OUR LETTER BOX

Observer, Volume XVIII, Issue 1024, 13 August 1898, Page 24

OUR LETTER BOX

Wager.— We will inquire all about it the next time we go to Dunedin. H. L — The average cost per day of the sitting of Parliament is £135 3a 4d. W. S. J.-We cannot allow our columns to be made the vehicle for offensive personalities. B. L. Me— A pretty little hymn, and would therefore be more suitable in a hymn-book. Declined. QtJEBT.— The nickname of 'John Bull' was first- applied to the English nation about two hundred years ago in a satire called ' The History of John Bull,' written by Dr John Arbuthnot. Employee.— Your proposal seems to be a reasonable one, but its publication would entail reams of correspondence from those who would be opposed to it, and we are cramped for space. We may take it up on another occasion. Violet.— 'Beminiscence' altogether too unromantic for a romance. Losing her teeth and finding them again is merely an every-day incident, and no flight of imagination could twist it into a romance. Try something visionary.

New Zealandeb.— The only expeditions towards the South Pole that have made any remarkable discoveries were two English expeditions— one by Cook in 1773-74, and the other by Captain Boss in 1841-42. These expeditions were the only ones that did any important work in antarctic exploration; Souoful Jim.— We have received a budget of poetry — we mistook it for our yearly consignment of paper forwarded in advance— from one who signs himself 'Ever yours, Soulful Jim.' Of our beautiful harbour he writes : Oh, the Waitemata, it is a beautiful sight ! It is one of the beautif ulest harbours ; And its surface does, on a calm still night, Remind me of a face after it has left the barber's ! Like Soulful Jim, we appreciate the beauties of the Waitemata. We would like to commune with him at the end of the tee on a dark and still night, so that he may become more intimate with the pelucid water. If Soulful Jim does not respond to this invitation, we will consult the police.