EAST COAST LETTER.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 345, 31 August 1889, Page 2

EAST COAST LETTER.

[OWN COBBXSPOSDXNT.—" XABUTOB."] Fray sit by us, and tell's * tale. Merry, or sad, sh.ll It bs f A* m-rry as you will. —WnrTxa's Tais, waipibo gaiktibs Mr F. Parkinson, until lately sub-manager on Mr Kinross's Whangsparoa ran, north of Hicks Bay, arrived here recently to occupy a similar position on the Waipiro Station. H* purposed at first bringing Mrs Parkinson with him overland, but most fortunately deoidsd to send her by steamer, as, although an accomplished harm-woman, th* roads ar* all but impassable from long neglected slips, broken down culverts, and other obstaolas to comfortable, or even safe, travelling. His troubles seem to have begun as soon as ovsr he entered the boundaries of tha O.C 0., th* bridle tracks north of that being, as hs states, attended to sometimce, while nobody knows when anything has been done to the track* north ot Te Kawakawa or Hicks Bay. And, strange to say, correspondents report similarly of the Gisborne-Wairoa inland road, the Clyde end being usually iu a tolerabla condition, whi e that nearer Gisborne is in a very inferior state until you approach th* nearer contiguity of Gisborne itself. Now, dir, it might be called a pathologic axiom that when the heart is diseased ths extremities suffer, all the circulatory highways and byeways get into a bad way, anatomical culverts go wrong, aneurismal slips play th* deuce with regular traffic generally; and, worse than all, th* primary apparatu* usually goes from bad to worse till a general bust up ensues, and then, Wno’d have thought it Perhaps the central organ has beta ov«rtasked, perhaps banged up with a lot ot effeta rubbish which hinders its healthy action, Perhaps it is naturally languid, except on certain occasions, when it pumps away manfully for a spell, and subsidea again. Perhaps it wants a ’ sinapism' before alluded to, ‘ diligently applied' as the old toglas hav* it, • So mote it be,' Mr Editor, we will apply th* ' sinapism l 1 diligently,' as before said, That's all, sir, nothing but metaphor about the roads this tints. Mr Parkinson’s further adventures io my next, also the discovery ot 1 buried cici '—no, culverts which hav* n*v*r been completed, but covered over, Uk*—well, Pompeii,—or ths hidden talent. Only with regard to them ' art treasures' which have recently been unearthed by private ’ Bilaones 1 while prosecuting their antiquarian remarabu on the publie roads, the talent appears in tha particularly ingenious manner io which the unfinished, otherwise slummed, struetur** have been put out ot sight, and—w*U, of course, formed part ot a ‘ completed ’ contrast. More of this subject anoo. From mud and all disagreeablsuess, the transit to our let* concert and dramatic entertainment is agraaable, to say the least of it.

MR PARKINSON AND TKU BOADS (?) On Saturday evening last—in pursuance of due notice—visitor* being present from north and south coast settlements as far as Awanui and Tolago Bay—the curtain rose at the new improvised theatre within the large wool shed at Waipiro Station, to the opening chorus of the Nonpariel Christy Minstrels who occupied the usual chairs, habited in the usual time honored costume. These sons of Ethiopia who included but one pale face, Mr Johnson (Mr Wallis) among them, presented a thoroughly orthodox speotaole, which waa greatly enhance 1 in effect whoa, two doors, B. and L-, of the stag* opened su-ldeoly, disclosing Messrs Tambo and Bone* (Gellender and Hewetson), who at once took up their chairs to the right and left of their sable brethren. Specs will not permit mo to enter into the minutim of this portion of tha evenning’s entertainment, but I may ray th;’ the solos as contributed by tha miustrala were excellently sung, and the choruses effectively rendered. I don't want to particulariee, when each and all did so well, but Mr Neilson’s song ‘ The Vacant Chair,' deservedly elicited marked applause, as indeed did all the varied and pleasing items, while the accompaniments played by Mr* Wallis, the ladies' voices in the back ground, and Mr Johnson’s ’ second,’ told very effectively fin ( possible little too much of the ’air.' The second part of the entertainment was ushered in by a recitation by Mr Pettie, of the station store, entitled, ■ A Foreman's Story.' Th* incident was telling, and Mr Pettie certainly gave it full justice. I did not admire a former recitation by this gentleman, at the aporte entertainment, but he appeared in excellent form on this occasion, and rendered thej thrilling story parsing well. Mr (Tawhiti Ho'el) next appeared at the piano, and accompanied very ably by Miss Sirdefiold, sang ‘ Thy Faee ’ very effectively, which the firet encore of the evening sufficiently at. tested. After a response of a verse by Mr Connolly, Miss Ryau sang 'Auntie' very nicely, to Mrs Wallis’s accompaoiment. A very pleasing incident of this solo, was ths anpearanoe, for the first time, of Mies Maudie Wallis (aged 5) on the amateur, or any other, stage—as, I presume, the niece. Tha little lady acted with perfect propriety and eel! possession during the lengthened ordeal of an encore, and I believe signifies her intention of getting up her part very studiously before her next appearance in public. Mrs Connelly next rendered very tastefully •’ After Sundown." The execution wae perfect, and th* song well and deservedly appreciated by th* audience. Mias Woodfield followed with a good rendition of “Turnham Toll." lam happy to congratulate this lady upon her increased self-possession on tho stage. Her singing is alwsys admirable. I now come to decidedly tho triumph of the evening—“ The Wicket Gate.” as excellently well sung by Miss Connelly ; the clear, bell like tones of her well managed and evidently very capable organ in the upper notes, together with the sweet enuuci.tion of tha lower ones, producing something like a sensat|oo in th* audience, which was not appeased ti(l an encore had been responded to. Mr Bousfield concluded with a oomio song, which elicited applause, and an encore from the *' gods." After an interval of tea m-nates th* curtain again rose to " Too mueh of a good thing," Mr W. Callender sustaining the role c| Captain Hector Montgomery, in hardly hi* u?u»I good form. Something was wrong with our only Walter, who looked a* if "hl* funeral was to take place to-morrow," file acting utterly lacking it* usually pronounced elan and all round effectiveness. Dr Brandysnap (Mr Pettie) was a deoid <1 success, hie get up unexceptionable, and tho result of careful study apparent throughout his excellent rendition of the character. So alec N[rs Brandysnap (Mrs Miallis), whn sustained her somewhat arduous role very effectively. " The Dummy " received scant mercy at hands, as hi* wos-bagoue sppearano* mutely testified. Too much praise cannot be awarded to Mrs Captain Montgomery (Miss Ryan) who waa ocouionally irresistibly fanny—her arch, demure rendering of ‘ What a dreadful story teller,' sud o’-her point?, being ex« cellent. I saw but little of ‘ Betty ’ (Mr* Qodgshun), who p'fayed her ra’hsr unimportant part very nicely, but hop* *0 se* lady In a more conspicuous character a* our next entertainment. The concert and dramatic representation, which was well attended by a repreoentalivo coast audience, in addition to Waipiro residents, was a oomp’ete eucooss finanolsll" and otherwise, some 118 tickets havfugbofiU sold. An." l ** the visitors I tjotlped M**u*me* Villers and H idge, Awanui ; and Mesirf Bousfield, Davidson, and X'UPMXs* | and many others.—Advance Waipiro,