Thank you for correcting the text in this article. Your corrections improve Papers Past searches for everyone. See the latest corrections.

This article contains searchable text which was automatically generated and may contain errors. Join the community and correct any errors you spot to help us improve Papers Past.

Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image
Article image

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

I n<\T) intended last week to give some account of the performance of " Pinafore ' by Pollard's Juvenile Troupe, but I used up my space writing about other matters, and so had to defer doing so until this week. The performance is, to use a slang plna&e, "immense." The children sing really well, and act splendidly. Indeed, I have not seen a better low comedian in Auckland than the lad Osmond, who takes the pait of "Dick Dcadeye." He is intensely amusing, always on the move, the life and soul of the piece, which, however, hardly needs a life and soul, brimming over as it does with fun. His mode of responding to an fiuo)c is hresistibly funny. He received a most enthusiastic cneow after singing, with Captain Corcoran, the duet, "The Captain and the Tar," and came forward apparently to " <lv et" again (please excuse the pun, and I will promise not to do it another time). He stood there, went tlnougli the sume gestures as betoie, but said not a word until he got to the end of the veifce, when he sang the Moid "tar." Then lie retired, but only to be lcc.vlled. He came forward again, repeated the gestures, and whistled the .ur. Again, he was. lecalled. He began to whistle the air again, but suddenly stopped and lan oIF the stage. Even if a man Lid just heard of the death of Ins mother-in-law, ho could not help laughing at "Dick Deadeye." One novel fcituio of the performance was that the part of .Sir Joseph i'orter was played by a young lady. Her " get up " was excellent, but she was far too pretty for the " Ruler of the Queen's Navce." Another novelty was the intioduction of Sir Joseph's aunt, an elderly young lady of uncertain age, homely appearance, and great height. She " biought down the house " when she took the arm of the lieutenant, a little fellow about the s'izp of six pennyworth of coppers set on edge, and walked off the btage. Last ¥ridoy tho brothers Bindon were brought up at tho police Court, charged with having set fiie to the premises in High-street, occupied by them. So far, tho case bears a very ugly appearance, but there is no knowing what evidence may be bioujrht forward ; so the less said about it the better. There is one matter which requires explanation, and about which some peoplo have been making rather unpleasant remarks. It appears that traces of keio a eno were found on the stairs, but not ou the nig-ht of the fire. How came the kerosene there Pis what we want to know, do'nt you know. Last Saturday tho Herald published a warning to smokers. It appears that some unfortunate man pot a cancer on his tongue, through smoking a foul pipe, and died. Therefore, everyone, who indulges in the fragrant weed, ought to give up smoking. On the came piinciple, because someoup ate something which disagreed with him, and was taken ill, and died, everyone ought to give up eating; because some one drank to excess got b2'ain fever, and died, everyone ought to give up diinking ; becaus9 some one was killed by a blow from a cricketball, everyone ought to stop playingcricket; because some one was killed by a railway acoidout, everyons ought to stop travelling- by rail, and so on to the end of the chapter. I suppose everyone know-? the story about tho sailor, whose father was drowned at sea, and whom a friend advised not to go to pea again. He asked his friend where his father died. " My father died in bed," was the reply. "Then," said tho sailoT'j ''see that you do not e;o to bed again.'' There was -just as much reason in the sailor's advice as tlieie is in tho I£e> aid's. I confess that it has not had the desired effect on mo, tor I am smoking at this moment, while I am writing. A friend of mine told me of a very interesting experience he had of "the way the money goes " in bankrupts' estates. He was a creditor of a man who some time ago sought the protection of the Bankruptcy Court. Not receiving any dividend, he called onMrT. M aoffarlane, who had been appointed trustee in the estate, to ask for information. That gentleman showed him a book, in which the receipts and expenditure were very plainly shown. It appeared that the assets had realised £46 odd, that £12 odd had been paid for wages and rent, that a certain legal firm had' received £30, and that the trustee had received £4 odd, not any too much, seeing that ho had had to go twice to Papakura to make inventories of the stock, &c. As usual, the gentlemen of the long robe had got the " delicious bivalve," and the creditors had not got even the Rhells to look at instead of their money. Truly this is a great country we live in. It is about time that steps were taken to reduce law costs. I have before me a copy of The Federal Amtialtan, a weekly summary of tup pastoral, agricultural, political, social, scientific, and sporting affairs of the w hole of Australja. It is a first-class news paper of tllirfcy-six pages, very cheap at the price (sixpence) at which it is sold. It contains a New Zealand letter, written from Da tied in, by whom J know not, but certunly not by a Greyitc, as it'contiins the lollowjn'x in reference to' Sir Gcfrre Clr-7's speech at the Thames i -"It was,

