ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 2009, 23 May 1885, Page 3

ECHOES FROM THE CAFE.

<)\ Saturday last there appealed for the hist time a new candidate for public favom in the shape of a nevvsp.ipei tailed * lho Bull." Its advent had been well heralded by .i great flouiish of tiumpots, but its ,ii> peaianee certainly did not wan ant the Kidud pi onuses that hud been mado with leL'ard to it. It certainly is not likely to seimuslv interfeic with tlie cuculation ot thoKs oimig SUr, which is undeniably an excellent ne .vs paper, a credit to its. piopnetor and tothocitv in which it circulate*. I may peihaps be prejudiced, though 1 do not think I am, but my bolief is that no other city in the colony has so pood .in evening paper as the Star. One of its moat admuablffuitmes is the ability and consistency of it* leading articles, which are in ni.uked contiast tv those of the Heiald, winch .ue as vaued as the colouis of the chameleon, and which arj sometime-. veij ill advised. This ha* boen the case pai ticularly dining tho lecent excitement about the pi obabihty of an Anglo-Russian war. The Heiald has done its utmost to foment the excitement and has met with much micccss while the Star lias been eminently modeiate iv its tone. At the same time the latter paper is by no mean-. pi-, feet. It has a nasty habit of having a fling" at tho Heiald, which is not alwajs in good taste, moie especially asthe propuctoi of tho evening paper has sometimes to accept favours at the hands of the piopnet 'is of his morning contemporary, as, foi instance, on Tue-daj last when his macln nery broke down, and ho had to get hi-, paper printed at the Herald ofhee. Tni_ A publu complain, too, of tl.o very higu t.iiii advoiti-euieuts m the "St.v, so thai that giound a good opposition would be welcome, but it has not appeared in tin"Hell." As I heard someone remark, tin '■Twmkler" has not much cause to be afiaul of the "Tinkler." * * ttonio few months ngo, a respectably-con-nected young n.au named O'Connor wa* sent to Mount Edtn <Jaol for tmee months for stealing and pawning clothes belonging to some of his fellow lodgeis. He served his tune and was released in due course, bu it appeals that he did not learn vvihdom by his fin iner expeuences. As soon as ho iegamed his liberty, he went to a gentleman, to whom he had bi ought letters of intioductionand who had b-.fnended him before, only to be rewaided with the basest ingratitude. Tho gentleman was away from home, but his cleik gave OConnoi a small sum of money, which had been sent out bv his fi lends te enable him to go away and inakeafiesli -tait 01-ewhere. He did go away, but not veiy tar, and made a nesii st.ut in dishonesty. He went to a tailoi and oideieda suit of clothe- to bo made, paying a am ill deposit ami telling the tailoi that the balance would bo paid when the clothes were finished, and sent to the office of the gentleman fioni whom he had got the money heut | by his friend-. They were .sent m due course, but the cleik said he had no money belonging to O'Connoi, and told the boy to warn his master not to pait with the clothes until he got the money for tlie n () Connor went to the tailoi to Lnqunc whethei his suit was finished. He was t.ld that it was and what had ti.in-.puc 1 He said it was a mistake, and tint if the clothes wcie -out again to the oih *c they would be paid foi. The boy was sent with them accoidingly, and uxeivcd t l ie same answei as liefoie. As he was letmning h was w.ivl.nd by OConnoi, who got th' clothes horn him, the boy s,ays, by f'Uce, and decamped. Tho only satisfactoiy thing about the mattci is that he dale not Miow his face in Auckland again. It is a pity th it people in England cannot be pieventul fioni sending their "black sheep out lieu*. The Agont-Uenei.il ought to advertise the fact that we have not got a laige notice board containing the announcement, " Rubbish may be shot heie." Talking about shooting, that wab a very sad accident which lesiilted in the death ol a son of Mr Then. Killing. It is leally surprising that people will not learn from the sad experience of others the extieme dangei of allowing boys twelve or foutteen yea is of age to cairy firearm*. What makes the matter the moie mu prising in this case is that Mi William Innes Taylor, grandfather of the boy who was shot, and father of the boy who was with him, and who really had the gun, is well known as a most c ireful and sensible man, one of the least likely to allow bojs under his care to do inytliingiash