The Fretful Procupine

Observer, 24 July 1909, Page 16

The Fretful Procupine

IT is no secret that a condition the opposite of harmonious exists just

now amongst the musical people of Auckland. In point of fact, the Choral Society and the Orchestral Society are at loggerheads, and some distinctly discordant chords are being sounded in consequence. The trouble arises from the ambition of the instrumental musicians to carry out a performance which encroaches upon the domain of vocal music, and which the local exponents of the latter, or, at any rate, their principal officials, consider it presumptuous for any amateur body to attempt, and therefore decline to assist in or countenance.

Since it came under the direction of Herr Johann Wielaert the Orchestral Society has, in the words of the American philosopher- poet, hitched its waggon to a star. Its programmes have been of the highest class, comprising many of the world's linest classics. To do it bare justice, it need fear ne comparison of its performances of such works with those of any similar society in the Dominion. Lately, it has aspired still higher. Nothing less than Beethoven's Choral Symphony, admittedly one of the most stupendously difficult works in the realm of music, will satisfy its vaulting ambition. For the Choral Symphony, however, a strong body of voices is required, in addition to the instrumental forces.

Not unnaturally, the Orchestral Society looked to the Choral Society for assistance, seeing that that concern includes most of the trained voices in the city. Moreover, in view of the fact that it was intended to perform the Symphony at the concert which the orchestra gives annually in aid of the Choral Society, as a return for the use of a certain J quantitly ofits property, it was hoped that that as-

sistftnce would be willingly rendered. At first, so it is stated, Dr Thomas, conductor of the Choral Society, gave a provisional approval of the idea. On further consideration, however, Dr Thomas decided that the work presented difficulties too formidable to be overcome, and at his instance the Choral Society declined to render aid. For this attitude, it may be said at once, there was precedent, inasmuch as the Marshall Hall orchestra in Melbourne', and one of the largest orchestras in London, have considered the question of producing this Beethoven work, and in both instances have decided that it was beyond their powers.

The failure of the official negotiations, however, has not daunted Herr Wielaert or the Orchestral Society. A considerable proportion of the members of the€horal Society, dissatisfied and hurt at the refusal of their leaders to make the bold effort, rallied to the aid of the orchestra. With reinforcements) from other vocalists hitherto unattached to any society, Herr Wielaert has brought together a choir of some 120 voices, which has been valiantly rehearsing the big symphony. After months of preparation, it is being put before the public this week, and the test will be interesting.

The whole question is whether colonial music-lovers are to deny themselves the hearing of the highest forms of music until something near perfect performance can be attained. Apparently, Herr Wielaert is content to put them forward with the best material available, as the only means the public have of hearing them at all, and is satisfied with the capabilities shown by his forces. Dr Thomas is more conservative. Which of the two opposite views is vindicated we shall know better next week. Bat, in the meantime, musical Auckland is divided into two opposite camps, one of which prophesies a sufficient measure of success to justify the enterprise, while the other points to the avoidance of the big work by greater societies than that of Auckland, and sneers with a supercilious sneer at the presumption of some local musicians.

Ib is high time that more discrimination was shown by the daily papers with regard to the publication of names of men charged at the Police Court with sexual offences. Last

Gushing Young Thing : Ok, so you are a poet. How grand I how sweet ! how exquisite! You know, my favourite poet is Tennyson, What's yours ? The Poet (absent-mindedly) : H'm ; I think fli have a whisky, thanks.

week, the stage manager of a theatrical company was placed in the dock and confronted with the accusation of having indecently assaulted a little girl who had been employed as a super. Judging from the evidence that was published in the daily papers, there was practically nothing to justify the laying of the charge, and the Justices promptly, and very properly, dismissed the information. Vet the name of the accused man was published not once, but several times, and it is not impossible that particulars of the case were also telegraphed by the Press Ass. to the other newspapers of the Dominion. So that, although the accused person may be perfectly innocent of the charge, a stigma has been most unjnstifiably , attached to his name.

