CAPITANOS LETTER.

Temuka Leader, Issue 223, 13 January 1880, Page 2

CAPITANOS LETTER.

“ Honi soit qui mal 'y pense ” —Proverb

Interesting “ scrips” are for a wond-*r vcrv h ml to ca’- h hold of at present, and as scarce as money. I can find no snlje< t upon which to write tea! his not been *• murdeied ” at some time < r other by persons a ho, like myself, think ih y I ave aright to do so. The pi incip .1 -abject winch is disen S'-d by farm rs, squatters and *• cockatoo- ” ; gn-cers, dr-qxrs and pnb-keej ers — is the weather ;-n It ie nor* westers. If 1 m -et a pal, he first of a I r<marks tli t it is “ int-n-ely co d,” or “ dread nlly warm,” as t ie case may he ; he then branches off hit. > the nor testers, •ml concludes his peroration i-y saying that it is iii a opi 'mi tiiat these “ ’er ’of win- s in kes a fellah etn-ml dry. they does,” This is a hint, for a drink. If its mv turn to sli-mt, I do so; if not, rs •‘T-i-ta, old hoy : I’ve no time to 'spare. ” Ii is a noteworthy fact that, the weather vi il! intei* .>t la- ies even— that is when, on a starry night, they sir* 11 through our P.-rk, “ah me with somebo-ly els--.’ If it was notf r the weather, the in j-nitv o ns would die for the want of aoutcth.igt> converse about.

“IF a person sells, or offers for sale in his shor, diseased eatd les of any ku-d. is not ihe sober li-ible to be ‘ taken before tin* beak ’ for exp< sing the s-nne for sab- 1 ” I ask tins rpi stion be-attse of an incident that o cmre l on Sttuniay. I, Paving a “ - cloni -I robb-r ” to -sp ire, sent round to-my ‘ fruiter r ” for a shilling's worth of cherries, ieci ivingfor my money =i mixture -i rotten chimes and diseased plums I could take a candle-oath that a pic even would t uvt no its nose at such a mass of fib!i. 1 concluded that (he best tin.-g to do wis to s- nd them back, and make mv fru tn-rer (I hope there are not in my lik - im) a pri s n' of both fruit and mo ev. I strongly advise my friend to min i his “p’s and q’s,” as I have known p rsoua ber-g prosecuted and fi -ed heavily f-.r exposing for sale bad food. As the w rai weath'T ha« s--t in, accompanied by the —verse so 1 , I do hop-', for the sake of t : e h-.dth «-f our inhabitants, that measur s ujil be t-keu to stop this practice. If n-u, wo mav console ourselves with the thought that fever will take up its resi-!en-e in T-muka during this summer.

S > delighted was ‘‘one of the young sparks ”wi*h my par in last Tuesday's issue about their doings on New Year’s Eve. th r he has sent mean ariic'e headed ” New Year’s Eve, 1870 : Our Peregrinations ai d Ramlyostigs Through tlie Back S -ratings o ‘ T rnnka. By One < f Them ” 1 cannot guarantee that t! eir doings, according to the narrative, were of a v< ry orderly nature, hut they must have lieen verv Vnjoy <ble I cannot insert the narrarative verbatim, ' but I cn'l a • ouple of paragraphs ; —‘‘-We traversed the whole of Temuk t during the night, and visited most of the residences in the town, treating the inhabitants to some grand music. Our instruments cons'sted of a tin-whistle and k'Tosene-tin, an out-jf-tnne concertina and a cat rwan .” The writer goes on to say : — “ After we bad been out for

jim hour, the ‘King’ of the party (I supI one he means the leader) got b<-a«ily drunk, and had to be carried ho’ue on « shutter. Another worshipper of Bacchushad taken too much, and wanted to go toy a marsh close by, there to go through all the honors of sea-sb-kness.” The narrative concludes “ Afb r visiting several ‘pubs,’ we discovered with great difficulty (I say ‘difficulty,’ as our eye-sight was very bud that flight) that it was time to retire to our vitiun us couches. 'We then separated, each determining to s o lame. In the morning, however, a dyspepticindividual was discovered sleeping in ahay loft b*longi g to one of our. stable--men ; while another realised the rather disagree)! hie 1a« t. that he had been sleeping on Mother Earth, cooling his f et in * pool of water,” Is ibis what our young sparks call enjoyment? If so, may Heaven i rotect we virtuoysly-inclined snob** from such doubtful pleasures. -=

It seems to me that there are more busy bodies, scaiirliii-moi ge -s, and bnunless idiots in T-muiki. n proportion to its inhabitants, than in any part of NewZe; * land I Iny yet visited. Not only is a anililisintr “ fa-hionabb- ” amongst the low- r classes, but ammtrsl who a 1 themse ves “ ladies' and gentlemen !!! ” (may I l»e pr. s rved from them). It is snrpris--ing that some peopi cannot mind theirown business, out must shove their noses (brandy-fmßibers’ noses very often) into their neighbour’s affairs, throwing out hints, and offering unasked for advice. I might, vary .ppropriately', refer to au obi saw—Advice, unless asked for, is no* advice at all, ’ but cussed im’eminence,If a fellow is hard up, and wants help, h. is avoided ; but. direct'y he set'les 1 down, -and become* I ‘sonu-body.” thesea da Users drink his wines, etc. and thenthey go away and scandalise. This is thestyle of a certain clique here, who go by the opprobrious name of ‘‘ Sardines. ' This is a Yankeei w m, and mens a low, infamous person, and is the most expressive word in the Yankee's vocahn’ary. If the persons who scandalise were respectable even, and could .say that they practised what they preached, I wou’d “ dry «ip, ,r as we say in the classics. When will com- - mon iense reign supreme ?—Not - in this century. Capita**}.