unless the telegraph has grossly misrepresented him, from end to end of it a farrago of high-flown sentiment, slander of the Ministry, and of the rich men of the colony, and personal self-glorifica-tion." This is very rough on ( the champion of the down-trodden serfs, but very true. The Federal Australian certainly aims pretty high, but, j edging by the number before me, it means to act up to its name, and certainly contains a large amount of first-class reading matter, In all probability, the readers of the ; "Echoes "will hear more about it ''in the sweet bye-and-bye. " Well ! it seems I was wrong in thinking 1 that Members of Parliament would cease party bickerings and devote tho lime aVid money ,f or which the colony pays, to the business of tho country. This ■would be too much to expect of the Groat Pro-consul, at any rate. Even though he j has not a shadow of a chance of getting" back to office, ho cannot refrain from worrying the Ministry, as he did in the Address-in-reply. It was rather too bad of the old gentleman, though, to try to palm off on his hearers that offc-disproved yarn about the Grey Government having been thejbest, the purest, the most honest and the most economical Government New Zealand has ever had. Of course, none of his hearers believed what ho was saying, but he cared not one jot for that. He was speaking, not to his fellow-mem-bers the other actors on the stage, who know the tricks of the trade, and cannot be mislead by Clap-trap, but to the audience, to all the people throughout the colony, who take an interest in politics and road tho Parliamentary debates. However, they know too much now to accept Sir Goorge Grey's ipst (hi it, in the face of dircot evidence to the contrary. "Serve him right" is the public opinion about the case of Johnstono v. Smith, which resulted in a veidict against the defendant, the damages awarded being £50. The plaintiff, Mr George Johnstone, sued Mr John Smith, the owner of the racehorse, Tim Whifller, for £100 damages, for injuries resulting to his son from a kick from the horse in question. It seems that the boy Johnstone, who is a Grammar School boy, was returning from school, and that Mr Smith's horses were bong exercised in the Albert Park. Something must have frightened Tim Whiffler, and he kicked the boy Johnstone and broke his arm. The natural consequence was a long confinement to the house, and a long doctor's bill. The defence was that the accident occurred through the boy's caiclessness, and that Mr Smith had a pennifc to exercise his horses in the Albert Park, However, the jury gave a verdict for the plaintiff, assessing the damages at £50. The legal pouit, as to whether the permit enabled Mr Smith to exercise his horses to the danger of the public. i& to be argued by the solicitors, but I do not think there can be much doubt about the result. Certainly, it seems an absurd tiling that any public body should give a permit for such a purpose, but the Impiovement Commissioners did some queer tilings. St. Muxgo.

Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/WT18810618.2.29

Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka

Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1398, 18 June 1881, Page 3

Word count
Tapeke kupu
1,472

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE. Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1398, 18 June 1881, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE. Waikato Times, Volume XVI, Issue 1398, 18 June 1881, Page 3

Help

Log in or create a Papers Past website account

Use your Papers Past website account to correct newspaper text.

By creating and using this account you agree to our terms of use.

Log in with RealMe®

If you’ve used a RealMe login somewhere else, you can use it here too. If you don’t already have a username and password, just click Log in and you can choose to create one.


Log in again to continue your work

Your session has expired.

Log in again with RealMe®


Alert