JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4777, 19 July 1894, Page 3

JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

(By Our Own Correspondent), 4 ;' '' ; Tuesday, The lllicUStill Prosecution Jlmjk AChitiise Ivjlmahd Coloured Labour, —Qolfand Golfers. The Latest Orate. —Monaiout Gobnel Fcx. ■ Fire Appliances and Captain Ilenmh—What is Mxisicul Fanul-Tlie A. and P. Al&malion on the Up grade,-The Stewards,"—in unfortunate Mtsiak,—Sank and Hanking Matters,—The Deceased Husband's Brother '• Bill"—Be Il'i't Talmage,— •4 Criticism.—A Nice Windfall. V Tlmt the charges against the Messrs Cameron in connection with tho Gollan Valley illicit still proscoution liavo failed, is not a matter for mnoh surprise. Tho Customs Department seem to liavo bungled the wholo affair from tho outset. Togo out with a largo search party was a mistake to commence with, but for that large party to all hang closely together, as if for mutual protection was a fatal mistake. Naturally a look out would bo kept and a party of and ouo of them wearing on hisrap the official badge of tho Customs Department would lie rocjirded with suspicion and "tracks" would be made into the bush before the search party could even come within hail. Then, too, this sagacious " surprise party " must needs call at the Messrs Cameron's homestead and make all sorts of enquiries thus doubly advertising their purpose. Howovcr, everything pales into insignificance compared to what took place when they did find tho '' still." Apparently, the sole idea was to' grab' the illicit whisky and and not the illicit distillers. It never appears to lmve occurred to a single soul that a judicious" plant" in the bush at a safo distance might have resulted, with patience, in the capture of tho offenders " red-handed." The geimagtMcensus of opinion in -twvn highly intelligent search party, of whom the great Jackman of famous memory was a distinguished member, did not deserve from their crass stupidity to obtain a capture, nor was it to be expected that the so-called jn-osecution could end in anything else but a Haico,

Quite an influx of Chinese on a " small scale lins set in here lately lf f from Australia. Most of the new t. arrivals are, however, fresh from the ft Flowery Land, us can be seen at '' once from their garments, their « shoes, and their long and silky J pigtails. Upon making enquiries si I found that these newly arrived t, Celestials have mostly como to a order, that is to say, their pas- ti sages have been paid out to the 11 Colony by soiuo Chinese capitalist n and tlioy in return, have to give & their services under bond for a certain number of years before they arc able to set to work on their own s account. Of .course during this period t of bondage a small wage is paid, but a this wage is of infinitesimal value, g —■ . If this is not slavery I should like s to know what is, and yet here we c have it right under our noses, while i platform speakers and pulpit orators s thunder daily against the iniquities r of the Island Labor traffic. Ido not (1 suppose, however, the Chinese would a consider this as slavery, nor could it t V be ascertained that there were any 1 objections to the practise. As a 5 matter of fact I believe the almond- |: eyed sons of Mongolia rather like it s than otherwise, as they arc thus en- f abled to make their little piles after n their timo is worked out, which they 1 never would be able to do if they rc- t mained behind in China. 1 i Have any of your readers ever ex- 1 perienced the delights of golfing ? f Those who lmve already been initia- 1 ted into its mysteries will readily t understand the onthusiasm which is i shown by those indefatigable people 1 who every Saturday afternoon wade t out to the Hutt Race-course, rain or I shine, insider to indulge in the ex- « hilarating pursuit of liuneking a 1 helpless little ball about with a t heavy club, over many acres of wet f grass and swamp, and looking all the time as if they were enjoying the sport of the gods. Golf may be a S very fine game. 1 daresay it is to the t initiated, but certainly you have got 1 to " know it fust." Anyhow there t must be something in it or so many s men and women would not go fran- i ; / \ tic over it, and the craze has taken f on everybody here just now, in fact 1 it is "quite the tiling you know" , to be a golfer, and this, 110 doubt, 1 attracts many. The Hutt Park 1 Links are not quite up to the famous I St Andrew's Links, but they are ap- I parontly quite good enough for a ] good many young men and women 1 to enjoy themselves healthily, and 1 this in itself is a sufficient recom- i ■ mendalion. Some enthusiastic Scot ■ should try to start a club in Master- ; ton, it would be a change for a winter game, There is 110 chance, I hear, of Colonel Fox leaving the Colony just yet, for lie intends, should the negotiations now pending between himself and the l'remiercomo to nought, to settle down and cngngoinpastoral pursuits. Colonel Fox has a brother, Ar'"" ' a mil-holder in the North Canterbury district, and it is quite probable that be might elect to join him. At anyrate, whatever happens, it is at least consoling to know that such a very able man in his profession is not likely to bo lost to the Colony altogether, for.if.llio Colonel is still amoßgflt^PThis services would no doubt, should occasion, arise, : bo placed at the colony's disposal, As - Captain Russell very truly remarked in the House tbo other night, it would be a dillicnlt thing for us to obtain a decent man here again, for every military man of any eminence, now regards these colonics as the death-bed of his career, judging by the tiirn of recent events both here and in Australia. It is, however, whispered that things will be patched up on a satisfactory basis between Col. Fox aud the Premier, It is to be hoped that this will prove to be the case. In the meantime Col. Fox performs 110 duty,and needless to say, draws 110 pay, An ancient saw tells us " to give the devil his due," and therefore I must give that much-abused person,lge, Captain Hennah, late of the Ballarat Fire Brigade, credit for having devised a very neat and complete set of fire extinguishing apparatus for use in the Parliament Buildiligs, the Departmental Offices, Government House, aud the Public Buildings. The old hoses in use were cumbrous in the extreme, they were twisted carelessly round reels which • IVO uld not run easily, and tbo chances were, that had a tire broken out, tbo building , would lmve been bunicd down before tlio hose could have been ran out and the water turned on. Captain-Hennah has replaced all : these' cliirtsy contrivances by neat ' Bwin^liiK ''carnages'; fastened by^

