THE CHANGING SCENE

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 104, 25 January 1908, Page 5

THE CHANGING SCENE

A bird's eve view, (Br A OAjSuAii Chbonioleb.) 1 Headline in a contemporary • - ■» , x MOLLUCIA': NEW SPECIES." \ , ; The following important statement jb •. j ported in' a'. Jocal paper as; having :\ byone. of tho deputation of organißts who v waited .upon the City. Council :/•"Mr.- Harnett .•; had shown that ho was capable, of >.playing the organ." We need hardly say mo ore 1 glad: to liavo, this confirmat>on\.of4w^mour.!\\; tlmt Imp ;l)fep currcnt'for quite (i-coiiEider- 1 -, nblo time. > , / , r Another- member of::the deputation is reported 'toi have: "pointod■; out that: the organ* t;:■.t could bo. made a blessing, or a great curse." *■•• crtiomely well said, especially the last four words.- .'lt applies-.equally,, to , tha cornet, and perhaps also to the bagpipes, aW:*:,, x : though m'the case of the' latter it is .widely I doubted whether thero is any alternative an | the matter. ' \, j■l v p -A'i' cable message: published on .Thursday •.- .. reported- - that -Theodore Schlnmberger, a .«> German millionaire; fell.m love with.a beau- v. tiful: shepherdess.: Although offered £18,750 ■to break the engagement, tho, girl resisted ; the temptation,.and, swallowing ,her natural •«-, ,y,-i reluctance ato become .Mrs. . Schlumberger,; ■■■■/. •, married! .'.tho v-millionaire. : Mr.>' Bernard : O'Dowd; telegraphs that ho ,will add the fol- ~ ,; lowing fyerses to his "Eros" in < the nest ,-,.-: ' edition of Ins poems Eros iconoclastic, wrecks . : .•. ,V\ . : y-y ■ ' Convention's dull redoubt; / ■ -.-. >.-Amazement's ardent artifex, ~ ; . 1 ■. .v.i: v .-■■ He knocks Tiadition out. lie takes the Clay—and suift, a Gem! Erasor ho of Class; • : v;,v; • In his alembio German Phlegm : Distils to Laughing-gas. ~ -.Vv'. .; vile takes the bar frqm ; .Vulgar-Name.,■ . i, . i- Uplifting Bugs andSnaggs;v..,. L .■.... Ilk maids lights JAirtitudc's high flamo ::- To laugh »t moneybags.. >;• 1. ■ pulsing fire, capricious, whirrs Uisrvibrant dynamo, . ~ .j, Schlumberger sedentary stirs, • j.; y; '■ And.swiffc-a Borneo! i ■> ,■ v.-\ ; " ! By baleful name, and .countless marks,' A,';'. . Tempted to break her vow, 5- << v- ■ V ; . : The.girl'is. nerved by Eros'' spai'ks . . ; . To bo -Schlumbergor.Frau.p ■■■■■■. , ■■■■; In; an age prone to exaggeration, when j : hyperbole appears equally in the advertise- ! . ; ment of tho. travelling melodrama and in;the : speeches of the Premier; one cannot -bo too■ 1 i ..grateful' for Mr. Koir: Hardie. "Impavidum : . . ■fcrient - ruinae"^—which, . translated into modern Australian', means:that lio keeps his • end up; no matter hpw hard Cotter may . bow], or how nervo\is overybody elso may bo. At a Socialist gathering/in Melbourne,' \vo .• • |eam,'ho raid that "there is no: such thing as, disloyn[ty or sedition in India to-day. i Tho alleged sedition? arc tho' distortions of ■ •interested ipersons, who twist local griov-' aiices into questions of national importance.", If we could but miike Mr. v Hardie tho General Manager'of the 'World, how much ' j pleasanter'it would bo. Thero would bo no such things as. a "terrible fatality." Tho ~ papers would merely say that a shark had an unexpected meal, or, that a man suffered ' a little.diiieomfort froni a brick.wall falling upon him. Tho Russo-Japaneso war would , havo merely: been ''a local disturbance." The slaughtormen's striko would liavo been alluded to.'(is "the butchers' holiday." Tho . Zulu risin.; would have been merely "an open-air meeting,", Even tho weather would coase to mjike peopleeomplajin, for'how could i anybody protest, even while he perspired and asked for "j little more ice, this time," against th' 3 charming absence of floods that, interested'parties distorted into a prolonged drought. I Life is much what we say it is. Will tho public,, therefore, not cultivate tho .' eye of faith, ?nd emulate tho'delicious tempevapce. of Mr. Hardie,?

