ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1557, 27 June 1882, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

|> y 1 Fortunately we are a quiet, law-abiding I people^ afod'it is u6t ofteA f'that 'wte haW |-SHeh a shocking tragedy in our city as the * suididft'&fitfte young man, Foreman, witli - wlvteh'Ve'w^re startled on Monday.- • It t gen«rallyJhappenS.that a- woman' or drink I is of., crime,' and, in 'this in-, jj stance 4t;/-was: a- WjO-man* ' To what extent "} she was blameworthy we caimot tell, anil ; tliere can be no doubt that she must keenly feel her, position ,as, having been the cause of her husband's rash act of «olf-desfcrii(!tion;-'JThis'is another piooi of the truth of the proverb, " Marry in haste an*jspent at leistfre',-" as* it. seems that Foreman and his wife had known eacb'ithftr ohlyWne Months beforel their matriagej I am> somewhat 'old-fashioned in my^notionsy and, as a consequence, belief ia 'long'courtships and short engage- 1 meats. > iOf course, I will not deny that courtships may sometimes last rather too long, and so also may engagements. I have in my possession a copy of "The Pilgrim's Progress," which.was printed in 1762. It contains on the fly-leaf the oklttitty which is so familial"to so many of us: — Steal not this book for fear of shame, i \ For hear is set the owner's name. This name is set ior to betray <L'ho thief that steals this book .way. John Dobson, n " His Book. John Dobson gave it to his, son-in-law, John Brown, who had been , engaged to Miss Dobson for thirty yt(tn> befoie ho was married to her. He was the skipper of a coasting-vessel, and .Dobson would not allow his daughter to be married to him until he gave up sea-faring, while Brown could not leave the sea until ho had saved enough money to enable him to live on shore. The consequence wab that the ■ engagement lasted for thirty years. Think of that, ladies ! SirG. Grey's Purchase of Votes Bill met with the fate it deserved, being thrown out by an overwhelming majority. To say nothing of the principles of the bill, the title was an insult to the electors of the colony, and their representatives. Of course, such a great and good man as Sir George Grey would not be guilty of pm'obasing votes. Certainly not, if he had to pay for them out of his own pocket* I believe he did not even contribute to the funds of the Central Committee, but allowed the silly fools whom he had beguiled to do that. It was currently reported that, at the general election three years ago, one candidate had to pay £I^ooo for the piivilege o f being branded "Grey" by that selfelected and irresponsible body, besides paying his own election expenses. It must he very unpleasant for the Grey party to know that Mr Harris, who has ]ust been elected to vepiesent Noith Franklin, and who was branded "Giey"' by the Central Committee lias repeatedly assured meetings of electors that lie would suppoit the Whitakor Ministiy. Some people think ho will forget his promises, but that counot he, foi i.s lie not an honourable man, a major (in the New-Zealand Militia), and, consequent^, an officer and a gentleman ? By the w ay, does it not appeal the acme ol euldish ness for a man to allow himself to he | addressed as "Major" when he has no men under Ins command, those tioops having been disbanded yeais ago? O,n Mayor holds the rank of capta.ui in tl/e New Zealand Militia, but no one addiessi s him as Captain Clark, and, if anyone did so, I am sure lie would be properly snubbed for his pains. Last Thursday evening "Professor' Martin Swallow gave a grand conceit in the Opera House, when he made his dilml i\h a tenor singer. He is well-know n as an excellent ueiformci on the oigiin and the piano, but when he attempted to sing, it was soon appaient that he h.id missed his vocation. He has one gieat drawback as a smger, and that is an inHiiperable one—he has not got the necessary voice. To " improve matters woise," lie brought out his valet as a singer, and he sufl'ers fi om the same defect as his master. A number of young men went to the concert for the puipo.se of " having a lark," and they had one. They chatted the unfortunate "piofessor" and his valet to their hearts' content, and the fun was fast and furious. The worst of it was that they did not content themselves Avitli poking fun at Swallow and his man, whom they might have consideied fair game, but the other pei formers had to suflcr for being in theii company. For instance, one of the bingei a was. the son of a station-muster, and, as soon as he appealed, he was gieeted with a elioius of, "Tickets,'" "take your seats," " going on," &c. Altogether, it was a rather rowdy affair. As one of the audience said, "for a concert it wasn't much, but for a lark it was grand." To complete the "Professor's ' happiness, as he is an unceitificated bankiupt, Mr Macffarlanc, trustee in bankiuptey, claimed the proceeds ot the concert on behalf of the creditors. The Parnell Borough Councillor ha\e learned that they should look before they leap. They decided to obtain a water supply for the boiough from Mr Seccombes well. The majoiity of the ratepayers signed a petition to them, asking them to abandon the scheme, and to procure water from the city supply. The councillors treated the petition with consumely, refusing to consider it, as the matter was settled, and instructed Mr Tyler to prepare the agreement with Mr Scccombe. When that gentlemen referred to the Municipal Corpoi.itions Act, he found that the corpoiation could not enter into an agreement for more than three years, and so the arrangement with Mr JSeccombe cannot be cauied out. The councillors have now to eat humble pie, and ask the city to supply them w lth water. The most probable esult will be a petition from the ratepayers of Paiucll to he allowed to join the city. Tliore was a very lively meeting at Devonport, North Shore, on Monday evening. It appears that, though nioic than half of the shares are owned by people resident in Auckland, tliere is not one of the directorate who lives on this side of the water. Some tune ago one of the directors resigned, and it was urged on the remainder that they should appoint an Auckland man to fill the vacancy. This was agreed to by some of them, and one of the largest shareholdci s was selected. Time went on, but the vacancy wae not filled up, and it was freely asserted that the directors did not hold regular meetings, but that two of them carried on the business of the company without consulting their colleagues; that an offer had been made to purchase the business of the company, which offer the directors had concealed from the shareholders, and that some of j the directors and their friends had taken advantage of their knowledge of that offer to buy upshaies in the company. The consequence was that a requisition was » presented to the directors, requesting them to call a meeting of, shareholders to consider these matters. The meeting was called for Monday' evening, and a y very lively meeting it w as. The ehairl^man admitted that there had for months ifobeen a vacancy at the board, and that it Sjphad been .filleu 1 up after.( the requisition P had,ibeen received,, the new .director being j£ a rnaiv, totally . ignqrant,, of ; business fe rhatjtersj whsljyes five mUes,from Devonf port, where the director's meetings are |l held. Headmjttjec} aJsqthAtjijhedirectors Ikhad received jaujoffer foiLthe ,prone#y, pf i^the compmjV^ w *4?Kibh v*offer r they''Had 1 giijot informed thebjest 'uStftKe^share'holders. sip believe that'ouq of the directors put

the letter containing "the. offer in his pocket). The chairman admitted that he l an'd ; bne other director practically 1 ' managed the company witllout consulting their colleagues., One of, ,the , shareholders (a 'i'eligious man) th6n aecnssd one of the directors (a^so a religious man) of having taken advantage of his position 'as a director to buy shares at less than fcheir value. ' The good man defended His' •action, but the general opinion was xthat he did 'Hot' hot succeed in' clearing 'himself. There was plenty of fun at the meeting, ibut 'tho i climax was reached when a~ shareholder who did not approve; of ono of tho -provisions of the Joint Stock Company Act, moved 'that it bo repealed. It seems that I was error in supposing that the short &entence , awarded to Harjes at Adelaide was given to suit the convenience of , Mr Superintendent 'Thonibon, as he has returned without the prisoner. It must show what they think of. fraudulent insolvenpy; in SouthAustralia. " " , " , St. MuxiJO.