and foolhjidy. M'ldi sympathy is felt foi him and for tin. parents of the ).ooi little boy who has met with such a s >t 'l fate. One of the woist fe.atuies in th.; case is that the gnu with which the accident occui red was so faulty that it would go oft .it half-cock, as it did This tutunistaiice must have been known to the man who owned it and should h.ivi been quite sulhcient uiwm why he should not allow auvonc to iw it, lump PspeeiaHjr two boys of twelve and foiuteen yean. Tht jury should ceitaudy have added t<i then verdict a nder censiinng tho man who owned the gun, and, probably, would havi done so, but that he himself was one ot them. It seem* to me vuiy repieheiisiblr that a man who has in any way contributed to an accident should be one of tho jun empannellcd to mquuu into the uuttui, auci I foil sine t.i it ttiu oroiii'i would n>t navo allowed it had he been cognisant of the circunistaace. * * The local option vote 3 have, as I anticipated, lesulted in the decision th.it there shall be no increase in the the numbei of licensed houses during the ensuing thiet yeirs. Very little interest has been taken in the polling and veiy few votes have been recorded, clne'ly, no doubt, because it was well known that theie was no oieanised opposition. Foronce in a while publican * and teetotalleis vveie in the ham.; boat, voting the same ticket. Though few votes wcio polled in each case, thenwas thioughout a substantial majority against the gianting of any nmv licenses, and <»f those who voted m the ininouty, it is certain that some voted in the opposite direction from their wishei and intentions. It seems too absurd to be tine, but turn it is, that fchiee of our mo.st noted teutotall-i - voted for an incieasc of lie-uses. What lnakei the thmjr tic i.ioie amusing is that one uf them did it ;ifl'Ji having lum told by anotln i hoy. h- hid lnadveiteiitlv voted the w i»ng w.iy. Tin* (|U">Lioii is « hfttin j)'jop!i- whoaio so caii'liss of tht-n pn\iiege>>. that they do in-t ex-ici^ 1 them a* they intend to do should not b> disfiauchised. Those tin ee ire'i honestly beln-vi> that it wodd b_- a public cdni'ty if the number of licenced h 'Uses wcie increased, and vet, thiou^li w nit of due can-, they all voted foi an lueu- isc of licensf 1 -.. If [ wmp a member of th" same (!ood Templai Lodge as one of those thico, I should feel vtuy much riclmed to move a vote of ccnmne on him for his carelessness. It would have boun past a joke had the. polling been so close th.it a \ote given the wiongwa\ by mistake would lrive turned the election. > * Those who aie fond of railing at "justices"* justice" must "take back the nasty slur " after the decision of the tw o justices who sentenced to a month's imprisonment the larrikin who assaulted a young lady in the cemetery on Thursday last. It is absolutely necessary that larrikinism should be put down with a firm hand, and, as the counsel for the prosecution very properly said, this was not a case in which the infliction of a fine would be a fitting \ punishment. It is a bad lookout if a * youn{£ lady c«mii»t w.ilk along a. main footpath through the ceinetiry in broad daylight without running the link of being wantonly insulted, and the bench merely performed their duty to the public by inflicting such a punishment as will have the effect of stopping the ruffianism which in too prevalent among tho hoodlums of the city and suburbs. * That was an unfortunate exhibition of nairow-inmdedness that was made by Mr Spurgeon when he held up to ridicule tho letter hent by Aichdeacon Dudley, declining the invitation to bo present at the Houeu in connection with tlie opening of the Tabernacle. Fortunately for Archdeacon Dudley, he ii too well known for his goodness, and the broadness of his Christianity, to suffer any loss of esteem through the strictures of a young man like Mi Spuigeon, who has been carried away by his own self-esteem, and by the foolish adulation of his admirers. I think the name remark might be applied to him as was applied to a young Presbyteiian minister, who had been preaching his fust sermon, by a shrewd old Scotchwoman. She wa« asked what she thought of the young minister, and replied, " VVeel, I dinna doubt but that he's a quid young man, but I think he wad be mucklc better, and it would please the Lord, t<i nrod him with a pin, and lafc th» conceit 7>ot." Imm sure it will bo X- vo.y satis, factory if Mr Spurgoon will be able aftei he has been as many veais in Auckland t(j ohow as good * record as Archdeacon ft. MIWQ.