SNAPSHOTS.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19159, 16 November 1927, Page 11

SNAPSHOTS.

[By SCRUTATOR.] We have it on high authority that some men are born great, gome achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. Now in what category are we to put our Mr Sidey? He was born, I believe, somewhere in the wilds of Dunedin, but, 60 far as is known, was as a baby no bigger than the normal Dunedin baby of that era Therefore, in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, and there is none, we are justified in concluding that he was not born great. But has he achieved greatness 't I believe he has. It is recorded that Joshua, the son of Nun, commanded the sun to stand still, and it stood still for a day. It's a far cry from Joshua to Mr Sidey, and yet- . Early this month, at Mr Sidey's behest, every law-abiding clock in New Zealand advanced its time by the space of an hour, thereby giving us an hour's extra su n in the day. Joshua demanded a day aud devoted it to slaughtering the Gideonites. More moderate and more humane than he. Mr Sidey demanded only ail hour, and devoted it to tennis, cricket, and other innocent outdoor recreations. On these facts we may fairly conclude that he has achieved greatness. And more than that, it would seem that greatness may be thrust upon him. For, at a recent meeting of the Citv Council, it Wiss suggested that the Freedom of the City should be conferred on him. His Worship the Mayor, with due seuse"f responsibility, declined to commit himself. It was, he said, quite a unique honour, and thus far had been conferred on only two persons (or rather personages)—the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York. In the end the matter was referred to the By-laws, Finance, and Departmental Committee for report. Whv to that particular committee is not clear, unless it be that the Freedom of the City carries with it a pension or exemption from rates, and so involves finance. If the honour is conferred, and it probably will be, Mr Sidey will be nssociated with the two distinguished personages named, and thereby become a personage himself. In which case greatness will be thrust upon him-Q.E.D. Nor is this all. On honoured head honours accumulate. I saw m the paper a little while ago that a scheme was on foot to raise a national fund for presentation to him—subscriptions limited to one penny each. lam seriously thinking of becoming a subscriber myself.

The fountains of the great deep are breaking up. We know where and what we are, but not where and what wo may be. In fine things are not what they seem. These profound observations are inspired by what follows, as you will see if you read on. .The one thing that seemed sure and certain was the sun. It rose and set with a regularity that tempted us to count our hours by it. But according to an English paper the sun is not to be depended on. Through the medium of the paper an acknowledged expert in airships declares that in the near future, and under certain conditions, time as we know it will be no more. As thus. Given an airship big enough with motive power strong enough and by mounting 11 or ;12 miles you can sail a thousand miles an hour. That's the sun's rate. Hence if you sail with the sun it will never get ahead of you. Start, say, at one o'clock and come down to earth at two. Your watch will show two, but every reputable clock in the place will, show one. And so on as long as you like. There are, of course, difficulties in the way, but these science can overcome. Why it is I don't know, but the expert says that left to your unprotected self you would probably burst at that height. Lock yourself up, however, in a case of stout steel or aluminium and you would be, comfortable and Bafe. Then there's the breathing. The air at that height is too thin. But here again science, he declares, steps in and can supply, you with oxygen and the other elemenst so that you may manufacture your own air on the spot of the Strength and quality desired. This opens up a wonderful prospect, but from later news it would appear that yet greater things are to come. Only the' other Say a London cable announced that a\i airship, to be made in Germany and financed from America, will soon bo ready to carry us to the moon. The cable is silent as to the scientific and mechanical problems involved, but maybe the promoters are keeping all these secret until they get their patent out. And if the scheme succeeds? The moon is only two hundred and forty thousand miles away and we may soon see a bi-weekly passenger service advertised in all the daily papers. In that case passengers may meet the man in the moon if he is still there, as he used to he in the days when you and I were children.

A correspondent (name not given, but postmark Wellington) writes me scoffingly about my last week's note on Christchurch. You have much to tell, he says, about the piety and moral tone of the inhabitants, but what about the infernal flatness of the place (his very words, these), the fogs, and the nor'westers? We can frankly concede all these -points. Christchurch is flat, and has both fogs and nor'-westers. The defence is open to us that we are not responsible for them. They were here before we oame. But I scorn such a sheltjpr, and rely on the compensations and comparisons. Have such critics as he ever seen the curving Avon in late spring or early summer —the Avon as it is to-day ? With the lovely turf that clothes its banks, tho noble oaks, elms, chestnuts, and other English trees, all clad in their garniture of green, the willows with their gracefully bended branches all gently swaying in the breeze, and the bright waters of the stream glinting and sparkling through the leaves—can any other city in New Zealand show anything to compete or compare with these? I trow not. And all this is to be seen within five minutes' walk of the Cathedral square, the heart of the business quarter. But Igo further and carry the war into Africa. Everything is comparative. My critic sneers at our nor'-westers, but what about Wellington? Is it not known the wide world over alliteratively and truthfully as Windy Wellington? Our nor'-wester blows only from the north-west, but your Wellington wind blows from every point of the compass, and usually from all points at once. This, they say, is why a Wellington man when abroad can always be identified by the way he grabs his hat when nearing any street corner. It's pure habit. I was told the other day of two visitors

to Wellington who met and recognised one another on Lambton Quay. Ea<.li was holding his hat firmly with both hands. In the surprise of meeting, each of them released one hand to exchangegreetings. Straightway both hats went off and up, straight up—and after gyrating in a way that snowed they were in the grip of a cyclone, disappeared over the roof of a three-storeyed warehouse. One of the gentlemen, with great presence of mind, clung on to a telegraph post, but the other, less heedful and mora distracted, was pushed against a window, smashed the> glass, and was carried off to the hospital with a damaged leg. The Wellington papers, as befits them, arc silent on this incident, and I give item the authority of my informant, the gentleman who saved himself.

With respect to Auckland, the weather. reports, if examined,