ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1682, 17 April 1883, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Trfßi>Gto\fentior arrived dn Friday fast and was received in dne form by the mayo*, %ity 'councillors Arid other dighitanea. ;F!or a wonder the 'weather was all* that 'Con ld Be desired, being 'fcimply splctidid. ilhdeed'it wim too good to last, and this 'week Sir' William Jervois hob had* practical proof of how it enn raih hi Auckland. 'H« know that it' couldi rain 1 in 'Wellington, nnd uow'he has learned that, when ' it 4 lays itself out properly, Auckland can hold' its own •with the Empire City in that respect. Howeyqr, thpre- was no rain on the day of his, Excellency's arrival, and < the procession, of which -be was < ( tho • most prouiinenj,' feature, was a very creditable one. Tiie •' army " turned, ,out in force, and I must pay, that I .think the new regulations', winch called forth such a torrent of., abase when they were firat proposed) ha,ve }»ad a very good effVct on our \ olunteer force, The men marched better and presented a, much more soldierlike appearance than in the days of yore. The improvement w.is even more manifest ,pn Saturday afternoon, when the first daylight drill took place. The companies paraded in almost their full force and went through their drill in a ' manner very different Irom the, slipshod style which prevailed ,when the men attended drill or stopped away according to their own pweet wills., Judging by, what' I saw on Saturday afternoon, I am quite satisfied tnat before long our local volunteers •h ill soon become a compact body of men, both useful and ornamental, and quite fit for service, should they ever be required to take the field against a foe, from whic.li I sincerely pray, " May the good Lord deliver us." ■ • '* * * Not long ago I heard two stories, illustrative of the parable of the Good Samaritan. At one of the Cannibal Islands a large number of the savage inhabitants attacked the captain and crew of a trading vessel. A relief party went to the rescue," beat off the savages, and found that some of the crew had been killed, while thft captain and the remainder of the crew had received frightful wounds. Among them was a Japanese boy, whose breast had been laid open by a tenible wound which exposed the bone. As soon as his wound was dressed, that Japanese boy, mho had been brought up as a heatKu, knowing nothing of God or the Bible, said in a hoarse whisper, "I am not very much hurt, so please let me help to nurse those who have been wounded. I can sleep in the day, and attend to the wounded at night." So much for the heathen boy. * * A few weeks ago a very good man who lives in one of our aristocratic suburbs was driving to town one evening, to go to a prayer- meeting. Two omnibuses were being driven-abreast, so taking up most of the roadway. A boy who was riding on a horse was passing them, when the good man who was going to the prayer-meet-ing drove up. The boy's foot was caught between the spokes of the wheel and the good man's buggy, and he was thrown, his leg was broken, and he was otherwise severely injured. The good man did not stop to assist him, as he was in a hurry to go to the prayer-meeting. He left that poor boy lying on' the road, with a broken Ice, while he drove away to the prayer-meeting. He met a cab, and asked the driver to go to the boy's assistance, as he was in a hurry to get to the prayer-meeting. The driver said he could not stop, as he had to go for a fare, and the good man drove on to the prayermeeting. I sincerely hope that the parable of the Good Samaritan was the lesson that the good man road at the prayer-mectinc. # * * Most people nre pleased at the result of the trial of Maliuki and his followers for the assault on Mr Hursthou«.p nnd his companions. The punishment meted out to the prisoners will have a most salutary effect on the Maoris, teaching them that, if they bieak the law, they will be punished instead of receiving a present of flour, sugar and blankets. Times are changed with our aboriginal friends, and they will not lie slow to appreciate that fact. A few years ago the punishment of Maliuki and his gang would have been simply an impossibility, and the thanks of the Eutopean population of the colony are due to Mr TJryce and his colleagues for the chance they have wrought. Talking about this case to one of the old identities the other day. he mentioned another which occurred a few years ago, which had .1 very different result. A Maori went into the house of a settler at the Bay of Islands, and outraged his daughter. The police were powerless to arrest the offender, so, as a native runanga was about to be held in tho neighbourhood, it was decided that he should be tried before the runanga. Ho was tried, found guilty, and fined one pound. The fine was paid, and there the matter ended. Fortunately that state of affairs has been done away with, and all honour, I say, to those whom we have to thank for the change. m There was one, matter in connection with the lease of the city endowments at the foot of Shortland-street which I forgot to mention last week. That is, that there will be one public house thu less in the city of Auckland. This is a change for the better, as we have too many public houses, though too few hotels. Though there are about eighty licensed houses in the city and suburbs most of them have merely sulHcient accommodation to comply with the letter of the law, and hardly ever have a boarder staying in them, and so it happens that Auckland is worse provided with hotel accommodation than any other ot the large towns, and even than some of the smaller towns in the colony. The bar trade is the most lucrative portion of an hotelkeeper's business, and so it happens that most of the holders of publican's licenses cater for anil footer a bar tr.idc, and care nothing for the comtortnnd requirements of the travelling public. This is manifestly wrong, and the public should see that a change is made in the direction of closing the grog-shops, or compelling them to provide proper hotel accommodation. * * What is the matter with "Wahanui, and what does he mean by that awfully mysterious letter of his ? In all probability the "dear little man" (only about twenty stone) would lind it somewhat dillicult to give an explicit answer to the question. It seems that he has been cogitating for three months, ami the result of his deliberation is that he says "Taihoa." I have a very bad memory, so if I am mistaken I hope i that Wahanui will have the goodness to forgive me, but I believe I am right in saying that taihoa was the burthen of that gentleman's previous speech, so that, as the result of his three months' deliberation, he has simply told us the same old story. He might have saved himseU the trouble, however, as the H^pßohn Bryce is not an accomplished Maori linguist, and taihoa is one of the words of which he does not understand the meaning. In all probability Wahanui was not very well when he wrote that letter, so I would respectfully suggest to Mr Bryce that he should send him a bottle of Mrs Winslow's soothing syrup. Then all wonld be Well. « * i There was a large gathering of leading residents in the city and suburbs at the Choral Hall on Wednesday evening, on the occasion of the opening of the third annual exhibition of the Society of ArtaV The Governor, who was present?, made what the penpy-a-liners would call "a neat and appropriate speech" on the oqcAiion. 'The i exhibition: is a most' creditable and satisfactory orie, and cannot fail to have a beuefioial effect on the art and artists of Aucklarid. • In addition to an excellent collection of • oil and. water*icoloH»' < *'p«iiWtiirgB'Tlntl" w p?flcil""rnd* crayon drawings, the nefw Maokelvie collection of water cplonrs and sketches was exhibited for the first' time. >'M£ Mftckelvi? tup giyea an, a^itigi^l proof

of his open-handed'generosity and conferred another boon on the amateur and professional artists of Auckland, as well as on the general public. ; * * I was sorry to see by the London telegrams that Sir George Arney, our late Chief Juaticc, had "joined the majority.'] He is remembered, here by., 'ma^n/' t people, \&s 'af jjist juiige,^ iw|io' .tempered justice with mercy, and as a ■most urbane and kind gentleman, and iall who knew him would be sorry to hear of his death, thoUgh they wo.ukl Hot be surprised, as he had some years ago readied the allotted " three score years and ten." ,>$ , ?<\ f ; ) \ ■' Stl Mongo. w