It Is Town Talk

Free Lance, Volume I, Issue 11, 15 September 1900, Page 17

It Is Town Talk

— That the Postmaster - General should stick more gum on his stamps. — That Mr Tom Wilford has now defended eight illegal operation cases. — That a Wellington grocer's assistant dropped into a snug little fortune last week. — That a local plunger dropped over £100 over the Wellington Otago football match. — That a one-time prominent lawyer is now boots at an hotel in Chiistchurch. The usual cause ! — That Government House vestibule is haunted by a man with a mania to see His Excellency. — That the match factory girls say they are "doing alright" under the award of the Arbitration Court. — That a wealthy Dunedin lady sent as a wedding piesent to a newly married couple — her photograph. — That a great many would vote for prohibition if a certain class of people were not associated with the cause. — That nearly everybody who has nothing to do, and plenty of time to do Lt-in, styles .himself a " commission agent." How on earth do the great horde of them live ? — That roller skating, which was such a craze in the colonies some years ago, is coming to the fore again in Melbourne. One long-abandoned rink has now the patronage of five different clubs, whose membership totals 750.

— That the time seems within measurable distance when we will have a military college in New Zealand. — That two bad coins were found in the collection plate at one city church last Sunday. Spurious religionists l — That Missioner Moore is doing fine work in entertaining visiting seamen and keeping them out of the pubs o' nights. — That a certain military lady and her daughters couldn't keep away from Government House last Saturday afternoon. — That woman, lovely woman, was the cause of the disappearance of a young and well-known cyclist from Wellington last week. — That a big alleged embezzler, who levartted from New Zealand a while back, has been discovered on his uppers in South Africa. — That Mayor Frost's one term of office has melted all desire for further glory. He wants to get out of th 6 Melrose Mayoral chair. — That after the men who wore the China medal had been photo'd on Saturday, an old soldier yelled, " Three cheers for the Chinamen ! " — That the licensing of second-hand shops would be welcomed by the police who require similar powers to those they possess over pawnshops. — That a Kerry man whispered in Oirish fashion at Government House that "thim fellers Prouse and Tiddy Hill was fair noightingals ! " — That the two wearers of the N.Z. Cross (Austin and Adamson) were the most conspicuous figures at the Government House Veterans' gathering. — That a well-dressed groggy individual, arrested here lately, hadn't enough money to bail himself out, and his wife refused to send it to him. — That the "made in Germany" brand does not, according to a prominent business man, deter purchasers from buying at all. That brand appears to be as much esteemed as any other in the vast majority of cases.

— That when a man says he hasn't made up his mind about a thing, it is * cure sign he has asked his wife about it. — That a certain legislator and a local tradesman nearlj came to blows over a little private matter on Lambton Quay last week. — That good old roast beef (without Yorkshire pudding) and plum pudding were the chief dishes at the Governor's luncheon to the " old battlers." — That a certain parson was astonished when plumptly told in Willis-street, the other day, that he was a humbug and talked cast-iron bunkum. —That Sir White Waistcoat Hee Hem Smith has declared that when a new Minister is added to the Cabinet, he will have as good a chance as anyone. — That stalwart Inspector Pender seemed an active-looking sort of a giant at the veteran's luncheon. He was a ".broth of a boy " when in the Crimea. — That a Cuba-street draper's assistant got a thrashing from a Wellington boy the other day for making a disparaging remark about the lad's cousin. — That a local man-about-town, who has a face which he says he borrowed from the setting sun, is about to go to Hobart to marry a wealthy widow there. i — That, despite the Truck Act, the law is openly infringed in a certain part of Wellington district, but the men are afraid of losing their jobs by speaking. — That Willie Ross's people have been a good deal hurt at his being confounded with the other Lieutenant lioss in the contingents who fell out with his captain. — That baritone Prouse got a very cold reception #t last week's Barnett-Hoppe recital. .„ Because, 'tis said, John refused to get up a concert gratis for a society lady. — That a lank, cadaverous-looking person, who saw his first football match on Saturday, seemed astonished that none of the players were killed or maimed for life. — That the dispensing with the services of " Mapourika " Spence is only an adherence to an iron rule by the Union Co. " Touch bottom and you go " is their motto. — That a fashionably-dressed person who is "doing" Wellington just now, used to follow the unpicturesque calling of scavenger down South before the dredging boom. — That butchers should be compelled by law to wrap meat up in new and clean paper, and not in newspapers which might possibly be collected from private houses. — That there was an element of humour in Lord Eanfurly posing as a " veteran " at the old soldiers' luncheon on Saturday when the crowd was being snapshotted. — That -Hokitika Chows are sending Lock Vee, acquitted of double murder, to China. If they send an explanatory letter also, Lock might get his " block " docked on arrival. — That the ancient buildings of Grainger-street, which everone thought had been got rid of — and none too soon — are turning up as new cottages in various parts of the city. — That some medicos think the Public Health Bill a trifle drastic so far as they are concerned, and that it will result in a lot of practice being thrown into the hands of chemists. — That at a Spiritists seance held lately the medium solemnly announced that the devil was dead. One scoffer remarked that he did know the old gentleman had been ailing. — That one Parliamentarian was pretty mad when he found that a halfsovereign that he tendered for a drink at the Hutt was a bad one. And it was the only coin he had. — 'I hat when introduced to Lady Eanfurly at the reception, an old " Die-hard " expressed the hope that her Lndyship's shadow might never grow less ! The hostess didn't smile. — That New Zealand enjoyed singular immunity from boiler accidents last season, seeing that hundreds of defects were detected by the Inspector of machinery. Strict supervision saved many lives. — That since the early part of 1897, a period of little more than three years, the Union Steamship Company has added no less than fourteen new steamers to its fleet, of which six are passenger steamers and eight cargo steamers, the total tonnage aggregating 25,500 tons, while the capital expended is considerably over £500,000.

Sentenced to death! the doomed man stands, To die in prime of life, No shade of hope, no outstretched hands, No friend except his wife ; She heeded not the doctor's voice, " His cough would kill him sure," She saved his life, and did rejoice, With Woods' Great Peppermint Cure. — Advt.