AN OCCASIONAL LETTER.

Matamata Record, Volume III, Issue 151, 25 September 1919, Page 2

AN OCCASIONAL LETTER.

It seems quite a while since I wrote to you. However, my excuse is a good one (or might have been had things turned outright). I have beon blinded with a dazzling prospect of making money; in fact, I have been endeavouring to emulate " Wallingford." Two months ago, dear friend, I purchased a small unimproved farm here (of course you know that is the quickest way of making money) and sold last week at a rise of £2 per acre. I have just received the solicitor's statement, and, sad to relate, find that my scheme for small profits and quick returns has beon sadly astray. The fact is that for the cash I put in I have now a fourth mortgage. Truly the lot of the genuine settlers, who are doing their bit towards settling Now Zealand, is a hard one.

You will probably have heard of the Dog Act? Matamata has a special act of its own, which stipulates that a taxi-driver does not have to bury a»ny dog which might have the misfortune to get mixed up in the wheels of a Dodge (or maybe it was a Ford) car. Last week "Trebla " was taking his usual midnight stroll and got more than a shock in meeting a man, it seemed to the scribe, stealthily coming along Tower road, brandishing something bright, which might have been a sword. I was little inclined for closer inspection, being just a trifle afraid, when I saw the man enter a section and commence to dig. Visions of buried troasure at once loomed in mind,and wanting to be in shares I approached. The excavation would have been a credit to any sexton ; the digger was not a "digger" as we now know him. He was not at Flers. It was none other than the chairman of the town board burying his fourth dog. The scribe could not oblige by even catching the hind legs, for demise had occurred more than twenty-four hours before. Yet men will look for public positions, and get very little thanks when they carry out duties, which might cover anything from burying dogs to interviewing ministers of the Crown.

It is said that times are becoming very hard in Matamata for " female women." " Trebla," being a confidant of several of the latter, has learned that there are quite a number of ladies of prepossessing appearance who will shortly be called upon to seek fresh "diggings." Why is it we wonder that so many of our girls are. not wanted ? Is it, as alleged by a writer in an Auckland daily, that New Zealand girls are that independent? The digger went away, and, were he susceptiblo, he brought back a bride from the northern part of the world. The New Zealand girl went to work with her chances of matrimony considerably diminished. The avenue Jof employment was enlarged, but not so the accommodation. Boarding-house keepers or bachelors do not want the bachelor girl; which goes to prove that Eve was a different woman. She knew her game and the value of her cards, so that she went wherever her man could go. To find a solution to the problem for three months is difficult; but, alter that the writer will give information to any inquiring damsel as to suitable homes, for, girls, next year the privilege will be yours. There are many men too shy to ask a girl to share their home. There art* others too mean; either that or they have a kink in their make up. However, if the game is played well, as Eve would play it, we see much brighter prospects ahead.