PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

Observer, Volume XXVII, Issue 47, 10 August 1907, Page 4

PARS ABOUT PEOPLE

THE atmosphere of . "The tiffin" was heavily charged with ferro-con. erete on Saturday night, when the staff of the Ferro-Conerete Company of Australasia, Limited, held their first annual dinner. A, glance at the .comprehensive jnenu disclosed such items as *' Consomme a la Ferro " and "Filet dv Sehnapper au Sauce Ciment," but the mystic "R" which adorned the foot of the menu disclosed the fact that this was only a little joke on the part of Mr Rosegger, the designer, and that no fears need be entertained so •far as digestion was concerned. The chairman was Mr R. F. Moore, the genial acting general manager and .chief engineer, and it is needless to pay that he proved himself an ideal man for the position. Dinner was only the .prelude to a smoke social, when the qualities of officialdom were forgotten, and all joined together in a pleasurable harmony. The customary tribute to His Majesty having been paid, the toast of the Ferro-Concrete Company {coupled with the name of the Chairman) was proposed by Mr W. Malcolm, foreman carpenter. • * *

Mr Malcolm, like a modern Ajax, manfully hurled defiance at the elements and everything else which might tend to combat the success of the company, and he pointed out that in spite of set-backs and climatic opposition, the company was steadily going ahead. Mr Moore replied, and proceeded to throw figures about in a way that made the ignominious layman gasp. The keynote was struck by Mr Moore when he said that the objects of the company were integrity of purpose and good workmanship, supplemented by a determination to treat their workmen well, and to maintain a principle of fairplay between employer employee. As for figures, the contracts in the hands of the company amounted, in round figures, to the sum of £600,000, as against a mere £8000 a few years ago. It is worth noting, too, that the company hands out between sixty and seventy thousand pounds each year in the shape of wag p s and over £100,000 is spent per annum in material. This is grateful and comforting. • • •

But Mr Moore is optimistic. The company, he points out, has only been in existence here for three years, and in future they hope to spend four times the present amount. He concluded with a reference to the compliment which the City Council had paid them by placing the work of erecting the Graft on Bridge in their hands, and expressed the hope that he would see all the present company once again round that table after they had taken their inaugural walk over the bridge. Then Mr 0. Rosegger proceeded to chronicle ■the history of ferro-conerete from the time of Monier, the discoverer of the system in 1867, to the present day. Monier, bythe-way, died in obscure poverty a year ago. The first ferroconcrete bridge was built in New York by Francon in 1876, but it is only ten years since Hennebique built the first Jerro -concrete bridge of any size. The bridge in Philadelphia has a span of 233 feet, but the span of Grafton bridge will be 320 feet, the greatest in the world.

Foreman McDermott spoke eloquently on the way in which the ■'general workers performed theirduties. *' Mr Hobday," he said, "is fond of sending fellows along to me for a job • —-fellowß who, he says, are the sole -support of their wives and fifteen -children." Mr v Hobday smiled, but ■tlid not deny the soft impeachment. \£There were 1 many otfier .toasts,; iiut «pace, does not permit a detailed ac- ,-. .cbiiiit *>f all. The' musical program i'irte ; tfaw ably contributed to by Messrs It, JF. X;M6ore, H. O. Watkihs, S. Ar

Robertson, H. H. Noyes, C. Rosegger, and J. Fielden Hollingrake, and Mr A. E. Jeffrey gave a couple of recitations. The arduous secretarial duties were excellently carried out by Mr H. R. Hobday, supported by an indefatigable committee, and the function was an unqualified success in every way.

Dr Stopford evidently does not believe in hiding his light under a bushel, and the way he bobs up serenely in various public capacities' is somewhat bewildering to the uninitiated. His latest public appearance was in the capacity of chairman at a Salvation Army shivoo. Whether he used the penitents' bench as the chair is not stated, but the doctor's fiery style, which is somewhat thrown, away on the City Council, ought to be just the thing to suit the Army. Now, if the doctor would only accept the position of, say, Surgeon Major in tha Salvation Army, he would find, a big field for mission work in the City .Council Chamber. Doubtless, 'before long, we would see Albert Edward Glover, attired in a red jersey and peaked cap, swearing oft oysters and other earthly yanitiea for ever, more.

Farmer's Boy J. C. Macky has been lecturing at W&ihi -on " How to Increase the Purchasing Power of Money." What the Waiheathens want to know i 9 how. to get the money in the first place. Time enough bo trouble about the purchasing power of it after they've got it.

