Our Wellington Letter

Feilding Star, Volume XI, Issue 140, 20 May 1890, Page 4

Our Wellington Letter

(from our own cobbespondent.) •* Wellington, At ay ,15. It is evident that a Diver's life, as well as that of a policeman, is' not a happy one, judging from receut experiences. Several weeks ago two of these amphibious creatures were -engagedat work on the ill-fated vessel, Willie McLaren, which recently found ered in Worser's Bay, and one of them related to me that he and his mate had an extremly lively time with the octapus and conger eels, the later attacking them again and again. Yesterday two other divers were engaged ■ at the bottom of the harbor in hunting after a stray Torpedo, and these men at last had the pleasure of finding it at a depth of over 70 feet from the surface, but as the Torpedo was at £500, d< uhtU; a the divere would be well paid for their perilous task. I ouee heard it related of a Roman Catholic Priest who was hearing the confession of an Irish stable keeper that, with the. intention of joggiug Pat's memory, he put the <juery, 'Now Par, % havent you ever greased the oats before giving jfchein to-the burses so that they- will not eat them and be left for the next horse ?' The sequel is told in the fact that at the next confession, the son <;f the Green Isle had to admit that since the priest's last visit to the neighbourhood, ie ha 3 greased the oats before giving $hem even to his (the priests) own iorsei This little incident was brought back ' very vividly .to my mind a day *>r two ago, when an expressman with "whom I was driving, told me how a iellow expressman at dinner time •every day, took the nosebag out of ihis express and attached it to the headjof his horse but, instead of the bag containing food it. had two sacks rammed down at the bottom to give . it a full appearance. The driver would then sit in the express and -pend, a very pleasant hour and a half with his own lunch., This little game was at last found out by one of -the other expressmen, when, as may be imagined, ; the ' champion mean ■man 7 had a merry time of it., I do not think^ however, that through my relating this incident that others will be led to- do likewise, for it has been noticed; that ©van the despised Chinamen recognise that to starve their faith- - iul beasts of burden, is equivalent to tilling 'the goose that lays the golden •ggs.» A great hue and cry has been raised;, by-rich and poor alike, against the attempt of -the combined butcher's to raise the price of meat all round, on 4he plea -that sheep are now dearer "than heretofore; but the determination of the Butchers has been met in « way thut tht>y 'did not expect for some __ dozen gentlemen of the city, put their •heads together and came to the conclueign that the butchers ' little game' was not good enough, and they -decided to start a meat company in •opposition, and to supply joints and •outs 'of ■'ail descriptions at the late prices. Action was taken so quickly that , the . butchers got a scare, and held a second meeting at which they •carried resolutions to the effect that, the previous meeting it was evident that the prime movers, had been ' out "in the sun' and they now threw overboard all their decisions, and knocked •the prices of meat down one peuny all around ; that still meant that meat had risen: one penny, so tbe syndicate intend to keep to their resolution to float A'compahy, when it is anticipated .that the poor labouring man, with a large family will smile. again, and the planning and scraping careful house-, wife vvill see her ' nightmare' vanish like a beautiful dream.