In this connection, it is relevant to recall a case that occurred some time ago, when one of the officers of the B.s. Navua was brought up on a charge of indecently assaulting a woman on board that boat. The woman's tale was proved to be a trumped-up one, and the case was dismissed ; yet the innocent accused had the mortification of seeing his name figuring in the various newspapers of the Dominion in connection with a most unsavoury charge. The proper procedure to follow would be to suppress the name of the accused until, at the very least, a prima facie case was made out, and" he was committed to the Supreme Court for trial. Even ,then, of course, he might ultimately be found not guilty, but to a certain extent there would be justification for publishing his name, while there is absolutely none when the charge is dismissed at the Police Court. In a great number of cases, charges ot indecent assault, when impartially investigated, are found to be without foundation. Some are dictated by spite ; some by hysteria ; some by other motives ; but in every instance the unfortunate accused suffers by having his name publicly dragged through the mud. If he be proved guilty, this is as it should be ; but if the charge be unsupported by facts, it constitutes an intolerable and unjustifiable infliction.

Thoroughgoing interest in football, clearheadedness in business arrangements, and a strong will to direct the fulfilment of those arrangements, should be important qualifications in the management of a touring team, and Thomas Aitken, who goes to •Sydney next week as guide, philosopher, and friend to the Ponsonby team, possesses them in an eminent degree. Thomas has been an enthusiastic devoted of the game from his youth up. No one needs to be reminded of this fact who remembers how, when the Thames footballers used to toe the leathern sphere across the clayey surface of the Waiokaraka flat, now covered with villa residences, he was to be found among the bar-

rackers every Saturday afternoon, striding up and down the touch-line, hands in pockets, and leaping into the air in ecstacy at every clever feat done in the field. Till he came to Auckland Mr Aitken was one of the pillars of the goldfield Rugby Union. When the exigencies of the Postal Department brought him to the city, he transferred his affections and support to the Ponsonby Club, which has no more devoted adherent. If the Ponsonby cracks do not return from Sydney with added laurels it will not be the fault of their manager.

A little comedy of competition is going on between tbe Harbour Board's tug Te Awbina and the tug-boats owned by private concerns. When the costly Te Awhina was imported, it was given out that the purpose for which she was required was the berthing of large steamers. So far, however, she has failed to find enough work of this nature to keep the hands of the crew out of their pockets. Even the towing of mud-punts has not sufficed to fill in her time. Consequently, an avocation has been found for her in making occasional cruises into the gulf, in the hope of picking up a sailing vessel that requires a friendly tow into port — a line of business which has heretofore been the special preserve of ship-owners who pay taxes to the Board for the privilege of carrying it on.

Naturally, this new competition from a public body has put the skippers of the mercantile tugs on their mettle. By all the saints in the nautical calendar they have vowed that no new-fangled public body competitor shall deprive them of their regular trade. Their watch on the gulf has been redoubled, and so far the Harbour Board's tug has not secured enough charters to pay for the oil used by her engines. One possible reason is that her commander has been an officer new to the Waitemata and its ways. It is whispered that this consideration was not without weight in influencing the Board's decision to find that commander a sphere of usefulness upon another portion of its fleet, though an altogether different reason is assigned.

• * * . The latest development in the matter is that the Board has offered the bridge of the Te Awhina to the most successful charter- hunter on the competing private tugs. Whether this change will bring more towing grist to the Board's mill remains to be seen. But, in any case, it is a debateable question whether it is either good or fair business to send an expensively-worked publicly- owned vessel cruising about the Channel in opposition to firms which provide the Board with revenue. Also, a return as to the coat incurred in such speculative expeditions, and the results accruing therefrom. to the Board's treasury, should "be exceedingly interesting reading. .