Professor Eaafcerfield — whoever he may be, harshly criticises the New Zealand system of technical education. He calls it " flimsy." George George's very own system flimsy ! Perish the thought. But the professor contradicts himself. Says he :— " Nearly all discoveries in science have been made by men who were indifferently paid, because they did not seek to enrich themselves, bat to add to the store of human knowledge." Just so; and isn't George Oeorge indifferently paid ? Did be ever seek to enrich himself? Certainlynot Which proves that 6. 6., being indiffenjntly paid, and not seeking to enrich himself by rises in salary or anything else, is just .the; .man to look after technical education. ; Hbw r then, can a Bystem J jinauigurated" by. such a man be termed "flimsy ?" Let Professor Euterfield— whoever he may be^-take heed unto himself.

Speaking in ' Parliament* on - th« -- Auckland tramway service, C. H. Poole went out of his way to refer to the City Council members who granted . the original option as " reckless alder-' ■ men." They may "have been so,, bat, judging froM Mr Poole's wild 'statements on the subject, we should be inclined to call him* a " reckless, politician." . *

Mr :■ Witty's introduction ;of ! thjiV" Laud Agents' Bill may. be mea^t to be - , witty, but it's not particulartyrhuiii.q)r> ous. As a general rule, land agents don't want the assistance" of '] Mr Witty or anybody else in drawing up a bill. They are quite capable of doing :tha job themselves, and they generally make a particularly fiae job,.of itft'oo. Ask the clients.

Chivalry is not dead, after all.. At least, so we may judge from the aotipa of Councillor L. J. Bagnall, .who,"", by, surrendering his claim* to the sole remaining seat on a tramcar in favour of a lady, gave an object lesson in courtesy to the unruly rabble of men Who nightly rush the cars without any consideration for the claims of the fair sex. v It is not everybody, either, who would dare to brave the wrath of a haughty tram-conductor, and, so far, lightning has not descended from Heaven and smitten alderman," as Mr Poole/would dotfbt- 1 less call him. It is awful to contemplate what might have happened had another passenger not quitted the car and thus left a seat vacant. Probably-; ib would have taken all the diplomacy of Arthur Rosser -to avert another ( crisis. These city councillors must be subjugated at any price.

Old contingenters everywhere will regret to hear of the death of John W. Grimes, who died suddenly of heart failure at Lake Chrime in the Transvaal. Mr Grime's went to South Africa with the second contingent, and, after serving hia term, returned Co New Zealand. Like many other colonial warriors, however, he afterwards accepted a commission- in one of the later contingents, and served to the end of the war. When peace was declared, he accepted the position of inspector of Government farms for the Transvaal, a position which he held up to the time of bis death. Mr Grimes was vice-president of the New Zeaianders' Club at Pretoria.

His Worship Arthur Myers says that rifle shooting promotes a general fitness of physical condition. If that's so, it wouldn't be a bad idea to fit up a rifle range in the City Council Chambers for . the benefit of week-kneed councillors, Their physical condition is greatly in need of improvement, and the most assiduous shootists ought to be Councillors Grey, Tudehope and Sineeton.

Sir William Steward is exercised about a snake charming exhibition imported to New Zealand by the Fullers. He objects to snakes. That's all right. So do various other gentle* men who have seen snakes the like of which have never been vouchsafed to Sir William. If green, blue, and other fansy coloured snakes, which have developed a habit of climbing up a gentleman's bedroom wall, could be classed as undesirable immigrants, there would be much joy in the land — at least, so far as. certain circles are concerned. -

Gabled that Prince Borghese. is in the lead in the Pekin to Paris motor car race. There is a big suspicion in the public mind that this Prince Borghese in our old friend Major G. W. S. Patterson under a new name. The Major would, be certain to be in the race, and he would just as certainly be in the front of it. As for the assumed name, well, the Maj or is "naturally . modest. In all probability, the name is Prince Burgoo, and the cable man has mutilated it in transmission. On the other hand; the Major may be identical with M. .Godard, who was the first to reach _ thei other side of the Desert^ -^Crpbi, " since?: 1 when 'nothing. ; nil>re\:-hjasi;bißeii' : : hei&r&vcrt: Jrim;;: ' 'JCJbie v'.Mi^iDir:is?f^nd;:cifS disappearing? quwtly-like'ttiiafcViAnjp .yray , -'the 1 1 sooner . we ? Jci»o w "ipr cer feai n ; ;j which is the Major, the ibefctet^Cr ?; y-

Keir Hardy, M.P., who is about to visit these shores is an individual who appears to be chronically " agin " the Government. As a matter of fact, he seems to be against his country and everything else as well — except foreign countries. He is a particular bright star of the British Labour party. Labour agitators at Home seem to have a good time of it. Toin'Mann, Ben Tillett, Ramsay Macdonald— all these have had nice little trips to the uttermost ends of the earth, but nobody seems to have, thought of sending our hard-worked Arthur Rosser Home.

