The Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1897. NOTES AND NOTIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5760, 2 January 1897, Page 4

The Star. SATURDAY, JANUARY 2, 1897. NOTES AND NOTIONS.

Elsewhere in this issue will be found a letter from Mr Cr. M'lntyre in defence of the Drainage Board, especially with regard to its finance and to the state of the river Avon. With the financial aspect we need not deal at the moment, save to point out that on our correspondent's own showing the Board has been uncommonly successful in getting into a monetary mess. And there is in this fact a strong additional reason why new men, avlio will be prepared

to look facts squarely in the face, and if possible, economise the administration, should be elected. As to Mr M'lntyre's comments on the state of the Avon, it is impossible to take them seriously. The Board, he says, has removed "some" of the mudbanks, and the river is " Not in a condition dangerous to health." Here Mr M'lntyre is in conflict with medical opinion, and his declaration is diametrically opposed to the senses of sight and smell that most people possess. If the river under tho existing conditions is pleasant in Mr M'lntyre's sight and absolutely innocuous, heaven help the citizens when that gentleman may be prepared to admit that it is a reproach and a menace. We ask the city ratepayers in the wards wherein contests are to take place, to regard it as an imperative duty to vote on Tuesday, and to vote for progressive men.

Here is a delightful little bit of Yorkshire dialect, embodying an example of quaint Yorkshire humour : — There wur once a mo\ise 'at happened, to fail intiv a cask o' beer. • A cat 'at wur on the lookart fur a dinner see t' mouse, and comes to t' tub's side. " Sitha, Mrs Oat," says t' drownin thing, " if tha'll get ma out o' this tha can a' me. I can't abide the smell o' beer." Well, cat's agreeable, but t' minit mouse gets out she runs to her 'ole, a.nd sits a wiukin' 'er whiskers an' nibblin' 'er nails. " 'Ere," cries cat, " fair dues, fair dues !" Tha said I might a' tha'. " Aw," says t' mouse, " folks '11 say owt when they're i' liquor."

A blowy day at Lyttelton yesterday, tho white-crested waters of the harbour gleaming brilliantly in the sunshine ; a stiff -north-easterly breeze that suited tho big yachts perfectly, but that mado trouble for some of tho smaller craft, and caused a mortifying towingliomo; a choppy sea — "jobbly" enough even in tho inner harbour to demand for # tho rowing events " the long pull and strong pull " that requires grit and endurauoo on tho part of tho competitors. Much vexatious delay in arranging tho dotal In of tho Kiibniarino explosion — again by rounoti of the rough water — but inllnitnly moro vexatious to Captain Fii.lr.onov. Wo tako it, than to anybody elm*. Ilut, dospito the shrewdlyblowing ln'oo'/.(\, and dospito tho delays, lho ininifiniio crowds of people seemed lo ho permeated with enjoyment ; and once move 1 hat " depression " we have board no muoh about was conspicuous by lit tor nlmoneo of oven tho faintest indication ol' iln whereabouts. On the pleasure utoiinioi'n, on tho wharves, at tho graving dock*- W'OUo ol' tho swimming races — and In tho long ftlroot wherein the land sports woro hold, tho crowds of pcoplo looked COiufoi'tafolu nud thoroughly happy.

Tim LyUoHon Regatta of 1897 has come and _twuo, nnd, Inking it " by and large," 11. miiul, bo written down a success, and a ]>h* nncoiw too. To that result, many men, ropntiionliug varied interests, contributed. Tin* hli<!uiihlu|) people managed matters woll • llio railway officials had mado arriin^onumtii Mint were as perfect as Could bo reasonably desired; and t.lio t'ogntln, committee, tho head and front of tho great holiday gathering, had done more than to command hUOoohh, fchoy hnd dosorvod it. To singlo out ollu-ialti for upocinl mention Avould be invidioim, and wo aro not. going to fall into nn error ol I lvii. Bert. But wo do heartily congml.ulato (ho c.omiuittee, everyone of tlioiii, n nd - may their shadows never grow le;;:;.

You Khali Fomotimes find much of caustic comment and of incisive argument veiled iv mitirc. Take, for instance, a "par" from tho Sydney Bulletin, touching some of tho peculiarities of licensing law administration: — Man caught coming out of a Sydney pub., on a Sunday, with a bottlo of whisky sticking out of his pocket, nnd accusing constable swore it wasn't thero when he went in: "Yer Worship, tho bottlo was left over at tho stables, across the road, the night bofore for me and I forgot to take it home. I came for it on tho Sunday morning, and then went over to the pub. to see a sick horse." !! ! Beak Isaacs said it was the most extraordinary thing he had ever heard that "a man like Brown should forget a bottle of whisky on Saturday night, remember it on Sunday morning, get it first, and go straight over to the pub. with it — in his pocket." But the lawyer was "great," aud the witnesses were many, and " down went M'Giuty " in the person of the constable. Verdict for the sick horse.

When a man is in trouble, to throw mud at him is but tho way of tho world. Needless to say, we do not hold with this axiom, though it is, perhaps, as frequently put in practice, as any other. There is no reason, however, v/hy tho deeds of ill-doers should not be-so painted on the rocks of crime as

to warn others of thoir existence. We wish to allude to an assault case which was heard before Mr Beetham, S.M., yesterday, in which the culprit righteously , received the sentence of "two months i hard." The facts of the case were simple. A strongly built country labourer, more or less intoxicated, went to the houso of an "unfortunate," who, not liking the appearance of the man, ordered him out. The brute retaliated by severely bruising the woman's face with his fists, throwing her down and kicking her. For this he will enjoy two months in the compulsory civil service with hard labour. In giving judgment Mr Beetham made one point clear. It was that even an "unfortunate " is entitled to every protection the English law affords. It is well that we have such Magistrates on the Christchurch Bencli as Mr Beetham, and it would be better if people who mako a pretenco of piety would refrain in their pious zeal from hunting these "unfortunates" from houso to house. It may not be altogether superfluous at this season to point out the fact that the Great Founder of Christianity, nearly nineteen hundred years ago, set us an example in this respect which is in the highest degree worthy of our imitation.