'TENA=KOE.'

Observer, Volume XVI, Issue 947, 20 February 1897, Page 20

'TENA=KOE.'

: -. . (FOB THE ObSEBVEB); Great wielder of the magic wand, ■Which turns to gold at thy command 1 All. things that come to thy strong hand. Great Midas! .-.'-. Thou comest, as it were, by stealth, : Some.tell us to recruit thy health, . Or la it. to increase thy wealth ? " . .' Pray guide us. Was -it the dull, grey -vsrinter sky, Or cold, damp fogs that made thee sigh . Away to summer lands to fly - ■ j. ■■ ■ • - In fear? Or is this but a common ruse. Like those which thou wast won't to use, To mask thy land and mining coups Out here ? ; What magnet draws. thee back once more • To. Bceneß and memories of. yore, •--•.•».- And some that you'd prefer, we're sure, Forgotten? Canst thou resign without regret The attractions of that gilded set Some humble place out here to get And squat on ? Are there no ghosts of other days ? No skeletons to fright thy gaze ? No memories thou woulds't fain erase ? Pray tell us. Are there no wrongs to reconcile ? No Bank, or Loan and Mercantile, Or other little things that rile Some fellows ? Hast thou come back to end thy days, And some of that great wealth you raise From banks and mines in various ways Restore ? Or, like a bloated absentee, Scoop some fresh pool ana swiftly flee To distant lands across the sea With more? For all those blessings in disguise Which showed your wondrous enterprise, How many fervent prayers arise All round ! Firth's Matamata, Morrinsville, Piako, mutely witness still The triumphs of your varied skill Profound! "What finer monument could be Erected anywhere to thee Than that Estates Company ? Great Midas, We cannot let thee go away ; Great Saviour of thy country, stay, Ob, stay with us, we humbly pray, - To guide us. Didst thou not feel a glow of pride When that vast crowd thy form descried And cheered thee at the vessel's side, Uproarious ? And when the band and martial drums Played ' 6ee the Conquering Hero Comes,' Was it not eweet as sugar plums, And glorious ? We mean the crowd that didn't cheer, And didn't know that thou wast here, And no kind friend had primed with beer Each swiper. We mean the band that didn't play, Because it chanced to be away. And no admirer cared to pay The piper. How blest U he who, like thyself, Despises empty fame and pelf, And nobly serves the commonwealth ! Let's pray That when this young democracy To choose its governors shall be free. Its grateful choice will fall on thee, Not Grey. Though some would have us to believe Thou hast some card hid up thy sleeve, With purpose thereby to deceive And sell us, Pray tell us, we, who vainly hunger, How thou such mines of wealth can conjure, Thou prince of boomers, mighty nluneer. .Oh,tellust Is it to join in prayer and praise, And other little playful lays, As thou wast wont in earlier days ? Not now. Is it to teach in Sunday school, Where pious infants pray and pule, And learn anon to scoop the pool, I trow ? Great wizard of theXond and scrip, If thou wilt condescend to tip The way to get a firm, hard grip Of wealth, We'll tap some rich gold-yielding mine, And bow the knee at Mammon's shrine, And freely toast, in ruby wine, Thy health.

The ' Premier ' Picnic Oddfellows are again to the fore with the programme for the forthcoming ' sth ' Premier, to be held this year at Lake Takapnna, to-day fortnight (March 6th). As in the past, an energetic and capable committee have the arrangements in hand, and are determined (they say) to go one better. This going one better is a tongh job, as the past picnics have been so good, bat the: promoters are in earnest, bo we look to see last year's record of 12,000 souls made, happy surpassed at the forthcoming outing at .Lake Takapuna on the 6th proximo.