TALK ABOUT TOWN.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 55, 19 October 1878, Page 2

TALK ABOUT TOWN.

" There's a chiiil amaug ye tnltia' notes, And faith he'll prent thorn." " General Bortlett and his household troops were 'surprised' at <> o'clook on Thursday morning last. The surprise party however retreated after halt-an-hour's action it) front of the fJoitcral's citadel, with.mt having made any impression upon either tho fortress or its in- < mates." 1 'lint wob the startling and somewhat puzzling despatch I received by pigeon post soon after breakfast on Thursday, After making several inquiries about town, I am able to translate the enigmatical eotnmunication. It appears that the surprise party was the band of tho German war-ship " Arintlno" who osmt nshoro and played .■. li lion

of musk in front of Genet*! RaitlcUrotklsnce. it wai rather an early h<>ur for even a "morning" concert; but the music attracted a large crowd, and ma evidently appreciated, the only fault that they did not stop long enough. ••Suum Cuiquo" doubtless oan "sling ink, he can"; but when he {penned that ittack upon the British Consul and the Editor of the Samoa Times last week, he was evidently under the influence of lemon syrup, raspberry, peppermint water or some such other noft stuff. Under the oircumstnncc, and wishing to impress the public with tho idea that be is a Kit in scholar, what could be more natural than that ho should adopt the trade mark motto of Storkcy, the Sydney manufacturer of lemonade and cordials. Every time I take ray gin and bitters with a dash of Starkcy'a lemon syrup in it, I cast my left eye over the"label on tho liottle, and, reading, think of "Suum Cuique," Whilo I was writing tho previous paragraph, I noticed an elderly cockroach, of a gouty appearance, evidently induced by high living,—-perhaps through a long course of feeding on the bindings of my books, which bear strong evidence of having suffered from the attacks of these pests,—coolly and in the most dignified manner possible, marching across my writing paper. Ho waa evidently of an enquiring turn of mind, for bo rambled over my scribble as though be were trying to find what it was all about. Many times I drove him away, only to return again, until annoyed at bis persistent attempts to overlook my copy, I squashed him. lie was one of the old standard kind of cockroaches who infest newspaper offices, and want to know everything before the papier is published. I have heard of one who was in the habit of visiting tho sub-editor of a country paper while he was engaged with his scissors and paste. One evening this cockroach was seen to rise up over the top of the mucilage bottle and gravely inc|iiirc if there were any new discoveries at Mycenae. This was too much for the subeditor, and the impudent querist died immediately afterwards. I was always under the impression that llttss is about the most difficult language extant to pronounce But, ii seems, if the New York Herald is to bo be believed, that some of the AmoricanIndian names of places are fatal staggerers even for a Russian. That journal .-ays that a little while ago, a Russian duke visited New York, and was talking with a prominent citizen about the great beauties of the country. Thus said the citizen : " I went to Skanatoles across the Shawangnnck mountains; I came back by tho way of Chautagua, Consoholiocken, Susquehanna, Wissahikon, and Cattaraugus, but I found no scenery to equal that around Passack, Pequanae, Hackensack, Sucasuma, Packanack, lloppatcoug and Ackuackanonk." The Russian looked in amazement at the utterer of these simple words, gasped "vitch," and died calmly. Is this so, or is it one of the Herald's a goaks '." Cvp.il.