ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1583, 26 August 1882, Page 2

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

The other day I saw a very curious memento of a man, whose case attracted a large amount of public interest in England about a quarter of a century ago. It was a small card, about the same size as a lady's visiting card, on, which was a price list of mats made in the English prisons. The wiiting was small, but clear, and the figures were simply perfect, an almost incredible number being very legibly written on a small card. It was the work of a man named Pullenger, who was employed in oue of the London banks. It was a part of his work to conduct the business with the Bank of Engon behalf of the bank by which he was employed. He was, apparently a respectable man, leading a quiet, unostentatious life, but it was at last discovered that he had been embezzling the the funds of the bank. A thorough investigation was made, and it was found that his defalcations amounted to upwards of a quarter of a million sterling, which he had squandered on the turh He was sentenced to a long term of imprisonment, and, as he was not fit to do hard woik in the ordinary acceptation of the term, he was appointed to arrange the mats made in the prison, and to prepare price lists for those who purchased them. A great deal has been said in the House of Representatives lately about; the unhealthiness of the House, and the reason assigned has been defective drainage. ' I was speaking about the matter to a lady who used to live in' Wellington, but has recently come to reside in Auckland. She told me that she used to go to the House every afternoon and evening during the session, and that she suffered from no illness in consequence. She said, further, that there was little or no illness among members who were teetotallors, and expressed an opinion that if Bellamy's were abolished there would be fewer complaints about defective ventilation in the House. I am not in a position to venture au opinion on the subject, but it seems not improbable that some members may be looking in the wrong place for the cause of their illnesses. At any rate, I should be inclined to refer the matter back to the committee for further consideration. There seems to be a piobability of an attempt being made to adopt this course with the North Island Loan Bill, the object being to expunge the clause which provides that the loan shall not be raised until the line of the Waikato-Taranaki railway has been surveyed and approved by Parliament. In all probability, if they are s.ire that they will obtain the support of all the Auckland members, the Government may support this course, as there is no reason why they should not be placed in the same position with regard to this railway as they or their predecessors have been with every other railway constructed since the initiation of the Public Works scheme by Sir Julius Vogel — that is, empoweied to order the construction of the line to be commenced as soon as the route has been surveyed and approved of by them. Of course, it is very doubtful if all the Auckland members would be found supporting the Government, as most of them have already shown that they caie more for their party than for the place to which they belong by voting in favour of Mr Montgomery's no-confidence motion, after he had distinctly stated that his main objection to the loan proposals of the Government was that they had made special provision for the Waikato-Tara-naki railway. The dear departed (very dear to some of our Auckland merchants), Simon Peter Harjes, though gone from our gaze, has not gone from our memories. A friend of mine told me about some of his " Avays that are dark and tricks that are vain." One of his little tricks was to rob his own cash-box, and when the cash was counted compel his cashier to make good the deficiency. The cashier had a very shrewd suspicion as to how the deficiencies in his cash occurred, but, as he could not prove that his employer was robbiug him, he left. Simon Peter caught a tartar, however, when he engaged as traveller a young man whom I will call Shepherd. When he engaged him he agreed to pay all his expenses and give him a certain salary and a commission on his. sales. The agreement was merely a vli'bal one, so when Harjes found that Shepherd was doing a larger trade than he anticipated, he reduced the rate of commission to one half of the amount agreed upon. Shepherd protested, but his protest was unheeded, as he had no written agreement. However,, he determined* to, obtain his due, "by, hook w crook." 'Harjes sent him away to one^ofytbe small'; towiiB on the coast, Tauranga X think, and he did a fair amount of business there, but because hehad sold some rum at rather less^ than list price, in order to open , a good 1 account, Harjes wrote*, jhim most' abusive" letter. ,* At the same time, fas he received this, Shepherdireceived'' an offer of an erfgagemeht'frbni-atsoutlieni'/house,^ to which he had applied before'.; entering^ Harjes' employment. -_se : 'telegrapHed:tol 'Simon'Peter,'t^lmg^Kj«?H^fc^e "^ul^ not vettstiqitfhiq service and. s c^Bae_u|k/t6:

Auckland by the next boat. He went to the store, saw Harjes, made him apologise for his letter, and then told him that he had taken other orders but that he would not give, them until he received the money due to him. He made out his account and waited until Harjes had sent a cheque for the amount of it to the bank and got it cashed. When he received his money, Shepherd gave in the orders he had booked. , He. left for the south the next day.' The goods ordered were duly sent, but what was the consternation of Harjes when "he" received letters from his customers, telling him that goods which they had not ordered had been sent to them, and that they had sent them back by return -steamer. Simon Peter had to pay, freight to and fro on those goods, as Shepherd had booked fictitious orders so as to get the amount of the commission of which Harjes had robbed him. Sir George Grey has presented his splendid library to the City of Auckland. I will frankly acknowledge that it is a magnificent gift, inasmuch as the collection of the library has been the work of years, and it contains books which are priceless, for the simple reason that no money could replace them,as they are unique. Itbehoy.es the citizens of Auckland to provide a suitable building in which to place^ the library, as it would never do to put jit v in the present Free Public Library^*., wooden building, which may be bttrne<| down any day — even if there were room for the books there, which there is not. We had a little excitement in the city last Saturday night, when Dr, or Sir Richard Coulson, was going about on the "Give me a shilling or I'll break your window" racket. His visits seems jto have been made exclusively to chemists shops. Why he should have confined his attentions to the pill-making fraternity I know not, but he did so. His modus opcrandi was to go in and demand a shilling, threatening to break the windows if his demand was not complied with. ;He was successful in two instances, but when he went to Mr Gardner's he was met with a refusal by Mr Smith, Mr Gardner's assistant, who judged from Coulson's ap« pearance that any money given him would be spent in the nearest publichouse. As soon as Mr Smith refused to give him a shilling, Coulson said, " Then I'll break your sanguinary windows," (sanguinary was not the adjective used, but a word of similar import, recently mentioned by Capt. McKenzie in the House of Representatives.) He pro- ! ceedeel to carry out his threat, and struck the window twice with a stick. Fortunately, it was of stout plate grass, so it was not broken. Mr Smith prevented a third blow being given by knocking Coulson down with his fist and wresting the stick from him. The latter got up and ran away, Mr Smith gave chase and caught him in front of the Opera House, where was a policeman, to whom he gave him m charge. The policeman refused to arrest him, because he had not broken the window. Coulson then went to Mr Hamilton's, another chemist, and broke his window. He was " run in," and on Monday was sent to Mount Eden for twelve months. St. Musgo.