ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1603, 12 October 1882, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Our foblb" ailers have again proved their superiority over, the visitors from Sydney by inflictihg'on them a more crushing defeat than- .that to which they treated them on their first arrival here. This is the 'mpre satisfactory oa account of the decisive victories of the visiting team in each, match they played down South, with the. exception of that at Dunedin. In Hll probability a New Zealand, possibly an Auckland, team will pay a visit to Australia next season. I believe that, if they do, they will be very successful, as - the Sydney people considered their team *a, very strong one. A friend of mine who lives in Sydney writes as follows : -I hear that you A nek landers had the cheek to thrash our ' New South Wales footballers. They are a very fair team and your complete victory does your players inlinitc eicdit. I do not think our best team could thrash our representatives as easily." This letter was, of course, written after the first match, so, if my friend thinks (and he is a tolerably reliable authority) that the best Sydney team could not thrash their representatives as easily as our men did, it naturally follows that as our team gave the Sydney players a worse thrashing" on Tuesday, they should be able to beat the best team that Sydney can gather together. Have yon seen the comet ? I have and am quite satisfied that it is well worth getting up in the middle of the night to see. I believe that it is the most brilliant comet I have seen, but am not quite sure, as the 1836 comet was a very grand one. However, it is very difficult to compare a comet or any other thing with one seen upwards of a quarter of a century ago. I made up my mind that I would see the illustrious (lustious would perhaps be .i better word, besides being ahorhei\ w)>sob is always ai\ advantage) visitor ou 6'«£Ktas- mornings so 1 d)A not \ go to 1 bed till one o'clock I provided myaelf With a large and varied assortment.of interesting liteiature (see the advertisement of any respectable bookseller) aud determined to read for three hours. After reading for some time I looked at my watch and saw that the hands pointed to two o'clock. I went on reading for a while longer and then took another look at my watch, when I discovered that it was a quarter-past eight, and that my candle was at its last flicker. N.B. — I did not see the comet on Sunday morning. I determined to make another attempt on Tuesday morning, so sat waiting until 1.30. and then called a relative, who had retired to rest eaily. My relative remained awake until four o'clock, and then called me, and I saw the comet. I am quite satisfied that the sight was worth ten times as much trouble as I had, and would strongly advise everyone who has not seen it to do so as soon as possible. On Monday evening Mr F. J. Moss, M.H.R. for Parnell, addressed some of his constituents. He seems to have succeeded very well in bamboozling them and throwing dust in their eyes. Indeed, they seemed to enjoy the process, as they actually passed a vote of confidence in him. He was crafty enough to keep away as much as possible fiom the main question at issue — the WaikatoTaranaki railway — and to treat his audience to a lot of the (ireyite twaddle about the land for the people. He must have had a nice lot of chuckle-heads to talk to, seeing that not one of them asked him plainly how he could call himself a proper representath c of an Auckland constituency when he voted for Mr Montgomery's no-confidence motion. After that gentleman had made the emphatic statement that he objected to the loan proposals of the Government became they had ma (hi \pecnrl provision fat the Wmhatn - TaranaKi Railway. Mr Moss had the cool effrontery to tell his audience that "Auckland men can and do work together, and they can rely upon each other the same as people from other parts,'' and no one contiadicted him. He omitted to mention that, at the beginning of the session, a meeting of Auckland members was held, at which it was decided to a&k the Government to make special piovision for the North Island Railway, and that, when they did so, he and the other Greyite members voted against them for &o doing. That fact gives the lie direct to Mr Moss's statement tli.it Auckland iiiuii cm and do work together," &c , and \it the people to whom he spoke passed .i \otc of confidence in him. What next .' The Noith Nhoie Regattt, to be held on November !)th, the Piince of WaleV Biitlulay, promises to hi- unusually inteiestinj.', on account of n Maoii Wai Canoe Kace belli" added to the customary piogiiimme. As the club ollei ■ClOO, £50 and lU"> to the first, second, and third canoes, and as it l.s announced that at least . '■oven entiies will be forthcoming, thue will probably be a mo«.t exciting lace. The last contest of the kind took place, I think, upw.u d& of t\\ cnty ye.ua ago, at «vi Auckland regatta, but it wa& a swindle, a delusion, and a snare, as only two canoes, perlmp-> tlieie were three., competed, and the mam is paddled lcisuidy ovei the cour.se, ami dnided thu pi mis between them. Ido not suppo-e that a "sijnilai t<"-"> will take place at tho Not th Shoie X ■g.itt'i, .'is with seven or more canoes fion'i different paifcs of the l*ro\ inoi.tl distiict coinp"t]jig, theiu ib not much probability of collusion. On the occasion to which I have already ref cried there was a so-called war dance after the race, hut it was as hollow a mockery as the race itself. Probably an attempt will be made to get up a war dance or a hnkn after the regatta on No\ ember Oth, but whether tlieattempt will be made, and, if made, whether it wilt be successful, lemoins to be seen. In connection with the hid a I was told of a circumstance showing the wonderful influence obtained over the Maoiis by Mr W. P. Snow, the pioprietor of Te Korimnlo, the j newspaper published in maori. Some touriata in the Hot Lakes district weie anxious to see a hnl;n danced, so made arrangements with the natives to gratify their wish, agreeing to give them £3. After the matter had been orianged, and, I believe, although the money had been deposited, the maoiis refused to dance tho hnkft, and the money was returned. Someone had told them that Mr Snow would not approve of the matter. Some time ago a retired officer told me of a rather amusing incident which occurred while he was in the service. A brother officer had just attained his majority, aud, in consequence, the privileges of wealing gilt spurs and of having arms presented to him, instead of receiving the ordinary salute He passed a sentry, who presented .arms, but the officer was so much engrossed in thinking about his gilt spurs, or something else, that he did not acknowledge the salute. "Bejabers," said the sentry in a stage whisper, "I won't present arms to yez a-»ain." "I dont care a rush whether you do or not," said the officer, turning round and looking at the astonished sentry. That soldier, was very careful about thinking aloud ever afterwards. The Star, in its leading article yesterday, drew attention to the fact that anyone defacing Hie back of a bank note, if I may be allowed to perpetrate a bull, is liable to a penalty of five pounds, as is anyone receiving a note so defaced. lam very glad to know this, a* bank notes are so scarce with me that I cannot afford to pay five pouuds for the privilege of having one with someone's advertisement on it. Sx. MWGO.