ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1654, 10 February 1883, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CA FE.

,iTT7j T, /' '■ ' ' ' After a storm comes a calm. I believe thoStS^hiilrtniSfk hdB> Ijeonimrtde 1 boforo. prStoibiyJby.sompgreatdr nud wiser «mau than I. How* Wi),. though ;trjte,- thb, remark is so true that it will bear frequent repitition, ami, i by your leave,; my good friends, I will use it again. Whether you grant your peiunisston or Jiot, I will use it, .is I agree witli the Yankee who saidp<''Hpbi£fis,a fr°P country and .every-; 1 one does as he durn pleases, and, if he doa't,:';by thunder! I'll make him." Wieilrliconcofning thus storm and this calnv '>Affcer All ihe excitement caused by the sessions of ,the .Supremo Court, we have had a lull and there is nothing particular for people to talk about. The two, laqt eases at the civil sessions attiac-. tc<f a good deal of public attention. In. the \£}ooo bill, case Judge Gillies .proved that,, this time at any late, ho was, as lie beiipves he always is, more expeit than the exp/erts, for it was he who discovered the" fata I flaw in the bill which caused the base to, break down, and that after the experts had failed to, make the discovery.' The last case which came before the Court was, in some respects, the most disgraceful of them all. It was another bill case, the plaintiff suing the defendant for the amount of a promissory note given in payment of a gambling debt. .The defence was that there was not "value received, ' and the juiy were so satisfied of that that they gavo a verdict for the defendant. The whole affair was of a most disgraceful natuie, and, though there was not much sympathy with the defendant, theie was still less with the plaintiff. Archibald Forbes," the famous war correspondent, has been lecturing to large and appreciative audiences at the Opcia House this week. He looks more like a soldier than a writer, and anyone who .sees him is quite pieparcd to believe that he has pci formed acts of the most intrepid courage. As a lecturer he can hardly be termed an unqualified success. Though his matter is most interesting, ln& innnnci and his dcliveiy are not lnstrate, and wcic it not that he ha& been an actual eye-w itness ol what he describes, Ins lcctiiics would not diaw. Some ot the most pathetic of the scenes he describes, the finding of the Prince Imperial, for instance, lose much of their pathos fioin hib defective deliveiv,. Ilo\vc\ci., despite these miiioi defeats, he is well woi tli going a long distance to he.v, though I think I should hesitate to ride J lO miles in M houis in older to hear him, though ho poi formed that feat, albeit he was wounded, in older to send the news of the victory at Ulundi to Sir Garnet Wolscly. I hope, for .the sake of you good folks of Waikato, that Foibes will pay you a visit, so that you may have an oppoitunity of healing him. By-thc-byc, I believe he had a low, when coming over heic by one of the San Fiancisco mail steamers, en lonte to Austialia, with Dr McLeod, the Piesbyterian minister at the Noith tihoie, who created such a distuibanee in the Auckland Picsbytcry some time ago. It seems that Foibes made himsult vciy agreeable to his fellow-p-issengeis, giving lectiucs, telling inteiesting anecdote?, &c. One day he told some of his companions that, if they showed him specimens of their wiiting he would tell what their chaiactcrs wcie. He was doing so, and Wcis doing it with remarkable accuracy, when Dr. AJaeleod entered tlie saloon ,\nd told him that he was doing what was very wiong. Foibes said that he was mciely pioviding innocent amu.scmcnt for his fellow -passcngeis, but Macleod said that it was not innocent amusement and that he must stop it. All the lost of the passengeis agreed with Foibes, and so, much to his disgust, Dr. Miiclcod had to take a back seat. This same doctor is getting a bad name for himself by his excessive charges. Like Dr. Wallis and Dr. Purchas, he is not a Doctor of Divinity, but a Doctor of Medicine and a, minister. I must admit that I do not think much ot a man who cannot make a living at one tiadc or profession but must needs have two or tlnce. T remcmbei the old adage, " Jack of all ti.ulcs, but m.istci of none.' Whether or not he is master of either, Dr. Maoleod combines pi caching and practice — pleaching as a Piesbyteiian minister and practicing medicine. Some time ago a son of a gentleman living at the rfoith Shoie fell dovui and di&loc.ited one of his thumbs. His mother took him to Dr. Macleod, Avho speedily reduced tho dislocation. He called four times to see the boy, and then sent in a bill for £3. The father went'to him and asked him to give particulars of the account. For sometime he lefused to do so, but at length •said they weu 1 , " l educing dislocation, Cl,and foiu visits at 10s each." The father of the boy told the doctor that if lie would make out tiic bill in detail he would be most happy to pay it, and that he would have it fiamcd and gl.wed at his own expense, and exhibit it in some conspicuous place. The other day I heard of another instance of a model ate chaigc made by one of our local medicos. A lady living in the country w.is \ciy ill, so her husband decided to telegraph for a doctor. He was advised to send for Dr. Giaball, and did so, sending a lcply-paid telegram. The doctor sent the cm t answer, " Can't come," and soon aftcnvaids sent in a bill to the husband foi 7s Od. When the latter was in town he called on Dr. Giaball, and asked him why he made that oh.ngo. Ho was calmly told that it was *' for sending the telegiam." Of coinse, what happens at a club is sacred, but things mil 00/e out occasionally. I was told that the aloicsaid medico was blackballed at the Noi them Club, getting so many black bills that if the black balls had been while, and the white balls black he would hay c been elected. 'LVillviu"; about clubs icuuuds me of Biv William ,/ervois, our new Governor, who was recently entertained at tho Welhngton^ Club. He seems to have aheady won golden opinions in the Umpire City, being as gicat a contrast as is possible to his predecessor, Sir Arthur Goidon. It is a remaikable fact that, wherever the latter, has been Governor, he has been intensely unpopular. One would naturally have thought that he would have proJitcd by his past experiences, and, when he went to a new place, turned over a new leaf, endeavounng to avoid giving offence, but he seems to be one of those Belf-&u ttioiont people who think that they are right and everybody wrong. Sir William Jervois seems to be a man of quite a different type, one who takes a libcial'-view of his position and his duties, and while ho maintains his own dignity endeavours to perform his duty in snoh> a manner as to give satisfaction to those to whom he represents the Queen, God Wess her. it „ The Harbour Board have taken ti very satisfactory and commendable step towards the establishment of a Sailors' Home f6f the port of Auckland. ' They have ! decided to get a bill introduced into Parliament at its next session, to euable them id vost in' trustees the' land.-'set apart for that purpose, and to vote £ jOO from their funds towards the cost of the building, also^to apply to the Government for a grant of £500 towards the same object. It is to be' hoped that the projectjfvpll-'be carried out successfully. In the m^tttiWie Bishop Cowie ajid other dignitaries ancV'clergynien of the Anglican Church, with {jit' few laymen, have niirfißKumove infthe^divection of ' supplying*tnW^in^s oKthe^Beaincn (( of Jbhp port. Tfiej: Jiavo^al^^tibree room's and fitted t!u3m j^a^kS&AtnensVßfclt, so that the caTrspOTa^plei^n^jßVt^nii^, ,iipart from the obnoxwiis^innueiices^pf /sl]e public-liouse.-i's^^nEiQ^ tliejs /carters of The n r (n/vrfo^if)MMpQ]^pft)p§ed to help in this good work, contributions in money) jmpcrs,* /Ajcffioftieals" or" books ' will bp tbabttfcillyfeceiveil'by Mr 'G."%wide tqn,'?crr»MV'P,'Lar]iinß,ith^ : hon'6VaYy sec-