TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Te Aroha News, Volume V, Issue 254, 11 April 1888, Page 3

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

Lonhon, February 10. Thl session of Parliament which opened yesterday will probably be the .stormiest, ever known. The eomiction.s under the Crunch Act lm\e lashed the P.irnelhtos into almost, uncontrollable fury, and the debate on "Sly Balfour's recent- avi ion - more especially with legard Lo the prosoeution of the tv opi ie-t Is sine to he hi«;hh m'".> itional. i need teateely M»y Iml end to heai part of it.

Tho King of the Forgers. The " Kin? of tho Fomer.-."" a- Mr Ralph Cooper i* called lneummal -ocioty, -conn to be a vosruc ot extraordinary ability Since he reached the auo ot 18 tulh halt his time ha- been spent m pn-on, \it he ha- nevertheless eomaiitted moie Micee—!ul crime? of a -ort than any man liwnir. Vhen captured on Sunday wed; ho had been at lame tor the year-, ami w.is "wanted" tor a a hole <umh> ot dilleiont toig-encs. The perieclion ot Cooper- ait is 'that on no occa-ion ha\e hi* torjred cheque* boon Mi-peeted b* the bank tel ei> Mhen presented tcr paunent. In the ea*e of Goodall and Co . who aic a^-i-tm,j, the London and Wi\-tmiiK-tei Hank to mo-e-cute Cooper for toruinu a cheque tor 1'3,b70, the fellow forced, not meiel\ tiie pivtner* name, but a lithographed m»iwlure ''Foi Goodall and Co. winch it on all their cheques royethei wuh i })ortouued pmate maik used to t-n-uie -count > . He al?o changed the numbei ot I Ik- cheqvu- m order to muU u appeal to ha\o been t.nn trom the book I— ued by the iunk to (roodall".- Tho whole ot il.c-e alei.U^n\\ere ;?o jiei fectls done that e\ en (u)odall> cleik at hr-t -caieeb. ilared to di-claiin the cheque. Coopoi - rnoai'^ n}» ,ii>ni'r >cldotn \anot. Havinu Piopaied the toiled cheque head\eiti-e- tor a olei'.^ application ot coulee, to be b\ lottei The -elected youth i;- told to call at the ad\ eiti-ei - room?. He 'and- hi;- new nia-n-i hin<j,iu.i darkened chamber \er\ ill In the i.i-t, oi the LoiHon and We-tnun-tei \W\A toi;j;ei\ the clerk, a -Mi Louunoic. went to the Lanirham Hotel Mr Sloan \the ad\ ci ti-oi ) told him hi- te-tuuouial- wote -at^t.ieton , and <o»it him to ca-h the cheqiu toi L' 3.570. It there -hould be am in— about the laiirene&s of the amount. Loimnei »<i- to hand in a lettei Mom j:a\e him. l>ut theiewauo tu-s. The tellei paid o\ei the amount at once, and Loiumci took it to pooi Mi Sloan, \sho.-c ncmalgia had become -o much woite that hi- lai c w..- -uathed in handaces-. bloanu"aNe the lad a-cn.>iei_;n on account of -alai\. and dt-ini— ed linn for the day. 1U ne\ei -a\v hi- cnatic . patron airain till lie taocd him in dot u. Cooper had. of eom-e, cilculated on the darkness and the bandaue- making it mi possible tor Louimer to ident)t\ him. Hut tae clerk had -liaip eye-. He -woie to recoirni-inu tlie uppei juit ot Slo.in -. aba- | Coopei'.-. face, w Inch had not been muHled up.

