ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1396, 14 June 1881, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

L\st Sunday we \ciy neaily had a repetition of tho tcniblc Oipheus disaster on the Manukau bai, as both thcHawea and the Hmcnioa .stiuck there. Providentially, both steamers were got off without senou-. damage 01 loss of life, but had the wind gone lound to tho vest while they weie on tlie bar. as it did later in the day, theic is e\erj reason to believe th.it one 01 both the steamcis, as well as inaiij \ aluablo list's might ha\e been lost. Such a mishap did not occur, so theie is no use in grieving over the " might have beens,'' but that the captains of the Hawea and Hinemoa and all othei eiiteiing the Manukau will l>e nioi e careful of tho ships and lnes cntm.sted to their care is a consummation <U'\outlyto be wished. It is a curious coincidence that Captain Johnson, the commanding ofheer of tho Hinemoa, was the captain of the little steamer Wonga Wonga, which went to render assistance to the officers and men of the Oipheus, and that Mr Lnihnc, who was a passenger ou board the Wonga Wonga on that occasion, was a passenger by the Hawea on Minday. As 1 have ahcaciy said, I do not dote on the "Childien of the Sun." I never did dote on them much, and any doting intr feelings. I may have had for them, it I evei 1 did have any, were removed by reading lepoits of lectures debveied, and lettei-j wntten, by those qualified to loctuie and write about the "ways that aiod.uk, and tucks that are vain," for which "that heathen Chinee is peculiar." One .such letti r appeared in the Sydney .Ira nni'/ Ih i old not long ago. The writer siys, ' I can piovc that the Chinese of to-day are mfoiior in vntue to the most libeitinc Euiopoan lace ; that they are one of the most ciuel and unfeeling people oa tho face of tho globe ; that their wives arc httlo better than slaves; and that they aie sober only as. legauls intoxicating hquo] -j," levelling in a more disgusting tonu of intoxication — that pioduced by opium .smoking. Never more, if I c\er did .so, can 1 dote on the '' Celestials." The poet says that "A fellow-feeling makes ib wondrous kind." but, speaking tioiu oxpenence, I must admit that I do not agicc with the poet, as I certainly did not feel inclined to be "wondrous kind " to an opuun .smoker who, on one occasion, gave pi oof of " a f fellow-feeling " w ith me. lie was pleased to admire a >oung ladj on whom I had bestowed my lllcit'ons and olleied her father a large -,urn of money it lie would &ell her to him, N T o doubt, F should have felt flatteied at the knowledge that so high a value was set on my fair innamorata. but the knowledge did not alteut me m that way. ft ivuacd a sudden iiiuhmso m my bumps of coii))>ati\cnc"-s, and, if I had been mtiodnoed to tliat ycllow-smnned nval of mine, the liitioduction would have been followed by a hght. However, the intiodiutiou did not take place, nor did the ii^ht, tin 1 >oiing lady was inained, not to me, but to another white man, and " .John ' had to buy another wife, or remain single. Tuesday was an important day here, as the annual mooting of the Licensing (Jouit, and the dep.uture of the first of our MIIUs , took place on it. I am neithoi a teetotal lei nor a Good Templar, but 1 iiankly admit that I do not look with pie i sine on the long list of licensed house-, m the city and subiubs, knowing .is i do th.it the majouty of them are not hotels, pi operly speaking, but meic drinking shops, ha\ ing a .sufficient number of bod-iooms to comply with the lequireinents of tho Licensing Act, but having, in leahty, no accommodation for riawlleis. Theie ate at least a cloven hotels, so allied, m Queen-street alone, whcio no lodger ever stays, and where any one exploring a deaiie to stay at them, would be told that the house was full. At tho piesent time there isagreat sen city of pioper hotel accommodation in tin-, city, although theie are, I believe, twice as many licensed houses as are required. Why is this thiis>ly ? Does the law, or the adnunistiation theicof, lequire amendment ? With regaid to the other eveut which mafic Tuesday an impuifcant day, the depirtuie of home of the members, its impoitanco consists mainly in tho ftiot that it is an indication that the "trouble will commence" shortly, that the assembled wisdom of New Zealand will soon proceed, it is. to bo hoped, to legislate for the welfaic of the colon}', not to waste the time and money of the colonists in party I squabbles between the "ms" and the '•outs" lam inclined to believe that the members will apply themselves to real work, as, thib being the last session of the piesent Parliament, the representatives will bo on thoir good behaviour, knowing that they must meet their constituents before they oan return to Wellington as members of Parliament. However, wg shrill soon see whether I am correct in my belief, or whether there will be another ftiuggle for the emolumeuts of office ou the part of the so-called gieat Libel al party. Judging by tho fato of a similar institution in Adelaide, the prospects of the Auckland Coffee Palace Company are not very good. Thoro a year's operation show a loss of -Co oo, as the directors called a meeting of tho shareholders, at whioh it was resolved that tho company be wound up. At Adelaide, however, it would appear that a good site for the Coffee Palaco had not been chosen, in Auckland, on the other hand, what I consider a very good site has been selected. The proposals of the provisional directors, aB set forth in the prospectus of the company, do not, however, meet with general approval, the idea of pvavlding for the '' upper ten" an,d oi polloi in the same building being generally considered a mistake. Several gentlemen have offered to lay a wagnr that, within twelve months from its completion, the Coffee Palace will be turned into a publio-honse, and among the takers, if there are any, certainly is not St. Mtjngo.