THEY SAY

Observer, Volume XXIII, Issue 5, 18 October 1902, Page 7

THEY SAY

— That the removal of the steadying influence is plainly observable in the politics of a certain newspaper. — That the most interesting figure in Labour Day procession was the " equestrienne" with the bloomers. — ThatMelba, on an average, receives four phonographs per day with a polite request to " please sing something into it." — That ex-Chief Justice Prendergast's Government pension is £1,113 6s <Sd. Suggestive figures the last two ! —That R. R. Hunt and the Electric Tramway Company are reconciled at last. A contractor in their service ! Houp-la? — That the population of Devonport will shortly be augmented by the arrival of a well-known public niaa from the North. — That everybody except the police, is wondering where the next burglary will take place. The police have ceased to wonder. — That the Auckland public is getting a trifle chary about Musgrove comic opera. Good job for the Pollards that they are known. — That the Mangere dog poisoner has taken to a rifle. The long-suffer-ing neighbours are threatening to retaliate with shot guns. — That the Labour Day procession in Auckland was unique in one respect. The employers provided the show, and the trades unionists took the money. — That a widow lady, " with eight children," requires nice, quiet home witli Christian person ; services in exchange for board. The offer is still open. —That the authorities ought to have intervened to prevent a certain seaman, who had been ill-treated on the s.s. Ripley, from being sent back to that ship. — That Hector Simson's most effective political proposition so far is an export duty on dead Chinamen. He says he wouldn't tax " dead marines," because they are good for trade. — That it was after reading the account of the requisition to Alfred Kidd that it occurred to J. H. Hannan that he also had been asked to stand for Parliament. But who asked him ? /—That the trades unionists gave William Richardson a bad quarter-of-an-hour in the Domain on Wednesday. Evidently, they are not taking any highly - flavoured Prohibition with their sports. — That the edifying spectacle of a befuddled person knocking at the back-door of a city church, in the belief ihat it was a hotel, was to be seen on Sunday last. The severe churchwarden looked volumes. i — That there are humiliations even in ping pong. So burly Lawyer Clendon realised at the Thames the other day, when a Waihi boy of twelve, in a representative match, went round him like a cooper round a cask. —That a Taranaki paper that dared to say that a fire was caused by a defective chimney got this letter : " I built that chimney. Take out my advertisement, and stop sending the paper." The paper still survives. — That it has never been explained yet how it happened that the racing pony Venus, sent to the front as a Government troop-horse, stayed in Durban and won many races. One contingent officer is said to have vetted • £1000 by her wins.

1 —that the Thames electors are lying low to see what move William McCullough intends to make. —That the most difficult thing just now is to get the man in the street to talk politics. He never does. — Tha*, the latest dodge for coping with the fly nuisance in Australia is to put treacle on the back of your coat. —That E. G. Moss' definition of a true Liberal is the man who compels the Government to grant proper leases in Paeroa. — That the idea of the Referendtim is a perfect godsend to the candidates when the awkward bible-in-schoola question is asked. — That Graves Aicken is taking an unwonted interest in His Majesty's Theatre. Is he about to follow in the coroner's footsteps? — That some of our Board of Education male teachers strike their acquaintances as rather peculiar instructors of the Bible in schools. — That J. J. Craig was requisitioned to stand for a cily seat, and replied that an M.H.R. was for his use and not for him to wear as an ornament. -—That the next fashionable complaint to visit us will be Bunkers' illness, which will require a lot of nursing, and tender convalescence treatment. — That the Boers are slowly wearing out not only the sympathy of foreigners, but of Britishers, and that of the latter is much nearer the genuine article. — That the North Shore cricketers obtained the wherewithal to build their new and elegant pavilion by tact and careful engineering. But who was the head stoker ? — That the early-door charges at the Opera House is beginning to be looked upon as an unwarrantable tax. However, the public have the remedy in their own hands. — That a young civil servant went into Stewart Dawson's on Tuesday, and merely said : "1 — ch — ah — er-he — " and the assistant brought him a tray of engagement rings. — That the latest from Wellington —whispered quietly— ia that the Hon. the Premier will not remain in the colony three months after his return. Something better elsewhere. — That De Wet meditates a trip to the colonies to lecture, with the idea of raising money to assist the burghers of the Transvaal who are suffering the consequences of the war. —That William J. Speight will know no restful night until Bishop Moorhouse's lettercomestohand. Why did the not Synod arrange with the Agent-General to cable the contents ? — That the City Council ought really to muster up courage and issue those annual accounts. The financial year closed more than six months ago, and people are wondering about the delay. ' — That the mathematicians amongst the Auckland cricketers have not yet been able to work out the problem of how J. H. Witheford's guarantee for Lord Hawke's team could be called a guarantee. — That the Auckland City candidates have taken a violent fancy for Salvation Army work during the last week. Fancy Alfred Kidd leading self-denial, and "Jack" Patterson at the penitent form. — That a prominent layman received a private cable from London in the interests of an application for the Auckland vacant bishopric, and is working the strings in advance. The Auckland horse is going back in the betting. —That one of the show sights in the strangers' room of the Auckland Club is the daily meeting to the second of two old Auckland identities, who do business within a stone's throw of the Club. They take their whisky royally. —That the callous individual who sought out a prominent city councillor hardly an hour after poor Calder's death, at the City Baths, soliciting his vote and interest in the vacant billet, was answered by leather, and has felt sore ever since.