Karangahake boasts of a gentleman who is gifted with second sight. This party goes by the name of Dillimorp. Kecently, another Karangahakian with the cognomen of Heron was practising hockey, and, while trying to prevent an opponent from shooting a goal, he slipped, with the result that he brought his devoted head with a dull, sickening thud against one of the goal posts, cutting his face from brow to chin. This is where the occult part of the business came in. The seer Dillimore, on the night before the accident, had dreamt that he had seen Heron standing before him with blood streaming from a wound in his face. If this sort of thing goes on, Karangahake will soon vie with Waihi in sensationalism.

John Strathern has just recently girded up his loins and departed from our midst. Mr Strathern should by now be well on his way to America, whither he goes with a pocket full of money with which to purchase a reduction plant for smelting ore. Mr Strathern is as well known locally as the town clock. He was originally in the detective force, and after leaving that service, he held for many years the position of relieving officer to the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board. Since relinquishing that office he has lived privately, and has in-

terested himself in exploiting the ore resources of the North, the future development of which has necessitated the taking of his present trip. • • *

One John Lindsay, of Siam, now touring the colony, proposes that the people of the roadless North should turn their attention to growing rubber. This wouldn't do at all. People would be wanting Notthern Luminary Frank Mackenzie to take his subscriptions in rubber instead of in spuds and pumpkins, and rubber, as a diet, would be rather indigestible — even to a hardened editor. Frank would prefer the people of the North to turn their attention to growing cash.

During the Parliamentary trip to the southern and northern railheads of the North Island Main Trunk line, a story was told by a politician about the late Captain Fairchild, formerly commanding the Government steamers. The skipper had a subordinate in the service, one Joskins (we will say), who, because of some " pull " he exerted on the political influence of the day, held the position of a mate in the Government ship service. He was intensely religious, of course, and a certain mishap with one craft he happened to be on always drew from him the remark : " The Lord told me to run the boat ashore !"

Captain Fairchild and the holy mate were aboard the old-time " Luna," and the latter had charge of the watch. Before he turned in for the night, the calm, collected Fairchild bethought him of Joskins' record in running his last ship ashore, so he strolled over to thatpolitical appointee, and, in his driest, blandest tones, he remarked : " Mr Joskins, if the Lord tells you to run the Luna ashore to-night just let mo know, will you ? Perhaps I might have something to observe on the point." Joskins didn't run the Luna ashore.

SpeakiDg about ferro concrete piles, .]. P.. Macfarlane remarked that hollow thiugs were stronger than solid ones. Whose head was he referring to ? Surely the remark does not apply to any member of the Harbour Board.

The Rotorua train fatality was sad enough in all conscience, but one little gleam of humour stands out in relief from the general seriousness of the affair. Mr McCommons, one of the passengers, was talking to poor Lowe a short time before the disaster occurred, and cbaffingly remarked that if the train did not go quicker he would get out and walk. And a few minutes later that train was careening down the hill at the rate of 80 miles an hour. Probably, Mr McCommons wishes now that he had got out and walked. Anyway, it will probably be some time before he again tempts providence.

Readers of the Herald must by this time be greatly pained and shocked at grandma's frequent lapses from grace. Last Monday, the following portentous headlines struck awe into the hearts of the multitude : " Sovereigns in Council— Meetings of King, Kaiser and Emperor Joseph — Anglo-Austra-lian Argument." At first, considering the " Anglo-Australian Argument," people imagined that " Emperor Joseph " might allude to Sir Joseph Ward. If not, they failed to see what either the Kaiser or the Emperor had to do with Australia. But it was only the Herald's humour, after all. Grandma was talking about the AngloAustrian argument. Three letters, more or less, is a trifling matter.

An Auckland business man who recently returned from a visit to Rotorua, tells a new and original yarn about a wily Maori Kotoruffian. While taking a quiet country stroll, the tourist came across the said Maori standing up to his knees in a creek, engaged in the congenial occupation of drowning a small but energetic pig. " Heho !" yelled the tourist. " What for you do that, eh? Why you no cut the bally pig's throat?" The Maori finished the drowning job with a wide grin , illuminating his nobla countenance. "No fear," he replied. "If I cut the bally pig's throat, pig makes big noise — yells, see ? All Maoris in the place, they bear the noise, come round and sneak all the pork. Drowning pig can't make no noisel Get all the pork for myself, •cc? H And the tourist proceeded on hii way, pondering over the benefit* of tb« higher clvilUatlon,