Mr. Oseba's Last DiscoveryBell, George W. (George William)
Science
Mr. Oseba's Last Discovery
Bell, George W. (George William)
New Zealand -- Description and travel; Voyages and travels
"With other matchless wonders, had Nature been attending properly to
business, she would have placed the 'Fountain of Youth' in some of
these charming spots, for the 'untimely taking off' of a person in
Zelania seems quite unjustifiable. A person willingly leaving any
other country might be justified in making the change, but when anyone
permanently retires from Zelania it means there has been coercion, an
exercise of some extraneous power.
"Strange, but the books show seventy-nine suicides to have been
committed in one year in Zelania, though it seems incredible that any
person in Zelania should voluntarily retire. Of course, they may have
desired to get to heaven ahead of some of their neighbors, for in
Zelania they like to be considered a little advanced.
"To insure or secure the public health, there are wise sanitary laws,
charitable institutions and hospitals; the practice of medicine is
wisely guarded, and carried on by able physicians. In all these public
affairs, the Government--which means the people in their organised
capacity--is most generous in its assistance.
"In local hospitals, or charitable enterprise, the Government usually
gives pound for pound for all private contributions, and the many
institutions of the kind in all Australasia furnish a pleasing surprise
to observing travellers."
"ON THE MAKE."
Mr. Oseba was greatly interested in the "enterprise" of the Outeroos. I
quote:--
"I have visited all the countries of the upper crust of Oliffa, and I
have observed that the Outeroos are taking a lot of physical exercise.
They are engaged in a mad scramble for dollars. Just why any man should
want so many 'dollars' is not very clear, but it is very clear that
they do want them. Men with very many dollars are, in most things, much
like the men with very few dollars; they are alarmed at smallpox, the
cold and the heat make them thirsty, and the shapely actress turns
alike their shallow heads. Then, too, the grim chariot that carries
waste from the 'City of Confusion' and deposits it in the 'City of the
Silent,' calls about as promptly at the mansion of Lady Bountiful as at
the hovel of the laundress.
"When the man of dollars dies, he is about as dead as his
footman--under like circumstances. He'll be dead about as long, and
whatever his facilities for the transfer of wealth while in active
business, he can take none of it with him. But, maybe, 'tis well, for
if the old story be true, it would probably melt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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