TALK ABOUT TOWN.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 2, Issue 77, 22 March 1879, Page 2

TALK ABOUT TOWN.

' 'there's a duel among ye tnkin' notes. And faith he'll :>rent them." A NEXT l'"l UJSTAFF? I was strolling along the beach on o:,r day this week on no particular thoughts intent., and engaged in the very unsatis tVtoiv i mploymeht of killing time, when it occurred to me that the minute examination of 'he particular characteristic of th • thirteen flagstaff's which in- to be met vjill between Mulinnu and Uatautu «o»ld, if not "a particularly clieerf id and profitable pastime, at any rate assist me in inv murderous design. So I sat down in view of one of these flagstaffsand with a fjii>e m .i:\ mouth, calmly contemplated the uijeci, hearirjg nothing, thinking nothing biii flagstaff until 1 had worked myself iiuo a proper humour and right truin .' F thought in which to pursue mv investigations r.ud study of Samoa flagstaffs. Whether it, is owing to the nature of the soii 1 the climate, or to the intense loyalty >'* foreign residents to then- respective rulers and countries I will not hazard nu opinion, but simply remark iliac, whateve. the cause, flagstaffs here are prolific, the Germans contributing the largest proportion. On'one sports tae Steinberger-Snmban Hag. one HTeligolandor— a puzzling flag to most strangers,—one Sppnish, three Ainericail, two English e.iii five Herman Hags, all within a distance of two miles. The question resolved itself in my mind whether there were nore llugstaffs tbap ooooanut trees on the I each, but after oatcuhitiiig auoorci.ag to Cocker; 1 had to decide in favour of die trees. Having worked myself int. .. *it and proper flagstaff state of nui; l I made my way to Midinuu. intending to commence my observations there, end work my way back to Matautu On my waj thither, being duly absorbed with my subject, and seeing and hearing nothing beyond, 1 uncousjiuusiy ran against a Sainoan youth who, it afterwards transpired, was in the act of pruetising the art of balancing a heavily-laden dinner iray on the crown of his head, walking rapidly tit the same time. Not, beh'li( one of those clever little performing •Japanese who visit the colonies ocoasionaUv he dicli.'t find the task very e.isy ..;' iioi! tfli", !.sunu«iit, conse-qu-.utiy when we I upset all his Cal -ulati i.-is :u aj'ffy a.)d neariy sent the dinner t;ay and us contents to grief. While recovering his balance, which eye. witnesses affirm was done in a very creditable, niniiner, he growled out, " Now then, where are you going to !' In my abstraction 1 meekly replied Flagstaff's, aha passed on. The flagstaff a,t iluliuuu undoubtedly broke its heart on the ignominious depo/ture from these shores of its principal patron " tho ( 'olouel;" and it gradually sank iutno decline ■ whioh, despite the efforts of the MsJo to chock it, culminule.d in » galloping oousumption, ana it weut -ft' like snuff i a candle mi the 4th inst it never held up its head after" the Colonel's departure, and though the Malo,. with the auiatanee of Uuiioral bartlett, may in a measure 'resurrect" it. T can iifver ngnin imagine it to be the same proud, vainglorious, arrognut flagsuilf that it'was in Stoinberger's days. The flagstaff at die Im tor». Ib the most Miinst.ntuil and bjudsonie one on the l..*n , but its hj „ltl, ti - idf'illy ut'Vrt.d jertaps !>y tlin long . .viliniUlitlH' "f VKt., lllll'il' »e»'lr'- Oa approaching this fliigstnf 1 uoticuu that it'looked sick, and was

