ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1799, 17 January 1884, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Thk decision of the Nautical Court, before which the " Tiiumph ' enquiry was held,, ha? met with very general ap provai. * Some people .ire inclined to think that the suspension of his certificate for throe years was too 1111 LI a sentence to pass ou the captain, but I do not think tlut it was. He is practically ruined, as ho owners would dare to entrust hint with another ship, in, if they did so, no passengers would go by that vessel and no shippers would send goods in it, unless animated by the hope that they would ivceive the amount for which they were insured. Captain Brotheitm is in the same position as that in which Othello found himself — his occupation's gone Ho may as well make up his mind to give up seafaring and enter into some business on shore. Much surpusp was felt at the large amount of impartial e\ idence given at the enquiry in proof of the fact that the captain was sober on the night of the catastrophe, as almost every one believed that he and his olh'ccrs and ciew wvre all more or less undui the influence of liquor However, people whoso evidence cannot be doubted swoie that ho was sober, so we must believe that he was, and that his own admission— that, oveieome by fatigue and lo^s of sleep consequent on suffering from neuialgia, he fell asleep on tiie bridge — is a coircct explanation of the loss of the vessel. As I lia\e alt cad y said, that explanation is almost as bad and damaging a one as could have been made, but he has sufieied, and will suffer severely for his conduct, so we w ill say no more about it. The " Triumph " disaster will coi tainly tend to give Auckland haibour a bad reputation, as thousands of people will read and hear about the occurrence who will neither hear nor read the evidence which was given at the enquiry, and which proved that the accident should not and would not have taken place had proper caie been exeieised Still the disaster will not be an unmixed evil if it leads the Harboiu Boa id to take steps to piovidc a piopci pilot service and to instruct the pilots that they ate to take vessels out beyond Tiritiii befoie leaving them, and that they are t; einise bejond that island for the puipose of bunging in inward-bound ships. Accoidii.g to the system at present in foice, vessels pass all the dangers ol the enhance liefou- the pilots go on boaid. I believe tin; iea-011 given is tli.it all the inlands and rocks to be avoided aie cle.nly marked on the chatts, and that tlicie is plenty of sea-room Of comsc, this is quite true, but we know that the '•Aua/i'" was stranded when coming into oui harbour, that tin 1 '* Loch Ken "' tailed down to the Th.'Miic* and gi minded on the nmd-banks thcie, and that the "Tiiumph" ran on Tmtm. None ot those mishaps would lnvcoecmied had the pilots boaided the fif-t named ship, and stayed on boat d the other two until they wcie beyond Tintiii. Talking about the Harbour Board, theie seems to have been a '•ail muddle made with rcgaid to the dork at Calliope Point. When it wis decided to buila a dock there, it was detu mined to bonovv money ior that and other haibo'ii woiks. The Board's Engines estimated that it would cost £1.20,000 to coiistmcfc the dock and ptovulc the neccssaty ma chiueiy &c, anil that amount wa-> ac cordingly placed in the schedule of the loan bill. The money was laised, plans and specifications wme piepaied and tenders weie called fot the construction of the dock. Those tuideis weioto be opened and consideied by the Haibonr Board at their meeting on Tuesdiy. Befoie this was done a lepoit fiom the Engineer was ie.nl, in which he stated that, in consequence of alterations that had boon made, he found that the dock would cost £170,700 — neaily fifty pet cent, moie than the sum he onginally estimated. It is not to be wondeied at that there wasaveiy genet al condemnation of the Engineer, for having kept the Board in the daik as to the latge increase in the cost of the dock. However, it was decided to open the tendeis (four in numbei) which had been leceived, when it was found tint they ranged from C l-38, 000 to £l<)0,000. The lowest tender and the Engineers report ■vveie icfeiicd to the Dock Committee. As the lowest tender is only i'MS,OOO more than the amount set apait for the putpose, theie will be no ical monetaty diiliculty in the mattet, if tlie Board should decide to cany out the woik Tlie crteat question involved is the Engineoi's cacacity to supet intend a woik o such magnitude. Theie aie some of the members oftheßoaid who have always doubted his capacity, and they will naturally point to the small disci epuicy between his two estimates as conliunation of their opinioi.s. Jlovvevei, we w ill soon know w hat is to be. done in the matter. As was genet .illy anticipated, the Hon. F. VVhitakcr on Tuesday evening gave a inostclear avnlmastei ly account of the Ans tiabisian Conference, beginning with the leasons which had led to the convening of the Confeience, and explaining most clearly what had been done and why the various resolutions had been earned. It is very sati&factoiy to know that theie Mas so pciicct a unanimity among the various memheis ot the Convention, as it might tea->onably have been expected that, con^idcmig the difleiencc in tlie circumstances of many of the colonies, tlitic would have been much divergence of opinion. That unanimity pi oves the necessity for the Conteience, and the eminent fitness for the ii position of the incmbois— that they w etc men who could oveilook local mteiests ioi the