THE BROAD ARROW.

Westport Times, Volume VII, Issue 1086, 4 July 1873, Page 3

THE BROAD ARROW.

Colonel Gordon, who visited the Coast a time ago, on a branding expedition, is thus referred to by " Snyder" in the Auckland Herald " Respecting the subject of Government officialdom, I should just like to relate a little incident in connection with one of the created offices. Julius told me about it himself. There was a gentleman who required his demands to be satisfied, so he was appointed to put the ' broad arrow' upon everything which was owned by the Colonial Government. At it he went broad arrowing e/erything that could be said to be Colonial Government proporty. Steel pens, penholders, penknives, wheelbarrows, shovels, penwipers, water caraffes, buckets, cloths, bibles, constables' staves, panikins, and things on earth, under the earth, and in the waters beneath. There was nothing that did not have the broad arrow on it. In accomplishing this useful work there was a great amount of Government property damaged, and a few wrong articles impressed with the cabalistic mark. One of the newspapers reporters had left his note-book on the Supreme Court table on the one evening and found it the next morning with nearly every page stamped with the broad arrow, making it felony, without benefit of clergy, if he dared to claim it. Twelve jurymen who had been locked up during the night to consider their verdict had the blankets they slept on broad arrowed all over, these belonging to the landlord of a neighboring hotel. There was a ' pocket-pistol' of one juryman, a sandwich-box of another, and the pencil-case of another indelibly branded. This official at last became to be affected with broad arrow on the brain. Believing honestly that he was Government property he did the broad arrow business on every limb of his body. He desired to do it to his serving maid, but she sternly refused compliance. At last his imagination took a wider flight. He sent a requisition to the Government for the necessary implements to stamp some hundreds of thousand of railway sleepers with large broad arrows. The Government said it was not necessary. The broad arrowist insisted that it was quite necessary; in fact the safety of the Government hinged upon it being done. The Government said if such was the case he had better do it. Then the official said he must have clerical assistance, and he had it. Twelve staunch supporters were appointed clerical assistants, and the stamping is going on vigorously while I am writing these particulars."