FARLEY'S ARCADE-SATURDAY NIGHT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 205, 5 August 1862, Page 5

FARLEY'S ARCADE-SATURDAY NIGHT.

NIGHT,

(From our Special Roporter.)

Farley's Arcade is like no other in fie knowa wide, wide, world. It is n>t like t!i3 Burlington Arcade, in Piccadilly, nor the "Lowther" in the Strand, Nor the one in S.)ho, nor that in Oxfordstreet; but is a combination, or a concentration, or, let me say, a euaipoa id amalgam ition of the whole, with a great cul l'l:lt is original and unique added. It can be comp.ire-1 t-> nothing, and nothing can be eomp irci to it. A correct model, with a 1 ttur-press description, sent to the World's Exhibition, would have throw a many other wonders into the shale. Farley's Anjale is, par excellence, the Arcade of all A-cades. It is, sui generis, a thing of it sal.'— l.c creation of a bold speculator, and deep financier—a universal emporium—a- paV'c mart —a commercial wdtum in paroo, an 1 a depot for the reception of every description of merchandise, edibles, drinkables, wearables, an 1 ( ;r the word be good English) smokables. It is an inlet and an outlet ; a rendezvous—:i trystiug place. There is no word or number of words, in the Kng'-sh language which could convey to a su-angur what Farley's Arcade is, or is not like. It is an Otagoni in phenomenon, which if ever it is properly described, mart be done by somj convng man. Sa!a might make something of it, ko might a DLkens, so nrght, perliaps, a Thackeray, but it w.Ki'd require the concentrated talent of fill "les-j throe, to do it justice—and then only .scant jns-'ce a.era".

Let me try and show what can be aceompl;shed at this place. I will tike a digger—a lucky one of course—just, returned; let nvj say f'-oin Tuap.ka. llj requires a complete fit oat of everything—inhabiting, renovating and in oil re.°j)'j"ts wanting to !)c thoroughly repaired, and done up in a thorough and gontleman-like manner. lie enters, I wiiipieinisefrom Manse-strecl,and liaving [turned info the Cafe on the k«fr, he will ro.'.-'-sii the inward man with the damtiet dishes h,: may please to ea,. for, washed down, {sub ntsu, by the way), witli' pale sherry or bitter beer oft lie best brand. Hiving sallied out, he w'll purchase his cigar or "aromatic," at the divan near ut hand.and walking over to the other side, a door or two further --in, he can lit himself with a good pair of understandings which will carry him on to X\a next shop, where lie will be quiek'v and economically furnished with "coat, trousers and vest," while a '\ljjr stalker" bought at the adjoining cripa-ium, wi;l put the finish i• i -g- stroke t.j his outward man. The next o->erati >n be wi'l probably undergo will b;: to git bis hair cut, and his beard and moustache trimmed. There are several of such establishments, at which he can make his choice, ai\d pay hi; iii:i!i&y. 1 hay« i:vkc:i for mv Iktu ;i lii<;ky digger, 1-r.t it b; understood fie is j ill•■■> a liberal and generous 0.i.-. He must have a ! watch. He can buy liftv i;' he likes witliin two .steps from where ho stands; an 1 a hroo.'h or ring i of'iii;-.' "colonial gold" for bis sweeth-.-art ; or, ! *'>r this n.tl"i-ti>;)ite and te uler purp >se, be may | ;>;v!-r :i work-box, or a Moro--.ro reticule ; or, it ] may h;-, a si!kdivss ; |>j:ha:w, a pa.-as-'l or a j>ork- j pit- Jrit, aln E igi-nie. lCi<-h, or all of these, or anything else oi'h like n liurv, he has only to ask, and to have and i> p;iy. Tuere arc a dozen e^ia- ! hlishments, all in a p'»-,iti>>:i to do business i l any I of tlii-selin-s. F>rlicreaic biz.mr.s, and emporiums, and repositories, R-hc-rc can be purchased the largest of crinolines down to the smallest ut any-.hing in femiuino \v:u: Oar digger may be a married man. with a desire to furnish. lie need not go s::c doors before ii • eau bj supjilied wi:h every requisite, iVc.m a baby's cot or h '• f< urp iSi.-r,1' to a pier g!a<s in uilt oru:m )!u. JJjes l.c require domestic sujip'ie-i, be has but to move a i\:w more price-, and there, at the " China Mart," an 1 tin: " Canton Warchoii-e," he can lav in his tea, sugar, and groceries. At the adjoining establishment be may ord.-r himself a leg or loin of delicate dairy-led pork, or any other article in the depute, dairy-fed-pork small goods' line, v. hidi is inclusive oi"sausages and pr)rk pies, and which the iniiitbitanN of Ounediii appear distractingly fond of. lv vegetables, be can buy anything from a puK'-upple to a pippin, or from a sack of potatoes to a tomato, or stick of celery. Is he for the news ol the day—here, close at hand, he can obtain the latest copy of the -\<;c, Anjiix, or J).iil// Ttuii-M. Does he want his t>jih drawn, which it is to be hoped he do -s not—the operator is standing at his surgery door, ready to render his protessi.mal assistance at the shortest possible amount of iioticj. In fine, there is nothing he or anybody else requires but what he or they can be supplied with. 1 will n.)t g> quite so far as to assert that in Faiii-v's Arcade everything can be had from a needle to an anch-ir, as I rather doubt whether the latter nautical article could \>j procured; but | everything which men of extensive ideas and i comprehensive minds permit themselves to include, j'i a general way, between these two ar- ' tides, I have no he-itation in saying could be- pro- ; (luced on the vltv shortest notice, at one or ether ;of the fifty-six establishments which range them- | stives al >ng the two sid-.-s of the planked walk.

