JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, 8 March 1894, Page 3

JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

(from Our Own Correspondent).

Athletics and meiimsß.—A new re* creation ground—Some ludicrous mistakes. -Ministerial mansions. Tk Postal Conference.— Jlie fire on t/te Kaibwa.—A sensible proposal '." ; _ A new recreation ground for Wellington enema to bo within measurable distance of shortly becoming an accomplished faot. A company is now in the process of formatiou to acquire about eight acres of fairly level land situated off Adelaide Road, whioh by the expenditure of a little money will make a really excellent orioket, football and playground generally. The shares in the company aro being taken up very well by the general public, but thecrioketers, footballers and athletes themselves appear to be very much averse to putting their hands in their pockets. This, indeed, has over boen found to be the o.iso amongst'tha young men in Wellington who play cricket, and more especially those who play football. They arequito ready to play,butsoraebody;elseiniißtpay,Hence it is in a great measure that wo have been so long without a decent ground. As a matter of fact there appears to ' be the greatest difficulty in inducing ' Crioket and Football Clubs to take up ' shares, as'there exists the Grin rooted conviction that the public, who are ' supposed to derive suoh intense satis- ' fnotion from viewing their redoubtable ' performances, should ante-up 6rst.

With eight acres of land situated so close to town there should be no difficulty in forming really excellent cricket and football grounds with a racing traok lor Amateur Athletio Meetings on the outside. Tho wonderful thing is that cricket has advanced as much as it haß in Wellington, considering the immense disadvantages under which the cricketers of Wellington labour. The Basin Reserve is theoaly cricket ground in Wellington worthy of the name, and upon this small space of an evening may ba seen some two or three hundred cricketers practising, Nets are up everywhere and balls are flying about all over the ground by the doz-n,' It is therefore an absolute impossibility for any team to obtiin fieldiug practice, ain) it is positively daugorous to life and limb iu the bargain, for at any time an enquiring cricket ball hit from behind by a vigorous batsman may lay low tbj unsuspecting would-be cricketer. An ex-army ofhVr, one who had Been considerable active service, and who is an enthusiastic cricketer, once remarked apropos of an evening's cricket pi actios on tho 'Basin Reserve that he would sooner be under firo any day than again tempt Providence by practising on this battlefiold of crioket bulls. And yet it is wonderful how few accidents do occur.

One hears and sees sometimes very funny things in auction rooms, but the following anecdote told of a Wellington auctioneer, whom one would think from his antecedents and his surroundings would at any rate have displayed ut little more erudition or even a little more of the ruditw-nts of education, "takes the cake." It was an auction sale of books, A set of Cicero's works was put up to be bid for. Quoth the worthy auctioneer, "here is a fine chance for all lovers of mtwic, ' The Opera of Cicerol'" in six " wollums," as he called it, The "Opera of Cicero," which musical students were exhorted to purchase, was the auctioneer's translation of (he Latin" Opm (Jicmnis" (works of Oicoro) I

In a print shop in Wellington recently almost as ludicrous a thing occurred. In the window was a hideous daub representing,' or Bup posed to iepresent.a scene fromLy Iton's "Last Days of Pompeii." The so-called picture, which was marked as being worth £l5O, though it would have been extortionately dear at 150 pence, was inscribed for tho benefit of the uninitiated, as follows;—"My dear awaiting Jones' reply to Glaucus, letter, Last day of Pompeii paiuted by Sir Bulwer Lytton"! Now, who was "My Dear," and I should be obliged for information concerning the individual with the"unporapeiian" name of" Jones" who one would be led to suppose figured in Lytton's book. It is news also to learn that Lytton was an artist. These two " yarns" are facts and strikingly exemplify what Btrides the education of Iho people has taken in late years. The Ministerial mansions are to bo let, in fact they all are let with the exception of the big house under the shadow of the hill in Timliori road. Never m'ore in the regime of the present Liberal Government will theso hnlla of dazzling delight open wide their hospitable doors to the " upper succles" in Wellington, No more Ministerial dinner parties, " at homes," or dances as in the brave days of old. The fact is the members of the present Government with the exception of the Minister of Education, are homely, decidedly homely, and what is more while in office, like "canny chiels," they are not going to waste their substance* in entertaining, There was once a time in the history of politics in Now Zealand wheuit was incumbent on some of tho occupants of the Ministerial Benches to entertain, it was fully recognised as part of the Ministerial functious. Many a fine rout and sumptuous dinner party has the Premier's residence in Tinakorj Boad witnessed under the old regime, but things have altered now. The kindly hospitality of Sir Julius Vogel, Sir Frederick and Lady Whitaker, Mr and Mrs Mitchelsou, and Mr and Mrs Ballanco, when tbo social as well aB tho political functions ofMinisters wore a consideration, afford a striking contrast to the present state of affairs; Tke truth is that Ministers' wive; and families now seldom reside in Wellington,andMinis> ters themselves much, live in hotels,and lay by for the rainy day when tke whirligig of time will bring in its political revenges with attend' ant diminution of income. It must, of course, alsojie remembered that in these days the Ministerial salaries and allowances aro not an large as' they were, and the cost of keeping up largo establishments in Wellington wouldbe heavy, but it, nevertheless, seems a pity that all those social amenities of the past should bo altogether discarded,

The Postal Delegates are having a right royal time under the able and pleasant, oiceronage of the genial Mr Ward, and their tour through the colony under such fortunate .auspices should send them away greatly impressed with New Zealand from ovary point of view, To-day Mr Ward entertained tbo delegates and officials with their wives and daughters at lunch in Bellamy's, and many, pleasant and complimentary ' remarks were made on both sides, The greater part of the performed by tHHHHHH

the Postal andl Telegraph Depart-1 merits of .thei various colonies,-moat of it consisting of departmental details which will not be nude publio.pro- , p-rty, sb they w'ouldbe of neither use not into cot outside of the services. It is satisfactory to note that the Ban Francisco mail service is to be continued, despite the fact that the United Suites Government will not subsidise it in any shape or form at present. Many of the leading business men hold that from a commercial point, of view this service is of little or no use to New Zealand, but it is generally agreed that a faster or more efficient mail service could not bo found.. As to Mr Writ's proposal that a subsidy of- £IO,OOO a year be paid to the Huddart Parker Company if a.direct service connecting New Zealand with British c Culumbia is instituted, "Iv doubt very much if this will be ratified by Parliament. It is not easy to see the commercial advantages whiob would ' be gained rI present by direct com mnnioation with Canada, certainly not enough to warrant a subsidy of ' £IO,OOO. Many psoplehold it would be muoh better to subsidise one of the ! existing lines of steamers running to New Zealand sufficiently well to enable them to run at the higher rate ! of speed than is neoessary for the • cargo and passengar traffic The ' Postal Conference is no doubt a very useful affair, but what will the cost be ' lo tho colony when tho little bill of expenses is made up ? . j

To look at the Kuikoura as she is alongside the wharf one would never think it possible that such a serious conflagration could have taken place as occurred oa board, at Teneriffi', on the outward trip Outwardly there are little or no signs of the fire" which took nearly five days togetunder, but an examination of some of the Wellington cargo aa it conies out telle a different tale. As it happens most of the oargo damaged by fire and water was for Wellington. Consignees will of course have to submit to the inevitable general average with its accompaniment of a cheque to meet demands, which may or may not be returned in part or in full after many days. J have heard the theory advanced that the fire never broke out in the oargo at all, but that it is «nothercase of spontaneous combustion of the oharcual which ie used for iuauUtiiy purposes and laid between the decks.