dwurfed iii ap|wuruu -e, and after cuutem | plating it for some time I discovered tha: its top-mart had been .struck, and it.- I plaos teuiporurily occupied by a dissi-1 pated bit of a stick This decapitation not only destroy* the look of the Hagstaff but has evidently a'.'ected its spirits ; < for on my explaining my errand and pai .• ically inquiring the reason of its disligui cm nt. thi- stat)° did not favour me with a reply. It cither did not know ; or its feelings were so deeply wounded tint, it refused to discuss the matter with an impudent inqus'itive idler. I am inclined to believe that this is the real reason why it preserved a dignified silence. I stopped next at the British Consulate, hut 1 noticed something so peculiar about this flagstaff—which, by the way, is anything but an imposing one —that I made up my mind to rot urn at the close of my investigations. Then comes a Helligolauder and a German side by side, and a little farther on another German and an American are next dour neighbours, the latter flagstaff being, especially for an American, particularly modest and retiring It looks as if it had stuck its head and neck out of the window to take an obsen ation, and hadn't made up its mind whether it shouldj fully emerge and oxpose itself to {he rude gaze of passers bye, or hlushingly withdraw altogether frompublic view. After a great expenditure of my persuasive powers the bashful flagstaff rather reluctantly informed me that its proprietor Mas not,a born American—a " full" American, to use its own phrase —and that was the reasoji, it presumed, that it was not a full grown flagstaff. Again a little further on is a Spaniard and an American side by side, about the same height, and in apparently good health. They are elegant and substantial looking, and don't bear any outward visible sign of sickness or decay, though it is astonishing how soon, in this climate, a flagstaff becomes more or less afflicted with " foot-rot." That one in front of il»' old Samoa Hotel—now a private residence—is evidently suffering from this disease, as well as a general breaking up of the system hastened on by continued and heartless neglect on the part of the late proprietors. Crossing over the liver we come to a British stick at the Pacific Hotel, whoso proprietor being a thorough Britisher looks after the welfare of his flagstaff winch, in answer to my inquires cheerfully answered, " All's well." The thirteenth and last flagstaff is the one at the new (lerman firm, whose only peculiarity is its particularly Pecksuittian pride in refusing to hoist its flag on any occasion save on which its house is specially ci n re:nil. On my return I stop at the American Consulate to take a long contemplative view of that flagstaff, for truly thereby hangs a tale. It is looked upon, without a single exception by its fellow flagstaff's as a martyr, and therefore deserves more than a brief passing notice. I sat down at the foot of the flagstaff, and commenced to interrogate it in my most persuasive manner. I found it, however, exceedingly ill-tem-pered ami of a decidedly morose disposition ; but I attributed this to the long life of misery it bad led, and therefore put forth my best exertions to conciliate the sullen thing. When I first asked it, in the mi s; delicate manner possible, to tell me. the story of its life, it replied, •' Story ! God bless you • I have none to tell, sir " I knew better, and did not intend ro lie put off in this cavalier fashion ; so by dint of persuasion, by threats and by bribes, i* told me in a disjointed, disconnected jerky manner, the following story :—' As near as I can calculate I am between six and seven years old. I don't know where 1 was born, or who were my parents- -If I had any. I have always been under the conviction that " I never bad a father, and I never had a brother; I never had a sister, and I never had a mother; -in fact I'm nobody's child !" The more I think about it, the nioro I am convinced that this is the truth, and my life is very unhappy in consequence. I have always served in the capacity of Consular flagstaff; and have, during my chequered life, served both America and England. Mr first master was Mr. Coe, and for some time I stood flag-bearer opposite his house at Matnutu Point After n while I was taken up. without so inuoli as " with your leave," or " by your leave " by Mr Foster and his kanaka myrmidons and landed in Muttit'oky opposite the house in which General Bartlett now resides. I hail scarcely become accustomed to my now residence and master, when Griffin came around and said I belonged to him. I was thereupon removed to Apia, where you see me now, but they wouldn't let me rest Griffin went to the States, and as the Vice-Consul, Mr.- Parker, had a flagstaff of his own, I was out of commission. So I crawled up from Apia und lay me down in Mr. Parker's yard, where I had a good sleep for some months until disturbed by Colmesnil, who stuck me up, for a second time, where the General now lives He hadn't been my " boss " long, before Griffin came buck in a great Inn i'v and housted Colmesnil. I never liked Griffin, and never eujoyod such a hearty laugh in the whole course of my life as on the day when my master,seated i in his official chair, was carried bodily out of the house and set down in the road by some of his particular friends. As Griffin went to five amongst his native friends at Muliuuu Point, I was' out of commission again for a sh.irt time, when Mr Liardct, the British Consul, bought me or bori-owed me, and took me a few stepH further on to his residence. Hero I I s 'rved for a brief period, three British Consuls, the gentleman just named. M". j Miiudslay Mtid Mr. Hwnustoa. When ! tb" latter g-ntlemaii rttnOVtd he loft ine behind, and I was once more takoti jkisseasion of by Griffin. When Mr. Dawsou

