Making the Best of It.

Te Aroha News, Volume VIII, Issue 394, 17 August 1889, Page 6

Making the Best of It.

The constant grumbler is not satisfied with his matrimonial bargan, v no matter how much too good for him it may be. He does not want to be satisfied in this or any other respect ; for, as the Irishman said, he is never happy unless he is miserable. He is cursed with a disposition like that of the Jew who early one morning picked up a roll of bank notes on Newmarket Heath which had been dropped the night before. * What have you got there ?', asked a fellow Israelites ' lucky, 4 'as usual V ' Lucky, you call it V grumbled the man in reply, turning over the notes ; ' lucky is it ? All fivers — not a tenner among them \} Even a perfect wife — if there be such a thing — could not satisfy a person of this sort ; and when it comes to making the best of a bad one, it is mi§er,y judeed.,, ,It is an old maxim that, if one will nob, 'two cannot quarrel. If one of the heads of a house has a bad temper, there is all the more reason for the other to be cool and collected. Thi,nk of Socrates, who, when his wife, Xanttp|)e, concluded a fit of scolding by throwifag -at him a bucket of water, quietly l'emarked, ' After the thunder comes the rain.'

The " Waikato Times" has been shown a copy of the returns of a shipment of Waikato sheep forwarded by the Tongariro to the Home market. There were 462 carcases aggregating 30,5081b5, and they were sold for 4 "Sid per lb ; the total charges were 2'B2d per lb, which, with g 42 for pelts, etc., sold in Auckland, left a -net 'balance of 2 - 41 d per lb or 13s 3d' per sheep. This result i 3 very satisfactory, and the price obtained Avas higher than tho sheep could have been for in Auckland at the time. An English tourist passed through Waikato this week. Ho has bought some land at Mildura, Messrs Chaffoy Bros. 'irrigation settlement in Australia, but finds it not a desirable place to livo in. Tho heat is intense, and tho snakes are a fearful trouble, swarming in all directions. Once going up < the river in a boat, a snake got on the blade of his oar, and another reptile swung from tho limb of a tree and coiled ibselt round the hat of a companion in tho boat. The proceedings of tho^ Parnell Commiaibion woro somewhab cnlivc'ncd on June 4th by the evidence of the "Rev. .Robert Anderson, Protestant lector of JDrinagh, near Cork. Ho said he was. a member of the National League, and theripwas an absolute necessity for its establishment; high rents and unjust evictions were common, and he considered" land-grabbing was the cau&c of all the trouble in Ireland. He recently preached on the sin of lHnd -grabbing, and had the largest congregation he had ever had in his life co hear it—all his Catholic neighbours after mass ciowded into his church, and ho preached a very good sermon. Mr Andorson further stated that there was some partial boycotting in his district; bnt ho claimed to be tho only properly boycotted person in it, as the landlords boycotted him, and he had suffered a tremendous reduction of income in consequence. Mr Justice Ilannen asked Mr Andorson if he approved of, being boycotted, when he stated that he had to take it ; and ho thoroughly approved of boycotting, and claimed the right to boycott other people if thoy boycotted him. Tho recent/ destruction of a valuable ewe which cost 300 guineas is reported from Deniliquin. The owner of tho owe had purchased her in Melbourne, for the amount named, for breeding purposes on his station in New South Wales. The ewe was duly "trained" to Deniliquin, and located on the nighfc of its arrival in a, small paddock, in which was a shepherd's hut. A station hand was to arrive on tho following day to take delivery. It is supposed some traveller, determined on accepting bush hospitality, put up with little ceremony at tho hut for the night. The shepherd was absent when he arrived, and failing to find any signs about a meat supply for supper, determined on acting tor the nonce as the shepherd's butcher. Accordingly -lie seized the prize ewe, cut her throat, and in a short space of time ha.d skinned, dressed and transformed ..the^ 3QO guineas' (.worth into | common eating mutton,