THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1881. THE DOCTORS' QUARREL.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2186, 26 February 1881, Page 1

THE GLOBE. SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1881. THE DOCTORS' QUARREL.

The " Lyttelton Times," in its issue of yesterday, endeavours to shuffle out of the position in which its article of Tuesday last had placed it. " Better late than never," it says, not seeming to perceive at all that the occasion for repudiating the effusion entitled the " Hospital Coquette " would never have arisen at all, if our contemporary itself had not indirectly accused the Staff of heing implicated in its production. For we distinctly deny that the "Hospital Coquette " was the talk of the town at the end of last week. As far as we can find out, it had been sent round to a few whom the writer probably thought were most prominently mixed up in, or were most interested in, the late embroglio, or whom, it is to be feared, ho considered it would most deeply wound, but the number of copies circulated was, apparently, but limited, and the general public had not an idea of the existence of the scurrilous production. The " Lyttelton Times" itself was kind enough to bring it well before the citizens, as in some degreo fathered by the Staff. And then, when tho Staff are driven by this insult to repudiato all connection, the Gloucester street organ says—" Better late than never!" On the whole, the idea is one of the coolest that has emanated for a length of time from a journal whose views are, at all times,

charmingly elastic. The touches introduced also show a wonderfully artistic eye for defamation of character. The writer of the " Hospital Coquette " is , called the Staff's " unauthorised ally !" and it is suggested that it will be " a compensation, in the public estimation, if the Staff were to assist in hunting out the guilty party." A compensation for what ? Does the " Lyttelton Times " mean to I infer that the Staff have lost ground in the " public estimation " because of the scurrilous attack. Of course, the Staff will do its utmost to hunt out the offender, as gentlemen and men having the interests of their profession at heart naturally would. But, " compensation ?" What, in the name of common sense, does our contemporary mean ? In point of fact, having, by its violent partisanship, succeeded in landing itself in a very considerable hole, it is making desperate efforts to get out of it, so some floundering may perhaps be excused; but, we trust, though we hardly dare to hope, that it may take to heart the lesson that it is easier work throwing mud than washing out the stains of it. EDUCATIONAL HIGH JINKS. The good people of Duntroon, in Otago, are evidently determined to bo, if not wise, at all events, jovial. They, apparently, seize upon all occasions to give vent to their exuberant spirits. This is all the more praiseworthy because the majority of them presumably belong to a race who are not apt to screw " f unnities" out of unpromising material. Sydney Smith's well-known saying, that it requires a surgical operation to make a Scotchman understand a joke, is, of course, an exaggeration; but, still the fact remains that Scotchmen, as a rule, are rather teo practical to indulge much in frivolities. Mr. Keene, the wellknown illustrator in " Punch," is a gentleman who delights greatly in depicting the broader characteristics of the Irish and Scotch, but it may be observed that the latter, in his sketches, are usually pourtrayed as having imbibed a certain quantity of Highland whisky to mellow their perception of the incongruous. When sober, the joke generally turns on the North Briton's love of the " bawbee." The Duntrooners, however, have " altered all this." One would imagine that a meeting of householders to elect a school committee was about as unpromising an occasion as could be, at wbich to get up a really good screaming farce. But nothing is impossible to those whose minds are well made up to make the most of things. At a recent meeting of the Otago Education Board, the manner in which the Duntroon householders had carried on " high jinks " at their last meeting came under the notice of the Board. It would seem that the Board were written to, and informed that the nomination by the committee of members for the Board had not been carried out because of the extraordinary antics that took place at the annual meeting. Certain gentlemen were then elected who would have carried out the duties to the best of their abilities, but, owing to the manner of the ; proceedings, they declined to act. The householders appear to have come together with a premeditated intention of turning the affair into ridicule. As a proof of this, the Board is informed that they elected a woman, who was not a householder. The Education Act seems to allow for the election of a woman who is a householder, but wisely taboes the main body of " sisters, cousins, and aunts." Not but what they might not carry out the functions of a committee very satisfactorily; but a line must be drawn somewhere, and irresponsible young women were possibly considered by the Legislature as not sufficiently ballasted to take part in the serious work of education. Perhaps this was hard on the young women, but members of Parliament are apt, we presume, to become cynical. They see a good deal of log-rolling and other abominations, and their minds are inclined to be hardened by the process of passing through the fire. They were evidently unable to perceive why a sister or a cousin, not to mention an aunt, not being an householder, should possess privileges not held by the male animal in the same condition. It would be easy to draw a fancy picture of a committee ruled entirely by a very charming set of irresponsible young ladies. The light and airy "manner in which they could treat tho topics brought under their notice would commend itself to the just and the unjust. Bonnets and school standards, the latest fashions and the latest methods of teaching the young idea would be mixed up with tho delightful manner with which we are all acquainted. Deputations from residents, particularly promising young bachelors, would no doubt be interviewed with becoming solemnity and school life would be tinged with a romance which at present it hardly possesses. It was, perhaps, with a due disgust of the prosaic components of present committees that the Duntroon residents took the step which to the unthinking may seem so strange. Of the lady—young lady we might presume —who was elected nothing has transpired. Whether the qualities of her mind, or the attractions of her person, gained for her the distinguished honour does not appear. We trust, for the credit of the good taste of the Duntrooners, that both were conspicuous. Her business capacities, while foraging for her family in that cheerful village, may have struck the householders as a body, and they may have longed to have to transfer to a wider sphere qualities so serviceable in every day life. So far, there appears to have been a certain raison d'etre for the proceedings at the meeting. But further follows. The secretary of the committee —which, by the way, does not appear to exist—describes the taking of the ballot as follows : —" The names of those proposed were written on paper, and a separate list handed to each individual to record their votes. The lists, when returned to the chairman, wore shaken altogether in a hat, after which the chairman looked through them, and declared who were elected, -without allowing any person to peruse the voting papers." The chairman was evidently worthy of the meeting, for it is impossible that he could have acted more jocosely. Such an original method of treating the ballot has seldom been invented. He must be a very funny dog indeed. The only pity is that the Education Board had not tho perception of the humorous that might be expected of them. One of thorn went so far as to say that the whole affair was most scandalous. They evidently do not understand a really full-flavoured joke, and the sooner they are educated up to the mark the better.