THE MAN ABOUT TOWN. No. IV.

Auckland Star, Volume II, Issue 466, 8 July 1871, Page 2

THE MAN ABOUT TOWN. No. IV.

Q&k extraordinary communications which appeared in this joi^-p^iyesterclaySaiftl the, d,ay:i»efpre,ob the .project of ghosts/gives ■ -lfiTieti-food for- peculation; and revives - ib.p sul/j^ci; of $pectral:&pparil:ion3-inii,n ; .i'ls'..liorror. * ■'W|ien";lv,aßkcd DjLck ftis* opinion or fh« >4iatfcer"iafter reading tbeiftttors" toliim.iie made two puffs at his meerschaum (the young rascaLbas taken', to smoking, quite lately, and is at present engaged for about twelve hours-in-the" day in what he calls " colouring"), and ejaculated the one word "rot." I of course tirought he alluded tor tho bone of"Macbeth, which is no dtfubt by this time partly rotted, buYDick" di<f jip.t.mean. tins,. X, pointed to my head, as a sort of inquiry, whether he thought the ghost-seer had departed from his wits. Dick again shook his head, and at the same time made a significant motion towards his mouth, with a; pint pot. I. don't know what hie meantj but I shouldn't wonder if he's right.; The' discussion on " kilts, or no kilts," at the meetings of • tho would-be Scottish, volunteers; was last night Very interesting. One or two of the company .appeared -to think it would' be highly indecorous to hi walkirig nbonb.the streets of Auckland in these appendages and1 bare lege; but-Mlv Bacallj said he had puly joined the company (because pf ithe delight afforded through wearing the kilt; and the chairman, [Mr. ; Mo^eftegoar '^ho v had jus.fc. beenjelected ensign,~saidlie would throw down bis commission iirstanter. if he,were" denied 6h'e privilege. It vraV uiianimou^ly resolved jthat.the wear the kilt nolens' vdlehi.'" Dick ' tells 'me the election of pffifers was^ farce, that.it wiJL have to take place agaiif, when the following will be, the result:—Captain, Mr. Make?eady; First LiCtfianaht, Mr- George Stains; Knsign, Mr. S. Corkrain. The non-commissioned officers will, of course, be the. gift of the epptain, and we hear some very distinguished names in connection therewith,,, ... ............ , ...., " Don't shop taiter six - o'clock"/ This meets us at every turn, and I am glad of it. Thei mjovenlenf;,|(Jfj coum^ emanates from ijhe employees," an 3, I hope, it will be successful, but experience has proved; that it is a very difficult matter to get employers to close their places of business; at, a certain time. There will- always bY greedy rascals in .the crowd who fhope, by keeping'open ftnjhoar -or two later than their neighbours, to make an extra shilling or two. I■ •" '"•■'■' ■'■ ■'-•■•' -f- • - ••' - Dicl's joined the Volunteers, and is in his glory. Under pressiuj solicitation from him, I went to the weekly parade on Thursday, and upon my word I was very glad when I got clear again, for they were poking and jobbing their bayonets about in a most extraordinary and dangerpus fashion. How many of them escaped a mortal death, puzzled me. By the way, how many different corps haw thoy^ in Auckland ? From Hie variety 'of'uniforms displayed,, I should, think, about fifty., One man' - had/ a hai ';> of-' one 'kindi; one of another; the coats, too, .were, of al^ cuts and colours—some' had' bolts and some had not. As for trousers, it would be impossible for me to say how many different varieties there were knocking -about, but, at a moderate computation, I should think about Reventy. Dick looked quito a soldier in hia- bran■ new clothes, and if ho would get rid of that dangerous practice of what ho calls " snapping caps" at the candle in the evening, when his poor father is quietly I reading by the fire, I could forgive him. I Ono; of the smartest things in the way of a "soil" I ever heard of is. being ,parpetrated at the Oxhyienial. .Dicft, it seems,< was one of r the Yictinfs, and told me all about it. Says Dick, " I w«nt in there last night, father, just to sco what time it was^-Cof course^, and Gherkins imm,ediatx)ly.. dropped on me and asked mo to bo in a, raffle for a diamond pin. I asked bjiui'hpw many members? Ho said a3 many ,a8 he^co»ldj>-get: , "V^ell,- a^'bob wasn't!mup.li, sojl put it dowii andpaskefl him to throw foj m^ if $. wasn't tie said ho vvoilld, Itid^askod iri'o lfTa have a"drink P Having a bad cold on me I replied that I would, and we liquored up with the shilling I had given him. And tjien I learnt what^jthef 5801^)^3.. He showed me the diamond pin. It was aj dime —an American coin worth twopence halfpenny—and a pin was fastened to tit .; M^jthk ;a Apiece of •■cojfctbni ■ A dime ««^id| ■jjjg^i .jl at :phbe',s,a t w; tho sell, 'and T believe some hundreds !or so have been taken-in in the same way. And now, father, what am I to do P" " Serves you right, Dick," said L r " JS ever., go into, jafflesj it's f a species of gambling •£ neref indulge ihf But as; for the ' swindle,' as you call it, why it's only a shilling, and the first time you can • sell' Gherkins, don't fail to^ do it." Dickj says "Wwill, go '•'!} adriso' some people to look out for Dick's pretty smart.-' I yesterday went to tho Insurance Exchapge. Fine place. SkW*lb^s'bf folks 1 .smokiqg; but no spitting is allowed, and any unfortunate wight expectorating on the flqor is at once pounced upon, and ordered to leave. Why not have a f&W" spittoons knocking about ; they don't cost much; or else prohibit smoking —perhaps/- they, -had better try vjthe,latter. if t&sy Ijish ta.makfr tse E*chafage\ T unpopullr^ LfWpndlrr hofc4t^is, |by-|he-'bye,"that tto wiildow-bliMs*"of fliis Ihe ' building are not all of a piece; it would present a greatly improved appearince from the front if they were.

