ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1256, 17 July 1880, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

The latest Yankee notion is the Magic Photograph. A piece of, apparently, clear glass about three inches long and two inches wide is contained in a small brass frame, similar to those used for the cheaper photographs taken On glass before the introduction of cartes dc vhitc. printed directions are to the following effect ; — Gaze steadily on the glass for a short tune, to fix the photograph, then breathe gently on it and hold it up to the light, when the photograph will appear. "When you have done as directed you perceive a donkey's dead. Mr X was in one of the Southern towns some time ago. One day Mr Y told him that he was going out of town and did not expect to return until late in the evening and asked him to take a telegram, which he gave him, to the telegraph office just before closing time. X. took the telegram, and promised to attend to it. Y went out to the country, but returned sooner than he expected, so, for fear X might forget, he went to the telegraph office, gave in the telegram and told the counter-clerk that, if a gentleman should bring in a similar telegram he was to tell him that Mr Y had already sent it, and tear it in pieces. Soon after Y left the I telegraph office, X went in and presented the telegram. The counter-clerk was a foreigner, who could read and write English very well but could not speak fluently, so, without attempting to explain why he did so, he tore the telegram in piece?, and threw the fragments on the floor. X, considering himself insulted, vaulted over the counter and fave the unfortunate clerk a great thrashing, before he was able to explain matters in his broken English. An old Auckland resident is here on a visit just now, after having been for a number of years in H-iwke's Bay and Westland. I allude to Judge Weston, who for a number of years practised as a solicitor here before he was appointed a District Judge. He is '" such a little man, " and, like Professor Swallow, is always faultlessly arrayed. In spite of his diminutive stature and pernickaty ways, he is very well liked by the diggers in Westland. On one occasion a case was being tried before him on which he could not give his decision without seeing the place about which the dispute aro-e. To reach it, it was nece^sarj to travel a great distance over an almost impassaVe road. The little judge, howevar, adjourned the Court and trudged through mud and water, up hill and down dale, to the locality in question, and then returned to Court and decided the case. Some of the members of the Domain Board seem to be anxious to follow the example of the Improvement Commissioners and make a mess of the property entrusted to them for the benefit of the public. The Board is peculiarly constituted, consisting of three members appointed by the Governor, the Mayors of Auckland and Parnell, and the Chairmen of the Newmarket and Graf ton Road Highway Boards. Consequently, three members of the Board are fixed stars and four are comets. The comets, knowing that their existence is short, endeavor to make it brilliant. To do so, they propose to lease a portion of the Domain for building Bites ; but it is to be hoped that their design will be frustrated, as the City of Auckland will in all probability extend beyond the Domain in the course of a few years, and the Domain should be kept intact as a recreation ground for the people. The fixed stars are opposed to leasing any portion of the Domain for building purposes, the most persistent opponent being Mr J. B. Russell, who appears in the role of "the patriotic mau who does what he believes to be right, though it is opposed to his own interests." When the motion came on for discussion he said that, personally, he would wish it to be carried, as he would like to lease a portion of the land ; but that he opposed it in the public interest. No doubt Mr Russell is disinterested ! His character for disinterestedness is too well known to ne«d any endorsement from me, but I [ would like to know what his object is. j Tlmco Danaos, ct timco dona fvrentcs. I Last Monday a fresh jury was empannelled to try the celebrated Whangarei i Shooting Case, and, after hearing even stronger evidence than the previous juries had heard, acquitted the prisoner. I have no doubt the jury returned a verdict which they believed to be a just one in accordance with the evidence, but how twelve sensible men, after hewing the

evidence in that case, could acquit the prisoner is a mystery to me. It is a conundrum, I give it up. Ask me something easier. Judge Richmond gave one of the jurymen a well-merited rebuke for expressing a doubt of the truth of Mr Hazard's, the gonsmith, evidence, when he deposed that he had experimented with a toy pistol similar to that said to have been used by the prisoner, with the result that bullets fired at the leather part of a pair of braces either rebounded, or remained embedded in the leather, as Mr Washer deposed the bullet was embedded in his braces. On Monday the Supreme Court was engaged with a braces case, and on Tuesday with embracery cases. Although the words are samewhat similar, the cases were very different. There seems to have been considerable difficulty in finding a definition of the offence of embracery, but, so far as I can understand, it consists in bribing, persuading or influencing a juryman, or attempting to influence bribe, or persuade a juryman to give a verdict for or against a prisoner in a criminal case, or for plaintiff or defendant in a civil case. The Jury found Mr Coombes "Not guilty," and public opinion agrees with the jury. Mr Justice Richmond, in discharging the accused, advised him to be more careful in future. In fact the Judge's verdict was " Not guilty, but don't do it again.." There was a curious fact connected with this case, which was that the more intelligent jui'ymen were almost invariably challenged by either the Crown or the prisoner. Last Monday being the 12th of July, the Orangemen marched in procession through the streets and had a soiree in St. James's Hall in the evening. The procession was a Very poor attempt, and made me feel glad that I am not an Orangeman. I believe lam as staunch a Protestant as any in the procession, but I have many friends who are Roman Catholics, and I do not see why they should be annoyed by having a red rag or a yellow flag flaunted in their faces once a year. Of oourse the argument of the Orangemen ie that the Hibernian Society parade the streets with yreen flags on the 17th of March. I think that these party processions should not be tolerated in a free country like New Zealand. They should be put down,not by Act of Parliament, but by public opinion. At the soiree in the evening 1 the various speakers expressed their belief that the Orange Institution is necessary in this country. Well, they may keep their opinion and I will keep mine ! One of .the speakers — the Rev. L. Isitt— speaking of the institution being an irritant to the Roman Catholiss, said that there were many irritants whioh we had to tolerate. " Sir George Grey," he continued, "is a great irritant to me, and the weak-minded people who believe in him are still greater irritants." These remarks were followed by applause and laughter, although most of those in the hall were, a short time ago, Greyites. What does it mean ? Are the people waking- to their senses ? Do they acknowledge the " Great Pro-Con-sul" a failure, and the Central Committee played out ? St. Mungo.