TAURANGA JOTTINGS.

Observer, Volume 4, Issue 81, 1 April 1882, Page 41

TAURANGA JOTTINGS.

— We had a very pleasant impromptu dance on St. Patrick's night, in joint celebration of the natal days of St. Patrick and Mr and Mrs Goldsyinth. All enjoyed themselves thoroughly. — The noble game must be falling into sad disrepute here. On the Saturday before last, the energetic club . captain, Mr Griffiths, had the field all to himself. He waited some time for members to roll up, but waited in vain. — The force of habit is wonderful. For some time after the Bay of Plenty Times ceased to publish. • daily, it was looked for every evening, and we never thought of going out in the morning to bring it in. It appears to nave obtained new life under its present management. May it prosper. — The Hairini bridge will be completed in about a fortnight, and we will then have another fine drive to boast of. The scenery along the To Puke Eoad is really splendid. I hope the citizens will not allow such an auspicious event as the opening of this bridge to pass unmarked by some celebration. Say a formal opening with feed attachment. — The Tauranga Borough Council had not been iii existence twenty-four hours before a, worthy councillor elegantly characterised one of his colleagues as a sanguinary perverfcer of the truth. Por this slight freedom of speech he was to have interviewed theE.M., but fortunately apologised in time to save impleasant. notoriety. I de-Clare borough councillors have feelings. — How about our long promised trip to White Island ? A few months ago we were assured, through the medium of the " Buster" that the Northern Company would " shortly" favour the inhabitants of Tauranga with an excursion to that interesting locality. A fortnight ago the Staffa was advertised to make a trip to the equally remarkable obsidian island of Karewa. Both are indefinitely postponed. — Is a "snor robusto" anything out of the ordinary style of snores ? In a critique on the Doran gang, the young man who runs the theatrics for the B.P.T. says that "A. Campbell (snor robusto) is an immense success, and gives, etc." What did he mean ? Was he anticipating the reader's feelings on reading his paper ? Anyhow, Mr Campnell's auditors did not snore with gusto. I suppose it's all right. — There were" two youths belonging 'to~~l]fe"' ~^ Government Land Dissecting Department at the hop given by Mr and Mrs Goldsmyth. Prom one of them great things were expected in the way of waltzing, but he sadly disappointed the critics. His description of a certain young lady was anything but complimentary. I fancy if she could have heard him, she would not have accepted the very marked attentions he paid her later in the evening. — The postponement of the regatta was, rightly or wrongly, very unpopular here. Up till the day itself no one knew for certain whether it was to take place or not, as the secretary's proceedings were, to say the least of it, peculiar. But, perhaps like the man and the donkey, in endeavouring to please everybody, he pleased no one. On the strength of his assurance on Thursday that the regatta would take place whether it hailed, rained or snowed, numbers came in from Maketu and country districts, only to be grievously disappointed. — It is well for the young man who sets up the Tauranga column that your correspondent resides at a distance. He appears to take a fiendish delight in setting up what I didn't say. The last jottings fairly bristled with typographical errors. For instance, he made " hob nob" into " Hon. Noble," and left out the rest of the line. Again he converted "note-book in hand and pencil poised, near, etc., into " note-book in hand and pencil poised near the retxirning officer." If a stranger had heard me when I read this and much, more, he would have imagined that I was giving a graphic description of the Inferno, from the frequency with which the original taipo and his abode were men- [ tioned. lam now on the look out for a suitable club, and next time I visit Auckland, there'll be blood spilt, | mark my words. ( —The Bay of Plenty Times, under Mr Edgcumbe's management, has developed into an ardent i advocate of the use of the Bible in schools, and the I abolition of what it calls the " Puritanical" Sabbath ! Two movements which should go hand-in-hand. Re the I " Bible in schools" question, would the erudite editor consider it rude in me to ask a question which, no doubt, he can answer at once. It is, which Bible does he refer to ? Would he outrage conservative tastes by employing the " Revised" edition, or would he pander to these tastes by using the admittedly incorrect "King James," . 1 or would he accept the " emasculated" but literally translated and largely approved of "Douay," or th# ; eccentric " Breeches," or which of the numerous versions of this deservedly much prized work. If he would kindly tell us which he refers to, he would place yours truly under a lasting obligation. — Larrikinism is rampant here just now. A short time ago, a number of these pests made a tour of the Strand about 1 a.m., breaking open stores and hotel doors en route. A guiding spirit of> the fraternity hired a horse to go to Oropi, and killed it on the road. The owner of the animal did not exactly approve of the proceeding, and brought the matter into court, whore, • however, he failed to obtain satisfaction. Presumably, iv revenge for his action in the matter, his stables were visited one night last week, and his coach and buggy seats and fixings strewn across the street. One party broke the windows of an office in Spring-street, while one youthful hoodlum penetrated into a solicitor's bedroom somewhere towards the "wee, short hour ayont the.twal," but was promptly and forcibly ejected by its inmate. Another favourite amusement is the taking ' down of shop shutters, while" I already hear of several • - ladies being assaulted and insulted by these ruffians.'. If matters progress as they are, doing, it will sdb'iifW absolutely necessary for the safety of the citizens to form a vigilance committee, and repress the growing ' evil with a strong hand* ;- ; --, :., ; ".;;v:;-/-y! ;\,-}J^;:r'l-r't-i'}i — Fve heard a rather good stoWj^fleht ybSii v■> Tauranga agent, who/it appears, has purchased a'l)6at '- '" and now goes in! strong for aquatics,'' Hem&ybe'seen ? '" morning and evening taking his spins *fc/aa Astonishing "<■'^

speed,' indeed, the Oracle- says that if Charley can only keep up his pace (somewhere about 120 strikes a minute) Hanlan will have to look to his laurels as champion of .our. globular globe. ".'Charley- has .also become a disciple of Izaak Walton. ; 'One night last week, he and a companion laid in an immense stock of lines and bait, and started to pull to the hulk Martha, having decided to flsß.' in her vicinity. The night, though starlight, was rather hazy, but Charley was confident of his knowledge of the locality, and undertook to pilot' the boat. After pulling' for an hour or so, they, looked -around for the hulk, but she was nowhere to be seen. Fulling a little further, they came to the foot of a hill, with a light at the top, and found that they were at— Otumoetai. Charley, nothing daunted, headed the boat round, and brought up at — Bangiwae, Charley considerably mixed. ■ After trying in succession every point of the compass, they at last decided to return, and after rowing & few miles, were brought up standing by the object of their search — the missing hulk ! But it was then too late to fish, and they proceeded towards the. town. While pulling up the harbour against a strong tide, they met a large boat drifting to sea. . This was at once annexed, and manfully taken in tow. But now came the tug of war. The boat was half full of water, which surged from side to side, now sending the wreck in one direction, now in another. Sometimes it was the boat towing Charley, but occasionally Charley succeeded in towing the boat. However, they reached the wharf sometime ~ after midnight, and after securely tying up their prize, retired to rest. Next inoraing. Charley was astir early, and descended to the wharf with bright visions of a golden harvest in the shape of salvage floating before Mm, but alas for the frailty of human hopes. While he was enjoying the sweet slumber of youth, the boat had been removed by its owner, and Charley's brilliant expectations of substantial gain proved as transient and unstable as the morning tide.