Pars About People.

Observer, Volume XXI, Issue 1177, 20 July 1901, Page 6

Pars About People.

Sir Joseph was aurely joking when he told the House the other day that the railway oars imported from America were as good in quality, and quite as bheap, as the oars made in New Zealand. That is the way they are taking it up this way, at any rate. There are some of those oars in Auckland, and it's safe to Bay there is not a car-builder in New Zealand who would have his name attached to them as builder. In appearance they are all that Sir Joseph says they are, but in other respects they are marvels of shoddiness, and evidently built on the job Hoe principle. They rarely, it seems, go further than Onehunga or Otabubu, and now it has leaked out that this is beoauße the axles don't work smoothly. Another thing ie, that the doors keep swelling, and get jammed, and there was the novelty the other day of the passengers being yanked through the windows in consequence. There was no crowbar handy to prize the doors open. The lavatories, too, are next to useless, on this account. On each side the washstand there is a cupboard for towels, built about as strongly as an ordinary oigar box, and a passenger who tried with muoh inducemement to open the unlocked doors the other day had to give it up, after a free use of ' language.' He declares that a more than modest pull would have broken the whole concern. Again, the oars are not built with any regard to economy aa to room. They are the same length as our own oars, but so constructed that there is room for only a third of the passengers whioh the old cars accommodate with comfort. With all respect to Sir Joseph, the cars are a dear lot, if the ones in Auckland am specimens. They are simply slummed together, and it is probable that after they have rotted away, the local oars, built years before the Americans, and running hard all the time, will still be running, and none the worse. That is the general opinion. Henry Wade and George Goldsboro, the two architects who succeeded in winning the City Council prize for the best designs for the Fire Brigade Station, are young Aucklanders, and the eons of old settlerß. One is the son of the late H. G. Wade, the well-known architect, and the other is a son of the late Dr Goldsboro. Both of the late gentlemen were prominent and very useful oitizens, and the sonß bid fair to follow in their footsteps. The young Auckland party is rising fast. Mr O'Meara, who dearly loves a joke, and never misses a chance of cracking one, got a pretty one off the other day. Mr Napier was criticising what he termed Mr Wilford's inaccurate historical references to a thirty years' war in the , Caucasus. Mr Napier said he had never heard of any thirty years' war in the Caucasus. 'It mast have been the Opposition' caucuses, 1 broke in O'Meara, amidst a prodigality of laughter. Mr J. B. Taylor, after a year's run oi a paper on Sheldon lines, has given it beat. It didn't pay, and it is doubtful if Mr Taylor will run one again. The paper was the Manukau Chronicle, whioh started with , great hope of help from the Church. . What is thought of the Church now by Mr Taylor may be gathered from hie 'valedictory.' Bere is an extraot : — ' We have honestly done our level best single handed, in our small way, to lead the people into the right way of thinking and acting ; through a year of .bitter experience of persecution and of strife against all manner of evil and corruption ; and we have, the usual reward of all honest reformers. Vilification, misrepresentation of motives, and sacrifibe of money, time, and friendships. Bat the shame belongs to the Cbuxejbes and to those who oontrol their policy and persecute those who expose, their, cortup.tioQ and lack of duty, jusCas the Church in Christ's day aoted towards him.' Which pretty well bitß it.

Rumours about the future of 'Dick ' are still in evidence. The lateat is that be Will beoome a member of the great Imperial Counoil which is to be formed, composed of the Seoretary of Slate for the Colonies, some law lords, and of representatives of the colonies. The members of the Council, says the rumour, will hud a high position, and — correspondingly high salaries. It is anomalous that the most scornful reference to the Duke in biß tour through Australia was made by a religious organ. The organ in question is the Sydney Freevian's Journal. This is bow it described His Highness's appearance : — ' One of- tbe most awful Objects ever seen this side of the ' Line ' was that of tbe Duke with hiß 2ft body crushed under a 3ft ' bearskin,' perched on a 17 band; horse. His 'Beat' in the saddle was quite in keeping with the rest of his absurd appearanoe. His body resembled a pillow clip tied up ugly, bis legs looked like a pair of tongs stuck across a stockyard fence, hiß head Was bowed down, and hiß toes bent up.' Tbe Duke was tbe subjeot of more or less banter, in a good-natured way, from nearly every paper, and he probably enjojed it as much as anyone ; but a grosser allusion to any man, whether duke or commoner, was never penned. The pity is that any aeotion of the Gburoh should be represented by such a paper.

