ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1491, 24 January 1882, Page 2

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

We will soon be a very sweet people in Auckland, as we are to have a sugar refinery erected at Northcote, on the northern shore of the harbour. It will be a splendid thing for us, as not only will it increase our trade with the Islands, but it will give our shipping more employment, and, practically, give us the command of the whole, or at any rate the major portion of the sugar trade of the colony. The import of refined sugar in New Zealand excelled half a million sterling in 1880, and must have been larger in 1881, and the consumption will go on increasing as we *• multiply and replenish the earth." As there is an import duty of a halfpenny per pound on sugar and molasses, that will prevent the importation of much sugar, so that, when the refinery at Northcote is in faij jjperation it will be able to supply yjbhe' whole colony at a lower rate than' at present. To say nothing about the employment afforded, it will ba a splendid thing for Auckland to have half a million of money, which must otherwise all go out jof New Zealand, passing through the city, and in the course of a few years the half million will increase to a million. The establishment of a sugar refinery here should prove an additional inducement to farmers in Waikato and elsewhere to grow beets. It is undoubtedly a good thing to import the raw sugar from Fiji and elsewhere and refine it here, but it will be very much better to grow the sugar in the country, 60 as not to require to send away money for the raw article. By all means grow beets, j make them into sugar and then let every man, woman and child form themselves into an organisation pledged to use no I sugar but that grown and manufactured in the colony. That would be a "band of hope" worth organising. " What are you doing in Auckland ?" asked a gentlemen who lives here of a labouring man whom he knew when he was living in Dunedin. The man replied that he had come up here to have a look at the place and had been so well pleased that he had decided to remain, "But you get only 6s per day here, whereas you used to get 9s per day in Dunedin." " Yes," was the reply, " but I find that lam the better off with 6s per day here than I was with 9s per day in Dunedin." "How can that be? Meat is dearer here than in Dunedin." "It is, but we require less of it here than we did there." Clothing is dearer here than it is there." " Yes, but we require less of it, : we do j not spend so much in fuel ; house-rent is lower ; can work almost every day in the year here, whereas in Dunedin I did not average more than three days in the week. Altogether, I find that I can save money getting 6s per day in Auckland, whereas I could just manage to live in Dunedin on 9s per day." It is wonderful to notice the number of people who are making the same discovery as this man made and are making Auckland their home. There is no doubt that, thanks to its splendid climate and wonderful resources, this Provincial District has a grand future before it. The man who first introduced the use of post-cards conferred a great benefit on his fellow-men. For sending a short message a post-card is quite as good as a letter and as it involves no expenditure ! for paper and envelopes and can be sent anywhere in the colony for a penny it is much less expensive. Post-cards are j however, not an unmixed good. They j are sometimes used by ill-natured persons as a means of venting their spite on those against whom they bear ill-will, and they are sometimes used by well-in-tentioned people in such a way as to cause annoyance to the recipient. Such was the case wibh a friend of mine some time ago. He was asked by a friend of his for assistance for a lady who, through misfortunes, had been reduced to the lowest ebb of poverty and distress. Knowing that it was a really deserving case he sent a five pound note. What was his horror next day to receive a postcard on which was written, '♦ Have received the five pounds, Mrs has just had a fine boy. Both doing well." I am afraid that it was not a blessing that my friend invoked on the head of the man who first introduced post-cards. Much interest has been felt throughout the city in the visit of King Tawhiaa and his followers. Some people, especially ladies, have been somewhat disappointed at the absence of crown, sceptre, and other insignia of royalty. One lady, as she saw the rpgal party passing through the city, remarked to me, " Vei'ily I say unto you that Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Where is the purple and fine linen ? Where are the garments of cloth of gold ? Where are the kingly crown set with precious stones and the sceptre studed with gems ?" I had to confess that I could not answer the riddle. I could not tell where the articles mentioned were. All that I could say was that His Majesty King Tawhiao did not seem to have any of the articles mentioned, and I had no reason to suppose that any of them were concealed about his person. He wore a very ordinary-looking suit of clothes, not the best-fitting that I have seen. However, the clothing he wore was of small moment. Jt is quite sufficient for us that he has visited Auckland. That being the beginning of the end, and the end being that the king country closed to the Europeans for years, will be gradually opened up, the Waikato railway will be carried through to Taranaki, and, that accomplished, the native difficulty is ended for ever, and a brilliant future is assured to the Provincial District of Auckland. Amen ! So let it be ! The fire annuinciators are now in working order, so that, as soon as a fire is discovered, information of the fact and of the locality in which it is can be immediately communicated to the Fire Brigade Station, the police station and the valve-house at the reservoir. The great danger is that the larrikins, actuated by the "sheer cussedness" for which the genus is remarkable, will amuse themselves by giving false alarms ( However, if one or two of them are caught in the act and punished severely, that nuisance will soon be abated. The Board of Governors of the Auckland College and Grammar School have decided, in spite of the opposition of Mr Dargaville, to build a boarding establish- ' ment in connection with the College at the south-east corner of the grounds in which it is situated. At the risk of being advised to go and instruct my female grandparent how to extract the nutriment from the products of oviparous bipeds, I beg to express my disapproval of the resolution of the Governors. The grounds are already too small for a play ground for the pupils attending the Grammar School j the worst portion oi those grounds is the site chosen, being down in a nasty hollow, and the boarding establishment ought to be out in the suburbs, so that the boarders, most of whom will come from the country where they have been accustomed to the purest atmosphere, may enjoy as pure air as that they have been accustomed* to breathe. However, - the - Governors, in the plenitude of their wisdonffjjpye come to a decision and we, whose nl#Ss§they spend, but who have no rdfrectyiPce in their election, must submit with a» good a grace as possible,' and, 4 if ye want to send our sons to a boarding-school, send them to Nelson, Wellington or Christ* church, as we have done hitherto. ,