Tho j Morning News is a curious sort of arrangement. Their.".news" is generally two or;three days old befpre|ptl bomlif tfc>| their subscribers. Spekkirfg of Ihe sitting1' of th.o Presbytery oa Wednesday, Thursday's^ issue of that journal said the busitfesS'was of a private nature. The next morning, lioj?e,VeV,,it? awoke ttf a sensfof its res]ion»ibilitieVi Vild ga&o 1 to^&lt!%|Wtnof thej meeting?-takon gratuitously from the mdrning papers—(and tins is a great object with. Mr. Mismai], while salaries to his employees are said to bo so very lieavy) .f Apparently forgetful of iLs'paragraph tho previous day, it stated that the meeting held yesterday was of great interest, and so palmed otf upon its unfortunate reader!? news |wo days old. IS till this is very good, considering who is at the helm, and if he only keeps it up, we may hope in 'time"?t!o get nex,t week's nej^s-f^rom ; .a perusal of this great luminary. i)ioic was very ill this morning, and couldn't eat any breakfast. When I asked him the reason, !<3i3iAßfiA3 3HT Iff

Ufe tol^' meffi^a&ifartf&e " rag" of a pMews and iijtxm Quite tqp'|^b him. tf£ Ttotf's^ quite refreshing letter of GM<?r#e Stained'in-ihe^ifoi? this morning, in^referenc&i^h^ey^^.frr's long-promised .banquet. Staiaes 15-evidently longing to ooinmmenee on tlie good things of this lifey^ijulA ; |eei U g, r . t hat Mr. Philips geems'to be'k>mswhat. .shaky about his salary., I ftiinfcbe is, wise to look, before he leaps. "Resides, i( ;he \waifsTixatif'aU the great'people" hate gone away,";the*di|3ne.r > can be got up on a tnuch'more .ecorWniJLcal'" scale!- JSTo-doubt Staines spoke feelingly' wlien he referred td Philips' " uncle," and a tear must have glittered in his manly eye as he indited the words, for he must necessarily have of his own poor 'uriole, upon whoso neck he fell and wept ■ before quitting- -his- native shores. ■ -Dick is quite amused with the letter, and says he shall go and see if Stainos has got any old skates to sell, as he would Jike to know the old chap. It strikes me Dick's hankering after an invitation to this gre# dinner.1' *■ 7\ i /■ *\'\JJ 1f 1

A. I'ath'ei" amusing "case ■of""Juitice"s' justice came before the Court on Thursday. A man was charged with putting hjsr haadninto-a; publican's till with " feloniouV inteixtj" and although a witness distinctly* sworo that she saw the thief's hand there, pnd heard the money rattle,.the .Justice on the Bench discharged the prisoner—possibly because the money in the till consisted of coppers only;•■and'this, notwithstanding the fact that there w.ere .several previous convictions: against him.

JSaTHANIKL BKESWINa.