IN SEARCH OF BLACK DIAMONDS. FOR THE LANCE.

Free Lance, Volume I, Issue 15, 13 October 1900, Page 18

IN SEARCH OF BLACK DIAMONDS. FOR THE LANCE.

SEVERAL of oar .leading coal merchants and two or three gentlemen well-known in business circles in Wellington recently paid a visit to another portion of the colony to search for an auxiliary source of coal supply for this famine-stricken city. It is not known whether they struck " coal," but the} all say it is a iact that they struck the closest man that ever ran a steamboat. It was necessary for the party to tranship from the Wellington boat to a smaller steamer, und as they were a fair party they thought it was good enough to ask the owner tor a concession on their fares, the rate being considerable for a short trip. The owner, however, "got his shirt out " so quickly that they paid the full fare and beat a hasty retreat from the office. # * * They howe\er consoled themselves with the thought that they were going to live like fighting cocks aboard tbe steamer. But they did not then know their man. He was too much for them at every point, find they had absolutely no opportunity ot getting even with him. He scored against them every time in the fares, the tucker, the blankets, and the

whisky. Even at the morning ablution all had to use the same towel. A 9 for the water, that was "up in the tank," and they could help themselves, and did. * * * They found that coffee at 6 a.m. had long been abolished, though they were at this unearthly hour awaiting it. Biscuits and cheese for supper was also unknown, and as for afternoon tea, the cook said he would get the sack if he dared to provide anything but three meals a day. And how these three meals were designed to stave off a healthy appetite ! A return passenger stated that the butter on the previous trip was "four horse power," but our friends were served with potatoes below zero, and the jam, well it was not considered advisable to test it. Some of the party were nearly driven to drink, and asked for whisky and soda. Whisky was obtainable at 6d per glass, but soda had been cut off, and thirsty ones had to take water with their whisky. It is also stated that sausages are always subdivided before cooking to make them go further. # * » It was at 'bedtime, however, that our friends found themselves in a fix. The steamer does a large passenger trade, and has bunks for twelve, and can put up another half-dozen on shakedowns. As there were a , couple of dozen passengers on board, no one on board felt too easy as to whether he would get a berth or not, but the steward assigned berths to as many as possible, and then said, " there are twelve blankets among you," and passed them out. No sheets, counterpanes, or anything in the nature of a mattrass — only a single blanket t But the twelve blankets had originally been only six, and had been split to make them go further, like the sausages ! It was a cold winter night, and our friends dreamt of lying out on the cold veldt with only one blanket round the weary limbs, and they wept for our brave soldiers at the front. # # • Wellington business men do not cave in readily, but this party felt that the steamboat owner was too much for them, and admitted that he had well earned his fare. They met together and solemnly proposed a resolution that they had discovered the champion mean man in steamboats, and that the resolution should be conveyed to the owner by means of a collect wire. The motion was proposed by the " Plymouth Rock," and seconded by the " Langshan," and carried in silence nem. con. * * # There was one man who came off very badly, as a result of this trip, the man is the hotelkeeper where the party landed. It is usual to say, " Ton my word, you're doing quite well;" but he lost heavily over this affair, and he says that next time this steamer lands any passengers at his port and they want a meal at his hotel, his charge is 5s each. If they want to stay the night, they must have a bath before using his blankets.

An earthquake, with its mystery, Will cause the stoutest heart to pause, The bravest men in history Have trembled at old nature's laws. The man who then invokes the saints Would rather sickness long endure, He knows the thing for chest complaints Is W. E. Woods' Great Peppermint Cuie.