Chairman Clark-Walker, of the Whangarei Sobool Committee, iB a zealous bat indisoreet man. Prompted, doubtless, by the very bigheat motives, and a deßire to give a lift to the Board of Eduoation, he has issaed a letter to the sohool committees, in whioh he strongly urges the claims of a Wbangarei man to a seat on the Board. Tt ia not the practice of sohool oommutee chairmen to influeooe the sohool committees of other districts in Board electioqs. They are usually left to their own judgment, which rarely fails them, and we don't ezaotly know that tbe committees will thank Mr Walker for nig kindness. He was very indiscreet, and bas possibly rather lessened than increased the chances of his man.

Captain Todd, says the Lauce, has been bard at work since bis return with' the big part; commanded by Colonel Robin in straightening oat and eeUliag op, $be affairs of the xetnrned. oontingeoters. His temporary position is someid^Cakjn to thai of paymaster and rMoi;cler, v ajß4, as be is a man of firmness and taot ( heis doing good work. He is also a business man, (hanks to his thirteen years' teaining with the Campbell Ebreniried Company, of Auckland, which employ he left targo in obase of the Boer. By the way, there is a romoor abroad that Captain Todd has been offered Imperial indoceUJfals to return to the front. If this is co, it only proves that Lord Kitchener and hisaideß know a good man when they have seen him at work, and Captain Todd is one of that ilk. .

Auokland boys are still oomiog to tha Iront id important appointments. • The latest instance is that of George Gruiokflhank, who bat jaat been appointed Warden and -Stipendiary Magistrate at Tuapeka. George is a son of the late Mr Cruiokshank, of the firm of Oruiokshank and Miller, ironmongers, of Queen-street; and was a pupil of the Ponsonby sohool in the time of Mr Bailey. Bddie Blom- < field, another old Ponsonby school boy, and a particular mate of George's, is S.M. op North. They are telling a nice little story in the Upper Thames about a paokman who tattled, and of what betel him. • Packy, 1 it appears, has a very large ronnd, with a scattered olientell, and trades in gossip as well as in wares. He is wont, at every house he oalls at, if hubby is away, to leave a little tattle, and get some in return. Then he carries all that he gleans to the next house, and so on right round the cirouit, always being careful, as a marfc of good faith, to exact a promise that ' mum is the word.' In consequence; there were many scandals, but no one knew who the Judas was. The thing went on for weeks, with no apparent hope of solution, when one fine day Nemesis, Bometimes clow, but ever sure, overtook him. It happened that a married man— a surveyor or something— had a job some miles from home, and that, to save himself the journeyings, he built a whar£ and temporarily lived in it. He was a customer of ' Paoky's,' who used to call regularly and retail any gossip he thought was suitable. The surveyor said never a word, but thought and thought, and at laßt concluded, by putting two and two together, that ' Packy ' had a hand in those scandals. He would put him to the test. To this end he borrowed a cloak, a gem hat, a dress, and some ribbons, and, in a very short time had rigged up a passable dummy, and darkened the windows to hide defeots. In due course ■ Packy ' came along, and in answer to his knook there was a loud ' Come in.' He Btood not upon the order, but went in at once, and there, right beßide him as he closed the door, and half-ooncealed, waß the very excellent make-up. ' Paoky ' beheld it, but didn't say anything or strain a nerve, neither ' did he stay long, but next day there were rumours that Mr So-and-Ho was not alone in his whare. They reached the ears of bis wife, who told her brother, and the latter went off to inquire. On reaohing the whare the hoßband explained, and then got ready for 'Paoky.' , He arrived all right, and found them both in. 'I hear,' said the husband, 1 that you have been spreading it about that I was not alone here.' ' Oh — ah— yes— l— ah— waß just saying that perhaps Mrs (naming bis wife) had come ' but they didn't let* him finish. He fell across two horsewhips, and now he's laid up for repairs. It is not generally known that King Edward, since his accession to the throne, has become the guardian of the ohildren of the Duohess of Oornwall and York, and of his other grandchildren, over whom he has complete oontrol, the rights of their parents being superseded. This was decided to be law nearly 200 yean ago, fay a majority of 10 to 2 of the judges. The right waß frequently used by the Georges, who had a habit of quarrelling with their Bons. Before members of the Boyal Family can marry they will have to obtain King Edward's consent, or the marriage is void. George 111. managed to secure this power by means of the Boyal Marriage Act, in consequence of hiß brothers marrying subjects, to his great annoyance. It ie Dot every man who would wreak a mean revenge on an old sweetbeart, bnt a local cuff and collar yoathJi&s jast achieved that Boblime satiafaotioii. In days gone by he was thrown over by a frolicsome beauty, whose father made niuoa money in beer, and whose bar ahe .. often graced, and the lady refused to renew the acquaintance, notwithstanding repeated overtures on the part of the disappointed swain. Her family has long since retired from the liquor business, and she has soared higher in the social scale— very high, in fact, and wonld not dream of associating her name with beer, or prof ess to know anything abont it. Not long ago, she made* a choice matrimonial eatoh in a certain part of the dolony, and, on the day of her wedding, amongst the presents sent in was one from Wefllngtoc— a diUpidated pewter pot j with her initials -insoribea' thereon, a* well ac the information that it was ' from an, old admirer when yon-were in hotel.' 7 j

