TALK ABOUT TOWN.

Samoa Times and South Sea Gazette, Volume 3, Issue 114, 6 December 1879, Page 2

TALK ABOUT TOWN.

* " There's a chiol umung ye takin' notes, Anil faith he'll nrcnt them." i , Wiikuk's tih: I)k\h Man - ? There is always soruo one very ready i to pick a bole in a policeman's coat, and i our little town of Apia is no exception to tho rule. These busy-bodies and fault- ' finders, ton, are invariably people who do not contribute a red-cent towards the support of tho force, —who, as houeehol- ■ ders and shopkeepers demand their proi tection and in every way share, with i those who do pay, tho peace and order i which is so ably kept by our local police. As an instance of this meddlesome spirit ■ with whioh certain individuals are posi sessed, a case occurred on Saturday night last. The native muster of the" cutter Savalalo—rnoro popularly known as the 1 Roaring Gimlet—was arrested with a ' bottle of gin in his possession. While being interrogated by tho Chief of Police as to where ho had obtained it, h6 snd- ■ denly made a dash into the bush at the back of Mr. Dean's premises. The two • Rarotoga policemen gave chase, and the ' youngest soon came up to his man who i wheeled and delivered a blow in the face of the officer which, for a few seconds, was a complete staggerer, and ran off again. Chase was resumed, and both the police got up to their man ou tho beach near the Catholic Church. He again showed tight, and violently resisted his capture, when the police gave him tho benefit of their whips, and finally induced him to go to llvan's hotel. While struggling with him, philanthropic busv body—thank goodness we only have two or three, and they are well" known,— ■ sang out. What are you beating that man for >. They knew the sweet voice of the charmer, and replied they were policemen trying to got their prisoner to the ■ lock-up. Whether the gentleman wont home then, or whether h* went to the American Consul to have out his little tittle-tattle before retiring to his virtuois conch, I nm at present unable to say. ft becomes a really serious matter when a report is given to a Consul of such a colour as to lead him to suppose that the police had committed murder or manslaughter, as was evidently the case in this matter, because tbc American Consul, early on Sunday .nornin" met ono of the police and anxiously on° quired where tho dead man was that the police had killed ! Tho perpetrator of the rejmrt may think it a good joke, and a good night-cap to an evening s[>ent at a farewell meeting to Dr. Turner, but I think he will hold that opinion singlehanded. Our police deserve our respect, assistance and sympathy; and poople who carry such cock-and'-bull stories to the Consuls, ought to be reprimanded bv i them for wantonly creatiug mischief and maliciously attempting to destroy the i present credit of tho Force. The Saiooi.MASTKit Aiiroau. The Consuls have beon pretty well deluged with complaints from those white men who have surl'ered from tho depredations of tho natives during the war. Some of them I guess are curiosi- i ties, and ought to be framed and care- i fully preserved in tho archives of their respective Consulates. I saw one the other day written, by a recent arrival, on behalf of a very old resident, of this ! place which wasa decided curio, writton on a.sheet of ruled note paper, and minus ' the name of the Consul to whom it was ' supposed to lie addressed. The spoiling * was unique, as the following specimens ' will show. "Apleoation for dammages. ! Whereas the undeineighned claiuies," &c 'Coconuts, bredfruit* At tho oonclu. ] sion of this original dooumont comes the ! signature of the claimant, undomeatl. which the schoolmaster abroad has writ- • ton "Soighend Claimant." That's bad }' enough, but when this nowly imported geuius undertakes to make out oeroo- S munts, deeds, A 0.,-0 Heavens! ' l Cyril v