THE WEEK.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10301, 4 November 1911, Page 6

THE WEEK.

—-* Tho ideal of colonisation is to find a desert and leave it an oasis. Judging from tho week's cablegrams, the Italians found an oasis in Tripoli and loft it a desert. - ■ A enw that was being driven to market on Wednesday went into an hotel en Moorhouso Avenue. It was evidently what the market reporter calk a " dry " cow. Jimmy Pothcrick's engaging manner of referring to bis audience as "deadheads" the other night showed that ho knew bis own part pretty well. He was obviously playing a vaudeville " turn" and a low comedy ono at that. James Biggs wa.s the name of a negro who got three months for idleness the other day. If James had been digging no doubt he would have escaped gaol, and now the police ought to see that James Diggs really lives up to his name. People make r. lot of fuss about Parliament, but really when you come, to think of it nobody cares twopence whether it is sitting or not, The only difference the closing down of the session has made has been that members have been let loose on their unfortunate constituencies. _ * • "The Week" had a paragraph ready to-day, announcing that the Cup was a Goldhnder for a good many people. But the point has been cut out of that joke., and tho only thing for it now is to be Prim and proper. Anyhow, even if the Cup was not a Goldfinder for the crowd, the result of tho Stewards' Handicap rwas certainly Bliss for those who backed tho winner. . As for the trotting Cup on Tuesday, it is flat against the law to tip horses nowadays. "The Week" hopes that everybody will find it a Bright afterj noon, that there will be no talk of Bribery or corruption, and that the j sport will not play Havoc with their finances. —. + Some people seem to have a pretty poor idea of Mr J. D. Hall as a campaigner. A question put to Jimmy Petherick on Wednesday night suggested that Mr Hall was guaranteeing his "tenner." The implication was that Jimmy had been put up to attack Mr Isitt and to draw off the strictly Government vote, but what earthly good that could do Mr Hall no one seems to know. There was a big argument on the subject after the meeting. Finally a dogmatic citizen who has some sort of standing in the community ended the talk by declaring positively, " Tho man who put Jimmy Petherick up was a fool, whatever way you look at it!" "But Jimmy says he put himself up," interjected a by-stander. "I can't help that," was tho citizen's response. ———* There was a pronounced rumour round town this morning that the member for Christchurch East had dreamt the winner of the Stewards' Handicap, and that he had omitted to give tho information to the Mayor of the city. «. _ There are queer coincidences all over the world and in every game. .In one of the Eastern States of America, six or seven weeks ago, the ultimate winner of a big six-heat trotting race proved to be a horse that ran nowhere in the first three heats. With the fourth heat he was "cut loose," and won handsomely, and in tho subsequent heats ho was never in trouble. Tho average reader may wonder where the coincidence comes in, but trotting men will see the point when they learn that the name of the driver was Waite. A wild rumour of a tramway strike went round last night. It was due, it seems, to an advertisement, issued two days ago, as follows:—• CHRISTCHURCH TRAMWAY BOARD. TENDERS FOR COPPER-CONDUC-TORS. Tenders arc invited, etc. Evidently the Tramway Board anticipated trouble, and is going to engage a force of combined policemen and conductors.