Tbo Flaitnullers' Union, according to Mr. W. H. Wustirook, Secretary 'of the ,Trades and Labovr Council, is a body with 800 members. Mr.'..Westbrook says they should contribute spine good men' cause-, of Unionism. "In ono shed which I visited," He said,' "L saw four men in bunks reading the classics, and another was reading a 'Greek Testament 1'" ; Mr. Westbrook's interesting statement has by no means caused universal satisfaction in tho ranks of' Labour.■ Indeed, some of tho workers are displeased. Ono of them, obviously an admirer of Mr. At Collins,, puts his: indignatioi} into verso:

' Which I ups and arsk yer, Westbrook:- In wot stupor .ire yer sunk, • That-yer like tor see the wucker readin' Latin in his bunk? W'en the battle's.comin' nearer with • . tremenjous rapid strides, Dn yer think it's right" that wuekcrs should ' . be readin'Thucydides? • Docs tho noblest, Labour 'ero, ■ Waste 'is time on oW Cicero? Did our Handrew grow ter greatness by perusin'. Euripides? ■Which I wonder at.'yer, Westbrook, that yer should \ive fell 60. low As ter think good can come from pagan blokes of long ago. W'ere would now bo all our triumps, w'ero would be pur 'ard-won gains If our leaders 'ad.<persuaded us ter cultivate our' brains?.'. Not them things our leaders taught us: Not the low remarks of Plautus, Nor the 'istory wrote by .'Orace, or by old , ■ ■ ' Aristophanes.' Wot 'as 'istry taught us, Westbrook? 'Oo's tho finest blokes we've got? Not the blokes as fogs their notions with your Greek and Latin rot. 'Ow can Labour 'ope ter roll the 'ead of Mammon in tho dust If tho wucker, fat and flabby, wastes his \ leisure oil Sallust?, If he'd bothered with Seneca ■ Would that 'earty movin' speaker Jack M'Cullough 'ave struck terror ter the ' tremblin' hupper crust? No, no, Westbrook! Leave them classics ter tho idle learned clurkf They can teach a wucker nothing of the sacred right ter work.' Will tho classics 'elp (is any w'en we're thunderin' on the gates? Are they any real assistanco ter the man as , agitates? Eeely, Bill, you make mo wonder At your'weakness. Think and ponder: .Wot does Handrew owe, for instnueo, ter'tho/ influence of' Socrates? There should now bo an ond of the foolish belief that Britons alone excel in tho virtue j of iudomitablo perseverance to the end in the face of a long series of failures. A cablo message reports that a German Jew, after marrying 100 women, at last succeeded in ..ofHe-has been as>

rested. -' The amount mentioned in the charge is £2000, which',' all things considered, seems to be a poor, return for years of endeavour. A Newcastle cablo message,' referring ■ to tko. "creep," says that-"the usual services were l held in the; Cathedral,", but;a portion was roped off. as unsafe." "Roped off" is a novel phrase in this connection. Itwovld ~bo.: interesting-,to. know iSrliich part of the. Borneo was thus, excluded. Probably the 111-'.: cidont •'betokens an.' -anti'-Ritualistic-■; movement. in; Now' South Wales. ,'A a. .report j that,;wharfrhands rfr.equeiitlv.. pocket-cans of fish'-from 'broken cargo, breaks into manv pertinent interrogations -on the ; jssue: „ .■ ''What is, hpnogty the in our cotitomporary's miud : is., one respect- J ing- Sir Robert- St'out> "Supposing, a Chief • Justice,'' • it- says,', "met a tin of .salmon out. talking, , .fiyo.. .miles -from : anybody, .or., any-,' 1 whore, and; supposing-he, was .not only liun-jjryyi.but.;was-;.-particularly... fop'd of. salmon,' . w6uld ; he:\bq content to .. .advertise . for. -air' owner ?" • ' Our Expert states '.Sir,, Robert.,, . in such ajoasb, -would leavci his dog to. intimi- | date : th'o' wanderer, /.and' go. in search>-of, a.' v pdicbihanv'andf.a; bottle-of carbolic- acid.-' ■ The,, satisfaction i'with which, we.; learned.' of MriiKeir.-Hartiie's approval of Zealand has'; been a; little .dashed by. .Mr. ■ Bawe3, a-commercial magnate from England who is-"now in' tho. South. "Hcre,"'ho said, "you have the most lovely country , I ha\c ewer' se'cu-—and, nnnd; ; I ..hare.-only .seen 'a. little so. caution. is, not pleasant..