NOTES BY THE WAY.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 153, 12 January 1871, Page 6

NOTES BY THE WAY.

[i)y ouv Y.vg.i'iond Reyuier.]

Since tha closing of th-vt interesting place of ainii^onidni., the Provincial Council Hall, I hove bs n n hard set for amusement The theatre is too expensive, and the stuck pieces rather incline to be nielan<hul r . I tried tho Mayor's Court for a day or two, ]>nt the proceedings were laoiiotouoiii. I \v\s looked at awf.illy by Brodis, J. P., when I once ventured on a siaile at his Worship, the Mayor's, f.iceti-ns manner of dlspo -in;* of the person of llev Majesty's lieges. " Swore in the street, did he 1 the morals j of the public must ba protected ! Three j months' hard labour under the Vagivuit Act !" Rather w.irrn upon %en lemon oi a convivial turn of mind, ad licttd to pure Saxon jw-hen in their cups i Later the same day I tried tho Town Council, bub Barnes was sulky ;md gave no spore, and the dreary platitudes or the worthy Councillors were too ravioli like hard work to listen to. A sadden thought struck me, why not get out of Danedin ? — sniff the up-country air, i? only to see how some of those whom Mr. Grant calls the " Otago Solons" coinyort themselves upon thenown dunghilLs. What dangers environ any mm of genius and no particular principle, like myself, in chasa ti.iias, if he is available in the capital ! The Kefnrni Association may, over ihcLr congenial threepenny, decide upon bringing him forward as a member, or oven as Superintendent, if Donald sliouU hang

(ire ; or he may find .himself disgraced ever by beinsf returned, in very <luocl^B company, M.P.C. for Dunedin. Like tlia^ late lamented Kuiperor of the Froncl/ \lib. Gciijip, and other historical characvters, I aiii a creature of impulse ; 'Cpso sooner said thui done" i.t i)iv^m«TOO. Threo days after determining t(7vMc the country 1 was throwing stones info tho lake at Queenstown, my legs dandling ovor Lhe jutty, the hmali boys admiring Lhe classic costume and elegant tournure— that's a good word—of the stranger. (Jobb had delivered mo safe and sound certainly, but in regularly " bhuuk-up" conditionas sore about the bones as if I had undergone one of the regular cobbings to which I was chronically subject when of tender years, and holding the appointment of assistant cabin-boy to the captain of a collier. Oh the weary, weary journey, with the sun in your eyes and your mouth and cai-3 full of dust ; the precipitous hills, the frightful sidings ; the beauties and comforts of a night at Pigrooc — "Pig'snost" it should be calledT The charms of having nothing to do are, to a lazy man like myself, who am generally kept j>retty well up to the collar, very appreciable. My fancy allowed itself to fall into a very poetic frenzy. Mefchought how will the Times stare when he receives my "Lyrics by the Lake," how 3ie will confound himself for not having recognised my genius before, and how he will immediately treble my screw ! I had just commenced, and was in trouble for a rhyme to "Lake," not being able to think of any words but " cake," "rg^>" and "hardbake," neither of.-^v.-iJ^j^B seemed suitable for an epic, when I wd^B touched on the shoulder. A thrill '\enjH through me. I turned and saw a t-.^^M graph boy, who delivered your mes^^^H 1 will make it public, so as to expo^^^H nefarious system by which your J^^^^J mon are coerced into extracting i^^^^^H tion for your valuable columns. Lawrence, Dec. Just heard you were at Queen&towi^^^^^H political aspect of lea.linEf men. Pioce^P^^H leturn, by the principal gold fields towns. DTu^^B money, 30s a day. No twaddle about scenery

Here is a nice position for a decenv^^^H perate man in this hot weather. to^^^^A to consort with all the local polif^^^^H risk of d.i. from personal share^^pro^^ ceeds of the "drink money." At any risk, this part of your telegram, lur. Times, shall be strictly attended to, so immediately send up a month in advance. /1| To return to the subject — where werefj we ? disturbed in our poo tic reverie by the rude shock of the electric wire, a 1 victim to telegraphy if ever there was I one. We turned a^ide, and entered Mi*. M Eichardts' side door, losing not a moment J in complying with our employer's instrae-^1 tions by breaking into the day's 30s. "1 What I saw and heard there will be re- J lated in my next. They have a ch«jr-™ ful way here of closing the mail at 9 p.m., and all the clocks are fast, so my reflections for a time must cease.