TOLD ON LAMBTON QUAY.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XVI, Issue 5146, 3 October 1895, Page 2

TOLD ON LAMBTON QUAY.

[By The Ancient Mariner,] And Urn spah on that ancient man, The bright-eyed mariner."—Coleridge. Wellington, Tnesdny.

" DEBBIES,""TABBIES " AND "TARRIERS.",^ Tho in-door season is fast coming® to an end, and for this the weather is wholly to blamo. It is getting too warm for dancing, so that tho social 'enjoyments must be taken outside, and we must look to tennis parties and garden parties to enablo our girls to show their pretty frocks. Dancing, however, is not quite out, and last week tho yachtsmen gave a very enjoyable ball. If tho ladies rush to the conclusion that I am about to describe in detail tho many line dresses worn on the occasion, let me assure them they are quite' wrong. I couldn't do such a thing even 1 tried. There are olherthiugs to he noted at a ball besides tho frills and laces of Miss and " Missus." Tho ball was enjoyable, there wero lots of girls who danced bewitchingly. The girls were divided into three classes by a bold, bald man, whocallodtliem "debbies,""tabbies" and "tamers." Thetfe&iitatecanie under tho first term; tho dear girls who had been " out" for a year or two were the" tabbies"; while those* who had seen several seasons and J who gave promise of eventually find-' ing themselves ou the" shelf" wero called "tarriors," because tho expected "hubbies" did tarry so. The same old fellow sorted them up in another way, and had flirts, terrors, sedates, wall-llowers, freezers, frumps, and footers, the latter possessing an incurable habit of sliding gently on to pet corns. Old baldy was quite a authority on dress, and i as for the colours, there seemed to . be no end to his knowledgeof colours. There was pale-green, olive-green, moss-gran, sea-green, rose-pink, i salmon-pink, royal-blue, pcacoek- , blue, heliotrope, maize, saifron, [ canary, whipped-cream, crnshed- . strawberry, elephaut's-breatli, black, I white, red, green, yellow, brown and 1 irrey. Tho colour of one dress, however, beat him completely, it was not . rose-pink, nor yet was it saltnoni pink; it could not he called carna- ■ lion, Indian-red, brick-red or scarlet; . but the old man got over the difficulty by calling it "slapped-baby the i colour, need I say, was of a • arytint. jjß The yachtsmen enjoyed themselves ; immensely, and possibly before tho i anniversary of this year's ball comes , round, one or two of the strapping . young fellows will have given up , yachting as a pastime and have [ taken (o "nursing flie baby" as a duly. This is invariably the history . of these social functions, and it is i well that it is so, otherwise what a [ waste of time it would be to the girls [ who strive to make themselves pretty and " fetching." Marriage is a good [ old function, and Yacht Club Balls [ and Hospital Balls lead up to it, i The transition is simple— A little kiss, l A little bliss, A little riug—its ended.

But after a few years, with somo unfortunate wretches, it comes to A little jaw, A little law, Awl so ! the bouds are ronded. "IT TDK M.VK." doing "np the line "and goim "on the hill "are phrases familiS in the City, but there is a great difference in the significance of the two; the difference is that between pleasure and pain. "Up the line" affords the pleasure of a jaunt into the country on tlio Manawatu Line, but" 011 the hill" wo experience the pain of being in gaol. No respectable citizen thinks of going "on the hill," and being a respectable old fossil myself, 1 go "up tlio lino." Ono learns a little geography by these periodical railway jaunts. Now, for instance, I can tell you all about Otaki. It is one of the prettiest places in the colony, and possesses a history all its own. It is the homo of the frost-fish, at anyrate durin" tho last winter the catch has been remarkably good. The best haul made was 80, while tlio averago tuko was between 40 and 50. The Maoris jof Otaki are epicures of tho first order, and proved themselves the ' best fishermen, skirmishing tho beach at peep o' day, and bagging the delicious scven-f'ooteis. What tha natives could not themselves deyouv were sent to Wellington, where theaj were quickly snapped up by tldl Club and swell pubs at prices ranging from Os to las. Otaki is also noted for its Maori ceinetoiy ( wlioro the tombstones, besides giving a letter-press of the virtues, alsq furnish a picture of Mio deaf departed. In' little recesses of the* giavc-stones, relatives have placed photographs, where these have been available, of those sleeping tlio last sleep. You cannot beat the Maori for original ideas. IN AXOTIIKIf ma.

