ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XX, Issue 1696, 19 May 1883, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Thkr^ilish been <*, good deal* of' discussien lately in the correspondence columns of the daily uewqgppitfg'About the mode of keeping the'city council accounts, ,and nVrae 'especially the ( water' account, and ills' mktt^r' was, to a certain ex tent j ftjrishfc out 'at the njeethig.. of the pity S6nricil t Oji /Tuesday" evening. -Ifc seems iKat'eVc'ry year there has been a balance tfr the credit ]of the waterworks account, and that that balance has beep annually carried out to the credit of the general account. Mr A. Boardman, one of the councillors' representing Ponsonby Ward, has been objecting to this course as illegal, and .has been demanding that, whenever there was a balance to the credit ot the waterworks account, there should be a reduction in the amount of the water rate. Those opposed to this course have objected, on the ground that no provision has been made for wear and tear of the waterworks machinery and plant. To a certain extent I agree witli both parties. I think that a certain sum should be written off the cost of the machinery and plant every year for wear and tear, and that, if any balance then remains, a reduction in the charge for water should be made, but the plan which has hitherto been adopted, of passing the balance to the credit of the waterworks account to the credit of the general account, is manifestly objectionable and Wrong. The majority of the councillors seemed to be of the same opinion, so it is probable that this plan will not be adopted in future. It would cost very little more to pump twice as much Welter as at present, so the reduction of the charge would result in an increase of profit from this source, as so many more ratepayers would have the water laid on if the cost were lessened, while, at the same, time, the quality of the water would be improved. The majority of the councillors voted ngain3t Mr Boardman's motion, but he practically gained a victory, as it is tolerably certain that what he objected to will not be done again. After disposing of the accounts, the council proceeded to discuss that] muchvexed question, the site for the Town Hall. After a large amount of talking had been indulged in, it was decided that t)jfc-Town Hall should be erected at the ««6pex formed by the junction of Grey and Upper Queen-street 1 ", and tliat the site of the Army and Navy Hotel and adjoining allotments be purchased for that purpose. There cm be no doubt about this being a splendid position of the Town Hall, being at the apex of two of the principal streets, and close to or half-a-dozen other streets, of more less importance, while it is likely to be a very central position for many years to come. So it is to be hoped that this decision is final, and that it will not be long before a Town Hall will be builr, which will lie a credit to the city. My only regret is that Queen-street i 3 not straight, as, if it were, sti angers landing on the end of the whaif Would be able to see the Town Hall in the proposed position. A matter of much importance was brought before the haibour board on Tuesday by Mr Aickin, one of the members, lie moved, that in order that the board might assume the control of the Manukau harbour, the Works and Tariff Committee be instructed to asceitain the revenue, expenditure, endowments, &c, of the Manukau harbour, and report to the board. The motion was seconded and carried. This is a very wise step, ns, if the two harbours are to be joined by a canal, it is very desirable that they should bo under the control of the same governing body, and it will be a groat boon to the people using the Manukau harbour, as it is now. under the control of the Government, who manage it as badly as they manage our railway. The accomodation is insufficient, while the charges are most cxccs->i\e. So far as I can leai n, the people of Unehunga will be delighted to see the contiol of their harbour handed over to our harbour board, to which they will elect icpiescn* tatives, as tlun there will be a possibility of its being managed so as to incicase the tiade of the poit. The &ole object of the Government seems to ha\e been to diivc trade away, and it must be admitted that they ha\c succeeded very well. For a long time there was no c anc on the Onehunga wharf, so one of the residents who experienced much inconvenience fiom the want of that useful article, wrote to the Government, asking for permission to erect one, and make a small charge fdr the use of it. After innumerable ckliys and an almost endless correspondence, he received a favourable reply, so he constiucted a crane and placed it on the wharf. Hardly had he done so when he lejoived an intimation to the effect that the Government had reconsidered the matter, and decided that they could not allow a pi ivate individual to place a crane on a Government wharf, but that the lailway department would provide one, This was done, but the crane Was not large enough, the charges were increased, and, as it Was necessary to keep a man there constantly to work it, the expendituie Was tv3ii time 5 as large as the receipts. Yes ! tho people of O.ichunga will be Very glad to see the Auckland Harbour Board assume the control of the port of Manukau. 