JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XV, Issue 4801, 16 August 1894, Page 2

JOTTINGS from WELLINGTON.

(By Our Own Correspondcat).

'-. The late;Mrl-K forthehelpless: : Adeseroinfinsi'itutid)i —The Society for Itho prevention of Cruelly la Animals,—Country Branches. —l7ie Great "Flapdoodle* debate.-' . Notes from the Gallery of.the, House—- . Mansions,—The Bank Bit-, tnour's.—Newspaper advertising.—Oiiv milk supply.—All about 'Biee.—Aneii) treatment for Ironsand.—Maoris asmMing to tca(ch, events at the." Koreror-

Tho. death: of Miy cast quite, a'glo9.nlover the.c% for' I suppose there was»jvman.inv; Wellington more yespeo- • : ' ; tod ■or liked than • gentleman, ;',ljr Bethune'B ness was tliergsulfefltaj^itere attack of influenza, which developed complications .ultimately causing his death; Up to the day he was taken ill Mr Betnu.no had enjoyed the best, of health, in, fact ho had never been absent from his account of illness for.thirty.,years past. .The auctioneering business conducted by tho deceased gontloman for so long, is to be carried on, I believe, by his sons. Personally, Mr Bethune was a very old colonist and his connections (the Hunters) havo beoh linked with the, fortunes of Wellington from tho very earliest days' of. the Colony. The sympathy for the family in their great boreavomont,iß therefore vory widespread, Colonists ofMr Bethune's calibreare becoming scarce, and thus the whole business., commnity, j)f_Wellin^^4wint < ! r.J. "stained a heavy loijb by his regretted decease. '

Thero is in the Adelaide Road, oloso to. tho Hospital, a handsome comfortable-looking brick building which might easily be taken for a gentleman's private residence, so neat and trim is everything in connection with tho. establishment. This is the Home for the Agedand • Needy, an institution which owes its existence entirely to the munificence of tho Into Mi' Burne, who upon Ids death left a • sum of £2,000 whorewith to erect a building andprovide in some measure fortbe maintenance of the deserving aged poor and needy, of a somowhat better class than those who aro maintained by ~ the Bouevolent Trustees in tho Ohiro Home. This institution is maintained entirely by voluntary subscriptions, aided of courso by the Government subsidy, but hard times havo had their effect upon the Home, as upon everything elsenow-a-days, and tho Tiustees ate now sorely pushed for funds to carry out the good work of maintaining those who havo fought bravely in life's battle and have had at last to acknowledge themselves vanquished in the unequal fight with ' fortune. There aro many oldpeople in tho Home, m'alo and female, who in tlieir day havo fought well the good fight, and upon whom adversity has come at a'.timewhen they aro.unabletostandup against reverses. It is the future maintenance of those old people tho Trustees aro anxious about. Tho subscriptions, as I have said, liave fallen off lately, and now it is proposed ■ to appeal to the public of Welling. , ton for assistance. An ontertainmeut - on a monster scalo is shortly to bo got up in aid of tho Home, and I 1 trust tho public of • Wellington • will ■ with their usual liberality respond 1 promptly to tho appeal. Such an : admirable and humane institution as tho Home for the aged and needy is . deserving of every support, for a mora unostontatious or better con--1 ducted charity docß not exist in tho Colony. lam sure resident-sin your district, when visiting town, would spend v very pleasant and profitable half hour by going ovor the establishment. Visitors.aro always welcomed. .' :

The Socioty for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also doos not seem to be in a vory flourishing condition, with a credit balanco of only £4O at its bankers, and the salary and expenses of an Inspector to bo paid out of this slender fund, I trust sincorely the Society; will npt bo allowed Jocollangg {orit has been the' means!.' of. do%. a'large amount of good'in preventing cruelty to animak'Bmtfches'bf the Soqiety might easily- be* started inthoWairarapa, and to do this would not only assist the parent society, but would also considerably onlargo its functions, and extend its sphere of usefulness, •I commend the idea to the attention of suoh of your readors who may dolight in good works,

