PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

Observer, Volume XXVII, Issue 44, 20 July 1907, Page 4

PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

"fPHE question was disked Elias Bagg. \1 strom, in the course of theKiaOra : enquiry, why, if he had been iwjenty-odd years in the service of the iforthern Company, he had only atiained to the position of chief engineer $f such a small steamer. It is current gossip that there is a sufficient reason, Which, Wa£ not stated in court, and whiph implies anything but discredit on Mi Baggstrom. When he first Ventured the service, he might easily have passed his examination and obiiained his certificate only that he had neglected to bring his apprenticeship 'indentures with him, and these are indispensable under our regulations. He 'suffered under this disability for years until Mr Gow assumed the position of superintending engineer to the company. Reeognifine the capability of • jßaggstrom, Mr Gow arranged matters Uo that he should go to Sydney, where the absence of indentures is no bar, and undergo his examination there. Baggstrom adopted this course, obtained his certificate without any difficulty, and has since made steady progress in the service of the company, with whom he is a valued ■officer.

C. H. Poole suggests that, by means of supplementing the training ship Amokura, the Government should secure a 500- ton sailing vessel, man her with cadets, and employ her in -carrying State coal to Australia. But why to Australia? This would be carrying coal to Newcastle with a vengeance. If Mr Poole would agitate for a line of State scows to carry State *oal to Auckland, it would be more to the point.

m rt ■* The Baptist clergymen of Anokland .are takiDg the Scriptural injunction " Go, work in My Vineyard" literally. Pastor Clark recently resigned the charge of the Tabernacle with the object of taking up a farm at Takaipuna, in the interests of his health and . his family, and now Pastor Salter, of Waihi, has also abandoned the charge of his church, in order to establish his family on a farm. What is the real cause of this ? Is it that the simple life on the farm offers greater attractions than town life, or is freer from care, and more profitable, or is the provision for the clergy in their old age co slender that the necessity is forced upon them of providing for the future in some secular but nevertheless useful direction ? In New Zealand, at all -events, there are few prizes in the •religious profession.

The letter of A. K Hardy, the Dunedin land agent, to the Daily ■ Jfews, has not been allowed to go un.challenged. It will be remembered that Mr Hardy protested against the .encouragement of immigration on the that the industrial condition, .of the. Dominion did not warrant it. The person who has taken up the gage of battle is one Isabella Meuzies, of Edinburgh, who pulverises the disinterested Hardy in the Scotsman, and . who claims to speak from an ex- . perience of nearly a- quarter of a century's residence in New Zealand. The lady is very severe on Mr Hardy : .for stating that he knew of a Dunedin farmer wno onl y R ot & l for 16 ° ba S 8 oi ■ potatoes, and fche quotes the Otago •Daily Times commercial column in «ef»Vatioii. "New Zealand," she re- ; anarks, " is the land for the industrious working man or woman — no grinding poverty;, no starvation there." At the ■r, same time, she leaves unanswered Mr .-, iiardy's statement that the public debt »8 £5^1900,000 and the population about <-- -V 26,000. : And though she states that !i ..JMLrj Hardy ought to be ashamed of himv~vieify4t.)Bdpwbtf|il whether her letter* -c^n «pite of the remarks about th« T.^oday wUI make him agree, with her.

'Tis a sad thing when a man's own dog tarns round and insults him, but this is what happened to Michael Walsh last' week. On the Glorious Twelfth, when* Orangemen were rejoicing, Michael's hitherto faithful hound. deserted the old. homestead and wandered into strange paths. Here he was seized upon by some misguided persons who bedecked him with orange - coloured ribbon from the tip of his noble nose to the point of his toffish tail. And in this guise that shameless animal pranced foolishly back and entered into the presence of his scandalised master. In a remarkably brief space of time that Orange dog heard a long and comprehensive criticism of his behaviour. Michael Walsh, armed with a business-like shillelagh, is now wandering over the face of the earth looking for the ruffians who did this thing.

