ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXII, Issue 1810, 12 February 1884, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

In the November number of Chambers' Journal there is a ahoit but interesting aiticle on orange fanning. The wiiter says : " Maktng every allowance for the circumstance that nine or ten ycais ivu t -t elapse between the periods ot planting orange seed and gathering the ciopshould giaftingor budding not be resot ted to— it will probably be found tli.it among the long catalogue of cultivated fruits the orange tiibe .ifiord the most satisfactory financial results." In pi oof of this he mentions that in Timid.id the shmbs are planted about twonty-h've feet apait, thus admitting sixty-five or seventy tices per acre ; that the* smallest avciage in mifoitunate seasons is five hundred oranges per fuuting tiee, and the highest average one thousand. "Taking the lesser crop as an example the whole harvest will seldom fall below thiity-two tlionsand five In.ndiod oi.in^s, which, at the modest price of fivo shillings a hundred, shows a, cross return of eighty-one pounds five shilling .in acre." He goes on to say that in New Soath Wales there are certain orange plantations,, the annual gross return from vv hich is given as tive hundred pounds per acre, and that the capabilities of Auckland aie not usually reckoned inferior to those of New South Wales, and that the genial warmth of the climate, the faiily copious and well distributed rainfall and vulcmio natmc of the soil cleat ly indicate this pi ovince as one likely to favour the giowth of the lime, the orange and the lemon. The article is well worth reading as indicating how a mau may mako ample provision for his old age and for his wife and little ones at very little cost, for the orange tiee lives for centuries. Never mind about the " unborn millions "you Waikato fanner*, but leave them to Sa Geoige Giey's care and devote, say, ton acre-, of your farms to oianire culture and yon will piovide a sure income for join selves and families. The great question jiiat now is. What is to be done about the d^iiyus for the Free Public Libruy and Ait Calleiy? A large number of design a Mere sent in to the City Council, l>'»t of tuose veiy few were suitable and thos<>, as i.ir as competent judgca can estimate, arc ior buildings which will cost about twice as much as the sum set apait for the purpose by the council. Even though the cost is somewhat gi eater than was anticipated it is to be hoped that a ically handsome and suit-able building will be erected. It leally makes no appiecia-ble difference to the people of Auckland ■vvhethei they pay £000 a year moie or less by way of mteiest on the cost of the building. I ventuie to say thiit that sum could be saved annually bv dispensing with the sunll army ot la/y loafcis who are emplovd (on wages) pie&umably cleaning the* stiC' t~,, and having tne woik thoroughly well done by contract. " The Government stioKe "' was hard woik in comparison with the way in which the council's day-labourcia loaf away their time. I watched two of them for jive minutes one day. One of them was busily unpaged in smoking a pipe and talking to a tuend, while the other was working— dealing weeds t>it the load witli a pick-n\e. Jhuing the tive minutes tli.it I was watching him he gave no less than ten blows with his pick (two per niuiute, just fancy tl.e exertion !), and so succeeded m dealing away two tufts of gi ass a>> lai^e as my baud Yes ! even if the money ha-> to bo ed by having the streets cleaned by roiitract instead of by day labour, I hope the City (Jouncil will eiuct a ically haiulso no and commodious building foi thi Fiec l'ubhc Libiary and Ait (i ilieiy.

liome little time n^o there died a gentleman who hid for many ><m.is worked seiy Iwml hi his piofc-^bion. which was that uf a doctor, bolh in pi lvate practice aid in \aiions oflicuil capacities. Like many otheis in hi-a piofesBion, though very skilful and uiobt assiduous in hit, attentions to In pitients, he was not at all a good business man, the consequence bcini; tli.it he left Ins widow and family but ill-prov ided for. The house in which lie had lived was odeiod ior salt 1 , tho goodwill of the late doctor's practice to go with it. A medical man who had been piactismg in another part of the provincial distuct entered into negotiations for the puielia^e ot the house, but consideied the puce asked for it too larje. lY'ihapa it was, as willow ladies w ho have not liad to attend to business niattuis aie not usually good judges of tin 1 value of piopeity. At any late, the medical man in question thought the pi ice too hiyh, «o he declined to piuchase, and ti.eu went away and bought tlie ne\t liou&t, and announced that lie had commenced piactice theie. Of com so, thi> is a fiee couutiy, and a man has a peifi-ct legal light to be^'in businebis or statt piactice tiheie he pleases, but it seems to me the depth of meanness for this man to depi relate the value of the piopeity of the widow and the fatherless, a, he has done by beginning piactice in the next house to theus. I hope he will meet with the success he dcoeives, and I thinU that is not much.