lunges to tlio walls, something after ilia fashion of swing-gales, in which tho canvas lioso is carefully folded in such a manner that it can ho ran out instantly and ready for uso, One end of tho hose is screwed on to tliii water-taps, and nil tlmt has to bo dono is to turn on tho'water, seize tlio nozzle and start off at once, as no ontanglomont can possibly occur. The whole contrivance is simplicity itself, nnd it Ims the advantage also of not being unsightly, '■

Wellington' lias recently entertained angels unawares in tho shapo of tho talented Sapio-Urso Concert Company, but what is to their overlasting discredit, they utterly failed to distinguish tho celestial character of their visitors. In plain languago tho most tnlcntcd all round musical combination which has ever visited this city, was accorded the most meagre support it is possiblo to conceive. This, too, in a town where tlio people pride themselves on their knowledge of matters musical and whore musical dilettanti swarm by the hundreds Had a Hfth-ratc " nigger " company or "leg show" come round with blatant advertising bills, half the town would have been there, but a combination of true artists with but a modest newspaper announcement, utterly failed to draw, not only tho general public, but even those who could, and should be able to, distinguish between good ami bad music. Madame Sapio is a vocalist the like, of whom has not visited those shores and Camilla Urso as a violinist takes rank second only to Lady Halle and' Teresiua Tuer. The Wellington season caunot have paid expenses, and such miserably support is not likely to encourage eutreprenem to bring such talent to Now Zealand in the future, There were, it is true, several extenuating reasons for tho wretched support, First of which was that quite recently a concert company containing aia'dy vio'iniste, who, by tlio way, was most fulsomely advertised, proved, with the sole exception of the lady in question, to be unqucsably bad, and therefore, people were suspicious. Secondly, the times are undoubtedly hard, and thirdly, the weather, not to pnt too tine a point upon it, was disgusting. The Company was also badly advertised and managed. Madame Do Verc-Sapio is a singer with a soprano voice of the rarest quality, and her European and American reputation is of the highest, Siguor Sapio is a composer and conductor of repute, whilst Madame Urso takes rank, as 1 have said, with the first lady violinistns of the day, It is therefore extraordinary, that, notwithstanding the extenuating circumstances I have mentioned, that the Wellington music-loving public could have been so non-appreciative.

I am glad to learn, and so I am

sure will be many of your readers, that the Wellington Agricultural and Pastoral Society is making progress by "leaps andbomuls,"somuch so, indeed, that it will have a just claim in a very short time to call itself the premier Association in the southern part of this Island. New members are joining in shoals every day, and the Secretary has already a long list of promised donations to the prize fund, special prizes, and handsome trophies, which will be given away at the Show, which takes place in November next. The Association was never in a more hopeful condition than it is at present, and given tine weather in November next, its prosperity is assured. The Association lias suffered many reverses and endured much ill fortune in the past, so it may reasonably hope now that the long lane of misfortune has come to a turning at last, The hourly co-operation of the generous farmers of your district is only needed now to make the Wellington Association's Annual Sliow the Metropolitan event of the North Island. That that support will be given goes without saying for the Wairarnpa people have ever been the Association's most generous friends.

