NOTES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1463, 22 January 1887, Page 3

NOTES.

♦ Tudging from the stir made at the last meeting of the Charitable Aid Board, we have succeeded m doing some good by calling public attention to the disgraceful condition of the. Old Men's Home. When it is admitted by one of the members that things are so bad that it is not safe to perambulate the corridors of the draughty, verminhaunted old rattletrap without the shelter of an umbrella to prevent the dropping from the roof upon one's garments of a shower of malodorous and bloodthirsty parasites, a true bill is clearly returned as to the indictment we have preferred, and that being so, a verdict of " Guilty of dereliction of duty " will inevitably be found by the public unless the Board promptly remedies so intolerable a state of things. There is, we believe, to be a visit of inspection, and we hear that the Master has been called upon for a report. He will, of course, comply, but, unless we are greatly m error, the grievance has already been reported to the Board over and over again without any notice being taken. But the matter has now been noised abroad through the press, and has been commented upon from Auckland to the Bluff, and this time, we fancy, it has got such a ventilating that the authorities will be spurred on to action for very shame of the scandal. Even poetry has been pressed into service, or, at least, rhyme— for the two things are by no means synonymous, Messieurs the Rhymesters, please take note — the Christchurch Star containing an effusion by some poetaster, whose indignation has been kindled by the over-populous condition of the institutution referred to. As may be expected, though, considering the extremely unpoetical nature of the subject, the " pome" is not of a very high order, the only man that we know of who ever succeeded m writing genuine poetry on such a theme being .Scotland's Bard, who sang equally tunefully whether his subject were a mouse m a furrow or a — (well, not a mouse) — on a lady's bonnet. Still the Christchurch poetling may be thanked for his well-intentioned, if not classic, effort m aid of the (human) inmates oi the Old Men's Home. When h€ tries again he might give us a parody on a well-known composition, com mencing somewhat like this — Pity the sorrows of a poor old soul, Condemned without on chilly nights to roam, Or toss tormented m the filthy hole, Which countless creeping thinga have mid* a Home. Give, if you ike, the sympathetic) tear — Though tears m oceans would not Wftih us clean— Give-*.po, we orave nor pipe nor pot of ; ftaec— • ," •, :■ Atyox of matches and some kerosene. that's really about the practical wa; 'f* put it, and that worthy Borougl

Councillor who suggested the other day that the place be dismantled, and then given to the flames as a piece of practice for the Fire Brigade, hit the mark very accurately.

Modesty and purity are of the chief charms of young maidenhood, and it is really startling to read of late of so many instances wherein these qualities appear to be conspicuous by their absence. In that terrible Mount Rennie case for which three youths suffered the other day so deservedly (and alas ! one begins to fear one undeservedly) there were circumstances about the girl's conduct which are, to say the least, the reverse of satisfactory. Then, again, m those Dr Russell cases at Christchurch, one of the most startling features is the cool matter-of-course way m which more than one young woman (if we are to believe the evidence) appear to have entered into the most repulsive negotiations, and to have taken part m the most shocking deeds. Yet, again, m the Great Barrier case, not alone does the evidence disclose an only too common immorality, but we have tbe strange spectacle of a young woman who appears to have experienced no alarm and to have felt no repugnance at being the companion of men who, at least as regards one of them, admitted having taken the life of another, and who came into her presence with his clothes and hands imbrued m blood. Nor is this sort of thing merely a colonial matter. Read the records of the cases which day after day occupy the English Divorce Court, and what a picture is unfolded of the most appalling depravity even among the noblest born and the most highly educated 2 One swallow does not make a summer, and one, two, nay, three hundred such cases would not prove that the better half of humanity had fallen m the least from the high level upon which Englishwomen have hitherto been placed, but enough of evil appears on the surface to lead to the belief that there are causes of mischief at work, which, unless discovered and rooted out, may work the most appalling results.

One of these pauses, is doubtless, to be found m that craving for excitement which is one of the characteristics of the day, and a symptom of which appears m the state of the gallery at the Auckland Criminal Court during the Great Barrier murder trial. This we are told is crowded daily with women and children. We beg pardon, "ladies" is the term used; but no woman who is a lady, and no lady who is a true woman — that is what a woman ought to be — would willingly sit day after day listening to such a tale as must be told from the witness box, much less would she suffer it to be told m the innocent ears, of her children: •* Woman's curiosity " — does the reader say? Pshaw ! it may be admitted that women are prone to curiosity — and so too are men for that matter — but a pure-hearted, wholesome-minded woman has no curiosity m matters such as these, but shrinks from their very mention, and it is as sad, as it is surprising, to read that there are " ladies " m Auckland who are greedy to hear them. Ladies indeed ! If these be ladies then the sooner the term is renounced by all who lay claim to honest-hearted, bright-souled womanhood the better.

Talking of the Auckland Court reminds us of that extraordinary failure of justice the other day when His Honor Judge Ward discharged a prisoner and estreated the recognizances of the prosecuting police officer and of the witnesses, If His Honor had no alternative — that is, if it was not possible for him to adjourn the Couit until next day, or to take any course of that sort, we suppose the discharge of the prisoner could not be helped j but if any such course as we have indicated were possible, then surely the learned Judge must have allowed himself for once to be petulant. Assuming, as we do, that there was no alternative, other than that taken, it nevertheless appears to us exceedingly hard upon the officer, and still more upon the witnesses that they should be mulct m substantial sums, under circumstances m which the former was the victim of a misunderstanding as to the time of trial, and the latter wholly innocent of all blame, they having been informed by the police that their attendance would not be required until the next day. Surely this is a case m which the Minister of Justice might weU remit the fine, if he has the power to do so. if he has not, then he ought to ask for it at the hands of Parliament at the first opportunity. And now, after all this moralising, mostly upon disagreeable subjects, let us turn to one that is altogether interesting and charming — at least we feel sure that it will be so regarded by the, m all respects, better half of our readers, who, if they were m the habit of indulging m toasts, would inevitably place at the head of the list " The Babies— God bless 'em ! " Talk of sweet things m parasols, loves of bonnets, and ducks of little shoes, what shall be said of anything so exquisitely charming as this which % lady writes from the neighborhood of Windsor : — " The layette for the Princess Beatrice's baby is much talked of. The bassinette is of wicker with arched top, covered with white satin, over which is the finest book muslin, edged with a frilling of the same and Scotch embroidery. The pillows and sheets are bordered with fluted muslin, edged with lace, and the blankets are thick flannel, stitched all round, and worked with the monogram R.N. (Royal Nursery), which likewise appears on the tiny ivory brushes, rg well as the crown. The basket h one of the new three-tier kind 3 the sponge bags are of white indiarubber cloth drawn on white satin ribbon, the cushions trimmed with fine embroidery and lace. The muslin bibs, covered with the same Scotch embroidery, and edged with Valenciennes lace, are tied up m dozens, with coquettish bows of white satin ribbon. The face veils are all of Honiton lace. The dresses, ■of the finest muslin, are made low with long skirts, with row upon row of work and lace insertion. The Scotch embroidery and the Valenciennes lace are the admiration of the privileged few who have seen them." There! isn't all that positively bewitching? The

Queen's " Bre" was long m getting a hive of her own, but now that she has got one, she evidently knows how to furnish it right royally. Big Bee's little bee Wrapped m lace and satin work ; Blest be the tiny B, The babee of Battenberg.