•: The great " flapdoodle" debate . hae-closeel at last and tho House lias • once more settled down to business, i To the minds of those'niosfc compet* , ent to judge tlio Financial Debate, : with but very few exceptions, hardly ■ oyer rose above tho dead level of • mediocrity. Tho exceptions wero i the speeches of Messrs Reeves and , SntcJiison and they were not -de- ' livowd until tho -debate .was nearly i over, and if in the liands of. Buoh ox» perienccd debaters, with &quc]i to comment upon, they hadlpt nrbvod better than the. rack it would have said little for the oratorical towers of tho two honourable gepemen, ' There is not the faintest dojibi that ■ the time limit has killed oratory in tho House. A member's sole idea now is to got as muclias possible into his hom. Consequently the facts are ill-digested, the matter is badly nr« ; ranged and tho delivery so rapid that a speaker's utterances at times are. almost unintelligible. The Colonial Treasurer for instance in his reply spoke so rapidly that his speech could hardly be followed in tho galleries, Certainly Mr Ward had caußefor complaint at tho brief space of time at his disposal for reply,,, An lour to speak in, on sucb an occasioii is absurdly inadequate. A member told me the other day that an effort.will be mado next session" to amend this time limit as tho ' House is chafing under the restraint very much. Strangely enough the second member for Wellington, Mr 8011, did not speak during tho d c . bate.- Possibly he feels he has acquired sufficient'distinction already as a talker,or is he reserving himself fyt a co»y> d'. atorf later, 0 n ? The new members didhot show up particularly asdebatora but the best pf ,the bunch was certainly Mr Mont. . •gpmery.;q«tofa;a,Houseof.74 Members there were oov " u V!?!ff a, j bad l ,recoi'd., for eiglit'dav/ talking.-- Without' 'the time limit and with- the same. numberbf speakers the debite; would.. have lasted at least'aiaonfe, ~ ■•"■i'--- , -;■.■!■;.■:-■■■..■■•.;•:'>-■ ■' --p" 1 - M /- *

Tho Opposition aro still pursuing a- course of mastorly inactivity, as they recognise the fact that any opposition proper would boworso than useless as things aro, Tho party is, howbvoiynot doad by any means,aud they intond to niako their presenco felt by a series of sharp harrying skirmishes when opportunity offers, Thoy do not intend, I am informed, to waste timo' in obstruction or useless although thoy are fully'prepared to play tho part of Tory candid critics when occasion requires it. So little at present docs (the Opposition regard itself as an 'important factor in the Houso, that very often at night tho bonchos on their sido of tho Houso contain but two or three solitary and somnolent occupants. Therost of the party has gono homo to bed. Captain Russell, howovor, is a perfect martyr to duty, and sticks at his post early and late,

Tlfo Premier has informed the Houso that Ministers cannot nf'ford tfllivoin tho Ministerial rcsi- ' donees f orJho rcasdn that thoy Would be expeojftto ontortain were they to-do Bilahore is a good deal in tllis 'argument,'for it hn6 been the rule in the past for Ministers to entericcly .when occupying tho honses provided for their residence. The House allowance of £2OO a year would not, of course, go very far if much or, indeed, any entortaining wcro indulged in, Thcro is, howover, no obligation upon Ministers to entertain,thero are plenty of festivities in Wellington during tho session without it. The real truth, no doubt, is that it would anchor Ministers too much to have a fixed residence. They would not bo able to fly about the country during the recess as they do with a house on their liands, Consequently they infiiiitoly prefer to live in lodgings orathotels, -and to spend the House allowance in a moro economical manner, It v would be a pity, however, if the T Houso consents to the houses being sotd," dny__ there, may be Ministers who would pielcrto havo a home, and who may not possess tho nomadic inclinations of tho present Ministry. It would be better to let the houses for what they would fetch, than to sell them outright, In time the sites will be very valuable, and even now thoy are worth far too much to be sacriticcd.

Although it lias been scmi-oflicially denied that any amalgamation is proposed between the Bank of New Zealand and the Colonial Bank, yet it is pretty widely believed that there was something in the wind. It is hinted about town that something mora will be heard of the matter shortly, and from what I can learn I should not be surprised to hear that Parliament will bo asked to sanction an amalgamation. It has been said that the amalgamation of the two banks would largely increase the Bank of New Zealand's present liabilities, That may be so, but it is well known that tho Colonial Bank lias, by careful management, got together a very safe-and-sound little business, and an amalgamation of tho two institutions would result, in tho opinion of many, iu the establishment of a very solid concern,

The newspapers got a good advertising in the Houso the other night, and possibly to some of the " boycotted " organs tins may be a slight solace for not getting tho advertisements, Tho Government did not show up in a favourablo light, and tho general consensus of opinion was that tho whole affair savoured of very undignified pettiness. There was something extremely ludicrous in tho Premier praising up the New Zealand Timet to the shies, while his coHeaguc,tho Minister for Lands,\vill not even allow a land advertisement to appear in its columns. The conclusion to ho drawn is that Government advertisements aro to ho given as subsidies to weak papers of the right colour only though, and that the main object is not so much to obtain publicity of Government notifications, as to obtain support for the Ministers,

It is reassuring to learn that the milk supply of Wellington is fairly good after all, and that in tho majority of instances the adulterating element was nothing moro dreadful than that which is obtained from " the'eow with the iron tail" or in other words tho friendly pump. Mr Hulke, in his admirable paper before tho Philosophical Society, has relieved the hearts of a good many householders who trombled lest the liwtoal fluid might contain the germs of many foul diseases or bo contaminated by unpleasant adulterations, I remember, however, that some time ago there were somo very unpleasant rovelations in connection with a dairy in town, into which 200 gallons of milk went in daily, but 300 came out. Thore were then some vaguo hints about whitning, starch, and colouring matter, to say nothing of aquapuraad. lib. Happily Mr Hulke has proved from extensive examination that although our milk may occasionally bo wiitorcil, it is not at any rate" doctored" with all kinds of nasty decoctions.