An advertisement in one of the dailies puts the interesting problem, " How Long will the Big Candle Burn?" A correspondent, evidently connected with the Laymen's League, suggests that the Rev. C. A. Watson should be about the best local authority on such a question, and that, failing him, the Rev. Mark Sutton's opinion would be valuable. ■ • w Possibly the confiding public imagine that the Harbour Board s practice of admitting the press representatives to its meetings in committee assures to them a full insight into all the details of the Board's proceedings. If so, it is quite as well to undeceive them. The press just report such matters as the Chairman of the Board agrees should be made public. When a subject of particular delicacy comes under consideration, the Chairman has a playful way of passing the word to the press table, which stands just behind his own seat, " Don't take notes of this," and forthwith the reporters' pencils cease to move. • • ■ Probably there are cases in which this course may be justifiable. When, for example, details of financial negotiation come upon the board, it can be admitted that publicity might be prejudicial to the public interests. In such instances, however, it might be supposed that the discretion of the pressmen could be relied upon. Similarly when questions of personal character or qualification are involved. Here, again, the reporters' natural respect for the law of libel ought to be an ample safeguard. These considerations should, however, be the only barriers to the right of the press to inform its readers fully as to the proceedings of public representatives at a public meeting. ■ ■ • It may be admitted that no harm has yet been done by Mr Mitchelson's application of restraint to the Auckland newspapers. Still, the public ought to beinfoimed that under the existing system they do not learn all that happens at the fortnightly meetings in committee. Some day the reporters, or their editors, may refuse to be bound by official direction, and may report a discussion as to which they consider that their

readers should be informed. Then, there is no knowing what will happen. Secretary Brigham might be instructed to act as a sergeant-at-arms and arrest the recalcitrant pressmen for contempt of Board, or — but the possibilities are endless. • • c The desire for creating a sensation ont of very slight material appears to run in the blood of the average Waiheathen. Because a Waibi storekeeper discovered a solitary spurious halfcrown among his cash the other day, and communicated the fearful fact to the " Herald's " special correspondent, that sapient individual promptly rushed off to the post office, and, in feverish haste, dashed of! a frenzied telegram to the effect that " spurious coins appear to be in circulation here, a local tradesman having recently discovered a counterfeit half - crown, etc. (The italics are ours). And the "Herald" solemnly published this twaddle with a headline. One swallow doesn't make a summer, but one spurious half-crown makes a sensation — in Waihi. There's a village that's known as Waihi, Which is dusty and dry as can be ; Where one spurious half-crown Turns the place upside down — Oh, they're wonderful folk in Waihi. • ■ ■ Not long ago, a story was told concerning a young settler in a district near Auckland who failed to keep the all • important appointment he had made for his wedding day, and who, when the relatives of the tearful brideelect looked him up and sought an explanation, was found busily engaged on his farm, attending to the operations of a tardily-arrived chaff-cutter. There is a sequel. The lady forgave the forgetfulness of her preoccupied fiance, and in due course the wedding bells rang, and the twain were made one. Then they set out upon their honeymoon tour. Now the anxieties of their friends are of another kind. That tour has been prolonged beyond the period indicated, and there is no sign of the honeymooners' return. Meanwhile, that husbandman's fields are yawning to be prepared for another crop, and there is no one to till them. In view of the former instance of forgetfulness, the countryside is speculating as to the possibilities.

Landlord fas he reaches the pearly gates): Ah! keys— -a bunch of keys! They are mine. I have lost hundreds like them — lost, stolen, and strayed from mti beastly tenants. * St. Peter : No, man, these are not your keys by any means ; nor is this your path. Pass on— elsewhere ; there you will find your keys.

