ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1307, 13 November 1880, Page 2

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Last Friday being the sth November, commonly known as Guy Fawkes' Day, the hills in the suburbs were illuminated j with bonfires, and that troublesome sec- | tion of tho community, the small boys, let off crackers to their own infinite amusement, but to the danger of people riding or driving timid horses. When I was a small by I learned a little ditty, the first Verse of which was, " Remember, remember the fifth of November, | Tho 'gunpowder treabon and plot. '•> We see no reason why'fhe gunpowder treason Should ever be forgot." And I fully believed that there was no reason why it should be forgotten 1 . (It is a pity that a poet's license allows him to write bad grammer.) Now, however, that lam getting into the "sear and yellow leaf," I have more sense, a«d believe that the whole . story should be forgotten, more especially as we live in a, country where there is no state religion, were a Roman Catholio is justly considered as good a man as an Episcopalian or Presbyterian, provided he obeys the laws of the land. I think we ou°rht to forget all about Guy Fawkes, William of Orange and other historical personages whose name is likely to cause ill-feeling, and act on the advice of Longfellow, " Let the dead past bury its dead.' ' Ah Lee has been hung for the murder of Mrs Young, protesting his innocence on the scaffold, and many people believing the truth of his protestations, while Joe, about whose guilt of the murder of Mr Rees there was not a shadow of doubt, has been reprieved. Truly the ways of Executive Councils are past finding out. Mark Twain in one of his sketches, entitled " The New Crime," told how, when a man committed a murder, i)is friends and his solicitor immediately set to work to prove that he was insan3. In fact, murder should have been removed from the statute book and insanity put in its plf.ee. In this more enlightened country the friends of a murderer need take no trouble in the matter, as the Executive Council will take the task on themselves. The other day I was in Wooliams's getting some tobacco when I saw a large pile of playing cards on the counter, the papers in which the parks had been baing in a most delapidated state. I enquired the reason, and was told that, according to the new Customs Act, the deuce of diamonds in each pack must be stamped by an officer of H.M.s Customs, and that, in order to get the deuce of diamonds, each pack had been opened. Of course, it is necessary that the Act should be complied with, but I fail to see why the officer entrusted with the duty of stamping the cards should so mutilate the papers containing the packs of cards as to render them unsaleable. The Cattle Show on Monday and Tuesday was a great success, both a* regards the quality of the exhibits and as regards the number of them, acd the attendance at the Show. The arrangements made by the railway authorities were not by any means as good as they should have been. Most of the trail % n Tuesday morning were over crowded, especially that which left Auckland at 10 o'clock in the forenoon, and did* not arrive at Ellerslio until noon. I have no personal animus against Mr A. Y. Macdonald, the General Manager of the Anckland and Waikatb Railway, but it seems patent that he must either nuke better arrangements for the accommodation of the public, or make room for somo one else who will do so. There was a great fins made at the Cattle Show about Mr Hurst's pig. It was considered the best in its claps by the judges, who awarded it the first prize. Their decision wa9, I believe, ft popular one, as the pig had obtained a first prize in England before Mr Hurst bought it. After the award had been made, Mr Alfred Isaac.*, a rival exhibitor, discovered that 'the pig's skin had been blackened with lamp-black or homo similar compound, and so entered a protest. The judges in the class considered the matter, and decided that, as the lamp-black had not bf>en used for the purpose of covering a defect, but merely to improve the appearance of the pip:, they ;idhered to their decision. The committee, however, ignored the decision of the judges, disqualified Mr Hurst's pig, and awarded the first prize to Mr Isaac's pig. lam not an admirer of Mr Hurst, but I think he has been unfairly dealt with in this matter, and I consider the committee have slighted the judges of swine in a most un j ustifi ible in inner. By the way, does it not seem strange that Mr Isaacs, a member of a race to whom the pig is an unclean and forbidden animal, should be an exhibitor of pigs ? On Tuesday evening the local partners of the firm of William Me Arthur and Co. gave a dinner to a number of their customers and friend**, to celebrate the installation of Mr "William McArthur, the senior partner, as Lord Mayor of London, and, it is whispered, to endeavour to get Mr F. Larkins, one of the local partners, elected Mayor of Auckland. However, a requisition is being got up, asking Mr James McCosh Clark to become a candidate for the Mayoralty of Auckland, and if he acceiits the invitation, Mr Larkins will have not the ghost of a chance. A correspondent of the Star (one of the diners, I presume) on Wednesday evening, suggested that Mr Larkins should be requested to allow himself to bo nominated. I should strongly advise him not to do so, as with the exception of a very small section of the community represented by the V.M.C.A. and a few of the Queen-street shopkeepers, he would have no supporters. Failing Mr Clarks acceptance of the invitation to become a candidate, there are several other well-known citizens who could, in sporting parlance, "run rings" around Mr Larkins. It does not speak very highly for a certain section of the people of Victoria that so much anxiety should be displayed by them to obtain a reprieve for the notorious Ned Kelly. I see by the Melbourne telegrams that it is expected that thfl Legislative Assembly of Victoria will pass a vote of censure on Mr Gaunson for his action in the matter. Unless the facts of the case are very different from those telegraphed,* I do not see why such a vote should be" passed, as Mr Gaunson, being the solicitor of the condemned man, should, I think, be allowed to call public meetings, get petitions signed, and use any other lawful means to get a reprieve for his client. No ! The voto of censure should be passed on the people who attended the meetings and signed the petitions. It is a good thing our Executive Council had not to consider the question of reprieving Nelly, or they might have done so on the ground of insanity. Fortunately, the attempts to obtain a reprieve failed, and Kelly met the doom he so well deserved on Thuraday^inorning. . * By the way, the Herald, in a leading article in Thursday's issue, took Mr McMillan, of the local partners in the firm of W. McArthur and Co., to task for expressing a hope that Sir Arthur Gordon " will exercise a restraining influence on those democratic tendencies which have such baneful effects on young communities." What is the matter with the old lady in Wyndham- street ? Did Mr McMillan not send her sufficient banquet tickets, or is it the old, old story of pandering to the mob ? I am neither a friend nor an admirer of Mr McMillan, but I fully sympathise with him in his hope. St. Mungo,