A TRIBUTE TO HONESTY.

Auckland Star, Volume I, Issue 91, 25 April 1870, Page 2

A TRIBUTE TO HONESTY.

It is with much satisfaction that 4e » j ' the following in Saturday's issued of contemporary, the Southern Crosse __. 011r "' A Visitor to Auckland,-""*!, furnishes us with his __am e , address, writes :•—" I have no dcrato ' you will cheerfully insert the follow^ which, I respectfully submit, deserves t II be known. Last night, a little higher Z Queen-street than the Greyhound H o rf 1 1 bought a copy of the Evening Star off 1 little fellow whom I was sorry to s I shoeless ; and I paid him, as I thought 86 - penny, and passed on. Abcut five mLtel after, the same poor boy overtook me m said, • If you please, sir, you gave meW shillings instead of a penny ; here it"|»? t». He was quite a little boy, looked yew wretched, and one to whom 'fiyeshijiinmF. would be a great temptation. He '2* have seen I was a stranger, and not lfteito know him even if I saw him' inj/ jNow, it is a pity such a good boy. .Maw < get better employment, and it is in hopes ll some gentleman, who may want an errand 3, boy, or lad to clean knives^ Ac, n_ ay know where to get one- that is honest ' that I have written this. The boy yi me, when I asked him, that his,n a mve_W, James ; but, whatever his name, I sure he deserves to do well, and he "_ss> credit to Auckland run-boys. Itistfrrbe hopedthere are many like him." ' The incident related aboTe is hot aH!|i? usual one, and it is a pity tbat manytyjs have met with similar occurrences iu_,iic_land, have not been influenced 'by':iii«ff feelings that prompted the "Visitor'.^ Auckland" to record it. The boy jpobn of is Robert James, about twelve years old, and the only son among a family, o{ j four, tho children of a widow. "His firiti attempt at supporting the family ''3m I ' made in going out to break wood '-at' i» 1 shilling a week. Subsequently he go." | employment with Messrs. Henderson apd ; Spraggins, boat-builders, from whomliej I now receives seven shillings aweek,wjse I* he is learning the trade. Ii c goes to workat.i : eight o'clock in the morning, and leaves ' off about six in the evening. Seldom talc- l ing time to go home to his tea.herecsiiefl. I his papers at our office at an hour ..hen j the Btau has been published for nearly three hours, and the majority of the 1 other runners have exhausted t__»ir., i powers to sell. Taking his " run," New-' ton, and returning to Queen-street, cat. tinues trying to dispose of his papers generally till ten o'clock at night, thereby earning in percentage from eight to ten Shillings a week additional. Sometime^; he receives a few pennies, such' iijgfr are occasionally given to the runnergj by tho kindly-disposed, and- it is we_J|! known that he never spends a fraction ofthese, hut brings them, as well as all; hist earnings, home to his mother. "A Visitor,; to Auckland" describes the lad as "shoejf-! . less, and looking very wretched :" it wa%f; certainly a miserably wet evening, but jfj is from strongly-asserted choice, and to' ' save his clothes, that he has occasionally SO appeared, being usually comfortablym clothed and booted, showing the care ofi f mother who is evidently proud of himj • and as for " wretchedness," a lad capable of such true heroism is not the kind;'^ il feel "wretched." " A Visitor" shouldßee" jj him, as we have met him, proceeding-l#a i his " run" after a hard day's work ; and | with keen appreciation of the " Native Question" calling out, . .: - -■ /; ..y, ( ,]( U Roll up ! 801 l up! Arrival of the Start! i 1 I Te Kooti caught by tbe tail of the shirt; The shirt was rotten, and Te Kooti gotaway, | That's the latest!news from Poverty Bay^f 1 Or singing lustily, ." ~ ,'t Now then boys we '11 all go in fm Tommy Dodd, Tommy Dodd, _ '.i .IU |j' The Evening Stab is sure to win, Hurrah for Tommy Dodd. d | The boy is a high spirited and sensitive. | lad with individuality strongly __ftrk-d. 4 but without a trace of "wretchedness in his composition; and a " Visitor" will. ! find that he has a soul above "cleaning I . knives." % ~ |._» , jAs we have, observed, the incidentm, | , not am unusual one. Ou reading to out M i boys the paragraph from.the Cross,WM > Were told of one of them who liad returned I; a half sovereign, another .4 balf crown on If two several occasions, and another had' | : picked np a pound note and returned it—... ! all within the past few weeks ar |! almost every day oocurr._-08 is^-or aboyr f on paying in his money,-.o account for« i paper extra given by mistfl|_l;in cpdntißft., Whether it is that havingr so'eariyiM' do battle, with the world invi&oratefctlS j mind and gives a manliness that scorns dishonesty, or from whatever cause arising we, believe there is not olio;. amongUjlg wild rowdy throng but would havedon^ as James did; and we understand » the' same has been the experience p.t Of Ji , contemporary the Evening; jNews. Mli i The boy James'i. not only honest, but in j self-sacrifice and energy he is a little WM | iWe should be _orry to part with binvbuj"?: ■> the attention drawn to him by a ' .K.W 1 to Auckland," should be the' means ot | placing him in a position where; ho coui| a g, , improve himself and rise, i t'*%&mJsM. 1 r unfeigned gratification ; being «»™*J*'. t tbat if opportunity were given he is oi . | 7 that would " leave footprints on the WW m of time."- ' '1; '" ' L.'; ( '!.\f.