LYTTELTON LEGENDS, No. 10.

Globe, Volume IV, Issue 377, 27 August 1875, Page 2

LYTTELTON LEGENDS, No. 10.

THE COMING COUNCILLORS. Nicodemus is in despair, when he hears of such men as Cunningham, F. Graham and Parsons coming forward to represent the town, when he sees House still anxious to resume his seat; he begins to think that a great part of his vocation will be gone. Why there will be no more fun; there will be business done, and idiotic gushing will be laughed down by a sensible majority. Health to the new Council, and may they in their wisdom bring better health to us. Electors of Lyttelton, you can’t go wrong this time. Nicodemus advises you to vote for which of the candidates you like. All four are sensible men, and will reflect credit on the town, j ORIANA. It was a stilly night, no breeze, stirred the waters of the harbour, and not a sound was heard, save the contemplative spit of Nicodemus as he sat with his legs hanging oyer the Gladstone Pier. Nicodemus was gazing at the Thomas j,S. Stowe, and mourning at the thought that probably the effusion he was now composing was the last that would be ever seen by that vessel’s genial doctor and commander, and the Loo of both sorts would soon be to them a thing of the past. Suddenly he felt a moisture on his hand ; another drop fell. Surely they were tears. They came from the rigging of the stately Oriana; a pause, and then a voice burst out with the following lyric:— The night is cold and damp and dark, And keeping watch not much of a lark. It is meet that my thoughts on sad themes should dwell, ’Ts the day that the passengers bid us farewell. Truely ’ts a sad thought, but yet it must be borne, ’Tis the sad lot of man on this earth to mourn ; And, as slowly before me in a solemn review, Each one passes, I’ll murmur a tearful adieu. For greatness of thought, and a giant-like mind, Thy equal 0 ! Addinell, where shall we find ? Conversation with thee has both spice and utility, True knowledge dispensed with a rare amiabilty. T. Butler, old fellow, don’t look so downhearted, You are safe to succeed, when once you are started, A genius like thine, has its place on a hill, To place it there, drive cheer’ly on “ through the mill.” Alick Cameron, good bye ! though it grieves me to say it; Fate is stern, and all that we can do is obey it, Go, like thy great namesake, may it be thy lot, To cut with thy talent \ the world’s “Gordian” knot.

Stores ! what shall I say, where find words to express, Or a plummet to sound out my depths of distress, Necessity wills we must part, so I’ll sum it, In these touching words, alas! farewell dear “ Grummet.” Old fireworks, adieu ! my friend ’tis a fact, I have ne’er met your equal, for “finesse” or tact; “ The world is an orange that’s never sucked dry,” So doubtless you’ll find it, once more then “ Good-bye.” Hobson, good-bye, gently; calm your emotion, You will always remember your trip on the ocean : You’ve sometimes been hungry, and oftimes been teased, But the sport you’ve enjoyed must have all ills appeased. Farewell, Lett! with a noble heart, great as thy stature, A model of nature’s most choice manufacture— I hope that success will your labours attend, And wherever you go may you ne’er want a friend. Jackson, adieu! the wide world is before you, May fortune be found in the paths you pursue ; Remain open and candid, ingenuous still, And do what thy hands find to do with a will. Mrs Jackson, farewell! in all ages thy story Shall be written in gold—and a halo of glory Surround the fair maid, who left country and home Across the wide sea ""with her husband to roam. Good-bye! one and all, I can stand it no longer, With each one my feelings grow stronger and stronger; Within my torn bosom my bleeding heart swells, But relief will come shortly—’tis nearly eight bells. Oriana, August, 1875. BOROUGH COUNCIL. The usual weekly meeting of the Lyttelton Borough Council has taken place, and, figuratively speaking, for snarling, snapping, scratching, and biting, it has no equal—at least since the last election. It seems that the Mayor has put himself to a very great deal of trouble in trying to raise a small loan for drainage purposes—not on his own responsibility, but by a resolution of the Council empowering him to open negotiations with some Bank for this purpose. For this action of his he has been taken to task by a newly-appointed councillor, who, they do say, is an adept in finance. And Nicodemns thinks it worth his while to enquire what right this councillor has to raise objections, when it is a well-known fact that he left Lyttelton and her drainage to look after itself as long as he was in power. And further, it is Nicodemus’ opinion that not one tithe of the disease, not one tithe of the deaths, would have transpired if all had, put their shoulders to the wheel, and assisted with the judgment and knowledge of the subject at their command, to have supplied Lyttelton with proper drainage. In a word —to use the fashionable cant of the day what has the Council done ? and echo answers what 1 Far, very far, be it from Nicondemus to say that the councillor referred to, in his time of Mayor, resorted at any time to any subterfuge which art could devise to perpetuate his own name and memory as a financial reformer, or a great and almighty councillor ; but are there not, might he not enquire, numbers now in Lyttelton who would give all they ever worked for, or ever will work for, to hear again that little prattling chat that was always heard first thing in the morning and last thing at night. But the once familiar sound is not heard now ; and yet, forsooth, when there is a probabilty of something being done before the hot weather sets in, obstructions are thrown in the way of those who have tried —and are still trying—to be benefactors to this community. For good drainage is cheap at any price, at least to those who have the care of children; and those who have got none can only form a very superficial knowledge of such an everlasting good. Bad drainage has a force of singular power over the human frame, and its presence in the atmosphere must have a controlling influence over the vital powers. This has been proved in Lyttelton, lately. Let us then have drainage, even if we have to pay 10 per cent for borrowed money ; or, better still, let the Council empower that newly-fledged financier, and patriotic councillor, to negociate the loan, so that he may have his name placed prominently before the public, and you will have very little trouble afterwards with him. Wanted Known —ThatMoody andSankey did not arrive on Wednesday in the Taupo, as chronicled in our evening contemporary. Wanted Known —That the winter evening readings were a complete success, notwithstanding the absence from the platform of our “Blooming morning glory.” Wanted Known —That the mail has not arrived just yet with the draft for the fire brigade, although it is worth recording that the brigade received all the cheap honour and glory direct from the insurance agents. Wanted Known— That the Phoebe ran from Lyttelton to Dunedin on the last occasion in three hours, thirteen minutes, and ten seconds chronometer time. This ought to | convince the most fastidious that the management is up to the times, and that coals are dirt cheap. Wanted Known —That Jacob son has been appointed tax collector under the Education Ordinance, vice Tommy dismissed, I hope he will call on the 14th, when I am at home. I have got a new flour dredger. Wanted Known —That the story which our African brother related is almost incomprehensible, but they do say that truth is stranger than fiction. Wanted Known— That the newly arrived emigrants cheered lustily while landing on Tuesday last. I wonder if they will keep the cheering up for any length of time. Wanted every one to know that the gentleman who shut down the railway carriage window on Sunday morning last while entering the tunnel, and afterwards whispered to the only lady present, “ Kiss me dear,” it still alive. It was a slip of his tongue, entirely owing to the geological formation of hia mind, or the theological contraction of his soul, or the algebraical properties, and rugged grandeur of his spectacled sublimity that made him make use of the words “ Kiss me dear.”

Wanted Known —That the brewers of Christchurch are prepared to treat with our Borough Council to supply hcer at a cheaper and quicker rate than they can be supplied with water. What do you think of that Thomas 1 Wanted Known —That ozone is to be found in any quantity here at present. The late rains have proved that it has forty times the bleaching power of chlorine. Wanted Known —That Nicodemus intends to open a school to enable students who have ambition and impudence enough in their compositions, to contest the mayoralty at the next election under the new Act. NICODEMUS.