There lias been a yi'oafc outcry :o'Oiit the proposal of the Domain Boaid to teoointiioiKl the (Jo\emor to smut a lease ot that portion ot the Domain known as the cricket g round to the cticket association, and I think that time is imioli leason in the outcry. The Domain belongs to the public, and, theu-foie, no portion ot it should be alieudted. The le.ibon ad■\dncctl by those who are in f.nour of the lease being gi\ en is that the cticUeteis have expended a l.m;u sum of money in forming and impiovintj tne piece of land in que&tion, anil tli.it they should have a lease so that they nw) be able to enforce the chnigo nnde tor admission w hen an intercolonial or int"rpro\im:ial match is being played. My own opinion is that tlieie is very little need for power to eiifoiuj the payment of the chaige, as mot>t people ha\e paid ami ■would continue to pay without coercion, and the few who will not pay would simply not go if the payment v ere made compulsory. When the Athletic Club was in existence and held its bporth on the Ciioket (Ground, I was on seveial occasions one of the voluntaiy gatekcepeib and I do not think that I ieoeived one absolute refusal to pay the shilling chaiged foi admission. A few people objected to paying, on principle, but gave their shillings as contributions to the funds of the club. I believe that the cases of refusal to pay were very few indeed, and coitaiiily not neatly suffito warrant the alienation of a portion ot a public reserve. However, I believe that good will come out of the attempted evil, as it seems piobable that the Domain will be handed over to the City Council in trust for the public. Anyone who has observed the improvement made in the Albeit Pat k since it was handed over to the Corporation will certainly advocate the adoption of a similar course with regard to the Domain.

Ifc seems that theie is a probability of litigation \\ ith regard to the famous "Triumph." It is stated that the underwrites question the validity of the sale to Mr Fiaser. Consul the plucky way in which he carried hi* attempts to save the vessel to a successful issue, it is to be hoped that Mr Fraser will not be compelled to become a party to a costly law-suit. Of course, the whole affair hangs on the question, Who ordered the sale of the vessel as she lay on the rocks at Tiiitin ? I believe that the captain did, and that his actiou in binding on the owners of the vessel, whose servant and representative he was. 1 hat being so, it seems to me that the vessel was legally sold, and legally bought by Mr Fraser, and that any dispute there may be will lie between the former owners of the vessel and the underwriters. If the latterbelieve that the Triumph w.is needlessly abandoned they c&a r&use to' pay the amount for which «he was irmured t and the former owners Will have to take action to enforce their #rijp- si ff> howpy^» the ship wa« SOld, p,n