But in the meantime, Lindsay Cooke chanced across Michael's orangebedecked canine quadruped. Lindsay, who hails from that Orange stronghold known as Sbrabane, came to the conclusion that if Michael Walsh could be broad-minded on the subject of colour, he, bedad, could be likewise. Therefore he procured a few hundred yards of green-coloured ribbon, and bedecked the Metropolitan dog in a fearful and wonderful manner. If these two dogs had met, there would probably have been one of the biggest dog-fights on record. As it is, Michael Walsh is suffering for the sins of others, and Lindsay Cooke is looked upon askance by all the supporters of

the Orange colour; "white"' the hitherto Bpotless reputations of these two inn o- , cent, but apparently traitorous, hounds have. . ■ been , irretrievably blasted. Wirroo-! Wirroo.l'tis a wicked world entirely, bo it is. _ , ••■■■•' -.'.■ !*?>■: •: r . **■ ':■ I ."*■•• '■• ■'■•' i the mail this- week brought news of , the death of Mrs Brohara, wife of the former inspector of police or that name, under somewhat sad circumstances'. She contracted her fatal illness while travetling in the Holy Land with Rev. F. G. and Mrs Evans, of New Plymouth. Tha party' returned to Port Said, where Mrs Brohara had the best medical treatment, but she succumbed after four weeks sufteriug. Mrs Brohara was well known to many of the older residents of Auckland, the earlier years of her married life having been passed in this city, where her husband was twice Inspector of Police. •» <m <m* Inspector Broham has been dead for some years, having survived his retirement from the service a very short time. In his day, he took part in some very thrilling police episodes, but probably the most exciting of them all was the arrest, single-handed, of Cyrus Haley, a notorious fireraiser, after the latter's raid on the Pah Farm, Three Kings, where the late Hon. J. Williamson lived. Several serious crimes were alleged against Haley besides the shooting at the occupants of the Pah Farm, one being the burning down of the Choral Hall, and another the firing of the New Zealand Insurance Buildings immediately after their construction.

Stated at the nieetiag' <Jf Ctie'Ndtthcote S6hV)oi Cominitteeptha^jbhftigoard of; Education had . wr^tlen, no»|i|y|flg that Miss Turnbull had been prompted from her present position. tQ^fbfttJ of first assistant. yesy, . sonable and Bati.Bf4Ctqrjr,iD prin tfesJ&t, from what we . can bear, the methods of the promotion were "very extraordinary. When il wav known that the former occupant of the coveted . position was retiring, . the head-master was closeted with certain executive officers of the Board of Education, and immediately afterwards the members of the School Committee were individually asked to sign a written undertaking to appoint Mies Turnbull. The solemn farce was gone through of inviting applications, and raising the tropes of other and highly-competent applicants, but to what end ? The whole thing was cot and dried from the moment that paper was signed. So long as siifch methods obtain, so long will there be' great dissatisfaction amongst the teaching profession, and complete want of confidence in the administrative system. •* m m If D (J Mclntyre is able to explain his Exhibition transaction satisfactorily, he will have good reason to regard some of the dailies with a glassy stare. When D. C. unostentatiously departed for Yankeeland, the daily press referred to the departure of " Mr D. C. Mclntyre." A little later, when rumours began to get about, they chopped the " Mr" oft, and talked about " the ca9e of D. (3. Mclntyre." Later still, when the warrant was issued for his apprehension, they alluded to the unfortunate individual as "the man Mclntyre." Probably, if D. C. is ultimately able to prove himself guiltless, they will, in a fit of repentance, again refer to him as "Mr Mclntyre"; or why not "D. C. Mclntyre, Esquire"? ■* *• !«1 Sir Joseph Ward didn't devote his time exclusively to the aristocracy while he was in London. On oneocca* sion, for instance, under the paternal guidance of a detective, he took a stroll through the East End, probably to study sweated industries on the spot. The old clothes vendors, evidently struck by Sir Joe's air of affluence, cornered him directly. One tottering Hebrew, with a keen eye for "bisbnish" produced a fearful and wonderful suit, and offered it to the Premier for the ridiculously low price of 20 guineas. No business resulting at thatprice.be promptly lowered his figure to five guineas. Still that magnificent suit was looked upon with scant approval. " Five bob " was the next price put on the wares. Still no business. Then, in a burst of philanthropy, the dealer spoke up. " Well, eighteenpence, guvnor, and, Lord lore a duck, if you haven't the money I'll trust you." But even this magnificent offer failed to cause any depletion in the Premier's exchequer, and the indignant dealer was left lamentiug.

