ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 3, Issue 289, 25 April 1879, Page 2

ONE THING AND ANOTHER.

(Collated from our Exchanges.)

The following little incident, which occurred during the week, proves that some of the Natives are possessed of sensitive, feelings which would do "honor to, and . might well be copied by, their wßite ; neighbors. A day or two since a Native from the Forty-mile Bush who. wanted badly to get into Napier, went to Mr Snelson with the modest request that he would lend him 10s. Being a perfect stranger to Mr Snelson, the Maori was astonished to receive in reply an intimation that it was all right, and he coold receive the money. Evidently not being prepared for such a result, he eagerly enquired—" What, you lend me money?" ''Yes, I lend you the money," was the calm answer. " But you do not know.me," urged the Maori. "Oh, that.doesn't matter; I'll trust you," said Mr Snelson. A silence, then a stare, followed by a long-drawn sigh, and " Kapai." After the Native had recovered his surprise at the confidence placed in him, he commenced—"No, me not take the money for little while," and without more ceremony he took his departure. About two hours afterwards he again appeared on the scene, this time with a wheelbarrow, upon which were placed two' bags of potatoes, which the poor fellow had wheeled all the way from.Awapuni, to leave as a hostage for his honesty. The following is the true copy of a Written order received by a Christchurch tradesman froru a seafaring- customer- — -■ " Send me a good, strong silver watch, copper fastened throughout, and warranted to stand fire, water; shipwreck, sudden death, the Queen's enemies, and the wrath of God. I don't care a curse for the price, so long as it answers the description." " Atticus " in the Leader writes:—" I have to record an act of generosity on the part of a patron of the turf, a parallel to which it would be rather difficult to find. A steeplechaser of his had this season won two faces at Geeldng, the same number at Hobart Town, and one race at,Launceston. 'As the success of*' ■ the horse Was mainly due to the good form in which he was brought out, the owner felt that it was incumbent upon him to recognise in a substantial manner the skilful service of the . trainer. He opened his heart and his purse-strings, and remembering the goodly amount of money he had obtained in stakes, in a fit of reckless generosity presented his trainer with—an umbrella."

The Rev. W. Vanderkiste, of Sydney,' thus describes a visit which in 1857 he paid to Dubbo, then the Ultima Thule of settlement in New South Wales. -There is an unconscious touch of Bret Harte in th<i description of the stockmen—as a mark of respect « going to the door to spit ":— One evening, as the sun was about to set, I approached Dubbo, then the. furthest township in the western interior. There was little time to be lost. Dubbo must be preached in that night, visited next morning, and then away for Dundullamel and Murrumbidgerie on the return route. No Protestant minister had ever preached in Dubbo. The first house proved to be a public-house, and three drunken men lay dozing in the verandah. To ride up and speak to them was the work of a moment; then I was off to the Court-house. "I am glad you have come," said the courteous Clerk of the Court. Now for a scamper from house to house in Dubbo, to invite attendance.." When I. went up to the .Courthouse everything was ready, as the obliging Clerk of the Court had promised. Candles lit, forms and seats arranged, and all Dubbo, or the representatives of alb Dubbo, assembled. The three drunken men and the landlord were there. They tried .to sing when! they paid' the greatest attention to the service, and everybody seemed to vie with everybody in showing me every possible respect. Indeed, this evident determination led to some little confusion, for stockmen and others to whom a religious service was evidently a ' very strange scene, instead of sprtting on the floor, as usual, went to the door to spit, and came back tiptoeing to their seats, with an air that evidently showed they had been doing so as an expression of profound respect. Says a correspondent of the New Zealander :—lf the quality of the sportsmen » who on Thursday evening and yesterday morning left by train for the purpose of shooting in the Wairarapa and Wainuiomata was in any way equalled by their quantity, the ducks and rabbits must by this time * have suffered severely. But if, on the contrary, the young man who took the stock, case, &c, of his gun with him, and left the barrel at his place of business, be a fair sample, the game will be more frightened than hurt. The greatest newspaper in the world, the London Times, is evidently on the decline. The fact has become painfully palpable sincejthe celebrated John Thadeus * Delane resigned the editorship, and the duties of the position have been assumed by Mr John Walter, the proprietor of the journal. In speakiug of the subject Lord * Beaconsfield lately said: "No one ever ought to despair; look for the unexpected, it is sure to occur. If you want an example, turn to the Tidies. Many, ♦'Daily" rivals sought to supplant it, but in vain. Then they set up weekly papers, some intellectual, some comic, and some that are both instructive and amusing ; but the supremacy of the Times remained un- *- shaken. The penny papers, too, had their hour of expectation ; but it was soon seen that what the great journal had lost in monopoly it had gained in enhanced m dignity. Lastly came the great attack of "* the Provincial papers, as well written and almost as punctually informed; but again the Times by coaxing the railway companies and accelerating the expresses, was ! enabled to hold its own. But what no one had dared to hope or fear the day at last came when a Walter took it into his head to be his own editor : and the stately fabric reared with ao much patience, maintained with such delicate care, begins to crack 4* and tumble down. A Wellington paper is responsible for the following:—"Money is so tight" is the cry that meets us everywhere, and so it is, but, as usual, what should be an,ex"tenuating palliative for the unfortunate and speculative tradesman, is taken advantage of by unscrupulous persons for the avoidance of payment of liabilities, in no way attributable to the present stringency in the money market. The following is an instance in point;—A tradesman who haa recently " filed " borrowed from his office-boy and assistant half-a-crown . and one shilling respectively. When asked to pay it he replied, " I mustn't do itj" as it be illegal on my part and unjust to my other creditors." This is a literal fact. The Taranaki Herald says : —" A ludiincident occurred at,the Waxworks a few 'evenings back, which proved an agreeable diversion to those who were present. An old lady from the" country, whose source of knowledge was encased in one of the old-fashioned shovel bonnets, and her delicate frame shrouded by a.shawl of many colors, attracted by the glare of the . lamps outside, paid at the door admission for herself, and half-price for a longhaired son of nature, whom-she took to "see the performance." Seating herself on a form, she. remained abstracted in deep thought on the floor for a and then directed; her attention to the welldressed figures and the clock.'' "At length, having primed her impatience, she gathered herself together, grasped the.;child unjoyingly by the nape of the neck, shaking it for a moment as a terrier would a rat, and, collecting as much of her garments as she could in one hand, she bore down upon the unprotected doorkeeper, and demanded her money back. The actors, she asserted, - did nothing but look at each other, and had not a word to say.