i their .\genfc, Mv Fvawiv nuy find UimscU in the unfoitmiate position of having bought propeity fiom a peuon who wa3 nil ih]p to uive a valid and legal title. flo\ve\ei, I suppose we will soon know moie about the matter. -» Many yeats ago a very similar casa occurred hoie. A vessel was wrecked, abandoned to the undeiw liters, and sold on then behalf. She was bought by Mr Chailes P.iws, who Mas in business heie ■is an auctioneer and geneial mciehnnt. Ke succeeded in pelting her off the rocks on which she had stiuek, repaired her, «ive her a new name, and took her to England. Immediately after her arrival then 1 she w.is sci/.cd, though whether on behalf of her former owners or the underwuteis lam not sure. At any late a number of costly law suits resulted, and h.id not Mr Davis been supported by wealthy fnemta, he would have been mined. One matter winch told very much .igaim-t him was having alteied the n.ime ot the vessel, which is, an act of pnacy, but he was ultimately successful in ptoving his bunu Jiila and winning the law suits. I cannot finish the "Echoes" without expiessniE! my giatifieation that taidy justice lias heen done to Sir Frederick Y\ liLtaUcr. Of all our New Zealand legislators lie has woiked the hardest and longest for the pul>ho weal, and yet time after time hns the honour of knighthood been conferred on those loss worthy of it, .md lie has been overlooked. It is a pity that the Impel ial Government did not seek to repair their neglect by making Sir Ficdeiiek a knight of a higher older than that of St. Mich lei and St. George. They luxe not done so, so I offer the new knight m> eongiatulations, not so much on the title confcued on him as on the fact that he deseivcs it. St, Musco. A PKiMV donna, sang "Home, Sweet Home,' 1 to the convicts in an Eastern pnson, and it .so worked upon their icclings tluit be\ eu of them escaped .md stuick out foi the paiental loof the same night. To secuie the advantages of lound chimneys in woikshops, anil obviate the difficulty of their construction, a Kuro- [ can Him makes biicks in the shape of wedges, and, corresponding with the ladms which the chimneys is to have. Tiri', anthiopologic.il savants of the Bntiah Association base decided that the inteiesting young cieatuie who wascaptiucd in i^iam, dubbed "Krao," tianspoitcd to London by an enterprising Englishman, and t'^ere exhibited as " the miss n g link," ii in leality a well-planned woman who merely possesses a vast deal mote hair than .she is faiil> entitled t). Ar C.intoihuiy, some interesting Roman icmams have leeently been uneaithed, consisting of a tesselated pavement, similar in character to those j tound in Roman villas in other paits of 1 thecountiy. Near the old city mo it, sevua-1 skeletons weir found, together with Roman umsof a fine led w.uo, coins, lings, bracelets, and a poitiou of a deoiated bowl beanngin relief the image of a Roman soldier. Till \ ekn-itv of <i flash of lightning is afc the t ate ot *JBS,OOO miles a second, and its duiation is estimated not to exceed the sixteenth pait of a second. Therefore wlu"i a man pioposea to do anything as "quick. is lightning," lie cannot ailbul to be all da> abnit it. Ar Nantes, Fiance, on October 15, a (iie dtstiojed the Magazine de Louitie, in the cen ti o oi the town, wlieie munitions foi the Government, are manuiactuieil and stoiud. The loss on the building is 500,000 fiancs and on the contents a far gi eater sum. NoTwmiM'ANDiNfi that thiity years have pasvd shut the Ciimean campaign, bombs and ammunition aic still being found in gi eat numbeis in yebastopol and the SHiiounding">, v\ liich aic supposed to have been u-ecl by the Anglo Fiench aimy at the bombardment of the town. A gicat quantity have been collected, and aio bought by the Government. The money paid foi them will be devoted tor the ei'ection of a monument to the m.'innt's killed at the defence ot Sebastopol. A DorTon'h Uraii. — Tho following stot v , told by the London Life, serves to lllu&tiate tlu j love of the Fiench people for the m\stei ions: — Aslioittime ago a Piiusiiin doctoi sot up an establishment in the Faubomg Montmartie, He assumed a high sounding name, furnished his house in a w eird and fantastic fashion, engaged solemn looking and taciturn servants, and announced that he could only sec patients sifter the horns of midnight or in the grey dawn of the monv.ng. The effect Mas electrical. Every weakminded pel son, with mal.udes real or imajiinaary, flocked to the new medico, who soon bag in to reap a golden haivest. At list the suspicions of the police were aioused. The Commissaiy paid him a pfisonal visit, and asked to see his diplomas To his sm pusc he found out that not onlj had the suspected individual taken good degiees, but that he had gi aduatcd with the highest honors at the P.uis Um\eisity. Just as he was t.xkini; his departure, however, the doctor entreated him not to let anyone know of his high qualifications. The Commissary, with some surpiise, asked him the reason why he deshed to conceal so much intellectual light under a bushel. " Why," icplu'd theothei, "if my patients only knew that 1 was a meie doctor, my piactice would vanish like the snow." Pvciciw Butlr iv Brink. — A method of packing butter for its moie pel feet pieservation, and one wliich is very effective, has long been in use in England It is to pack the butter in cylindrical bags of muslin, wliich are put in a mould for the pin pose. These bags hold about 2lb, and when filled and tied tightly and packed away in biine in tubs, pails, or casks, and are headed up just as p.ckled poik is. The butter will absord no moie salt ; is perfectly fiee from atmospheric exposure ; is enveloped in an antiseptic fluid ; and is, therefore, entirely safe from change, excepting so far as this may occur internally from within by the natural process called upeuing, and which is due to the change of the milk sugar (lactose) in butter into milk (lactic) acid this into butyric acid by a well understood chemical transformation of the elements. But this change goes on so slowly that the butter merely acquires a high and agreeable flavor, and no strong scent or taste is developed which would approach rancidity. This manner of packing butter has long been in use in some rlistticts of England, and the supplies furnished to the large universities of Oxford and Cambridge have been put up in a similar way for many years. The butter is made in long rolls about two inches in diameter, and these are wrapped in muslin and the edge secured by some stitches, the ends being tied. This form of rool is wellknown as " college butter," and it is i found very convenient for use by cutting oft thin slices, each of which is a single ration for a student. It might be found very useful here for the use of hotels and caterers, who would be relieved of the trouble of moulding their own cakes, which to some extent injuries the quality of the butter. Eats and Mice.— lf you wish to de stroy them fjet a parkpt of Hiu.'s Magic Vkijmw Kii-t-HU in packets, 6d, 9d, and Is, to be obtained oi all storekeepers, or from T. B. Hill by enclosing dn cxtia stamp. Oxe Shilling. — Francis J. Shortts' Popular Art Union. — Ten first-class Oil Paintings by celebrated artists. 5000 tickets at Is. Ibe prizes are m.ignificent and costly. Country subscribers sending stamps or otherwise will have tickets by return post. Enclose stamped envelope for reply. — Fkancis J. Shoiut, 140, Quron- street, Auckland. — [Ahvt.] Like in the Basir— Then^ and Now. — It is generally supposed that in the bush we have to put up with many discomforts and privations in the shape of food. Formerly it was so, but now, thanks to T. B. Hill, who has himself dwelt in the bush, if food docs consist chiefly of tinned meats his Colonial Sauce gives to them a most delectable flavour, making them as well of the pUine.it food most enjoyable, and instead as hard biscuits and indigestible damper his Improvbd CquwiAL Baking Powdbr makes v the very best bread, icone*, cakei/and pastry far iv peri or' and more wholesome 1 than yejutjqr