Nobody — with jthe exception, perhaps", of Dr Clive Collins — would be presumptuous enough to deay that John Stallworthy, M. H.R., is a mighty man. Nevertheless, John is at present in bad odour among tne "unco quid" ot Dargaville. Recently, in a leading article in his paper, John devoted a yard or two of valuable space to pointing out that John Stallworthy was the gentleman who had saved the situation so far as the Wairoa hospital was concerned. And he shed inky tears over the fact that the ungrateful people ' of the North didn't appear to appreciate his efforts. Says John: "Even the Christ, who went about doing good, was accused by the envious class leaders of His day of ' possessing a devil.'" Now some misguided people are accusing the meek-spirited John of blasphemy. It appears that he has greatly pained and shocked them. One indignant gentleman rises up to remark Chat he "doubts whether the whole Press of New Zealand has ever written anything more 'shocking." Perhaps, in the future, John Stallworthy will be content to compare himself to average, insignificant perr sons like Julius Caesar or Napoleoa Bonaparte. It would be infra dig, perhaps, but it would hurt Bobody'f feelings. , ... •

7 Captain John Rearing, who left for Sydney, this week for the benefit of his health, is made of sterling material. Several months ago he was pinned by a draw against the wall of a wharf shed and badly crushed, several of his ribs being fractured and other serious injuries sustained. Indeed, he suffered damage enough to kill half-a-dozen men of weaker constitution, but notwithstanding his advanced years, he has pulled through his illness jand is now oft to recruit. Captain Nearing has been in the way of trouble -during the last couple of years. Some time ago, his partner, Captain Streeter, lost his life through an accident on one of the direct steamers while he was attending to his stevedoring duties.

This "Dominion" business ia getting dn people's nerves. Mr Gray, M. H.R., wants to know what a man is to do when he wants a pint of colonial beer. Is he to ask for Dominion beer, and to tender a Dominion Eobert in payment? The question caused a visible shudder through the House at the possible future strain. However, there's no need to worry. When all's said and done, a "long sleever" is a comprehensive enough phrase to cover any cases of emergency* It is interesting to notice, nevertheless, that members get £300 a year for using up the time of the Dominion with momentous .questions of this kind.

The dignity of members of suburban road boards is easily ruffled. Mount "Wellington Road Board is at present writhing under the stinging contempt of Koad Boarders A. S, Thompson and A. Kay. These two boarders, it appears, were not favoured with invitations to the ceremony of turning on the Road Board tap oi the new water supply. Therefore, tlieir dignity is ruffled, and they are wroth. The offenders, anxious to propitiate the insulted boarders, explained that they did not think it necessary to send invitations to members of • the Board, but the tragical Thompson and the critical Kay are not disposed to accept any such ridiculous nonsense as an explanation. "We were not invited," they snort, " because we were not wanted." And it will take all Chairman Wilkinson's diplomacy to heal the rift within the lute. These road boarders take themselves very seriously.

Percy Dehton has not visibly decreased in bulk to__atiy very great extent since he was here eight year* ago. At that time he was a leading member of the amateur troupe which was organised by the late Leonard Marshall. Since then, however, Percy, like many others of that same troupe, has travelled extensively, and in the last few years he reckons that he has been through pretty well every part of Australasia. He sang at the. big Nelson Centenary celebration at Sydney Town Hall, where, by the way, he was billed as " The New Zealand Tenor." He has hobnobbed in a Government motor car with Premier Tom Bent, and has chased the giddy kangaroo—a painful process — o'er hill and dale. And now his vasty bulk looms up serenely within the confines of prosaic Queen-street.

By the way, another qf the late Leonard Marshall's minstrels is domiciled in Sydney. This ia Wynyard Joss, the young oian with the affable smile and the mandolin. After leaving Auckland, Wynyard went to Australia, and ultimately hied him to the South African war with a cycle corps. Incidentally, this same corps distinguished itself by capturing a goodly array of Boers. Wynyard is now in the employment of a big motor firm in Sydney, and is the proud possessor of what is looked upon as the swiftest motor launch in Sydney harbour. He was a rifle-shot of no mean order, and apparently still keeps up the practice, as the following story should serve to show.