lint I have bc-.-n sjKMking of the Arealo as it may bu on ordin-iry (j;.-fa->ions. 1 desire to pourtray it as it appears o;i a Saturday night. I doubt whether I am equal to thy tiuk, but, shall iiovoithele?.s try.

Kight u'clork commences the busy time I enter from the Maelagg-m-street terminus. It is crowded, us newspap.-r report ;rssay, ' to sufi'jC.ition." I iiiid myself cheek by jowl with lucky ami unlucky diggers, 1 ;i.n josilc-1 by loafers, mul men in and oin ofpiacj, I am stumbled against by a rough labourer, tlm-L: sheets in the wind, who having j.Lice 1 the iron heel of his boot on the tendcrest part of my tot-, demands in abusive terms to know who I :un "sluving a^bi," imd finally taking nic by the hun!, requesting, to know '•what 1 will h-ive." I suecjed in extricating inysUf and diverge horn my straight coarse in order to steer clear of a young female with v very red petti-oat with black stripes who ig talking intensely eonlidentially to some one looking not unlike a waiter seeking employment. lam in the midst of a blaze ot" kerosene lamps which illumines in a powerful degree the entire length and breadth of the Arcade. I am in a Babel of noise, excitement and confusion, and am astounded. Nothing h definite or defined. My ears are saluted with every kind of sound. I corkscrew my way through the mob until I reach a part of the Arcade barriealed with men, women, and boys, in closest i compact, listening with evident satisfaction to a dealer selling his wares, which from their heterogeneous nature and character, must have been brought from parts of the globe not geneni"y i known to ordinary mortals. The dealer is ad- j ding to the attraction of his stand by playing a | popular time on the seraphine, while a youth, apparently son and heir, is desiring all about him to" wake up, wake up,"and m-.ike a fortune, which fortune he intimated in broad AngloSaxon, was only procurable by the purchase of a file, four boxes of wax matches, a wooden spoon, Britannia ditto, aud a razor strop for one and six. I passed on until I came to quite an original advertiser, who appeared to be striving for a livelihood by mean? of a small galvanic battery, in the basin of which he had deposited a lialf-sovereign, aud then daring innocent people to take it out, which, if they succeeded, might unconditionally all be devoted to his or her own individual use, for the small charge of sixpence paid down before making the attempt. ; I did not try the experiment myself, but saw several who did. The sixpences were sacrificed, but the half-sovereign remained intact. The man who can induce people to pay for receiving an electric shock must be a genius of no mean order ; this I asseit without any fear of contradiction. Squeezing through the crowd as I best could, I was almost immediately stopped by a gathering of persons still more "dense and compact than the last, attending an al fresco auction sale. It was not an English auction, where articles are knocked down to the highest bidders, nor a Dutch auction where they lauded into the possession of the lowest ; but an auction said to be peculiar only to Farley's Arcade. The auctioneer and his deputy were busily engaged putting up a lot "when I came up. " Here you are now, there's no mistake—a pocketknife, cost half-a-crown, a medal of the Prince of Wales, now on his way out here on a tour of inspection to the gold-liclds. Well, these two are

