ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1551, 13 June 1882, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

The weather here lately has been far, far from mild. Not to put too fine a point on it, I may say that it has been decidedly wet. It has been cold likewise, so much so that our '' tight little island" deserves the name no longer, but that it has broken loose from its mooiings, and is drifting towards the .South Pole. However, matters will soon be placed on a better footing, as two mcmbeis of the City Council informed me that that august body was going to send a deputation to wait upon the clerk of the weather. I hope that the, deputation will consist of those councillors who voted for referring the decision as to the site of the Town Hall to a poll of the burgesses, and that they will miss the road back to this planet, and leach another ■\\heic their talents will be better appreciated. The councillors are elected by the burgesses to decide on and carry out all municipal matters, and those councillors who are not capable of deciding such a simple matter as the site of the Town Hall without referring it to the ratepayers, must be men of very small mental calilne indeed, and I think that we can very well spare them. There can be no manner of doubt about the site at the foot of Grey and Upper Queen-streets being the very bestpossible for the Town Hall. Therefore let the councillois erect it there if possible. If this cannot be done, let them decide which is the best site available, and build on it ; but why they should be so childish as to shirk the responsibility of coming to a decision on so simple a question I cannot tell. The majority of the ratepayers of Parnell do not seem to approve of the decision of the Borough Council to obtain a water supply from Seccombes well, as it seems that 260 of them (an absolute majority, if the signatures are genuiue, as I presume they are), have petitioned the council to obtain the water for the borough from the city supply. The reasons why this should be done were Btated by the petitioners to be the fact that the Kyber Pass Reservior is ninety feet higher than Seccombes ; that there would, consequently, be a greater pressure of water ; that insurance premiums would be lower on account of that greater pressure ; that the borough would not require to construct a reservoir ; that, on that account, a smaller loan would be required ; and that less interest would thus need to be paid. The Borough Council, however, unanimously resolved not to act on the petition. What will be the next steps the ratepayers will take remains to be seen. Sir George Grey may as well "throw up the sponge," resign his seat, and retire to Kawau with as much grace as he can. Mr W. J. Napier has condemned his action in supporting the native policy of the Government, saying that che course he took cannot fail to detract from his fame. "But who is Mr Napier?" I" dare say most ot the readers of The JFaikato Times will ask. He is what an irreverent' farmer called "a sucking lawyer," being articled to Mr J. A. Tole. He is also a bright end shining light in pne or two Mutual Admiration Societies. JSe has been hitherto a great admirer of the^/i champion of the , down-trodden serfs," and, was, I believe, a member of ?th(9' t Qentral,'Committee, .wh^n^tbat body , jives* 'power for evil in. this provincial* district, Now that the "saviour of the

human race " has acted in such a mauner as to incur Mr Napier's disapproval, he had better ntire to Kawau, or, like the heroine on the stage, die gracefully to slow music. It is strange that what Mr Napier disapproves has been commended by almost every one else in Auckland. The electors of City East take to themselves the credit of what they consider the improvement in Sir George Grey's behaviour. They believe that he would not have been found supporting the JPeace Preservation Bill had it not been for the lesson they taught him on December 9th, 1881 —that Greyism was tottering on the verge of the grave, and that the word "Grey" had lost its talismanic influence. Sir George Giey obtained the victory, but that victory was a virtual defeat. The consequence is that the member for City East is a different man, and is in a very different position from the senior member for the Thames in last Parliament. Much dissatisfaction is felt at the high price of butcher's meat. The present tariff of prices was fixed when cattle were dear. Now, as the farmers know to their cost, cattle are sold at very low rates, but the consumers do not receive any benefit, as there is no reduction in the retail prices. The only inference possible is that the butchers are making an immense profit. This is a matter which demands the sevioua attention of both farmers and consumers. If, as it should do, the retail price of meat rose and fell in the same proportion as the wholesale price, the consumption would be inn eased when the price fell, and the consequence would be that the consumer would get more meat for less money than at present, and the greater consumption would cause the price to rise again. As matters are at present, a reduction in the wholesale price is not followed by a proportionate reduction in the retail price, so that the producer makes a loss by which the consumer does not gain, and consequently there is not an increase of consumption which would be followed by an increase of the wholesale price. The retail meat trade of Auckland is in the hands of so few that it is virtually a monopoly. Producers and consumeis should join together and take steps to break that monopoly, so that the producers may leceive full value for their cattle, and the consumers may receive fuil value for their money. In a recent number of Uarper'i, Magazine, I read an account of a most remarkable occuriencc, and, as some of the readers of the "Echoes" may perhaps find themselves in similar circumstances, I have copied it for their benefit. It would be quite superfluous for me to vouch for the veracity of the story, as the original narrator did that. It was told by an old indentity of New York, who rejoiced in the appellation of "Old Hat," though why he got that title the deponent sayeth not, because he knoweth not. " Yes," Old Hat would say, " that U(n a curious circumstance, but it'& true, eveiy word of it — true as I stand here. You see one of my horses was taken ill when T was ploughing, and it died in less than ten minutes. It was powerful sudden. I never see the beat on't, and I felt bad, I tell you ; but the animal was dead, and I was in a mighty hurry, so I jest cut the hide open, hitched t'other hoise to it, and off it came ! Well, I did it up, and sent it to the tanneiy, but pretty soon I see the old hoss wasn't quite dead. It began to kick and breathe leguhir, and fu&t I know it was up on its feet lookin' around, and not a bit of hide on except lound the head. Well, you see it couldn't live so long, so I thought I'd try an experiment. I took four — no three — no, it was four sheep — I want to keep the truth— and skinned 'em, put their hides right on to the old hoss, tied 'cm on tight, and they growed light tight to the crittur, all except a leetle spot on the off fore-shoulder, and that I cured up in a little while. It is a fact, and some years I sheared more'n forty pounds of fine wool off from that ar hoss, just as true as I stand here." St. Muxgo.