A Father Mulctea for Libelling his Daughter. | One ought not, t -u.'Po-e, tnwondei at Jim thing noN\ada\>. Still, it doe- -ounct -trance— to say the ka-t ot it— to h»\n A a father being' m dieted i'2so daniag.es. toi libelling hi> "" ia\ounte daughur. Mr Stokes is a wealthy contiactor, In ins at Brighton, wheie his. wife and -ewialgun\ uup children ul-=o le-ide. Foi thnt\ \eaithe hu-band and wiie -eem io ha\e h\c<l happily together. Then trouiile hegan .MriStolces &a\- he r-onld stand hi- taimh - tyranin no longer, .Mr- >toke-? deelaunl the iovv commenced tlnnu^h Mr Stoketaking a lady ot flexible ethn -. to the " Cohndie-. Am how. theie \\<i-a -cpuation the -on ,md d.uj'jhteis sium^ \uth tlie niothei. Fiom that time the bittei techno between the paine- -eem- to ha\e in created. Mr Stoke- coiiipUuned to c\ei%one that he h.vl been lobbed b\ hi? children. Doubtle— he nieanl ncthinL r ,-erious, but Mrs Stokes longed for re\».-nue and uiged her daughtei to In mcr an action ior libel against her fathei. damage- C 5.000. The expectation in < omt was that the i u t \ would award Mu-« Stoke- one fai thing, and the verdict ot 1)250 cau-ed intense &urpri-e. The judsre openly e\ pi es-fd himteli a-toni a hed, and lefu-ed no-t-. He t d-o allowed Mr Stoke? a month m wine!: to appl} for a new tual.

A Not>le Peer. A lhely '"scandal in hi_;h lire ' has arisen thiou^h Lord Howard I)e Waldon. uhom tv, o medical men have had icpeatedlv to re-tiain from fore in cr hi>s \wi\ roaring 1 drunk into his wire * room whilst the lies dan^eiou-ly ill with j)eritonict-^. On Thursday e\enin'j- .Major Huirou-, Lrch Howard's brother, found himself obliged to knock hi^ \\ o- thy brother-in-lau down to get him -out of the hou-e. Loid How aid screamed " Police," and Mapr Butnnv-, to save trouble, allowed him=e!f to be taken into custody. Xe\t mornnij; Loid Howaul failed to pufc m an appearance, and Mr Partridge (the magi-trale) practically dismi«-ed the charge of assault.

Tbe Duke of Edinburgh's Parsimony The Duke of Edinbm^h, who-e graspincr mi^eiline-^ ,-eem- to increase n&lie«nous older, ha:> lu-^t cau-ec! a lot of ill-feeling in Kent by withdrawing his annual <-ul>cnptiou to the Canteibur> Hospital. The Governor- natuially thon»h H.R.H. tnu^t be displca-ed or offeiuUd at lometliiiifi, and applied in consternation for an explanation, but the Duke said no. Fie \\a^ f-imply curtailing unnuce— <iry expet^e^. The Governors, thereupon s-tiuek H.R,. H. "s name off the li->t of patron-^ and forwarded parfcicularft of the occurrence to tho local papers. Henceforward it may safely be •»aid the Queen V second hon -w ill ha\e little honour in his own country

Death of "Pete" Wilkinson. The death of Mr " Pete " Wilkinson removes from the another piominent member of the Hastings, clique. He was the young Manjuis' 1 - most int. mate friend, and shared alike his good and ill foi tune. But toi 1 the accident ol little Lecturer having been entei'ed lor the Ce^arewitcb oi 1866 in "Pete's name Hie gigantic m'tji which k-ft the rin« C 160,000 pooler could novel have been brought ott. When Lecturer s excellence \vt>~, di^co\ered all Lord Ha-stingfc' hoites had been shuck out of the lace. Consternation prevailed at Danebury till " Pete' ob'-ened, " But I enteied Lectuier, Harry." Forthwith a le\iathan commission was sent out. Twenty-h've runners came to the ])Ost, Lecturer dialling at 12 to 1. The rinn; was not left long in doubt ab to the issue. The "little 'im "' held a good ponition throughout, and pacing Lothario in the dip won rather easily by a length and a-half. Fortune smiled on Lord Habting.s that autumn. Even the two-year-old Hermit, again.st which he had laid such vast &vms for next year's Derby, went (it was thought) irrepaiably wrong. "I shall never have another ftiend like Harry Hastings," said Pete Wilkinson two years later— and he never had.

The -Judge and the paribh priest were dining at a friends hou&b, when the conversation turned on the custom of kissing under the mistletoe. The Judge was appealed to as to the origin of the custom. 'Oh,' said he, 'Father H here knows more about that sort of thing than I do.' ' Yes,' said Father H ; ' but you know, Judge, when you and I Avent in for that sort of thing, we did it under the rose. ' i