COCK-A-HOOP!

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 52, 24 November 1917, Page 8

COCK-A-HOOP!

WHY DON'T WE RAISE A CHEER ?

[Bt "Wi."]

There are elcfcrly and quite respeota.ble citizens in Wellington to-day who blush to renipmber what they did in public, and in broad daylight, ono wild, hilarious day when the news camo through thai Mafeking had been relieved. Tha schools were closed, shopkeepers pw up their shutters, grave seigniours locked their private ledgers, told their office staffs/ to get out on tho Quaj and get on with tho dance, gave their hats a rakish tilt, and went forth tc assist in that time-honoured mothod of rejoicing which may ho conveniently described as painting the town J. bright vermilion. Toby Bung, Esq., made signs intimating that tho taps had been turned on ad lib, and that the limits of his hospitality wero tho bottoms of the last barrel and the last botile. Wellington woke up next morning with its bead in a towel, a la«k-lustro eye, and a fixed an 3 settled determination never, never, never to i> it again. A perfectly natural feeliag, under the circumstances—eh?

Yesterday, the biggest thing that has happened in the war, the most brilliant, spectacular, nnmistakeablo, and convincing defeat that we, tho British, have yet put upon tho Germans, was displayed in tho newspapers in thrilling head-lines, and told in dispatches that fairly blazed and crackled with the enthusiasm of the writers. The Hindenburg Line was smashed, ami through tho great gap that was torn in the enemy's defences there poureo* endless streams of horsemen, whirling their sabres in ecstasy as, for the first time in forty months, the order that they had been waiting for was at last given them, and they charged, pursued, rounded up, and out down tho enemy. - Did wo cheei ourselves hoarse? Did we throw our hats up in the air, slap each other on the back, invite one another to have an ice-cream or a milkshake? Wo did not.. We smashed the Hindenburg Line, not by superior weight of metal, or superiority of aircraft, but by our wits. The Germans were ouE-generalled, tricked, surprised, smitten "hip ■ and thigh by a stratagem that in itself was worth many cheers. ■ Did we gather together aii'ff say: 1 'Now, boy s—hip-hip-Hooray!—'ray I— 'rayt"P Not we. What's wrong with usP You know, this is very serious. My personal grievance is that I never even got a holiday. Did you? You cti3 not. No shutters went up. The youngsters went to school just as usual, and the Quay was full of gloomy-looking wumps, whose expression seeded io say: "Huh! We'll get it in the neck yet—you see if we don't."

It's the Government's fault. The first thing old B 1 mean the Prime Minister—should have done when ho got thn news was to have jumped up, slapped his private secretary on the, back—some slap it would have been, what?—and said, to this effect: "In-vite—-no—command the country to shut up shop for the day—tell 'em why, and hang the expenses—wave flags, cheer till the welkin's been knocked endways, , and bo forth, and so on. Got that? Well, I'm off. Won't be home till morning."

Then he would have made exit on his toes, whistling something from the "Pinlc Lady."

I daresay something will be dope. Probably this: There will be a meeting in the Town Hall. Ago and respectability will dutifully attenrTlo listen to patriotic hot air, and blase reporters will dutifully report it, so that "the country may read all about \i afterwards. I Ugh! And that will be a day after the fair.

For me tho cheers, tho tumult in the blood, the pride of race, of arms, of country—thn real, live, human celebration. If not, why not?