"Up the line" there is a salu- , brious spot called Pnikakariki, noted , for its excellent pub and tho slendej^ patronymic of the proprietor. His » , namo may be " Slight," but make no mistake, he is not slightly known, no tho contrary, he is known from Auckland to Invercargill (is tlie man who has succeeded in making a million blades of giass grow where none grew before. Mr Slight is slowly reclaiming the horrid stiiicl-hilla o£Paikakariki, and those between hotel and the hoacli are now covered with a beautiful green coat' of grass, 1 Mr Slight, with no slight troublrjfc lias succcoded in acclimatising thw. sand-plant, and his name and have consequently spread abroad, lame is costly sometimes, and I think Mr Slight must find it so, for he gets letters from all parts of tho Colonies, from all sorts of people, • begging for the seeds of the sandplant of Pnikakariki, but none of ' these cadgers think of sending a trifle to cover jho postage. But'Mr Slight good-iiafiirt'dly answers all appeals, notwithstanding'' tho gathering of tho seed means labour, and the postage involves expense. Fa:kakanki sand-plant would thrive in many parts of the Wairarapa, but [those who send for the seed should, endeavour to estimate the postage and remit the amonnt in stamps. All seed-cadgers should do this,

PLEASURE AT JOIINSOXTmB, Johnsonville is another nice placo ' up the hne, it is notable mainly for its stock sale-yilrds,' and 'the ■ absence of a'doctor, Tho ciiinate jk good, still the people of Johnsonvil® want a resident doctor, and are taakT ing efforts to get on'e/'Th'e chief ■ attraction for me at this little town-/ ship is the delicious spring water- : that is kept on "tap" by the courteous station-master. The water, is stored in a basin-like receptacle, and is obtained from aspring close by the station. Thewater-buttisundertho special care of the station-master, " who sees that it is kept thoroughly . clean j I believe it ii soalded with '

boiling water overy other day. j can vouch for Hie flavourof the water, it is good—very t^ood; mixed with a little whisky it is better; I have tried it both ways, and can therefore apeak from.experience. The water by itself is bettor fit to bo retailed in some of the Wellington pubs than + Jtomuek that is often sold as beer. lpSfiay oven go the length of askingAro not good wetts Aatl crystal springs The very thinns For out hotels'/ Johnsonvillo water at sixpence a pint would not (like with the public, that is because the public prefers to poison its stomach with deleterious liquids, and not because there is no virtue in Jolnisonville spring water

WE WANT A MAYWI. The City is anxious to have a new Mayor, and the time is nearly ripe for obtaining a new figure-head. There is no lack of'candidates suitable for the position, and already fiv'o names are mentioned, Sir Robert Stout, Mr Luke (the present Mayor), V Mr J. M. lliclmrdson, Mr George Fisher and Mr Arthur Warburton. Mr J. 11. Blair was asked to stand, butdeclined the liououv. Sir Robert Stout is far too busy with greater politics to bo troubled with parish legislation ; Mr Luke is good enough in his way, but lie has had a turn and j can bo well icplaced. Mr J. M. ■Richardson would, no doubt, be IJpitablo from a commercial point of view, hut he has had no experience of even parish politics, and there is risk in taking an untried man, Mr George Fisher—Our George, has been in it before, and is likely to be there again, liis record in the past has been a good one, and there is * still plenty o? life and usefulness loftiu"Uiu , Gcorge." He is certain to go to the poll and if there are not too many candidates, may win. Mr Arthur Warburton entering into the contest would make it a party light and Mr Warburton stands about as i much chance of being Mayor of Wcl- j k lington as a tom-cat does of being | King of Timbuctoo, He may, how- j over, slip in between soveral caudidates, if so, we shall seo him figuring. as a candidate at the next general I election. Mr Warburton means to get into Parliament, and 1 don't think it matters to him whether he I , is elected to the House of Represcnt tatives or called to the Legislative Council, so long as ho gets into Par- j liament, In view of possibilities he j tJfcs taken to wearing a bell-topper, j flßkresignof respectablemediocrity. I

