ECHOES THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1523, 8 April 1882, Page 3

ECHOES THE CAFE.

The proposal'to extend the boundaries of the city lias received an additional fillip since last I wrote. (You see I cannot let 1 this aubject'alone. The fact of th«S matter is that it is engrossing so large a share of public attention just now that it is a \ constant topic of conversation at "the Cafe and elsewhere, and I feel very much interested in it, and "what is nearest the heart is nearest the mouth,!' and what is • nearest the mouth is what I write about. ) 'The fillip to which I refpr is Jbhe result of the poll taken at Poneonby on Friday last, for the- purpose of ascertaining whether the majority of the, ratepayers were in favor of forming Ponsonby into a borough or of joining the city. The result showed that, of the ' 292 ratepayers who voted, 242 -were desirous of joining the city, and only. 50 preferred forming a separate borough. Those capable of forming an opinion on the subject considered the result a foregone , conclusion, but even the most sanguine did . not .expect to see such an overwhelming majority. "While seeking information in connection with the proposed extension of the city boundaries, I had the curiosity to ascertain the s&e of London, and found that the area of London is 600 acres, almost the same as that of Auckland, which is 650 acres, but, including. Westminster, Finsbury, Lambeth, Marylebone, Southwark and-Tower Hamlets, the area is 31,353 acres, while, if Chelsea, Deptford, Greenwich, Diilwich, Brixton, Clapham, Battersea, Kensington, Hammersmith, Hampstead, Highgate, Stoke Newington, &c. are, included, the area is 74,070 acre's. I see by the Home papers to hand by this mail that ij; jig proposed to extend the boundaries of London, though to what extent I could not learn from a cursory glance. At any rate, it is sufficient for our purpose to know in London, with its immense population, it is considered advisable to reduce the number of municipal bodies and to extend the area of the city proper, which is exactly what is proposed in our little city of Auckland. The Criminal session of the Supreme Court commenced on Monday, with an unusually large Jist of prisoners and a still larger list of offences. The most I important cases were those of burglary ! against Bloomfield, who was so pluckily captured ' in Jlagrantc dellcto by Mr Buller. The prisoner pleaded gnilty in one case and was found guilty by the jury in the other. When asked if he had aught to say why sentence of the Court should not be pagsed on him, he made a statement to the 'effect that he had endeavoured tp? eajrn (l an honest livelihood since his release from gaol) but had been unable to do so oil account of his < employers learning that he had been a cfindemned criminal. He seemed to think that he had been very harshly treated by Mr Murdoch, general manager of the Bank of New Zealand, in whose employ he had been for four months, and who dismissed him 'immediately' on learning | that he had been in Mount Eden gaol. I do not know whether Bloomfield's statement was correct, but, presuming that it was, I do not see that Mr Murdoch can be blamed for his action. On account of his position he is away from home a great deal, his house is at a considerable distance from town, where a policeman is very rarely seen, and I think he would have been greatly to blame had he allowed a man whom he discovered to be a convicted felon to remain at work in his garden to the jeopardy of his wife and other relatives, to say nothing of his property. lam sure that I would not have done it had I been similarly circumstanced. On reading the reports of cases of larceny, &c, I have often felt convinced that pawnbrokers are greatly to blame for the leadiness with /which they jlend money on goods without, apparently, taking any steps to ascertain whether the people who pawn those goods are poor but honest, or thieves, and whether or not they are advancing money on stolen property. It is well-known that, it there are no receivers, there are very few thieves, and I believe that if one or two pawnbiokers were placed in the dock charged with receiving stolen property, knowing it to be stolen, there would be a very considerable diminution in the number of robberies. The police, as a rule, give pawnbrokers the benefit of any doubt they -nay have as to their guilty knowledge, because the pawnbrokers often give them information which leads to the conviction of the thieves, but if they would prosecute any pawnbroker whom they have reason to believe guilty of receiving stolen property, knowing it to be stolen, I believe the effect would be highly beneficial. For an example of cool impudence commend me to the advertisement of a Wellington firm, which is as follows :— " W. and G. Turnbull and Co. are agents for the following steamers and sailing vessels trading to and from Wellington : For San Francisco — The S.S. Australia „ „ Zc.ilandia „ „ City of New York „ „ City of Sydney. Wellington people succeeded in robbing us of the seat of Government, and now this Wellington firm would go further, and rob us of our harbour. They may go further, but I cannot. It is too too utterly, and transcendentally too ! That was a nice little expesc of Mr Walpole, the brother of Messrs Joubert and Twopenny's Exhibition secretary, trying to get a mild fee of five guineas from exhibitors of pictures at the forthcoming exhibition, should his influence be strong enough to secure " them" a first-rate Older of merit, viz : a silver medal. ■ ' Mr Walpole did not improve matters much by his letter in which he explained that his meaning was tr that the decision of the juries must be largely influenced by the way in which exhibits are brought before them and properly explained." If I understand the English language the passage in his former letter will not bear that explanation, and it seems to me extremely improbable that the juries would allow any. one to bring the exhibits before them and " properly explain" them. lam afraid that the so-called Exhibition will not deserve the title, as it seems as if it is to be little, if anything, more than a bazaar on a large scale. However the promoters will probably make it a financial success, as they seem to understand the art of advertising and have evidently got on the "soft side" of the Christchurch agent of the Press Association, who advertises their " show" very freely at the expense of the newspapers of the colony. Some old ladies have an awkward habit of saying what they think, ' and sometimes do s»o without much consideration for the feelings of those to whom they arc speaking. One of these is Mrs Olddame who was recently visiting at the house of some friends of hers, one of whom is an unmarried lady, considerably past the age of " sweet seventeen." In the course of conversation something was said about a gentleman who has a rich, but not otherwise desirable, father-in-laAV. " How disagreeable it must be for him," said the younger lady, "to have such a horrid old man for a father-in-law." '' Horrid old man!" said Mrs Olddame. "He gave his daughter , £10,000, and so she got married. If you had had a horrid old man to give you £10,000 you might have been married too. " The younger lady did not attempt to argue the point) nor will i St. Mungo.

(For remainder oj news see fourth page.) ' *'