POSTSCRIPTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 24, 28 July 1939, Page 8

POSTSCRIPTS

Chronicle and Comment

BY f%RCY PLAGE

There is something to be said against Sunday funerals, but people do not a* a rule die to order. Germany has given England many a ' gcod blowing-up, but she has nothing on those I.R.A. lunatics. Japan may not care a yen what John Bull (dozer) says, but she will have to care a million or two what Uncle Sam does. If that "money"* secured by our Minister of Finance is not a short-term mortgage in disguise, we want to know the reason why. ' FUN IN THE NEWS. No matter where you go or what you do,'your ewes are busy 18 hour* a day—busy and actively at work. : Indoors and out they are constantly exposed to varying degrees of brightness.. ' ■ „ ■ ' , ■ ■'■■■•,■ Are they anticipating an extensioa of the, guaranteed prices! D.A3fc 1 * *! * BRAIN-TEASERS. s Answers to last Saturday^ problems. (1) 39 miles. . (2) Jumbled names: Marconi, Pasteur, Faraday, Edison, Curie, Carnegie, Bell, Columbus. Another list (the last one) of history's , great will appear tomorrow in the usual disorderly form. Also look out for the regular No.; 1. Last week's had more than a few of our 8.-T. members really puzzled for a while. In reply to several clients, anent the broken watch-chain problem. The jeweller had to open three links and, close three, which meant three cuts and three mends. At threepence a link the cost would be Is 6d. Q.E.D. We shall be hearing you. Rita got seven of the eight names in No. 2: Carnegie defied her. Hanover came in at the last .minute with both solutions. « ■■:' ■ ■#, ■» LEAP OF GOLD. High o'er the hills the clouds scud ttf Across a dull and laden sky,' And trees before the blast bend low. To' stem the tide of sleet and snow. Within the room, alone perchance, I stand transfixed, as in a trance, Watching the tiny drops of rain Weave fairy patterns upon the pane. Out peeps the sun; its adoration Reveals the glorious transformation. Drops gleam like .gems, while thera they lie, ,l / - • Richer* purer than wealth could buy. The sun has sunk behind the clouds, And darkness now the earth enshrouds. Does Nature spend herself in vain If tears are left upon the pane? PRUE FOLLY. * » ■ *■ SIDELINES. Alter having regularly read the McClancy monologues, W.O.R. "reckons" that we "should have a go at writing more serious stuff. It seems to me you could make a fist at the 'Sentimental Bloke' type of verse." Perhaps—if we had the time, brother; and again, perhaps not. The late C...J. -Dennis /was a near fr-idnd of ours in th;e . misty past. M.H., to our surprise (and perturbation), has discovered us (in a newspaper man's book of reminiscences) among a photographed group of journalists, the fiL-st literary staff of a dashing metropolitan daily which died the death (we were not one of the pallbearers) in melancholy circumstances. We hope Just Me, who asked for our photograph, does not get on the trail. * ■■ ■; ■■• ■ 1." ♦ HYMN OF 'ATE. Dear Flage: I have been waiting for someone to point out a fallacy in a recent contribution to Postscripts— I forget its title,, but the burden of it was; Eve ate an apple and Adam 812, etc., etc. Your contributor fell into an all too prevalent error regarding the pronunciation of "ate," which does not rhyme with hate or eight, but with' "bet." In fact, "ate" is pronounced "ett." If a person says: "I 'ate food," you naturally conclude that he Is expressing his personal dislike of nutriment, also of aspirates. Similarly in regard to Eve and her apple. Therefore all that clever agglomeration of numerals compiled by your contributor misses the mark entirely. Sorry to throw this spanner into the works, but mispronunciation I simply 'ate. L.D.A. ■t * , •» KEEP SMILING. Thrushes and blackbirds on yonder high bough Are warbling this morn, as they, only, know how. • A bright gleam of sunshine from out a sky, grey, Has set them all piping and fluting this way. Ah', gone now the sun, but we hear yet again The lilt of these songsters, while down comes the rain. Each melody-maker so gaily sings, he. Not minding at all what the weather may be, Swings there, on the bough and bursts forth anew, .j Hark to the chorus, there's such a todo! • Dipping and bobbing, they trill on with zest, ' It seems that each one would out-rival the- rest. To hoart take the lesson. Why grumble and fret? Instead, keep on smiling in spite of the wet, ' With blessings so many, (none, surely, docs lack,) Why not keep on smiling? The sun . will come back. P.E.M.—S. Lower Hutt. * . .* NEWS ODDMENTS. > The number of millionaires, or per* sons with incomes exceeding £30.000 a year, in Great Britain and Ireland, returned }n the year ended March 31, 1938, was 917—an increase of 42 over the year before. Persons with incomes of £2000 or more numbered 95,730—an, « increase of 4358. Their aggregate income totalled £483,739,389—a rise of £27,394,398. There were 73 persons with incomes between £75.000 and £100.000, compared with 72 the year before; and 80 with incomes exceeding £100.000, against 83. The earliest English State lottery of which there is any record was in 158§ when 40,000 chances were sold at ten • shillings each, the drawing taking place in the west door of Sk Paul's Cathedral. The prizes consisted of articles of plate, and the profits were employed for the repair of certain . harbours. > Cannon were originally made of iron bars noLdered together, and bound round with strong iron hoops. Some of these relics of the clumsiness of our ancestors may still be seen. One is in the Tower of London, two at Woolwich, and one in the Royal Arsenal at Lisbon. They were sometimes • also \ made with leather, and plates of iron jand copper. .