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Typo: A Monthly Newspaper and Literary Review, Volume 3
[miscellaneous paragraphs]
Mrs Linnæus Banks has been grudgingly granted a pension of £100 from the literary fund. Objection was raised that « writers of fiction were not suitable recipients » ! Admirers of Mrs Banks's stories will be sorry to know that this popular lady writer, at the age of 70, was in a destitute condition.
According to Mr Dillon, a Times special reporter follows the Irish delegates all through their Australian tour. Mr D. does not appreciate the attention, and would like to see the reporter boycotted. « No honest man, » he said, « would have anything to say to him. » In several instances of Mr Dillon's career he has had reason to regret that the art of shorthand was ever invented.
An Oamaru man was so taken up with election questions, that he forwarded to the editor of the North Otago Times, with a request to give it early insertion—an unreceipted washing account! Whether or not the washerwoman received the political missive does not appear. The editor respectfully declined the communication, « as much in the interests of our correspondent as of our readers. »
A curiosity of journalism is described by a correspondent of the Warehouseman and Drapers' Trade Journal. After referring to the illustrated pocket-handkerchief pounced upon by the Berlin police as a « periodical, » he says: « This reminds me of an important relic of publishing enterprise shown me at Greenock many years ago. This relic was the only copy of a small weekly journal printed on unbleached cotton cloth, used to evade the paper stamp duty, which thirty and forty years ago was a serious item in publishing expenditure. The journal was called The Greenock Clout. »
The Federated Trades Union Council held their annual dinner on the 19th October, in the Commercial Hotel, Wellington. The « spread » was provided by Mr J. Shout (the fitness of whose name will strike any one versed in colonial slang), treasurer of the Cook's and Steward's Union, the waiting being done by members of the same union. The chair (in the absence of Mr D. Fisher) was taken by Mr T. L. Mills. who, from the report, appears to have made the speech of the evening in responding to the toast of « The Chair. » The Evening Post was singled out for recognition as « the only paper in Wellington conducted on society principles. » The meeting broke up at 11 p.m.
Some of the Southland canvassers for the Picturesque Atlas of Australasia resorted to very crooked ways to gain subscribers. They made special arrangements which they took care not to commit to writing, and which the company refuse to reecognize. The subscribers have formed a league to resist the demands on these grounds: « (1) That nine-tenths of the subscribers only wanted the New Zealand portion of the atlas (at a cost of 70s), but find themselves saddled with the whole work (£10 10s); and (2) that numbers who were induced to sign the order book of canvassers under the belief that the delivery of books would be spread over three years, are now forced to take and pay for six, ten, and fourteen numbers at a time. »