The Hon. Major William Jukes Steward is highly incensed because the Otuyo Daily 'Jims has made him responsible for the appointment of the waiters at Bellamy's, The steward of Bellamy's (Mr Lcatham) is of course themainvho makes these appointments, subject, however, to Ministerial revision, but the Otat/o Daily Timel failed to discriminate between Steward, the ex-Speaker, and the "Steward" of Bellamy's hints ilk hchrynm. Poor Major Steward, we emmot grudge him (lis plaintive growl. It is hard to be deprived of the plenstive of wearing that stately silken gown and those immaculato bauds of finest lawn, which used to so fittingly adorn his majestic person when lie graced the Speaker's chair, but to identify the Hon, Major William Jukes Steward with the prosaic steward of Bellamy's was adding insult to injury. The Major's poetical soul revolted at the idea, and hence lie thought it only due to his erstwhile dignified position to make a " personal explanation," which the House received with polite sympathy, but with much internal amusement,

Mr Murray, the Bank of New Zealand Directorof Ccrmonics,is still in, Wellington, and has been busy lately in arranging with Ministers, the details of the Bank of New Zealand Share Guarantee Act Amendment Bill, which by the way with the Share Transfer Bill, the House, somewhatsulkily,put through all the stages this afternoon. Arrangements, I learn, are now being made to transfer the Headquarters of the Bank to Wellington, but the change is not likely to take place before October next, As the Accommodation in the banking house will be • quite inadequate to take in the Hcadquarter'sstaff,itis probable the premises will be considerably enlarged by theadditionof anotherstory to the present building. Nothing Ims, I believe, been settled yet about the appointment of the Chairman of Directors und the Special Auditor.

It is said about town, that now tlie head quarters of the Bank of New Zealand and the National Bank have been removed to Wellington, tlie Colonial Bank may follow suit also, and remove up here from Dun* edin. The knowing ones say this is 'only a question of time, and furthermore, if the Colonial Bank were to remove its head office to Wellington, it will bring in its train tlie Union Steam Shipping Company. The. latter contingency has been talked of for some time past, but what grounds for belief thero is in the statement I am not in a position to deciilo, Certainly Wellington is admirably suited for the headquarters of the Union Company on account of its .splendid shipping facilities and central position, but then; as Ave bavo no (lock here, Mb

may bo urged as, an j qxeuso against tlio removal, Four (if tho Banks now have thoiv head qnartors here, or will have when tho Now Zealand comes, »i)d this fact will, no doubt, go a long way to induce other largo concerns to ccntraliso their business in Wellington, '

Tour coutorapoiary seems to have boon a little olf tho track in announcing that it was not legal in New Zealand for a man to marry bis deceased wife's sister. Suroly tlio War inust luivo been thinking of " Tlio Deceased Husband's Brother Bill" which Mr Jackson-Palmer, with ft persistence worthy of a better causo, used to bring in session after session and ondenvour to have, it placed on tho Statute Book, Mr Palmer used to think that to be consistent wo should givo tho widow tho samo privileges as the widower. The Deceased Husband's Brother " Bill " used to bo a standing joke against Mr Palmer as members wore wont to enquire innocently why tho deceased husband's brother could not bo called anything else but " Bill p" • Why not Tom,, Dick or Harry tlioy scoflingly asked i 1

Do Witt Talmage, the great Brooklyn Tabernacle preacher, is disappointing, distinctly disappointing. That is, however, I suppose, caused by the fact that wo have expected too much. Mr Talniago is not very humourous, strictly .speaking, he is only humourously peculiar. His jokes and anecdotes are stale, and there is no spontaneity about his fun. He has no eloquence to speak of and his delivery and actions arc decidedly unpleasant. There is, notwithstanding these shortcomings, ut certain spell about his oratory which is inexplicable, Ho seems to rivet your attention by bis tremendous personality, and therein I think lies his great power of holding nnd swaying at his will immense audiences. Talmage certainly is a cheery individual, and the" Bright side of things" is an absolute cure for tlio most dyspeptic mortal in existence, The optimism of the man pervades his audience from the outset of the lecture, and bis powerful earnestness fascinates you. Talniago is a speaker you require to be accustomed to, and when yon have heard him a few times you may be able to understand how it is he has been such a success as a preacher and lecturer, From one night's acquaintance I am not inclined to be ecstatic, though I thoroughly enjoyed the lecture,

The Government lias had n regular windfall in the last financial year in the shape of Probate Duty. No less a suni than £93,000 was swept into the Colonial colters from this source alone. Of this £93,000 about £30,000 was received as probate duty in the estate of the Into Hon. Algernon Tollomnchc who held such extensive properties in New Zealand mostly in the Hawke's Bay District. The estate of the late Mr W, 11. Levin, brought in £12,000 as duly, and that of the late Mr MeNab, of Southland, some £3,000. The latter was the father of Mr MuNab, that clever young lawyer who pefeated the Hon. G. I l '. Richardson at the last general election. Was there ever such n lucky Government ? Many • a previous Colonial Treasurer has sighed in rain for such luck.