BUSH HOSPITALITY.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 225, 22 September 1928, Page 4 (Supplement)

BUSH HOSPITALITY.

EMBARRASSING AT TIMES.

COMPLETE KINDNESS.

(By M.M.C.)

Nowhere is the New Zealander and his

(or her)' inevitable cap of tea more inseparable than in the backblocks. Tea is the solace and mainetay of the harvester; the housewife, the country dance, and the casual visitor. In harvestingtime life (for tha womenfolk at any rate) is one long succession of meals and billies of tea, accompanied by baskets of scones and cake at one's own house one week and at various neighbours' later, for one must feed those hungry, hardworking men. To the housewife a cup of hot, freshly-made tea is a refresher as potent as any "pick-me-up" of stronger vintage. At country dances the supper is relied upon to provide one of the successes of the evening, and wonderful suppers have I seen (and tasted) at them, from an elaborate "sit-down" spread, with turkey and ham, salads of all kinds and marvellous cakes, triumphs of toothsomeness, to a Maori dance, far from civilisation, where the sandwiches and cakes were more plentiful than dainty, and the tea was brought in in two kerosene tins. After everyone had been provided with an empty cup, minus a saucer, the M.C. announced, in stentorian tones: "Here te tea. Help yourselves. This, tea wit te milk; here tea witout te '-ilk." Sometimes Embarrassing. No stray visitor, no matter at what hour, he may arrive, can be permitted to depart without the customary cup of tea. It is rather trying for a country parson, paying a round of visits, to have to struggle through half-a-dozen afternoon teas. I know one beloved pastor who, When making a periodic tour far into the backblocks, would never miss jailing at a dwelling, no> matter how bumble or of what creed its inhabitants might be. It must have been a trial if ter a day or two, as his flock wer,. not content with making him a cup of tea, aut would fry ham and eggs, or put a luge dish of cold meat on the table. Not ;o do justice to the spread was a reflection upon their hospitality, and to refuse everything was a dire insult. Another ;leric, this time a bishop, who must be ;reatod with due deference as befitted his ank, would be treated to chickenoast chicken, stuffed chicken, boiled ihicken, hot or cold chicken—as the 'piece.de resistance" at every bouse vhere he had a meal, until the poor man evolted from the sight of an egg. It leems to be the acme of hospitality imong those who live in the backblocks 0 fei J a guest until he positively feels stretched, and, really, the fare provided s usually so delicious that one only egrets that one is unable to eat it all 1 The kindest hospitality I jjave ever mown—the hospitality of a neighbourleod—was once when I had to leave my lome hurriedly. I left the key with a leighbour, asking her to dispose of any ood I had left, and to keep the key until 1 returned. When I came back one wild s.nf*' Winter ' 8 day, after long weeks )f illness, the friend who met us in town rath his car, remarked: "Oh, you'd better get a pound of cow's try, and would give me no further satisfaction, beyond saying that "we'd and some stuff in the house." Well when we arrived home I. fast sat down »nd cried for sheer gratitude. Those .S r wom _ en , h * d *"*& «** scrubbed ind polished my house until it fairly shone; they had washed and ironed jverything they could lay their hands £!■* *■.*•?■ J were aired and freß Wy nade; the larder was full to Overflow. ind the table was set; and even the fire F'JSL*?*.* 1 * kettle W""* Even SUP**? oU , tside WM f "" of topped wood! That is one of my sweetest XE 1 ? ° f ,? ÜBh "* and 2 =iated by all women who dread Sat •commg-home-to.clean.up" feeling. . The Last Bottle. La contrast to this is the story of the u^ r m Wh ° g r e 8 IHieste somedelightul home-made wine. Upon being asked to have a second glass one man! whue toping for the best, yet not wishing to ippear too eager, replied, "Thanks very pour bottle,'! whereupon the farmer [ have, so if you don't mind, IT* gave it" Of country hospitality in the way of touse parties or a bed for the stray endless tales might be told. One family I heard of would collect all the roung people in the district, pack them into a large launch, amply stocked with provisions, and cruise away to some favourite camping ground, where they would stay the week-end, the girls sleepng on the launch and the men in odd tents, hammocks or on the ground as Shelr fancy willed. Another family which would accommodate half the sountryside after a dance, had a supply >f camp stretchers, and one would find a >ed and a slumbering form in the most in expected places. But one of the funniest' episodes was race when two girls had been staying it a farmhouse, and had left early in he day for the neighbouring town, blending to catch an evening train from here. For so-ne never very clear reason hey missed it, and walked the few miles tack, intending to get into their room ery quietly through the window and ;ive the household a surprise in the norning. Noiselessly they managed it, >ut judge of their horror when a eddedtermasculine voice from the bed emandea' who was there. Tit appeared rom the- explanations later that a ravelling missioner had "come towards vening, and being very tired, had been ccommodated for the nigH in the spare An elderly lady I knew stayed one ight in a tiny waybach:'hotel, and easily wondered what the great brown mudge on the wall was. Later*she earned that a man had cut his throat a that particular room and the landlord ad never bothered to repaper the walls, wter that whj can say the country is lull? *