THE HAWKE'S BAY HERALD'S AUCKLAND CORRESPONDENT.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 18, Issue 1077, 25 July 1871, Page 2

THE HAWKE'S BAY HERALD'S AUCKLAND CORRESPONDENT.

TO THE EDITOR OE THE HAWKE'S. BAY TIMES. Sib, —If the hodge podge which the Auckland correspondent of the Hawke's Bay Herald dishes up for its readers is a criterion by which to judge of the truthfulness of Auckland newspaper writers, we think Mr Gillies could not have been very far wrong in calling them " lying detractors"; and if the sneaking trash for which the Hawke's Bay Herald's own is paid betokens the spirit of the press, it will be long before the Auckland Superintendent has to apologise. The employers of such an original as the Herald's special have reason to be proud of his acquirements. There is abundant evidence that he is quite an authority in natural science. For instance, his stones of the Duke of Edinburgh's elephant were so highly appreciated in Auckland that they were inserted in the local papers as " travellers' rales " from Hawke's Bay. Also, when visiting a friend, the penny-a-liner earned the thanks of all naturalists by discovering "purely insectivorous" starlings; and the editor of our Herald, in a leader on acclimatisation, showed his good sense by acquiescing in so well authenticated a description of that genus of birds. No doubt the literary man from Napier thinks himself a small star in the North, but his predilection for loaves and fishes, and the delight which he takes in doing other people's dirty work and casting mud about, as well as his unmistakeable (t)waddle, show him to be no star, but a gos-ling. In one respect, however, he does the starling's part admirably. He repeats the notes he has learnt from those who keep him comfortable at the public expense. The refrain of all his performances is the old song, — Och ! Gillies is a wicked boy,— There's nought like J.D.0., D.M. & Coy. All the Herald's contributor's have scraped at the " same tune with variations" till the music is too familiar to be effective. Of late, the leader has occa sionally made a start as if he were about to take a higher flight, but the weighted bird dares not snap the golden string that lures him to his perch. Government pickings are jolly.—l am, &c, Snooks