OURSELVES.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Issue 42, 11 March 1899, Page 4

OURSELVES.

We are sure our readers -Vvill excuse ufe for noting the periods of onr first year of publication. We have just enteied upon the fourth quartei, and the paper is as popular as ever. It will be lemembeied that the Advertiser was first published us a foUr*page paper half the present size* mid \vas issued free for three months* The next quarter eight pages weie given at a price of one penny. With the beginning of the third quaiter it cahie out in its present foim, which Was piacticfdly Adding another page of the original size* We had hoped to be able to mark the beginning of our fourth quaiter b^ fuither important developments. Through no fault of our own we haVe not managed to complete necessary arrangements. Our original aim was to giVe the Waimate district a weekly paper taking a hVe interest and an actne pait m local affairs, and these only W T e find how evei, that there is a veiy general desire that we should gv\e outside news as well. This we will do bhoitly. We are anxious to make this the papkr for Waimate and shall spare no labour to do cO,c 0 , but the public must supply us with the "needful." Some of our subscribers have paid a ( \ear, six months or three months in advance, but a good inanj aie waiting for us to render our account. The sum is so small that We Would be obliged if these latter would «a\e us this inmecessaiy labour. If 4ach of our subscribers Would gne us one quarter's sub. in advance, or if all would pay up their arrears, Vve Would at once enlarge the paper and thus ha\e space to gi^e the news of the Week, written up in loadable foim. A sketch of the week's doings, as we would propose to give it, would be far more intelligible to the casual reader than reading sciapp^ tele»iatns fioin day to tlaj, and trusting to memory to guide him m the matter of the corrections and contradictions so freely used by the cableumn to eke out his stock of news. We hope our subscubers will Like this to heart and send along their subscriptions at once. \\ c dosne sincerely to thank the public for the support accorded us heretofore Our h&t of subfcdibers continues to mciea^e, not a week, scarcely a day, going by without additions being made to it. We have made many ti lends, and some enemies, a sure sign we (ire working to some purpose. The paper will continue the same policy as hitheito, speaking fearlessly on matters pei taming 1,0 the good of the town and district, and with our removal to more centrally situated premises, which takes place next week, we hope to be still moie useful to the public in the future than vve have been in the pabt.

On Tuesday a bikist was "going" down Manse street, and when near the Presbyterian Church he saw m front of him a tortoise-shell cat. The animal was trotting across the road a good distance away and the man did not slacken bpeed. All at once a thought seemed to stnke puss, for she squatted down m the middle of the road and meditati\ply scratched her ear with one of her hind legs. The cyclist reached the same place, and he also squatted down and also scratched his oar, not with his leg, but with a little rock reposing at the side of the road. We Jiasten to draw a thick veil over this painful scene : the wishes respecting the eyes and other parts of members of the feline lace, and of tortoiseshells m particular, were far too forceful to admit of reproduction in our discriminative columns. A very amusing incident, fiom one point of view, occurred aftei last ram. A resident near the Adveutiser oilice owns two geese. The rain had formed an immense s>heet of watev neai this person's 'house, and the geese, hailing it as an act of Providence, sneaked out while breakfast was being prepared, got into the wata t( j r and made things lhely for a while. After a time one of them spied a small object floating on the broad bosom of the pool. With every stitch of canvas thing *Ue bore down and seized the dirt} but

presumably toothsome morsel. But a Change came over her expressive features as the thing icsisted all attempts to masticate it. The goose swore and sputtered, and hauling it out of the water jumped on it, snvagel^ bit it, lolled o\er and over on it* all the while cursing and screaming at the top of her voice, but still the tnystery was mibolvpcl. At last, baffled and H'lth teais of rage running down its bill, tlie gooso retired to its breakfast, while on the now placid fiurfn.ee of the Water Was left aii ancient, battered, but timniphantcoik.

Tho constant chop of water W'eai's aw.n the hardest stone ; The constant gnaw of ToWser Masticates the toughest bone , The constant cooing lo\ci Cairios oft the blushing maid ; And the coiibtfint a-dverti&oi Is the one who gets the trade*