common weal. '1 hey grasped the w hole situ ation— the dcsnability of fedci.ttion foi ceitnin purposes, the adv outage of the extension of Biitish liilc over all pa its of the Pacific not abcady under the conttol of any other civilised power, and the absolute necessity to piotect the Austialasian colonies fiom an inclusion of a horde of cuminals fiom France or any other country. Mr Whitaker pointed out very clearly that ample means had been piovided /or giving the ic&idents in each colony the povvct to decide whether they would adopt the pioposals of the Conference, and, if so, to what extent. Altogether the adduss was a me si mastfilyone, giving us exactly the information we wanted, and giving it in the clearest manner possible, and 1 think that the thanks of all in the 1 colon y aie due to Mr Whitakei for it. My only lci'iet is that ciicumstances elid not allow the address to be deliveied before 1 the departure of the Fng'ish mail, so as to enable people in Englanel to obtain as clear a view of the whole subject as we now have. >: h Last week we had a six days' walking in"+rh lietwien Elvwud a piofessional pedestrian, and three local amateurs The whole affair ivas "hollow, hollow, hollow," as Bunthotne woulel &ay, as the result was a ioiegone conclusion fiom the fiist. The professional was m .splendid training, anel was quite accustomed to walking long distances with but little rest, while the local men lacked both training and practice. Each of the latter had to walk for twenty-four hours, and then had forty-eight hours' rest before walking another twenty-four liouis, while Edwards walked for six days and nights, with short spells for meals and sleep. Despite this difference, practice won the match, Edwards' distance being more than that walked by his thiee opponents combined. What if> the use of such an exhibition ? I must admit that Ido not know. It certainly will not tend to improve the health or physique of either of the three local men. On the contrary it is extremely probable that one, if not all of them, has been injured by the severe fitrain. No one has been benefited by it except Eelwaids, who made a, consielerable sum of money by his week's work, and, so far as one can judge, he is not the nv>st deserving of men. However, he had to work bard for his money, so suppose he is entitled to it.

St. Muhqq^

Too Overpowering. — When thereport-ei-s got down Bijah was dusting oft' the chairs and 8 ngiiig. *' Only a Pansy Blossom." He was offered fifty cents— a dollar- two do.lar3, and fina'ly as high •is four dollars and a hand sled if ho would quit at the cud of his first veit.e, but he indignantly spumed all overtures one alter another the prisoners called out, to him to have mercy and let up, but it was not until the oicupant of cell No 7 fainted de.\d nwiy with a cry of dospah that the old j.mifor hushed his song and ■>aid : •' I don't sat- why it is that everybody pitches into my singing. Is theie anything the matter with my \oice ?' "Anything !' shouted the reportorial hind in chorus. " I have been told that it has .1 touch of pathos in it." "Pa-ha ! tlios !" " And fiat it reminds the hearers of their childhood days." " Child-ha, ! ha' hood days !" " Oh, well, it's no im: to comb it such jealousy as yours. No one can blame the crow for hatching the eagle. All of you go to Texas." ' The first prisonei out was Aimer Johnson, the victim who hid fainted. He looked pale and weak, and his Honour gazed at him and said : •' Pihoner, these spices aie using j on up." " Sprees ! Why, last night is the fust time I have been chunk in two veais \" " Well, it seems to have exhausted you." •* It wa&en't that' sir. I coul.l stand four or five drinks and not feel the worse for it, but when you come to lock a man up in a close cell, keep him without ineaUfait and start fifty hyenas to howling bofoie his door, something has got to give way." "Bijah," said the court as he turned to the janitor, " have you been singing again this morning ?" " Y yes, sir. That i^. I waibled off a veise oi two.' " And it caused me to faint away, and gave the man next to me quick consumption," added the piisoner. " Bijah, I have warned you for the last time !" solemnly announced his Honour! " You have got to stop singing, or this couit must biealc up ! prisoners you arc discharged. Go your way.''— Detioit Fiee Press. Hats and Mick. —lf you wish to destioy tlii-m \fct a pit kct of Hn i 's M u.ic Vi kmin Xii 1 1 i< in [) ttkets, 6d, °d, and Is, to be obtained ol nil storekeepers, or from T. B. Hll I. by enclosing .in exti'i st imp Om; Sihllin<;.— Francis J. ShortW Popul ir Ait Union — len first-class Oil Paintings b\ cell !)i attd .utists 5000 tickets at Is. llic pn/es arc m iifm'icent and costly Countiy subset ibers sending stamps or otherwise will hue lie kits by return post Enclose stamped em elope foi re,ilv — Fk \ncis J huoim, 140, Qnei n-stru t, \ik Kland — f Advi ] Liri- in tiilßijsii — Tin.v and Now. — It is tieiiLi.ilh' support d that in the bush we have to put up with m uu discomforts and privations |in the shape of food Formeilj it \\ iis so, but no\, thinks to J B Hill, who has himself dwi It in ilil bush, if food does consist chiefly of tinned iii<- its Ins coiomal Salci tftves to them .-uno-t ( U',,t.L'c (Inmir, ni ik.n- tlicm ns w. II of the pi line t food most erjo", ible, and instead as hard biscuits and indi^i stible damper his I\iI'kovi i) (. oio\r \i l)vi\.i\o I'owdi R makes the vei) best bre id, si ones, cakes, and pastiv far snjicMior and mow wholesome thin \eist 01 leiven. Sold l)j ill storekeepers who can ob-l-im it rnim an/ merrh mt in Ancklind.