The Montague-Turner Opera Company at the Opera Homse, and tho JJelle'Cole Concert Company at the Theatre Hoyal,havo both heen drawing good houses during tho last week, Tho Mqhtagtie-Turner Opera Company is considerably improved since its 'lO appearanco here and the operas put on have not only been most creditably sung aud acted, but have also been very carefully dressed and staged. The Company is in fact deserving of hearty supportnotonly on its merits but as a mark of sympathy with Mrs Turner (Miss Monta»ue) for the heavy affliction she sustained by tho recent death of her husband at Auckland, Everyone is full of admiration for tho spirited manner in which this talented amlatrice lias faced, and lot us hope overcome, the apparently insuperablo difficulties which beset her on the death of her husband. Whilst fully recognising the fact that the performances aro not by any means perfect, I can nevertheless honestly recommend anyone when in town to pay the Opera Houso a visit,

The Belle-Cole Concort Company ja also a remarkably excellent combination of musical talent. Madamo Colo has a contralto voice of great breadth and compass, more nearly approaching Madamo Patey than any I havo heard. The baritono Mr Magrath, has a magnificent qrgan of singular purity and pqwer, whilst tho rest of the performers are considerably above the of travelling concert company artists. It is certainly to be regretted that the Belle-Colo Compauy should bave visited 1 the Colony so close in tho track of tho Do Vera Sapio-Urso Company, for thoy are naturally at a disadvantage from being second in too'fieWr-V ' ■■•'■■'■■■ l ■

J Inm informed that tho price of rice owing to tho war in tho Oorea I tins boon considerably increased. In fact, I learn from a lending local merchant, that if tho war botweon Japan and China is prolonged tho supply of Jnpancso rico, in tho Colony, will be practically exhausted in a very shovt time. Most of the rico which conies to this Colony is grown in Japan, as it is of much better quality than the Indian grown article. Local merchants nro now, howovcr, considering tho question of placing ordors with Indian shippers. We cannot, of course, do without this skplo article of food and even Indian rico is bettor than none at all. Thcro is one consolation to be derived from ordering from India and that is wo aro keeping the trado in our oivn territories. It is curious how oven such a far off circumstance as a war between Japan and China, should almost immediately affect us out hero in these distant Southern isles.

Tliis war between these two oriental nations will havo some beneficial effects nt least as far as wo aro concerned. For ono tiling it will vory materially affect tho Chinese immigration to theso Colonies, and secondly it will givoabig impetus to the Indian tea trade. Practically Indian tens have had tho inoiioply of this nmrkot for some years past, and the war should now serve to establish them more securely than ever.

A Blenheim gentleman has informed a committee of the House that he lias discovered a method of smelting New Zealand iron sand by a process of de-magnetisation, which is infinitely chenperand more efficacious than any other mode yet attempled. Should this prove to be the case and the gentleman in qucstionsecms pretty positive about it, a great future is beforo tho iron industry of New Zealand in general, and the province of Tamuaki in particular. 1 am told, however, 'that Mr E. M. Smith does not look favourably upon the project and still inclines to the belief that the old process of smelting is the best. A good denl of money has been wasted in the past experimenting with Tnnnnaki iron sand, but the Government conldnot do much harm by expending a little more in thoroughly testing the efficiency of the Blenheim gentleman's discovery. The importance of aronlly cheap and realiable system of treatment of the iron sand is hardly to be over estimated,

I never saw so many Maoris in Wellington as there are this session. Apparently they aro here to wateh the Maori legislation but as nearly trp months of the session are gone .ml no Native Bills have been proceeded with yet, it docs not appear that tho Government is very anxious to proclaim their native policy. Most of the leading North Island Chiefs are in town including Major Kemp, To Henhcu, To Whatanui, Hunia and othr.4. The Maoris aro patiently waiting the issue of events and the " taihoa" (wait a bit) policy does not seem to disconcert them in the least, in fact, the Maori seems to revel in the" law's delay."'

j It seems a pity that a Native Hostelry could not be erected for the Maoris' use when in town, At present they hang about the third rate public-houses, and tho result must be neither good for their pockets, their morals, nor their healths Old time residents tell me that a Native Accommodation Houso did exist at one time in Molcsworth Street, close to tho Parliamentary Buildings Snch an Institution is needed now and tho Natives would be benefitted thereby, There was a movement on foot somo time ago to establish a Maori Club, where the Natives could reside when visiting Wellington on business, but the project scorns to have fallen through.