Wynyard was one day strolling along a sandy beach with his trusty riflo under his arm, looking for something to kill. Suddenly, he chanced to see a friend sitting on a rock near by with a clay pipe in his mouth. Up went the rifle, there was a bang, and that pipe shivered into exactly 434 fragments. There was no inquest, although the pipe ■ bereft friend appeared to be under the impression that there ought to be one, with Wynyard taking the leading role as corpse. To those who remember the sharpshooting performances of Wynyard Joss while he was here, that story will be by no means incredible. And his mandolin playing was only second to his shooting. Altogether, he was a versatile genius, but versatile geniuses rarely find sufficient scope for their talents in Auckland.

John Youlin Birch, who two years ago deserted the flerald to join the staff of the Wellington limes, is back again in Grandma's maternal care. John was tempted by the offer of a larger salary than he received in the windy city, and, scorning the journalistic tradition that money is dross and that art for art's sake is an infallible maxim, he fell before the tempter. According to all accounts, John's ready pen stirred things up a bit in Wellington. He took up the cause of the discharged Prisoners' Aid Society, and wrote forcible articles in favour of giving discharged prisoners another chance. Also, he did a bit of slumming, and dished up the resulc in cold type. Mr Birch will be remembered as the gifted genius who produced the libretto of "The Moorish Maid," the music of which was supplied by Alfred Hill.

John Fuller, junior, has been saying things to a London Era man, and the Era man considerately devotes a whole column to John's portrait and sentiments. John remarks that if you ask music-hall people what New Zealand is like, they generally reply, not that it is God's Own Country, but that it is Fuller's earth. By the way, it is not generally known that it was John Fuller, senior, who originally, while with the Mohawk Minstrels, set all England singing " Wait Till the Clouds Koll By." Ben and Walter of that ilk were long associated with Joseph Poole's Myriorama at Home, while John, junior, started his Btage career as a juvenile performer at the Holloway Hall, London, in 1891. John leaves for New. York in August, and after doing a scamper through Frisco, Japan, China and Australia, will arrive back in December. In the meantime, John, senior, has a big notion of doing the grand tour.

The laugh is considerably, against Councillor L. Birks at Rotorua just now. Presiding- as-' chairman ajc . themeeting of the Town Board on Thursday evening of last week, he boastfully announced that there was .now an excellent pressure of water for fire-" fighting purposes. The brigade should be able to cope with any outbreak, as the pressure stood at 801 b. Within the next thirty hours the tire fiend, taking Mr Birks at his word, commenced operations on the Presbyterian manse, an £800 building. This is how a. local writer describes what followed : " If pressure of water had been available at the time, the damage would bar* be«a confined to a rery imall

area, buc no water was available for a quarter- of- an-hour, and by that time the flames had gone through every room in the house." Mr Birks has probably modified his opinion of the water supply since then. Of course, the fire ought to have given official notice of its intentions, seeing that the water supply is a Government ser 1 vice, and perhap3 not altogether innocent of red tape.

It's high time that Anglican parsons formed a union. Bishop Wallis announced last week that in future the marriage fees payable to himself would be reduced from £1 to 10a. Is this a "bold, bad bid for biz, or is the Bishop desirous of livening up the matrimonial markets? But where will the' £150 a year parsons come in if they have to lower their prices? There is little fear, however, bo far as Auckland is concerned. His Lordship Moore Richard is aot likely to welcome any reductions in professional fees. And, after all, £800 a year is a mere cipher — considering the amount of entertainment which one gets out of it.

F. Mander, Marsderr'B M.H.R., is a gentleman who is apparently yearning after the unattainable. He wants to know if the Government will prevent the extra rate of wages from increasing the cost of production. But perhaps the last four words are a printer's error, and ought to be deleted. If the Government prevented the extra rate of wages from increasing* then the cost of production might not be increased, but otherwise — well» what else can Mr Mander expect 1

The reporter of the Cambridge Independent is a blushful and bashful young individual by the name of Johnson. It goes without saying that Mr Johnson, by virtue of the fact that he has his hand on the lever that moves Cambridge, if not the world, is a "nian yery-much in the eyes of the men" and women and even the children of the town. This is probably why, when the upper standard pupils of the local school were 'instructed to write a composition on the Cambridge- Indei * pendent, they all * gave special prominence to Mr Johnson. One of them gave him particular attention in this graphic fashion :— " It is Mr Johnson's duty to attend; all football matches, births, deaths, and marriages, and report the news." Since then, Mr Johnson, between hia overwhelming blushing seizures, haa been engaged in ft vigorouf dUolalmir. :v ;