WHAKATAKI NOTES.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 6086, 12 November 1898, Page 3

WHAKATAKI NOTES.

(From Onr Own Correspondent), Wednesday, Your /is tie uVc/c reportrr being limply 11 "dun " in ilio region of phonography is sadly destitute of the literary faculty unit the sense of humour, and it is therefore refrediing to occasionally come across one possessed of these gifts. Such a reporter the N.Z. Tines possesses. This gentleman, reporlinfj on an organ recital recently, said:-" The programme concluded with on old favourite, Leimiiens'" Fanfare in D," a vigorous forlc movement, mid used by many of the audience as n recessional " If I luiil been the organist, I should have chased that re|iorter with n meat-axe, "It is'nt wot'eo scs; it's the narsty way'ce scs it." A friend reminds me of some forgotten parodies, one of which is so amusing thai I venture to reproduce it for the benefit of any of your readers who may not be familiar with it. A guileless youth was reciting at a Dorcas meeting the parable of the Good Samaritan. Probably the "boundless contiguity" of females affected his nerves, for lie got terribly mi.veil, his scraps of scriptural knowledge being like, the contents of a midshipmen's chest-everything at Ihc top and nothing handy. Anyhow onr excellent Joseph got through ill" parable safely j but, like a fool, he didn't know when he was well off, and persisledthns "handed'him (Ihc landlord) twopence. . . and (if lite bill is bigget) when I come again, I will repay thee." But the fatuous youth added, "And this ho said knowing that they would see his face no more,"

The dwellers at Castlepoint nrc counting the hours till the seaside season, when the visitors shall come. And really, when one visits the Castle, one is (truck with amazement at the beauty of the place, and its wonderful suitableness tor n summer resort. I know most places in New Zealand, and I really know none iiioro charming. There is 'n beautiful bay, its entrance guarded by massive mounds of conglomerate, a magnificent iiimly beach —hard sand without a tcrnp of shingle; a cave and tin inner harbour which consists of a pool of translucent water into which the shark i-iilereili not, and rocky ramparts rising iliovo deep clear water where there is abundance of lish. Here one may

lounge, on llic siimls children may piny and one may rule or wnlk. The hills enclose the place and shelter it from the winds that sweep so furiously down the gullies. There is a fascination about the place like that which, to my iniiiil, Albany (W.A) possesses, and it is 11 pity that its praises have not been snug. A more dclightlul health resort there could not be; and it isiMt surprising that (ho few prions who do know the place and resort to it, should spend part of every year here. Inm sure Hie hint I threw out recently aboiti an experimental trip or tiro should be conveyed to the management of the U.S.S. Co., with an emphatic endorsement. Thursday. I doubt, on this ninlh day of .November, whether His lioyal Highness, who is to-day the Umpire's most honoured son, is a bit better off than nn East Coast pastoralist with his acres unencumbered ("if such there be") with his this year's clip perfect, and wool at a premium. Certainly lie isn't as happy, for is not his life full of tropical possibilities, his position dependent upon the temper of tiiosc over whom he nominally lords it. Of the thousands who own the sway of the squatter, not one ever dreams of arching bis woolly buck, or blending n note of defiance or anger in his plaintive " ban." They graze contentcilly on the hillsides; they surrender themselves to the lleccer or the lleshcr with the same meek and gentle air. Not that the squatter of this decade enjoys such perfect repose as his predecessor, for lie has fallen on disturbed times. There are comets in the sky and portents in the air, and the scene is changed, ihc breeze that used to be laden with solt and soothing Hock-music is now charged with strange sounds -the yoico of the dwtivuiire, the threatening roar of the emancipated artisan, the ravening cry of the fierce demagogue who wnnls " the land for the people." A procession of new and pernicious Acts passes across the squatter's demesne, and on the horizon appear others metering. And as the liastcrn flock-owner, rising betimes and corning to the door of his tent-blessing the fate which had made him ruler ol this Kingdom of Quiet-beheld approaching a hand of fierce Bedouins, and beyond, on the horizon, another squadron spurring on towards the oasis that lind so long been the scene of unbroken repose—so doth the modern wool king behold the gathering of ihc sans enhlks at tho sound of the Seddonian bugle. He beholds the legislative statuary with which the corridors of history are adorned, taking lifo and descending from their pedestals, sees fever and frenzy where once there was only a drowsy passiveness of life, hears cries of revolution and liereo denunciation of parasites. Bah! it is enough to drive him to the last remedy. Nothing seems to me to illustrate the predominance of selfishness oyer our entire being, personal or national, more than the different eyo with winch people regard reforms when they touch their own possessions. The mother of the Gracchi and her great sons fill nn honored niche in our memorial gallery, but when it is attempted to put in practice here tho reforms which they instituted in the Home of old-how the tune changes! Jlut, straying ou the hill-side I nm forgetting the nestling Whakataki, and its dear lovely bowers of innocence and ease! lam glad to be able to issue a cheerful bulletin of the public health. The measels have lied, and the inlltt nz.i is not amongst us. There is a gap in our midst though; for the other day the occupants of the pah quitted it, and rodo away up the coast to pitch their tent elsewhere, This has been a loss to the school as well as to the com munity. Now ooly one small household inhabits tho pah. A little excitement of a mild sort was caused hero the other evening by a gentleman in needy circumstances who arrived-as many a noble fellow has done before him—with a temporary lack of coin, Tho vulgar needs for food and rest and shelter obtruded themselves upon our traveller, and he was fain to seek supply. Now your Whakatakian is tho sou 1 of hospitality, and the poor stranger was " bidden to supper," and mutton and jelly and wine aud other refreshments were set before him. He , ate as though he had paid for half-a- . I dozen, and mine host gave him also of 11 tho wino of ihc country, and solaced him with fantasias ou the yiolin. And then

llie stranger, warmed ami fcJ, and with liis immediato wants supplied because like that scriptural hero Jeshurun, and comported himself in a vory olijectionalilc manner, and in " Yam" broad ivotoh delivered himself of personal opinions and reflections of an unflattering character, and exhibited some objectionable peculiarities. He was thereupon very promptly and properly rqtifslcd to transfer his patronage elsewhere. On ibis he sallied forth among tho settlors and frightened one or two unprotected females, When at length he did And shelter in a wbaro with two worthy citizens, the fellow had not the sense to accept shelter and sny nothing, but recommenced bis insulting behaviour, with ihoresultthnt hcspcedily found himsolf"i'liuclicdout" with a pain in the sent of his pants and a grarcl rash on his expressive countenance. I regret that I did not see this visitor to the valley, this undesirable immigrant. What evil geuius presides oyer some men's lircs! One hears tho expression " quarrelling with one's own bread and butter j " but it is seldom so literally illustrated.