The City Council, at ita laßt meeting, spent a considerable time in debating tbe momentous - question whether a wash-house, owned by a Mr "Hogan, whoever be may be — should be removed, or not. The theme is worthy of immortalisation, so here goes : — The drainage scheme could not compare With this important question. It was a trifle light as air, And easy of digestion. Can Mister blogan's wash - house stand ?— The issue was tremendous. The Council gasped : " Some wisdom, and Clear understanding send us !" His Worship straightway rose and said That Hogan's wash-house couldn't Kemain ; the Council raised its head And said : " Gee-whiz ! it shouldn't." And so, tho' Mister Hogan may Be full of indignation, That wash-house he must take away With nought of hesitation. And from these facts 'tis surely plain As dicky-birds eat groundsel, That none need ever take in vain Our strenuous City Council. » • • One of the members of the " foorce " at Waihi has taken a distinct dislike to smoked fish ; nor is it safe for any Waiheathen to mention that delicacy in his presence. The constable in question recently wandered to the railway station, with the object of laying by the heels any malefactors who might be importing liquor into the No-license area without having gone through the necessary formalities. He hadn't been on the platform long, when his lynx eye became aware of the presence, in a dark corner, of a box, which bore on its shameless sides the damning inscription, •« Pale Ale." It was true that the brand was somewhat indistinct, bat this only made the affair more suspicious. It was, in fact, clear that the consignor, by such a subterfuge, sought to dodge the eagle optics of the law's representative. The con-, stable knew that the clerk of the court bad not been duly notified of the advent of that pale ale. Consequently, the law had been outraged ; but details were required, and ' the law's representative proceeded to obtain them.

Grabbing a cold chisel and a mallet, be attacked the outer fortifications of that shameless box. " The silly omadhauns !" growled he, as he plied his task. " Did they think to shtale a march on me ? 'Tie little they know the man they're dealing wid, be jabers !" Presently, the lid of the box was ripped oft, and disclosed a layer of brown paper. " Now," said the guardian of the public peace, with a triumphant smile, as he proceeded to clear away the paper, "we shall see what we shall see." But the said triumphant smile swiftly faded' away

like a beautiful dream. Investigation proved that the box, instead of containing a consignment of pale ale, held nothing more intoxicating than some choice bundles of innocent smoked fish. And though the constable tried hard to hush the affair up, certain rude Waiheathena got hold of the particulars, and are still making merfy over them.

Local business people, egged on thereto by the hysterical "Herald," have recently been making a fearful fuss because the last English mail arrived in Auckland one day late, owing to the Sydney postal authorities sending it direct to Wellington. But these same business people didn't utter a word of protest against the closing down of the Government offices on Arbor Day, whereby a serious dislocation of business was caused. At present, the observance of Arbor Day is a solemn faroe. It should either be abolished altogether o relse placed on a utilitarian footing.

The unemployed trouble has its lighter side. Take the experience of a Wellington man who wanted labourers the other day to clear away a landslip on his property. Be offered to pay eight shillings a day for four men. The Labour Department sent four along. These unemployed gentlemen, however, were only willing to become employed on their own conditions. It must be thirteenpence an hour, of they wouldn't turn to. They didn't. Then came another batch, who would be content with the shilling an hour. " But, mind you," said the propertyowner, " I want to get this heap away as quickly as possible, and you'll have to work on Saturday afternoon." The gang took counsel together, and declared their resolution. "If we work Saturday afternoon," it was announced, " we must have time and a- half." And because they could not get it they also went sadly away. Finally, a quartet who really wanted work undertook the job and carried it out. But that employer has decided opinions as to the pressure of need that underlies part, at any rate, of the unemployment agitation.

Another good story is told by an Aucklander. It relates to a former unemployed difficulty, when the distresses of the gentlemen of enforced leisure were being vociferously declared daily where the Grey statue now stands. The citizen in question heard of a vacant billet, and called one morning at the house of a man whom he knew to be out of work, to advise him to apply at once. As the houßeholder was not at home, the message was left with his wife. The good woman thanked the caller profusely. There was, however, a " bat." " It's very good of you to call, Mr Blank," she announced, " but I'm afraid Tom won't be able to go this morning. Yon see, he's promised to speak at today's unemployed meeting."