1 was glad to see by The Wailnto Tones that a meeting had b en held at To A\umutu, at which it was decided that a committee should be formed for the purpose of urging on the Minister for Public Works the necessity for reform in the management of our railways. It is well known that our railways are disgrace fully mismanaged, and the only way in which a refoim cm bo obtained is by acting on the advice, "Agitate, agitate, agitate. 1 ' I should like to sec every other distiict in Waikato, and eveiy district between here and Waikato, and every district between here and the Kaipara, and the city of Auckland and the town of Onehunga, follow thu course adopted by Te Awamutu, and demand reform in the management of our railways, and repeat the demand time after time until they get the reform. Our railways are badly constructed, and the rolling stock is bad and insufficient, and matters will remain as they are unless we bestir ourselves and demand reform. There should be a committee appointed in every town and every district, and those having cause of complaint should be invited to send their complaints in writing to the committee, who should investigate them, and if they are well grounded forward them to the Minister •for Public "Works, with properly pre■■fed affidavits substantiating them. If plan were adopted, complaints of the railway management would soon become the exception instead of the rule as at present. Te Awamutu leads the van. Who follows ? On Wednesday a man was brought up at the Police Court before two justices of the peace on a charge of attempting to obtain goods by means of a valueless cheque. I believe that one of those justices had no business to sit on the bench while the case was being tried, as he was largely interested in the estate of the drawer of the cheque, a bankrupt named Mackay. It seems that Cutler, the prisoner, received the cheque from Mackay before his bankruptcy for work done for him. He gave it to Mr Kidd, of the Commercial Hotel, who presented it at the bank on which it was drawn, when it was dishonoured. However, Mackay paid £5 on account. Cutler then bought some clothing from Mr McArthur, and tendered the cheque in payment. The latter sent it to the bank and found that it was valueless, so'returned it to Cutler who, knowing that he was fairly entitled to the money, tried to obtain goods on account of the cheque from Mr Cullen, who gave him in charge. Mr Hurst, one of the justices on the bench, who is one of Mackays largest creditors, advised Cutler to plead guilty. He did so, and was sentenced to fourteen day's imprisonment with hard labour, Of course,

it is quite right that the law should protect tradesmen from having valueless cheques passed on them, but. as the cheque was marked "N.8.F." no tradesman would have cashed it, so it seems very hard that the man, whoreceived the cheque in payment for his labour, should be sent to gaol for attempting to pass it, , and it seems strange that Mr Hurst should have sat on the bench when he was pecuniarily interested in the matter. At least, so thinks St. Mungo.

"Do you mean to s«ay," earnestly inquired Mr. O'Shaugnessy, "that one of these stoves would save half my fuel ?" " Most decidedly I do ; I will answer f°r it." '" Then give me your hand, my friend." said ho, delighted, " and I'll tell you what I'll do ; 1 11 have two stoves, and save it all, 1 ' An amusing story is told in an American contemporary, of how a litter of mongrel pupies found owners, their owner not liking the idea of having them destroyed. It happened that a steamer was about leaving Kentucky for Johnsonville, the captain of which was requested to take them on board, and give them away if possible ; but, on bis suggestion, they were invoiced to a person at Florence, Ala., at a value of 25 francs each, the basket being placed in a conspicuous place. The result was that every pup was stolen befoio their destination was reached. An Lvgkniou.s Rusk.— A talc is told of an Irishman named Pat, \\ ho was a candidate for admission to the police force of a certain town, and his appearance before the Mayor was hailed w ith a cry from a crowd of would be officers of, "He can't write his name, yer honour !" His honour announced that lie was only there to take down the names of those who wished to apply for the vacant situation, and told Pat to come that day foitnight. "Now, Pat," said a well-wisher, "go home, and every night do you get a big piece of paper and a good stout pen, and keep writing your name. I'll see the copy for you." Pat obeyed instructions, and when the day came and the Mayor asked if he could write, he boldly replied, "Troth, an it's meself that jist can." "Take the pen," said the Mayor, "and write — write your name." As Pat took up the pen, exclamations arose behind him. "Pat's a- writing. He's got a quill in his fist?" cried one ama/.cd rival. '•Small good will it do him — he can't write wid it, ' ciied another. They were dumfounded when the Irishman recorded his name in a bold iound hand, and the M.nor declared, "That'll do ;' but, re covering from their suprisc, two of them shouted out together, "Ask him to write somebody cho's name yer honour." "Wiitemy name, Pat," said the Mayor. "Write yer honour's name ?" exclaimed Pat. "Me commit forgery, and goin' into the police 1 I can't do it !"