ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1979, 14 March 1885, Page 4

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

At last the City Council has decided to apply to the Governor to issue the piochuiition closing the eemetoiies in Symond-street. The Act leqiurea that at least six months' notice must be given, ho the application is to be made, prohibiting any burials atter the close o\ this year, except those of people w ho in >j have the unlit to demand biui.il theie This step should have bein taken y<urs ago, as those CLmeteiiPS aic a constant menace to the health ot the <ity and the danger ib increased with each interment which takes place. When the piescnt cemeteries were Laid out they were quite beyond the limits of the city, ami thenwere \ery few houses near them for a number of yeais. Now, however, the\ Pio quite suuounded by houses, and to make matteis woisc the drainage from thorn Hows p\st many other houses, especially in the thickly populated d's tucts of Kardngdhnpc and Newton. The closing of the c m-tu ies docs not immediately stop all intel ineut'j, because all tho->e who have relatives within certain ties of consanguinity buried there have the light to be laid beside them. Unless a special Act of Parliament 13 passed we may hive burials taking place there for the next foi ty or fitty years. Of course, a large number ot persons will have the good sense not to insist upon their rights in this respect I have the right among otlieis, but, if I live until the new cemetery at Waikomiti is opened, I will be buued there, where there is plenty ot loom, rather than at Symond-street, w here my dead body would he injurious to the health of living people. One good thing in connection with the Waikomiti cemetery is that it will 1)0 under the control of the City Council, instead of being like those at Symondstrcct.Jmanagrd, or mismanaged, by half a do/en different boards of trustees. The consequence will be that it will bo propeily laid out, planted and kept in good Older. In other places the cemeteries aio so many beautiful gardens, while hen 1 , with many opportunities for their adornment, they are in a disgidceful state. At the picsent time there is a dispute between the City Council and the trustees of the general cemetery— tli it in which those people who are neither Anglicans, Roman Catholics, Presbyterian, nor Jews are buried. The council lecently erected a foot-bridge acioss the gully between Syinoud-street and Grafton load, which is an immense convenience to people in the Grafton Ward, who wish to go into any other ward, and to the residents of the other v uds when they go to Grafton, to the hospital or to the domain. The approach to this biidge from Symonds-street is by Saint Mai tin's Lane, a narrow lane rnmediately to the north of the wall of the geneial cemetery, or by a foot path in the cemetery immediately to the south of that wall. The council proposed to it-move the wall to the south side of that footpath, which with the lane would make a very good approach, but the tuistees refuse to permit the removal Theie seems to be no good reason for the refusal, as the footpath does not go ov <-r an ,' graves, but the trustees are so smallminded that they refuse their permission simply because they have the power.

For many years we had an excellent institution here, called the Ladies' Benevolent Society, which did much good woik in the city and suburbs. For Home leason which has never been satisfactorily explained, that society ceased to exist about three years ago, and for some time thcieafter there was no organisation of the sort, which was unfortunate for the deseiving poor. However, a number of charitably disposed people, recognising the necessity for something of the sort, held two or three meetings which resulted in the formation of the Auckland Benevolent Society, of which Air Tom Duppuy was appointed secretary, for which position he was considered well fitted by the committee of the society and by Mr Tom Duppuy. The latter is of the same opinion still, I »ut not so the former, as they have dismissed him, giving him a months' salary in lieu of notice. At this he is very irate, stating that he has been badly used, and complaining because the committee decided to reduce his salary from £100 to £60 a year. Seeing that the sum disbursed in chanty last year ■was rather less than £100 it would certainly seem as if £60 was as much as the committee were justified in paying their secretary, especially as one or two hours daily were all the tune he was required to devote to the business of the society. lam rather doubtful if he really gave as much tin.c ai th.it, because I have heard of people w itching his office for days without being able to bee him in it.

The plan on which the Benevolent Hoc icty has been worked does not seem lo he a good one, and I think it would he lvtter to get the ladies to take the matter in hand again, as they are much better titled than men to manage such a society. It, as has been said, the city is now too 1111 11 ac to bo piopeily attended to by one society managed entirely by ladies, two, thice or moie societies might be formed, but I think the best plan would be to ha.c one society, with branches in the \diiou3 bubuibs A central committee could be formed of representath es of the vaiious local committee, to receive all subset iptions and allot money to the local (ommitttcs, according to their requitenunts. I think that some such plan as this would be found to be workable, for the pi esent society does not seem to be so.

The probability of war between England and Russia lias had the effect of di awing public attention to the utterly defenceless state in which we are, and to our total inability to protect om selves should a hostile cruiser pay us a visit I daresay some of the rcadeis of The Waikato Times may remember the account given in the "Southern Cross" ten or a do/en years ago, of the " Caskowiski " affair. It was before we had telegraphic communication with England, and the vi riter told how war bad been declared between England and Russia. The first intimation we had of the fact was thiough the arrival in the Waitemata of the " Caskowiski," a Russian cruiser, from w hich a party of men landed and seized Mr William Swanson and a number of other prominent citizens, who were infoimed that they would be put to death and the City of Auckland would be shelled unless a quarter of a million sterling was paid. The local volunteers were found to be quite incapable of defending the, city, so the money was paid, and the " Caskowiski "steamed awiy to Wellington to reteat the same programme there. Of course, the whole story was simply a clover skit, but there is really nothing to prevent such a thing becoming an unpl< asant leality. In the event of war between England and any other nation, that nation could not spare a force large enough to subjugate the Australian colonies and New Zealand, but there would bo nothing to prevent them sending a fast cruiser to levy blackmail on defenceless towns like Auckland. For years past we have had a lot of talking about the defence of the colony, and the fJovernment went to the expense of obtaining reports on the subject, and of imopitng torpedo boats and guns, but the guns arc in store and our torpedo boat is at Wellington, and so we are just as defenceless as if nothing had been done.

.Judging by present appearances, the Gladstone Ministiy is not likely to be able to hold office much longer. Punch is alwavsa good indication of the way in which the current of public opinion is flowing, and Punch is now dead against the Ministry. In one of the numbers just to hand there is a clever cartoon representing Gladstone as the trainer of two performing clogs — Lord Granville, Foreign Secertary, and Lo r d Derby, Colonial Secretary — remarking that the dog doei everything wrong and the

other will not do anything at all, which so disgusts him that he fecK \eiy much inclined to give up the business It is a gioat pity to see the (hand Old Man- he well dcseives the title— bi ought into di<? Hi iice by the iiK'oni[>ctt uc\ of ln-> iol LolliMttut-., but it is just .mother proot of the e\il of keipmg l).id lompany. **! Ml N(.().