TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6758, 23 January 1890, Page 2

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

• • [FEO-r-OUR SPXCIAL COBEESPONBBNT.] London, Dec 6. A spell of 'hard frost,-accompanied by an icy north-east wind, has laid up hundreds.' •of Londoners with bronchitis, and wellnigh emptied the theatres. Two famous men who attended the premiere ot La Tosca caught bad colds,, and are now in their coffins, and how many more that awful night invalided it is of course impossible to say. The aged Martin FarqubarTupper has succumbed to- the weather, and Sir James Hannen is very ill. The alterations in the plans of Prince j Albert Victor of Wales, whereby that illustrious youth remains m India till the middle of next year instead of returning a i few weeks hence ka originally arranged.,. , have created mnch gossip but little : surprise. It was, indeed, openlyy^redicted a month back that if certain stories, thenI common . talk, iad. any f onndai_ton,..eome^. ..such step,»op__l pieji-tafce-t,

consent to the plan with relnctance. He is strongly in favour of frankly facing the situation and exposing all the circumstances. H.B.H. reminds Lord Salisbury of the Mordaunfc case and the manner in which he himself was groEsly traduced. All England then really knew the story sus rosa, and it was only by going voluntarily into the witness-box and telling tho truth that he burked a most infamous scandal. The Prince thinks it would hv> far wiser to meet the present trouble equally openly. I'-IE HOME OP THE EJ-Tntt-rDHDING . The home of tho plum- pudding is at the leviathan confe_tionery stores of W. aad G. Buszard, in Oxford street. This vast emporium of good things, with its meantains of cakes (in fifty varieties, from the " royal wedding " — made only lor Princes.' nuptials — tothe modest "baby sponge"), itß silver trays of cream walnuts, chocolates, nougats, fondants and toffies, and ita many coloured boxes of all sorts of dried, preserved and crystallised fruits, presents a busy scene even at ordinary times. But from early in November till after Christmas Buszard's is a veritable hurlyburly. Then the number of assistants ia doubled, the long "bars of sweetmeats become thrice their usual size, and here, there, and everywhere arise huge pyramids of basins of plum-puddings and mountains of jar 3of mincemeat. The puddings are all of the same quality. There is no difference, save iv t'-se matter of size, between the six royal puddings which Mr Buszard annually despatches to Windsor and Osborne, and the email 7s 6d worth of indigestion which you yourself can buy from him. Buszard's plum puddings cost from 5s to £5, the leviathans being made chiefly for clubs and regimental messes in all parts of the world. They are thoroughly mixed and half-boiled, the balance of boiling (about six hours tor a medium sized basin) being let'fc to be done by the cook. In the cellars below the shops lie the export and packing department.* Here, as November comes round, the clerks grow busier and busier. Tin-lined cases, some half, some whole packed, are scattered about, and two boys are hard at work painting addresses on the box-lids. These same addresses give one some idt-a of the extent of the plum pudding business. The exiled Britisher, it seems, must enjoy this indigestible edible at Christmas time, and cine times out of ten he appears to send to Oxford street for it. A huge case alongside us is addressed to the " Byculla Club, Calcutta;" and another almost as large to "the Adjutantof the — Regiment, Delhi." The Clnb at the mushroom city of Johannesburg haa learnt to appreciate Buszard's handiwork, and H.M. ships in all parts of the wide world, are his regular customers. Australians, I regret to state, seem as yet for the most part Philistine and benighted in the matter of mince-meat and puddings. Mr Buszard (a smileleas man conscious of inflicting much digestive misery on hia fellow-creatures) tells me that though he sends numerous Christmas boxes to individuals at the Antipodes, he haa never been invited to supply an Australian Club or Corporation. "Of course," he said, " they can (if they happen to have a good receipt, and are careful inthe matters of mixing and boiling) make as good a plnm pudding in Australia as in England. Only then, of course, it is not a British plum-pudding. All we really claim for our puddings is that, they are cheaper and better mixed than the average householder's. What, of