DRAUGHT ITEMS.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 239, 28 January 1888, Page 2

DRAUGHT ITEMS.

0. E. Hugo.

The dhampion, Mr J. Wyllie, has played [ 2,070 games in Otago, winning 1,942> ' drawn 123, lost 5— a truly marvellous record. Tournky at New Yokk. —An " allround" tournament of the club member's has been arranged, and play commenced jon September 24th. Twenty-six members have entered ; four games are to be played between each and every player, and playto be closed early this month. Twentyfive cents is the fee paid on entering the tournament, which, together with subscriptions, has made the fund of about 25 dollars to be played for. The player' scoring the greatest number of points takes 50 per cent, of the whole amount, the, second best 30 per cent., and the third 2(> per cent Much interest is taken in the play, and it now looks as if each would finish his score before the day set to close, the tournament. At latest advices Messrs* Schrefer, Clonser, Deireest, and Coakley led in the order named, and are the probable winners. Ourselves as Otheks See Us.— The " Leader " has good cause to think opinions differ. It states that Mr J. P. Reed, of Pittsburgh and Mr J. Hill, of Providence, assert that Barker can beat any English player ; while on the other hand, Wyllie, the champion, states that either Smith or Gardner can beat any player in America. The only inference to be drawn from this is that, since Wyllie, the champion, failed to , win off Barker, and losb to Freeman, Smith and Gardner can beat the world 1— '•Turf, Field, and Farm." Mb. Hill " Rises to Explain."— Mr Hill, of Providence, writes to' the "Turf":-—,. «' Your item in last issue would lead one, to believe that, during .my recent visit to - Englond, I had played with the leading,, players, whereas I only played one game each with Gardner and Strickland, three with'Goodall, and one at Manchester. That> is nothing to base an opinion on. I simply • give it as my opinion that Barker will boat t v the best man they can put up against him, ,t, t and I have doubts of ''Mr Martins being tb.e •one." Pretty cool of Mr Hill ; he states he met> only our players, and yet repeats' Ms... assertion that .Barker can beat any draughtplayer in Great Britain . „ v .^$ ThePittsburg " life," in commenting on the late match tor the American champion- J ship, states:— "lt ia> a > pleasure ; to: see?»; (Barker play. His J t>ositAoa,ab»bh& board &■£ 'graceful. He is cool, , calm, collected, aria^ caubious,equal to any andeVery emergency,. r •'and if Mr Martins succeeds in making*** anatch with' him 'he 'will me"et> a > gentlemen'^ l and a king sbai*..o;£ ,the/o^kiers.ele^aMl 'Reed 'must not letjtHis^defeftt^^cquraga # "him bub loti i 3 acti as. an ihfientivef tp greater efforts." < • ' ->•'-">- *>^ v . iIV - -'"*

1 .,' /.' - , u/vC v»^? 1 . *•**.*#« «>^i('*ri *BB* d | A",conntvy s-fiape s -fiaper f say^ f m^o})jt^w JtV)r »"'Mv'X. was T an. estimable citizen., » upright^ ; rfete% | ?s%nation ; ho had been-'rebeWy^fafciw^*^*

latest Impressions of Melbourne.

By Dr. Cameron Leks.

Soon after the steamer got under weigh, Dr. Cameron Lees sat clown to record his •«< last impressions " of the country and tho people to which he had bade farewell. These impressions he has transmitted Home as follows :— After four months' residence in Mel•bourne, my impressions in leaving are very much those which I formed on my arrival. The longer one lives there the more one is struck with the vastness of the place — with the magnificence of its public buildings and the beauty of its suburbs, stretching away in every direction. The public institutions of the city are very much those of other great centres of population. There is a splendid and well-managed hospital, and there are other benevolent institutions, which seem carried on with the support and confidence of the people. The stranger naturally finds himself at . an eai'ly period of his stay at the Houses of Parliament. These are at present undergoing repair, but when completed they will foim an imposing pile, cased in marble. The Upper House meets in a very elegant apartment, and is presided over by a wellknown and much-esteemed Scotsman, Sir James Macßain. Its debates are of a- very quiet character, and solemn as befits a ■colonial House of Lords. There are no " scenes " there, and anything in the shape of fun is rigidly suppressed. To get that •one has to go to the Lower House or Legislative Assembly. The members of this branch of the Constitution are all paid. For a time, many of them were of no great .standing or weight in society ; a large number were commercial travellers, who found the railway passes with which memobers are provided highly convenient for the pushing of their business, and who, when nob engaged in their legislative duties, travelled about with their samples at the cost of the country. The class from which the members are now drawn is slightly higher, but there is still room for improvement. Many of them are what are called " Boss Cockies " (or small farmers), village shopkeepers, and petty solicitor*, and each seems to make it the great object of his Parliamentary life to get all he can for the •district he represents.

