GENERAL NEWS

Gisborne Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1425, 8 April 1905, Page 3

GENERAL NEWS

000 of the fallaoios of Ministerial oratory bns boon to taunt tbo Opposition wilb having no polioy,oxoopt that of getting upon the Ministerial bonohoa, Mr Massey has now put forth a polioy, which should appeal to the common sense, sense of public decency of every man in the country.—Wailiato Argus. It is the most utter folly to go on buildfhg railways after the manner in wnion the Midland railway ia being built. About jE50,000 a year has been expended for the past twenty years, and during all this time the colony tias been paying interest on this money. At the same rato of progress, it will bo another twenty before the lino is completed, and the outlay in interest will be actually greater than the original capital cost. In other words the colony will pay more than double tbo amount for the railway than it need have paid if the line had been constructed in a businesslike way, and on business principles- Yet the polioy which has been applied to the Midland railway is prcoisoly the polioy o£ the Government in respect to all tbo other lines of tbo colony. It ia costing the ooloDy hundreds of thousands of pounds per annum—a ruinous and unnecessary expenditure. In this way more money has already boon thrown away than would build the Midland'railway twice over.Christohurch Troth

Me So'd'don. is prottjn well, tliank you,; While up Whangaxei way in one day he fired oft ten 'distinct speeches, insisted l that the old fellows tn the Old Men’s Home should hafe soup of toner, touched the patriotic chords of loyalty in the children giving them a holiday, and performed one or two minor, duties. At Illukerernii, where thq road is inHileahod jbyi flood poles, the local cadets ‘sang, “Soldiers of the King,” and King ■Dick consented, to be piliotpgrapilied for the twentieth time that day. Ho told the manager, of tho Hukiirangi coal mine that, tho manager’s son Was a clip of the old block, and the people cheered. .Then, Mr Seddon, went to Towai, and promised the people the loan of a pedigree bull for two years. The people cliocred. Thunderous applause greeted him

when he mot his failin'u l people at the Whangarei Volunteers Hall, and nary a soul said - a word about tho f‘. neglected North.” The Liberal League baiiqtuctted him* and King Dick sang a solo and you could cut the enthusiasm with a knife. 'And

Mr Seddon will take the High Commissionersjtfip ■?>—Lance.; The announcement 'by cable the other day that the marriage of the Crown Prince of Germany with the Princesis Cecilio of Mecklcnburg-Seh-wefin bad been fixed for June next,

arouses interest in those particular royal lovers. It seems they are much as other lo,vers, ; It is known that the Crown Prince' writes a letter every day to his fiancee, whom, it is said, insists upon that pleasureable arrangement being carried out even on the days ho pays her a visit." Hoe letters he keeps

safely stored away in a precious little box, of which Ko alone carries the key. The other day the Crown 1 Prince stood before the window of one of the leading business bouses of Berlin, in which was displayed an almost life-sized portrait of the future Crown Princess of Germany. So absorbed was he in his reverie that he did not even notice that _ a large crowd had -gathered to enjoy the unusual signe and to cheer . His attendant and several police officers bad hard work to extricate bis •Royal Highness from the crowd. It has been decided that all the towns of Germany shall jointly give the Crown Prince a, magnificent wedding

present. ■ A.t present the Midland Railway inns into the wilderness and stays there. The line is steadily depreciating in value, and the retarn is practically nil. Every year it costs the colony a huge sum in interest, and already the outlay is praotioaily double what it ought to have been. Why not, soy the Midland Railway demonstrators, complete it as soon as possible ? It won’t pay, but it would be a fine asset.and if the colony pays 4 per cent interest on two millions, and gets 2 per cent return, it it no worse off than if it pays 4 per cent on one million and gets nothing. In short, the main ground upon which the speakers based their agitation was one of convenience. They point to two populous provinces like Canterbury and Westland only able to reach one another by means of a five horse coach, and they say that even if there is a loss tho colony, which derives the lion’s share of its railway re* venue from Ganterburv, ought to stand that loss. But on those grounds, we are not concerned to attack the arguments of the delegates. They speak for themselves. There are railways in New Zealand, and indeed in Canterbury (as witness the Southern Main Trunk), which will be both convenient and profitable. They demand the first and most urgent attention of the Government, —Christchurch Truth*

The most romantic marriage in these I most matter-of-fact days took iplace in I Sydney on the 22nd nit., when the Vi-

comte do Batge St. Jean married. Miss Elsie Steele, daughter of Mr Steele, I Cumberland street, Miller’s Point. The I Vicomte has large station interests in I Queensland, whither he intends to take I his young bride before their European I tour. He came to Sydney, stayed at the Wentworth Hotel, Charlotte Place, | and saw the pretty young girl passing every day on her way to a firm where she was typewriter, fell in love,proposed to her I father for the hand of his daughter in true I French aristocratic fashion, was accepted I as her suitor, and was on Wednesday last 1

united to Miss Steele, who is a very nice looking girl of about 17. St. Phillip s I Church, Church Hill, was crowded as it I has never been within its history; the bride I being well known throughout the Miller s Point distriot, where she was born and 1 reared. She is a member of St. Phillip s 1 qunday school and Churoh,and.very popular. Outside the church 1500 people waited, unable to squeeze into tho building. Arch- I ' deacon Langley had to remind the spectators that they wore in a sacred edifice, and ! asked them to restrain their ebullitions of I delight that Miller’s Point had socially scored over the artistic suburb of Potts and Darling Points in furnishing areal live countess by her romantic marriage. The scene outside the church and in front of the Wentworth Hotel, where the wedding breakfast was held, wa3 rather distressing to the bride, as well as to those who tried to get the little lady safely to the hotel I from the too cordial congratiiJH»fcions of her 1 too demonstrative friends and admirers. I They blocked tho way, shoved, pushed, and

yelled, and even invaded cne nau in otuu i to 800 her, and if possible to get a flower from her bouquet, which was literally torn to pieces and distributed to the crowd. At present the happy pair aro at Medlow, on ! tho Mountains, where they spend a fortnight before going to Queensland. The bridegroom is said to be 88, but of a very fascinating manner. '

Mr Donne, head of the Toorist Department, while at St. Louis, offered a prize at i a school containing several thousand children for the best essay on New Zealand. According to Mr Moorhouse there wasn’t a single young Yank who knew where I New Zealand is 1 r

I Mr G. W. Bussell, ex-member for Bic- I I carton, has been digging up from his 1 I memory reminisoenoes of the late George I Fisher. For instance, he remembers see- I I iDg him run “ a magnificent race in a I 100yds sprint, and has also heard him sing I the whole of the bass solos in a performance of ‘ The Messiah,' by the Wellington Musical Society. That, however, was very I many years ego. George Fisher was one lof the most methodical of politicians. He i I had piles of scrap-books containing his- | tories of politicians !to whom ho was op- : I posed, and when Premier Seddon wa3 on I tour’ at the King’s Coronation every remark of his cabled, every journey made,

were all entered in the scrap-book of the member-for Wellington. _lf any historical argument took place in the lobby, Mr Fisher would usually slip home—he lived only a few yards away—rand settle it with I one of his scrap-books.” K'.ccarton jßussoil also calls to mind” ono occasion wbon Fisher was lashing Seddon, as ho could do, I when the Premier replied with a kina °* porcino snort. Fisher stopped—looked at ’Seddon—then swung round to Speaker O’Borke, and Baid in calm, slow, deliberate tones—* Mr Speaker—What—does—the honorable gentleman—mean by— I THAT ? ’ ” The House yolled with laughter, to which Mr Seddon himself jomed,