course, really moves foreign, and Colonial customers is sentiment. They like to have a bit of English plum-pudding, and an English, mince pie at Christmas. Even on the torrid, plains of North Queensland, or snowed up in Canada, It is a practical reminder of Home." " And will your puddings keep, Mr. Buszard ?"' I asked. "Por ever, once they are securely soldered up in an airtight tin case," replied. the monarch of mincemeat. "Ten years ago," he continued., meditatively, "we despatched a two-guinea Christmas pudding to a party living at Lima,.Peru. The steamer was wrecked in the Straits of Magellan, and all tho cargo lost. Eight years later two-castaways, starving sailors, prowling about the same spot, came upon a tin case from which the wood had partially rotted. It contained our -puddings which was in precisely the came condition as on the day it was shipped. Both men ate ravenously, and one, I grieve to say, died; but then, you see, the pudding was only half -cooked, and the careless castaways neglected to follow our instructions (duly attached), viz., « boil •thoroughly for ten hours.' J ' M-VBTIK PABQUHAS TDPPEB. The present generation of Englishmen and Englishwomen, rejoicing in their - Tennyson, their Swinburne, and their countless minor poets who can at least iturn out melodious verses, find the erstwhile popularity of Martin Farquhar Tapper simply inexplicable. That thelate Mr Tupper was popular, and thaty people did once upon a time read verbial Philosophy^' is, however, morally certain. One publisher alone admits having made .£IO,OOO outof "Proverbial Philosophy," and had the author received a royalty on' the American sales of 3d per copy, it is alleged he would have been _8100,000 r_cber_ I imagine the persons who . gloried in Tapper likewise admired Ham Friswell and wept sentimental teats - over Eliza Cook. The chief thing of course which irritatesthe average reader in Tapper is his lack of harmonious expression and his cumbrous platitudinism. One may wade through pages of halting prosaio lines without finding a really happy thought. Nob that the man was without them. Here are one or twoNeglect? What .libel on a world where • half the world ia woman. Or again. Knowledge holdeth the hilt-and heweth., I out a road to -conquest. Ignorance graspeth the blade, and is . .-wounded by its own good sword. Occasionally Mr Tapper blunders ona line of singular beauty, as for example — "A babe in a house is a well-p-ing of pleasure, .a messenger of peace and of Jove." The best of -the ■• -proverbial philosophy did notj-however. rise above this sort of thing — Never be idle. Labour is good for a man, bracing-up his energies to conquest. Make a fair will. There is no greater evil among men -than a testament framed with injustice. Live and let live. And he that hath more than enough ib the thief of the. rights of his brother. Of writing: It fixeth, expoundeth^and. ■ disseminate th sentiment. These are what the Tupperian- would call gems of tbe first water. : The venerable poet (if poet he. can be- [ called) died on Friday last, aged eightytwo. He went to .school at the Charterhouse with Thackeray, and was from boy--hood.a great friend; of Gladstone, from ! -whom, however__he differed in politics. Several good stories are told of Tupper. . Oil one occasion, having lost his portmanteau oh a journey,, the poet relieved ' his mind by swearing. A bystander re- '. buked him. "Confound it,, sir, wouldn't you.swear nnder pi-milt-ar* circumstances?*' aßked ' Tapper. '' "I should,. Mr~ Tupper,-" replied the ! other, «*" but X-am- only an ordinary mortal, whereas your philosophy ia proverbial. ' West CjEtßis-CCH-oacH School Com-- . mittbk. — At a Bpecial meeting held on ■ Tuesday evening,- all -the members being ' present, it was agreed to nominate '. Messrs W. H. Peryman and T.-S. Weston J to fill the vacancies on the Board of ' Education. All the pupil teachers in the fourth, year having passed their examination, and sir of them being about to leave - 1 for the Normal Training College, the Com- ' mittee selected tbe following six for re- ■ commendation to the Bnard as first year ( pupil" toachers, viz.. — Ella Armstrong, - Jane Anderson, Jeanie Reese, Amelia ; Lusk, Christina Kirk and Margaret B. ' .Menzies. Eleven applications were re- -< ceived for appointment as-flrsfeyear-pupil. < teachers and five for third year, but .the ~* Committee reeorvednot:tojreconnnendany- •< one fox appointaaea->-^^^appl-eii.foE.sny '""*