TUKN'KU UP HOI'S. j lu tlio City we pick up commercial j tit-bits now and again. For the i t. * past few months dealings in scrip j formed the chief topic on Lambton I Quay, and wondious tales of big profits liavo been passed up and down the street. The cackle now is about wool; the advance in the price of wool; what the rise means to the Colony; what the eliects of the advance will be on business and ( trade. Almost every shopkeeper, warehouseman, ami the myriads of commission agents, lawyers, doctors, etc., know all about wool. Every, one will tell you the rise is a grand thing for the Colony, thai business ■j is bound to revive, and that other commodities will rise in sympathy. They say all these nice things because they wish it may be so, and I am with them in good wishes. ✓ Most of us are waiting for the effects of the rise in wool, that is simply we cannot do otherwise, not giving any wool to sell. There is Tone individual in the community! who has already tinned up (rumps; lie has been a speculator in wool for years past, and has at last struck the market, and conies out with a profit of close upon £IO,OOO. May the same misfortune befall the sheepr farmers of the Wairarapa, for lam sure they could all very well stand «. it, I have heard of another individual who sold in advance this year's clip at an average of 7|d, but this was before the wool market reports readied the Colony. He is now chewing his linger tips by way of consolation, and reckons he has lost fully 2d per lb. on his wool. ' ■ Never encourage the itinerant woolbuyer, for lie generally manages to get on the blind side of the bargain,

"WE I'AY IX GOM>." jj The banking legislation of this|/ session has had a wonderful effect on i tho circulating medium. Bunk t notes are not quite as plentiful as i f they used to be, and bills are in con- 1 *' sequence paid mostly in gold, llak- j Lflttg the liank of New Zealand notes i ''Hj>gal tender appears to have fright- ( 'encd a good many people, so much t so, that it is difficult to get them to s Accept notes. There is no choice in t the matter, for they treat all notes t alike. Country people appear the f most suspicious of bank notes, and ± *llO sooner do they find one in their possession than they run oif to tho issuing hank and convert into gold, t The Bank business has had a demor- ' (ilising effectand many changes have ' been brought about, Clients have j left one bank and fled to another, t and Imstled back again; there lias ' been a considerable amount of chip- j and chopping with batik Accounts, that we don't know where 1 we are when wegct a cheque. Colonial Bank shares have acted as a kind of barometer during the last fow weeks. A week ago when the amalgamation question seemed settled; there was a great demand for the shares, and the brokers were . buzzing about trying to pick them • now thatthere appears to be some ■ hitch in tho matter theshares may be , obtained in largo parcels at small f ices, Every broker has got one more parcels for sale, but selling adiflicult matter. In tho meantime wc pay all accounts in golds and this will be the rule until the bank business is finally settled. t TIIK DKTTKIIXKXT MIX, • The Betterment Bill is to a bush ( settler as irritating as a red rag is to a bull. The settler's hair stands on end, lie bucks at a public meeting, vejplves and dissolves, threatens a depuiation and generally promises to make things lively, Tliera is nothing in it; 1 mean the Betterment Bill and not the settler, The Bill is as dead as a door-nail, at anyrate it is not likely to pass into law this y session, and even if it does, lianga- ' tainoka settlers and others may hang on to their hirauto luxuriance, as there is nothing in tho Bill to harm those near the Eketahuna-Woodvillo line, The Premier in answer to a question this afternoon- assured the inombor for Waipawa that the betterment principle only applied to tho Jrafyrks'mentioned in the schedule of Bill, atul as the TSketahunaWoodyille line does not figure'in the -schedule, Jlnngatainoka may eat its Fl'leg of mutton" in peace—or in pieces, Hogg says its all right, and if Hogg says so, the Bottlers can depend upon it they are safe from attack. , DItESSIXO THE CAIiV, Golf has come to stay, for half the community has gone mad oil the I■. f game. See the men and women on a

Saturday Afternoon making tracks for the links, they look lilto a lot of school children let loose fov the day, Last Saturday ft drag load of enthusiastic gollists wcro being driven through the streets, when turning round n corner the off-side leader suddenly stopped and rofused to budge, and did not move until there was a redistribution of seats in the drag. The old moke in turning the corner caught sight of something hanging over the box-scat, which hurt his dignity, and caused him to refuse work, The something was only the leg of a gollist, yet after seeing that leg, I can sympathise with the off-side leader. Golfists, like footballers, have a rig all thoir own, but there is this difference that while only strong athletic fellov- s can play football, any whipper-snapper can fool his time at golf. There is thus a great difference in the symmetry of carcase nf the two classes of players. The footballer is muscular and fairly well proportioned, but the gollist can bo anything from a straight Hue to ut " podge." Golfists' trousers end at the knee and the rest of the leg—we'll say nothing about it but Some lanky young Rolfi-'ts I see, Wear trou-ors that end at tlio knoc, 'J'would be belter by half, just io cover the ca'f, At least, where the call outjhl to he.