djrt cheap at three-and-ssx. Who says a shilling?" Ao one did say a shilling, and the auctioneer protested to feel surprised, although it struck me from his manner that this was hardly the case. " Well then if you won't give a shilling for the Prince of Wale.*, if only for therespcotyou bear him and the trouble he is taking to come here, and a fourbladed half-crown knife, will you take the two at a_ bob, and I'll throw in a pair of braces worth eighteen-pence, a silver pencil case worth fifteen shillings, six penholders, a packet of envelopes winch you would have to pay onc-ind-thrce for in any shop in town. Won't" you take the lot at a shilling?" A pause. " What, not at a shilling? Understand 1 don't mean a pr'nea nor a half sovereign nor a crown, nor a shilling eich. There's the whole boiling,—the Prince of "Wales, a four bladcd pen and tobacco knife, a pair of braces, silver pencil case, six holders, packet of tnve'opcs and a sheetjof sandpaper, all for twelvepei'.cc, or two sixpences, or four threepenny bits. Anyhow and any way pleases me if it suits'you." There really did seem a great deal here for the money; and so thought a sma" youth, for he squeezed through the crowd, and dropping his shilling on the board, obtained possession of the go^ds. To what account lie would be able to turn such a miscellaneous stock, must no doubt have become a source of much anxiety and trouble to him. The gale at this period is suddenly postponed in consequi nee of a crier, with a big bell, which he rings passionately, with great vehemence announcing Tom Fawcutt's entertainment at the Commercial; while another crier, with a still bigger bell, proclaims, in a stentorian voice, the bill of faro at the Theatre Royal. The din of voices and clashing interests, becomes almost intolerable. It is now nine o'clock, and the Arcade^ is more thronged than it was an hour ago. There is Hub room to move and none to promenade wiih case an 1 comfort. The shops are all, however, doing a good stroke of business. Oyster saloons are crowded; so are the fruit and vegetable establishments. Cigar shops exhale clou is of tobacco smoke from the doors. The porkpie shop is crammed, and the grocers and general storekeepers a" driving a. roaring trade, with females chit-fly. The chemists' shops appear to thrive mostc\sped:i!lyo:i Saturday nights. People accept of Sun lay to put themselves a" to rights in matters medical. Ten o'clock, and the Arcade thins s Jinewhat. The oyster saloons and cafes are btl'l filled and busy ; the cigar-shops are not idle, but the drapers, grocers, fruiterers, and vegetable dealers, may reckon up their day's takings, f..i- the trade is gone for the night. "Eleven, and all is quiet. There are a few pass along, most of whom wa'k unsteadily. After eleven o'clock at night the Arcade is remarked for being very slippery. I have heard this from several persons ; more frequently from young men who arc partial to whisky hot. Twelve o'clock, and the Arcade reposes solemnly in calm and quietude, as ii quite exhausted with "the efforts it has made to ket-p up trade and appearances du-in" the previous fourteen hours.