Week-end Chat

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 19, 6 February 1937, Page 11

Week-end Chat

COUSIN

ROSE.

C0UNTRY AND T0WN.

Saturday, . Feb. (). Dear Everyone, — — With all the thoughts of the terrible things going on in other countries troubling us we flnd it hard (o be as happy as we should. We should be happy, especially in New Zealand, where the conditions of life might be ideal if we lived simply. Happiness and fun are often missed because people are living in an ambitious future which they never reach. If we noted down all the funny things that happened to us we would possess a boolc that would be -a family fcreasure. There is only one drawback — that which is tremendously humorous to one, is boring to S-nother. A man will go into fits of laughing when he sees someone fall over a mat, and yet he may entirely miss the point of a very subtle and witty remark. I heard a butcher say solemiily to a customer "I've got a nice little leg this morning," but no one thought it funny except myself. An absent-minded friend of mine who was not good at remembering faces saw a man and thought he was someone from her own southern town. "Ah, Mr. Jenks," she said, "ow nice to see you," and she shook him warmly by the hand. He tooked very red and embarrassed, and after hearing his confused utterances, she realised with a shock that he waa her baker whom she had recently left for someone else, and moreover, the Mr. Jenks she thought she was greeting had died some time before. She was positively eonvulsed with mirth. There is often humour in the sayings of a man who has had too much to drink at which even the strictest prnhibitionist must laugh. Not a hundred miles away (as the saying is) lives a funny old man who is more often drunk than sober. When he is thus, he is very friendly with his neighbours, and ho will walk by them in the street- and chat in a familiar way. One day he joined some people he knew by sight, and he tottered beside them with his dog. At last their cold manner was noticed by his fuddled brain and he said to one, "You kflow, Missus, it is not me, but it 's my dog that 's drunk. ' ' It is often very funny to hear affectation. The very artificial person can have little sense of humour and he must underestimate the minds of his friends who all realise just how much of his manner is natural and how much is a pose cultiyated for effect. Artificial people are often intensely funny to their friends, but kindliness forbids them to.let it be shown. The genuinely natural person, with all their faults, wins much affection. I heard a true story that was Tather amusing of a New Zealand wife whose happy-go-lucky husband went off for long visits to relatives, A relative tells the story that he happened to be staying with them and a wire came for him ' ' Where are you?" Have dogs a sense of humour? You have often seen a gopd old dog smile if you are a dog lover. They dearly love to play and have games with their owners, and their perceptions are so keen that they are wonderful friends. Yes, they surely have a sense of fun.

This letter may not win Napier 's approval, but strangely enough it is wri,tten by 'a well-known Napier person: — ... Dear Cousin Rose,— As a ■ Napier person I realise that Hastings people come in her© and greatly enjoy our Parade, f ountain and sea. Each town is different. I would like to suggest that Hastings concentrates on being the shopping centre _ for Hawke's Bay. If I had a £10 not© given to me I would consider where best to spend it, and I would probably go to Hastings, because I consider the shopB are better — a much better stoek, wider variety, and the things of a better class. The shops seem higger. I would suggest that they cater in every way for visiting shoppers. — Yours, etc., "UNBIASSED." # • • This letter comes from the Bputh:-— Dear Cousin Rose, — I know that your column does not aim at being exactly a literary one, but it did ask for suggestions as to how to enjoy a holiday. May I suggest two delightful books, for what is more restful than to read oneself to sleep with a fascinating book, after a day of toil and interruptions? These books are: "Th© Housemaster," by Ian Hay, and 1 ' What If They Do Mind," by Porcy Colson. There are no calls to the telephone to interrupt, no .knocks at. the door, but a time of peace to really enjoy reading, so I look forward to a good book at bedtime. — -Yours, etc., "BOOK LOVER." • • • Have you ever spent a thrilling hour reading advertisements? 'l'o buy «. cheaply-built wooden house in New Zealand on a quarter acre we may easily pay £1000, so that to read , advertisements of councry homes for sale" in England fills us with envy at the romantic, picturesque, and often historical places, that may be acquired by the person with money who can alford the apkeep of the grounds, and who wishes to live there. To quote from an English advertisement: "In Norfolk. Beautiful thatched house, 20 miles Norfolk, 2i acres, S bedrooms, bath, 3 reception rooms, electric light, gardens and a paddock — and all for £475!" Romance comes to the minds of the imaginative in another advertisement, illustrated by the pictnre of a lovely old mansion sfcanding in verdant surroundings. This deseription is: - "Only £1200 for this home in red brick, built like a rock. Freehold, 8 acres, large hall, four excellent reception rooms, 27 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, well-timbered ornamental grounds, electric light, 95 miles from London. Would cost £20,000 to build to-day." , No wonder Americans dash over and buy up the old homes of England at such prices. Were we not so far away, many of ns would also love to bny a home in England from whence came so many of the pioneers. Readers who have left old homes in England may like to write letters to this column telling interested New Zealanders of the solid buildings and old-world designs of English houses. Your friend,