Our Wellington Letter

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 109, 8 March 1890, Page 3

Our Wellington Letter

[fbom <hjr own correspondent,! Wellington, M.«rch 5 Haill Glorious morn; we are /having lovely, weather for our cricketing, boating, Fire Brigade demonstrations, and other amusements, such weather that makes one feel that life is worth living after all, though the cattle and sheep are commencing to complain that the appreciation of so many sunny days is rather one-sided, and as a consequence we hear the unwelcome rumour that the price of milk is. to be raised yery shortly. Ah well 1 So be it, such glorious days as these are worth a few extra pence a week. • A politician's life is certainly not all honey, as "our George" has found of late. It is very nice when Parliament meets and one can indulge to the full at " Bellamys," make a few extra coppers by sitti^^ttn committees and last, but not least, poclft the honorarium of for a few months talking, eating and squabbling. That is the sunny side to those who like it, but then later on the reckoning day comes, the Hon. Member, is called upon to give an account of his stewardship, and it is then that "old scores " are paid off. Mr George Fisher had an extremely lively time of it' at his meeting a few nights ago, and as a sequel to it a Mrs Moss was called upon to find sureties to keep the peace for having asked Mr Fisher at his meeting " when he intended returning the £5 he had, borrowed two years ago," and as this same person had annoyed Mr Fisher at sundry other times before this meeting, by asking the same •question of the Member for "Wellington East, no matter whom he happened to be with, Mr Fisher considered that the *' little game" had gone quite far enough and so had the •• -damper" put on the loquacious Mrs Moss for a period of six months. Mr Fisher's trouble, however, ~was not yet over, for a counter charge had been laid against him by a person named % Carter, who has earned a notorious reputation for prompting discontent and strikes ■amongst the working classes, charging Mr Fisher with having called him a ** sycophant and lickspittle" at a labor meeting held -a few weeks back. Such •" washing of dirty linen " in public is to be severely condemned and it is satisfacto state that Mr Fisher came off triuruphantly in each case. That is an extremely sad case of young Fitzgerald's, who was sentenced at yesterday's Supreme Court sitting to nine months' imprisonment. The young fellow liad, in an unguarded moment when driven to the wall for a little money, issued a valueless cheque for .£lO, He bad borne a good character before making this false step, and now has to pay the penalty of his crime. Surely if ever there was a case for " probation" this was one. Those of your readers who have travelled much by rail will readily second the protest of a traveller who writes to this morning's journal objecting to the method in vogue, on most of our railways, of carrying live stock in front instead of behind the passenger cars, personally I agree that the practice is a most disgusting one and should be altered at once. It is not long .since I was treated to an experience of this kind on the Manawatu railway when the passengers were driven inside the carriages and every window closed to keep out the abominable stench arising from several trucks of cattle attached to the forepart of our train. Surely the authorities will see the advantage of having these unwelcome additions attached to the rear of the tram in* the future. [This would make the train unmanageable. — Ep. F.S.] A fireman at the Fire Brigade competitions had an . unpleasant experience just .now. He was engaged in .one of the ■events and had ascended the ladder with the liose, the nozzle of which he had through a handkerchief which he held in his mouth, when the water was turned on it twisted the hose and janimed the fireman against the wooden structure with such a strong, pressure as to squeeze half the life out of the man. However, by the aid of a few buckets of water and plenty of pluck the fireman was soon seen dashing along helter skelter in another of the events, ■evidently considering" that a "miss is as good as a mile" and intending to make the most of bis lite since it had returned to him. Where is the Feilding Brigade ?