i.lusted (irirtin, he removed me again to Vpia, and, I hoar, in a few day's tun.- I <hall be again shifted u few hundred yards in the direction of tlie big river j with the rest of my master's goJds and cluittcls. I put it tu you, sir, whether you think any other flagstaff was ever so j tossed on "a sea of troubles " as I have j been. My nerves are shattered, my I growth was prematurely stopped, and my health is considerably impaired through the constant shifting*, and rough treatment I have always received on those occasions. When I was last removed from Matafele several feet of my lower limb were rudely broken off by the careless kanakas, who only laughed when I expostulated with them and said they would have so much less of me to carry. These, loppings, occurring, as they do, about every six months, have a most destructive effect; and 1 suppose I shall lose some more of myself when I am moved again in a few day's time to my master's new residence. It is well for me lam not in a civilised country, else I should long ago have been arrested by the police, and charged with being a vagrant having no fixed place of abode. It is some satisfaction to know that these removals have not been accomplished without considerable expense to the American Government, as each shift costs from sls to $25. I am also U>ld that when Colmesnil and Mamca where iu Washington, several pei-sons asked if I were still alive, and if so, what was the state of my health. One gentleman, more inquisitive than the rest, asked when 1 was to be shifted again. He evidently thinks it great fun, especially as the expense does not come directly out of his pocket; but I think lie would tind the actual moving not such great fun after all. I don't; and I think I'm made of harder stuff than he." The flagstaff having' no more to tell me, I did a little sympathy with him, shed a consolatory tear, and proeeedod to tho British C'onsuI late, It is evident that this flagstaff,— although, as I remarked before, it is not i an imposing one and scarcely worthy the fFlag it is so proud to bear—does not inj tend to bo treated in a similar manner to ! the one whose sorrows I have just reI counted.

" Tis strange, but true ; for trutb is always strange; Stranger than fiction," And the fact is that this veritable flagstaff has TAKEN' BOOT and is growing; every day getting a firmer hold of its position, which it evidently does not intend to relinquish without a struggle. It is, to say the least of it, a singular phenomenon in connection with flagstaff's ; and 1 was prompted to ask this peculiar staff if 1 was to look upon the fact of it having taken root as a case in which "coining events cast their shadows before '." It did not reply, but smiled strangely, leaving me to interpret its meaning if 1 could. I silt in contemplation for a long while, but as I could not satisfactorily resolve the question in my own mind, and my cigar being finished, I left the spot'as I leave the question for abler men than I to decide.

On Wednesday last General Bartlett received Ins commission from the Samoan " Government ?" at Mulinuu Point, aud took the oath of office. The announcement, brief as it is, is a significant fact full of meaning to thofe who have hitherto taken any interest in Samoa politics. Some seers of the Lochiel school, with bolder theories ami 'more advanced views than the rest even affirm that tho scone which was enacted at Mulinuu, on Wednesday, was in reality the " beginning of the end " of Samoa self-government, and independence, How far they are justified in holding these views the course of future events and tiino will shortly show. I suppose it is the proper thing to congratulate the General upon his installation to office ; especially as it is an event which -has taken more than eight weary months' working and waiting to reduce to an actual fact, and which, during that time, has given rise to more speculative surmises and contradictory rumours, pledges and broken faiths, than any other in the political history of Samoa. As I was not able to be present at the interesting ceremony of " tanto " myself J nui fain to wait for the report of tho proceedings in to-moiTow's (Saturday) newspaper. I hear the General has opened an office at Mulinuu, where he is to bo seen in his official capacity, iiy the way, cin any of my readers inform me what is his oifiuiul title '. As lam unable to get as far as Mulinuu at present, perhaps the General will kindly accept fi-om me all the customary congratulations by this, my proxy. Cvkil. [We have been compelled to hold over Cyril's " Talk" on " Ireland's Patron Saint.—Ed. S. T.]