PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

Observer, Volume XXI, Issue 1183, 31 August 1901, Page 4

PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

' F|IAMON© KING" is the title mJ •" that has just been conferred upon tWo y<Hing nieh At Paeroa, and, strange to &ay, they, are .the only two men in the world -with such, a tiile who, are not proud of it." How they came by J>he honour "■ is worth ..;• recording. . Some days ago, it appears, a diamond worth £100 was lost by a local resident, who offered a considerable reward, A while afterwards a stone reBembling the lost article was picked up by an opiito-minded youth, who lost no time in acquainting hi* mates. He had them all gathered round him, and was bn«ytelling-ailabout it, when there happened along n> young man with knowing look and scarcity of cash, who, on hearing the story and seeing the stone, .scented a deal. " .Hurrying away, he met a friend, and sent him along to buy. It's a hundred pound stone," M said, "and the reward is £25. Go as high as ten pounds, Irat beathim down ail you can; Whacks. " , Off w«nt-she friends and a minute later the finder was £3 richer,: And the knowing ones held the gem. . ; i V Visions of a u r<hrad \tfip, with fat cigars and a good time, went fleeting past them, and both looked happy and important. Meantime, the news about the " find " was spread about, among the first to hear it being the jeweller who had sold the ring_to the man who lost it. The jeweller hunted the two up, congratulated them, and asked if they would kindly let him see it, just for identification. Gently the gem was hauled out and exhibited, whereupon the jeweller, who is not usually jocular, gripped his waist with both hands, doubled himself up, and laughed all his might. " What are you laughing at !" demanded the lucky ones, But the grip grew tighter, the, double more acute, and the laughter ev ; en louder. "Why, man aliye," on getting back his breath, " that's not the diamond. That's a piece of glass out of a jewel packet ring !" The ronnd trip has been abandoned, and heaven help, the man who shouts, or even whispers "Diamond Kings" in the hearing of the aforesaid Paeroans. . . - . *•• ..•••■■ ••''■. Young Drlnglis, the Hospital Superintendent, has turned the tables on the alarmists who say the deathrate at the Hospital is increasing, and that better management would follow if an older man were appointed. Last week the doctor quoted a few little figures that must have made them wonder if he was too young after all. He showed by the official returns that the death-rate during the year of his superin tendency has bien much lo wer , comparatively, than it was the previous year— a year in as the doctor suggestively adds, the Hospital was " in charge of a middle-aged medical Sractitioner. So far, the doctor's gures have not be^n questioned. / Mr E. W. G. Ralhbone, the stylish and well-known pressman,' who, in a nice, poetic way, fe, wooing the Parnell electors to put him In xKe Borough Council, has a word :or fewd in his address that Has raised Cain in the other boroughß, and tjhw now feellike jumping on him- -w!|bh all their leet. The word or two itf an assertion by the candidate that Parnell is "_the most beautiful of Auckland's subnrbs." "Most beautif nl f These are r the words that are raising all the howl. Ponsonby, .Grej^^nji, and _ even Newmarket, know where they come in'/airdjloeniftil looks and choice phrases are thrown off when they read that part of the address. They say that if Parnell, withitspicturesque, grass-covered roofs and pretty four-foot «ntediluvian footways is Auckland's " moat beautiful suburb,"^they will not think it libel if he dubs them as slums.

Referee Ohlson had a*#tbipg but a happy time of it. at the tifome* match. It was bad enough to haVeOto submit to tlie aKoutedwiticiHrns o^tlttfeiiiascnnne crowd, but hiirtroiibles : <U*ijtot by any means ejid" thdre-.Tlwiwea femininity, shawetfqirtit© is much feeling as ther Other wmc, and the crowning point in Mr Qhtson^s experiences, was reached wbien tWo excited -and voluble females ; cornered him at the close of the match, arid one of them exclaimed ; "I've a good mind to poll your hair." It, : was an impossible fffftt. '* Curly's " head is as bald as a billiard ball, and when he raised his hat and disclosed this palpable fact, there was a burst of laughter that fairly shook the ground. Arthur Conihghani, of divorce suit celebrity, after a ten weeks' boom in - thiscolony of a patent -cash register, has gone to Sydney. '■•.*•* *•* - ' .*••.■■•■■■ Mr Glass, who is meeting ; 'With such remarkable success in the establish* ment of the Farmers' tfaiph, is described as the mowt unlikply-rlooking man for such a position^ and thoroughly unassuming. He 'is the -cut of a farmer from the back- blocks, with no very great external appearance of smartness. Evidently, howeyef , he understands the fanners and they understand hini, for within a very few months he has built this Farmers' Union into a gigantic organisation; with branches everywhere from the North Cape to the Bluff. And, by the way, it was in the neighbourhood of the North Cape that the Farmers' ' Union was founded.

