ; got extra numbers, of course ; treat in store for friends at home, you know. Papa comes in ; wife and fourteen children gather around dad to enjoy the first landing. Ye Gods 1 what a sell 1 Little Dougald asked, pointing with his finger-* ' What dirty looking fellow is that V ' Oh, he's not dirty ; that is Captain Cook. 1 • And who is the fellow behind him ?' • A Bailor.' ' And do sailors always wear short pants like that ?' 1 Oh, no, they must have got wet coming ashore and shrunk up.' ' And is that the reason that the Captain's coat is the same colour as the sea ? And is that another sea up in the top of the trees ? And did the old natives all have blue hair on their heads ?' ' Shut your mouth, you bad boy ; you do not understand high art yet.' P. S.— To save my adopted country, of which, by-the-bye, I feel very proud, from dishonour, I never sent that Christmas Number of the Weekly News home ; and I earnestly hope and trust that all others acted in the same charitable way. Had the proprietors of the Weekly News a desire to do honour to the occasion they could have got an artist in Auckland to do the work for them in a way that would reflect credit on the subject; at least I hope so. — Pater.

The Pasting Man, Felix, who is at present a huge draw at Sydney waxworks, talks of visiting New Zealand in a few weeks. Is the printing trade unhealthy ? This question oanbe answered by Walsh C. Wolff, a compositor on the Ohio Standard. He is 82 years old, and • has worked on the paper from its first number. He entered the Baltimore Gazette office at the age of sixteen, and has worked steadily at case for sixty-five years. The Bulletin says of the late Sydney Taiwhanga : — He was a puny and insignificant-looking specimen of the Maori race, but that did not prevent him from being a regular Brigham Young in his own small way. He has had several European wives in his time, and had a new one with him on his electioneering campaign. Honeymooning and electioneering together killed him — he should have taken them up one at a time. It ia not true that the Prince of Wales offered Mr Donald Wallace 10,000 guineas for the racehorse Carbine, but it is true that Distiller's Co. Whisky bears away the palm from all competitors for a combination of qualities only appreciated by real judges.

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