Mr Tom Pollard, of operatio fame, who k OB the other side and doing well, writes frott Townsville, Queensland, that it is wOtt&Mrfctl to hear the inquiries made about H*w Zealand over there. ' Everywhere yM go, says Tom' yon hear people Baying : • I Understand it is a great conntry,' and thtj will sit for hours asking questions. Tfo Queensland people seem to think that tht blaok question will be the ruin of the plaoe, and any amount of small farmers are on the look out for a trek.' It has often been laid, and written, that the Americans at a people, ' dearly love a lord.' If this it to, Bear-Admiral Bemey, who recently visited Auckland in the warship Brooklyn, cannot be a type of bis nation. A good story, which has not hitherto seen print, ia told of the meeting of the Admiral and Prince George during the Commonwealth festivities at Melbourne. On being presented to the heir-apparent of the British throne, the representative of the < greatest republic on airth, sir,' shook the Prince heartily by the hand, and said : ' I am very pleased to meet you, sir, and I hope you are enjoying yourself.' Of coarse, as both the Prince and the Amerioan are rear-admirals of their respective navies, they are equals on the high seas, but it is a new experience for the Prinoe to be called simply ' Bir. ' The Liberal and Labour Federation did a graceful aot last week in sending to Bishop Lenihan a letter of condolence on the death of Father MrCarrick, who was a kindly man and zealous advocate of liberal laws. But in expressing in the letter its ' deep sense of the irreparable loss sustained by the league ' in the reverend gentleman's death, the league waß surely carried away by its feelings. Father MoCarriok was not even a member — he had only been proposed| at a previous meeting. How, therefore, the league could sustain an ' irreparable loss ' by the death of a gentleman who was not a member, is beyond comprehension. Nevertheless, the resolution was a graceful tribute to Father MoCarrick's worth.

Councillor Maflefield, in telling the Council that in the event of the Phileon site not being used for a town ball the Council could ereot shops upon it and lease them, and that by this means the site would be a valuable property, mast have been suffering from loss of memory. There are two properties, right in the heart of the city, which the Counoil have held for nigh a quarter of a century. One is the City Market, and the other the original town hall site, at the foot of Grey-street. They are nioe old samples of building and leasing ! Mr David Goldie, since he retired from the Mayoralty, is giving, through the columns of the dailies, some useful information on municipal matters, just aB he did before he was eleoted. His letters on city finance and rating are instructive reading, and the worst of it is —for those he is combatting— that he always quotes authorities that cannot be doubted, and which seem to be awfully foreign to many. The man who can beat David in the papers, especially where figureß are concerned, must be pretty Btnart. The Premier of New Zealand's consideration and fairness are often Been in small things, as the following will show. A well-known Government official drew the prize in connection with the Royal visit souvenir cards, and the lithograph' ing wbb entrusted to the Government Printer, who, in turn, entrusted a Wellington firm of lithographers with the execution of the work. When the cards were finished and delivered, the Premier's attention was drawn to the fact that the prize-winner's name had been, intentionally or otherwise, omitted, and another name substituted, not as printer, but as artist and printers. The Premier at once gave orders that the designer's name was to be put on the work, and the gentlemen who tried to, if inadvertently, rob the poor artist of his good name have now the satisfaction of engrossing each card with the designer's name.