, Alfred Ktdd is ''working "now/, The duties of Mayor have descended upon him like all avalanche, mono, .polising his meal hoars and all 6 1 her hours, and • "^iokJij&g hi» ; "brow o'er, with the pale caste of thought-" But he is proving himself equal to the occasion. Having immolated himself on the altar of public duty ; he is finding pastime in inspecting Dorough drains, listening to ratepayer grievances, di- ' rectingp^bhu services of divers kinds, and generally^ controlling themunici. pal machine. the position of Mayor will be no sinecarerto hini, : • ■■ ■ ■ •'■■•■•..■'■^ l f r ■■■ ■•- -■ ':-■*••■"■■■. .** ■-■ ■'■ " J Mr KayU, public accoHniant.haa t?eeu voted, tne..^'6|»iikß''-,<qf'.,the:-';C^ty : t Council for his tabulated sumriJary of the Gorp^r^tion accounts for several years past. Evidently; the .Council "was; ■: ;?s& g^wfew- v But is it not soxoewhat ol «m anonialy that an important Corporation like that of Auckland, with _a treasurer of its own and: the I}elp of the Audit In-: (ipectoir; sfcdtild' he getting \fa knowledge^^;©^ hdW stwd* linaAcially tc6vii an outsider accouhtfitit who discharges this functtoa gratuitonaly, either as pastime qr from an ' exaggerated sense of puijlic adtgr ? Air KayU's accbujnis, which are clearer and moreexplieit than balance wheets' usually are, show one interesting faqt. There was a deficit of £5756 in im, and of £824, in 189^; Bat in Mayor Goldie's years, there was a surplus of £4782 in March 1900, and of £10,934 in March, 1901. Now we can understand why the streets have been in such bad order, and why the Fire Brigade has been starved. We were saying money to make a surplus.

years secretary of the Aaclt^ttd Amateur AtTiletic CJub, haA fet»<rh^l to _ Auckland, looking Very', vßSw©,. changed though a few days olde^^n appearance, Jojuf nali»ni has ocon^i&l ' tuts- time in Australia, -he - having occupied a position on the staff of Wagga Wagga journal where his cdpa-, city \v)th the pen had considerable scope. Wie arjfe^ltfd to hear that helritendfe to remain permanently in Auckland. . .' : the ' ocean.ln»uraii(Je, "is not- engaging "any m6n at pte^wt to take rqand/tlje circulari— at least, any Who are highly recomniended. He has just had An experience that has taught him Vft little lesson. A Week or two agd He haaa lot of circulars he wanted de"Trvered, aifd. to rt»ke. sure that nsne ;\yeat listray he took oh a man who was said to be reliable, and paid him tc> deliver them. They were all enclosed in envelopes, daly addressed, and Handed over. /But '.' that —|iirea - feeling* must have: had a .-ixom-i for the manager now finds that aome of the packets have found t^ei^ way Into the post otftee, all unßtampM, aodheis ; busy.' explaizting that, it is not 'the \. fault "of the company, but of the man " ws6 wia^ hijired, fend that the postajge wiirbe repaid ohHany -of the-Haidt^n-N velopes returned to'tne office. : '<■■'■ [ .-- ■ [ -^-': . .. ■,■■'■■■«••■ .'.":'..•«*»■ i;'.; .■ *• ■';. >.V "' " Grocer William Peet, in his evidence last w.eek at the 6oard of C/Qnciliation, was surely indiscreet in one of. hisstatements. "the grocery trade," said he." was in a bad way through bad debts." Bad debts is 110 .reason* at nresent, why business ought tQ be in a 4jad way/: Bveiiyone knows that practically all debts under J^eanno^ > b^ recovered by- laWj and -it oeeutfj to--> us that in consequence ti&M* : curring of bad debts i& bad business. ; ,■ •••■ .. ■ ;■«••' ,-V:.:;. ,;-i»« "■".■;-'.- -I . , ■'■■■ The courage o.f the British eailor is never questioned; whatever his other : faults may be, and recently : a corres- ' ponderit of St. </a?n^Vha»!beett adding nis testimony to tlJemouniains already accumulated. The write^ was chief officer of a ship trhich encGunfißrecly terrible weather in fche^ Atlantic," and' he says : "We lay there swc day^ r ; all boats but one awiy, v^iftvltt* smashed, and as bad a plight as any one was ever in. I had five foreigners and four English A.B.s shipped at CardifT The English were as tough a lot as : ever I saw. One had his nose slashed off, and I think there were four black eyes amongst the others. through all this, trying time, rigging jiiry rudder, these four Britishers were t w.ortl» forty foreigners, seeni^d to tuhxWe to everything in a moment, and worked like niggers, and twice t had tip board passing steamers to fisk for help,; and : both times^ ma heavjr ;sea., '... rOnly these four disreputable Englishmen would volunteei" for the boat."' ' / This story reminds us of another told by a skipper, now in thes Auckland coastal steamship service, of the old days on the coast. When the trade was chiefly carried on by tiny cutters. There were only four hands on the little vessel in which the narrator was the son of the captain. The third was ft i>ig, bullying Dutchman, and the fourth a, spare, slight Britisher. Quarrels occasionally^ arose between the two latter; in which the^foreigner/sucr cessfully asserted his strength, and affected to despise the courage of the Britisher. " But ihe men were put to the test. The cutter, on. one plf her trips, Btruck a terrific gate, „ dnring which the sea» washed over the little ship, and threatened every moment io engulf her. : W))at''Wp>k/Q9atd'l>e : :|i'oxiei.''':'' in the way of shortening canvas and making things secure was done by the Britisher and the boy, the captain being at the tiller, while theßutehman lay helpless in a paroxysni of ,'.-f ear. Finally, with the gale at its height, the position seemed hopeless. The cutter lay on her beam ends and was unmanageable' Suddenly, the tiny Britisher jumped on the -hatchWay,, flapped his arms against his side in imitation of a rooster, crowed a " cock-o-doodle-do," and, looking with contempt at the prostrate figure of the hulking foreigner, he shouted " Take it out of that, you — - —^- Dutchman." The cutter reached port in safety, but the courage of the Britisher was never again questioned by the other.