iThe Young Australian. The people are very polite and civil to strangers. I have often had to ask my way, and always received a courteous reply, The " larrikin " of Melbourne is much spoken of, but roughness and incivility are exceptions to the general rule. I have never met with any. The working classes seemed to me grave in their demeanour. Even atholiday time they take their pleasures seriously. At the great Melbourne .agricultural show, which was visited by thousands, I saw little fun going on. Lads •and lasses were there in plenty, but they went about as grave as if they were going to church. I saw no drunkenness. The young Australians are .specially a sober people. Perhaps th© climate will not allow them to be anything «lse, but the fact remains. In the city are ■enormous coffee palaces, which are largely patronised. The better classes strike me as particularly gentle in their manners. Many of them have risen to affluence from very humble beginnings, but there is about them no trace of the vulgarity and insolence which -at Home so frequently distinguishes those who have rushed up like mushrooms. Many of the early settlers were m«n of culture and good breeding, and their influence has been very great in the community. Sometimes in the young Australian there is a tendency to " bounce," but so many of them now go "home" and Bee the world that this is rare, though one does occasionally meet it. The old settleis seem to me stronger men, physically and mentally, than their sons. The latter, compared with their stalwart fathers, are .slightly weedy, and often affect a masher type in not altogether good form. Those who made the money are here, as elsewhere, robuster men' than their children, who have little to do but spend- it. I think more of the Australian girl than the Australian boy. She is charming in manner, and has a frankness and absence of prudery that ore very taking. The beauties, as a rule, are pale in complexion and slight in ■figure — much given to lawn tennis and to riding. A special Australian accent is distinctly emerging. It is not disagreeable to listen to, and though slightly nasal, is not American. It shows itself in such words ■aa town, pronounced te-own ; cow, pronounced ce-ow ; and railway, pronounced ril-way. In a few years an Australian language will be fully formulated.

Stories of the Old Days. Though the country itself is by no means romantic, the lives of many of its inhabitants have been so. I have listened with wonder — not, I confess, sometimes unmixed with doubt— to the most extraordinary stories of the fortunes and misfortunes of men ; of millionaire's who have made lucky speculations in mines, and aquatters whose flocks and herds are countless. The careers of some of those that one meets have been stranger than anything pourtrayed in fiction. I have heard of a man strolling into a land sale without a penny in his pocket, buying recklessly, selling next day afc an immense profit, and so laying the foundation of a great fortune ; of a shoeblack in a hotel who invested his savings in silver-mine shares when they were at a low ebb, and who now is a large landowner and silver king. Such tales are constantly related for the regalement of the traveller. I was pointed out an old gentleman who as a boy ran away from his home in Dundee to see King George IV. land at Leith. Afraid to return to his parents, he took service as a boy on board a ship, came to the colony, subsequently wen tHorne, purchased the very vessel that brought His Majesty to Scotland, and sailed her out with a freight of goods, from which he made such a profit that he iras able to buy land, and is now a wealthy man. Men who have been long in the colony are also fond of telling their adventures in the olden time. " IVe swam, sir, fche Murray holding on to my horse's tail." ** I've lain flat on a plain in a thunderstorm, .sir, and felt my hair all standing on end with the electricity streaming through it." "I heard of some land on the Billybong that -was given up because of the blacks. I went down there with a bullock-dray and :fcook up the station, held my ovrn, and here I am." One gets rather tired at times of this sorb of thing ; also of endless talk ■about sheop, four-tooth rams, Btore cattle, And fats. Yet, with all, the people are interesting and the bores are few, though the few are very bad.

An editor .thus advertises his missing hat :— " Tho gentleman who inadvertently took our new beaver and left an inferior article in its stead, will do us infinite kindness sinieturning ours, and he shall receive our 'warmest thanks and two apologies— an apology for the trouble we have given him and the apology for the hat he has left us."