Comments on Passing Events.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2016, 12 January 1887, Page 2

Comments on Passing Events.

Wi li iNGToS. Jan 10. Tee Holidays. Your humble sevant, like most other people, has been taking a holiday, and hal successfully run the gauntlet of eating, drinking, and being merry without injuring hi* health more than moat Englishmen do at Christmas time. It is said that enough ia.aa good us a feast ; but at the festi»e season just passed Englishmen are not content wilh the “ enough.” tut must have the ” feast " at any coat, or, I should imagine an. when I aaw one person walking home with a couiU ■-f geese tlm day before Christmas. I c.-nne to the conclusion that hj s ai petite must be g-eat- or ids family large, or fiat with true John Bull iusiincts, he wig determined to have the good things, whether they were eateo or not It ia a pity for the sate of all parlies that Christmas do s s iv t come in the middle of winter, when one c u'd enjoy the good things, but unfonunniely it does ml, end we have women roasting them*elves ai well as the good things, o*er a big fire on a veiy hot day, all because John Bull says I am dtl-rmimd to eat, drink, and be merry, in accordance with the custom of my forefathers if I suffer wilh dyspepsia all the rest of my life. Amongst many other things we have had three inttrprovincial cricket match** in Wellington during the holidays, and on the whole there was a good display of cricket. I was present at the match. Wellington v. Canterbury, and whatever may be said to the contrary, I am uf opinion that the fielding on the part of the Wellington men was superior to anything I have Been before, of coarse with the exception of the Aaetrslisn eud English oiicketers, end had they been at good in the other two branches of the game they would have carried all before them. But there ia not the slightest doubt Welling* Inn nricketera am meal .-fosid-dlv weak in

bowling, and to that branch of the gain* the; should direct their special attention. We have got two good theatres in Wellington, one of them the beet in the southern hemisphere, but the companies might have been better. The paotomine company in the Theatre Boyal has been, on the whole, very fair, but I cannot say the seme lor the Opera House. The latter place was occupied by one of the worst companies, either amateur or professional, it was my misfortune to see. At the request of the Governor " The Bells " was performed and to a crowded house, and I might say trie only one, and your humble servant indulged in a I>-. k seat, but before the performance was over lie look an outside seat in a tram car like several hundreds had done before, and went home. Had it not been for the critics in the pit who enlivened the otherwise dull proceedings by intellections or pit whispers, in contra distinction to stage whispers. For instance, when one of the actors was trying to speak in a boars* voice, and you could not make out a word bo said, a voice from the pit said, “ Throw it off your chest” Then when one of the actresses made an attempt at a song she was advised to “ take a little jam." But when the final scene was taking place in thil tragedy, the grand finale bad arrived, and the actress said ” lie is dead," the audieuce was put into a statu of merriment by a pit whisper, •• a very good

job too,” and the curtains fell on a fatical tragedy amidst biases and groans. Then an afterpiece was put on. called •• Love's Test.” but the patience of the audience was thor-

oughly exhausted, and cries of “ bring on the agony ” were frequent, and before the

curtain fell the pit at least was half empty. Never before have I been in a theatre when the company Imd to depend ou the audience to enliven the proceedings. In my wander* ■tigs during the holidays I have come aoroea a quaint sayings. For instance; while rambling over the bills a man accosted me with the remark as to whether I had teen a cow. and then began to describe her as a *' white cow with a red snot now and again.” This is the first time I have heard of a red and white cow described as above. In another cite I came serose a fisherman who, like all anglers, bad ptiie oe written on his brow, and when I asked how many fish he had c-ngbt he said. “ Well. I have been here all dsv, and as soon aa I have caught the out Ihit ia at my line now end another I will have two ” ‘ibis man waa too witty fur me, ao I moved or, and came across two per sot a discussing the temperance question, and ore of them was a countryman of Dan O'CouoeU'e sod lie remarked in an excited tone of voice that *' the only drunken man on a certain racecourse was a Mrori woman on horseback.” The crowd of people at the Caledonian Sports waa a sight that country visitors ih ughl was worth seeing, and there ia no doubt it was the largest concourse of people which has been assembled at any gathering in Wellington before at one time. It cera taioly waa a slight difference to the time when foot races were ran and other sports held on tbe public streets in years gone by. and it is really not so very many years ago after all, which is a clear proof of the rapid progress Wellington has made in point of population. CoLOkUt.