A Quill for Everyone.

Observer, Volume XV, Issue 879, 26 October 1895, Page 7

A Quill for Everyone.

What is the matter with Mary Steadman Aldis ? For weeks past she has ' lain low,' a crowning mercy for which heaven be thanked. Now that fly-time draweth nigh, she commences to buzz. The cause of her present running amuck, like a Malay, is the advent of General Booth in the South. His presence has irritated her sensitive nerye&, for the red jersey of the Blood and Fire Brigade has the same effect upon her nervous organization as the red rag to a bull. Hence the letter in the daily press, characterised by more bile than grace. An

advanced woman, addressing an audience upon her mission, tragically put the question, ' Why was I born V Whereupon one of the gods iv the gallery chipped in with ' Blest if I know.' Now, that's our trouble with Mary Steadman. ' Why was she born ?' Like the small boy of the foregoing story we give up the conundrum. ' Blest if we know.'

When General Booth paid Auckland a visit some years ago, Mrs Aldis took occasion to put a public affront upon him by a sneering inquiry as to his title, though it is jnst the same usage or power of society that dubs a man a ' professor.' Why Mary Steadman Aldis should be-little the efforts of every man and woman to leave the world better than they found it is a mystery. Prom a Marah, which nothing can sweeten, there pours forth a stream of ill-natured abuse and invective. In point of public usefulness, Mary Steadman Aldis cannot be named in the same week with the late Mrs Booth,

the ' Mother of the Army.' Having tasted blood by ' jobbing ' the General, Mrs Aldis next touches up My Lord Bishop of Parnell, and lucky, indeed, will be the Right Reverend Father in God, in Ponsonby, if he escapes a dig from the ir ritable lady's bodkin. There are two sentences in Mrs Aldis's letter which carry on their face their own condemnation. The first is : 'Is it just to take money by force from the people and give it to the Salvation Army? 1 And the second: 'Any body which robs the people to do good thereby stamps itself with the seal of the god of this world.' As applied to the Salvation Army, are these sentiments the words of' soberness and truth ? Or are they merely the querulous grumblings of a liver-afflicted old lady who has long since ceased to believe there is any good in human nature, or indeed, in tbis world ? » # • It was very rough on the Helping Hand Mission — at anniversary time, too — when it has well nigh suppressed larrikinism in Freeman's Bay, to spring a petition to Inspector Hickson upon them praying for a plain clothes man to be stationed in the Bay, as ' the sand bagger ' cannot get within cooee of the larrikins. If the shopkeepers get their way, they will vary the dearest motto of the Mission somewhat. ' "What has God wrought ? will then be interpreted by the shopkeepers, ' What has petition wrought?'

What unquestionably appears to be a gross wrong is laid bare by a correspondent in the following letter : Sir, — If I apply to have my son or daughter appointed to the Post "or Telegraph Office, I shall be immediately asked if he or Bhe has passed the Civil Service Examination, and that it is impossible to make the appointment until snch is done. This is as it should be, but, through influence, young persona have been appointed who have not passed it. A grossei • injustice than this can scarcely be imagined. There Bhould be an inquiry into the matter at once, and those who have been unfairly appointed should, at least, be called upon to pass within a reasonable time. Some dozens who have passed are ■waitingjor billets, but are not likely to get them under existing circumstances. I shonld like to hear your opinion ou the subject. — Parent. Our correspondent has laid his finger upon what appears to be a weak spot in the service. It is understood that regulations

have been framed to ensure a fair system of appointment and promotion, but ihese regulations are continually set at defiance as the outcome of political backstairs influence. The name is given by our correspondent of one young lady who was recently appointed to the PosfOffice through the influence of a M.H.R., whose name is also furnished, though the girl in question had not passed the Civil Service or any equivalent examination, while many were waiting who had passed well. It would be interesting to know whether such cases as these come within the sco.pe of the recentlyconstituttd Board of Appeal. Probably not, however, as the functions of the Board are to deal with appeals from within the service — not from those unable to obtain admission to it. a • « The nurses of the Auckland Hospital are quickly coming to the conclusion that they have ' caught a Tartar ' in the new lady superintendent. One suspension already, eh, and three others will probably not go on with their course of training] The change of affairs has not come one day too soon. * # * When the injured rider Gallagher was brought into the jockey's dressing-room after the accident at the recent Avondale Races, the two doctors called in were an-' noyed at the officious behaviour of a certain turfy individual and withdrew from the room. Whereupon Constable Finnerty appealed to them 'for humanity's sake " to attend to the boy's injuries. But they were on their dignity. 'Not while that man remains there, interfering with us,' they said. Whereupon the matter-of-fact Finnerty replied, ' Oh, if that is all that is troubling you, I'll soon put an end to him.' And seizing the officious individual by the scruff of the neck, Finnerty settled the matter once for all by promptly dropping him outside and locking the door. The law doesn't stand any nonsense when Finnerty is about. • • * It is a solemn, sober fact that a party of ladies inthe upper .circles of Auckland ' east end ' society were arranging a picnic party the other day to a wellknown suburb, and stipulating with the lady guests that each should endeavour to outvie the other in relating what men are accustomed to call « bluest ' stories. The names of these ' ladies ' have been supplied to us. Anything more discreditable we have never heard of. The practice of leaving shops at night without the protection of shutters is on the increase in our leading thoroughfares. In the day time, hundreds of pounds worth of goods are exposed outside the premises, and temptation thus placed before 'life's ■failures ' and the befuddled victims of drink. But what shall be said of the tradesmen who leave thousands of pounds worth of goods in shop windows, without the protection of shutters, through the long, dark nights in this insufficiently lighted city? Under such a state of things the wonder is not that there are so many burglaries, but rather that there are so few. Yet some of these tradesmen go to their little B&thel on Sundays and snuffle ' lead us not into temptation,' when, from Monday morning till Saturday night, they are continually placing temptation before their less-fortu-nate fellow-beings. * * # 'It is quite possible,' says the Sydney Bulletin, ' that Labour legislation had something to do with the awful smash of theBank of New Zealand and other institutions. The sudden end of the boom made a tremendous depreciation in land-values,, and the land which the big bank had accumulated went down with the rest." Which shows that the Bulletin is not up to date in its information about the Bank of New Zeaiand. The aforesaid smash happened years before the era of Labom legislation hove in sight, and, moreover, was chiefly caused by the enormously big overdrafts which the directors gave to their friends and themselves on insufficient security. Labour legislation had no existence at that time, and consequently couldn't have helped to smash up or otherwise affect the Bank. #• . • The boom is making itself felt in Coromandel. Big changes are going on.and the old place is now scarcely recognisable. One radical change consisted in the painting of the hotel. That hotel has been aleaning post for Coromandelites waiting for something to ' turn up ' for the last quarter of a century, and while the paint was being put on, the old-time loungers would forget themselves and ' lean up,' notwithstanding the wet paint notices all over the premises. Now, every second man yon meet in Coromandel has a patch of green or brown paint on the back or elbows of his every-day loafing-round coat. And the painters talk of striking a general average on the community for the recovery of the value of' 'wasted colour.'