THE LUMBER ROOM

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 31, 20 February 1937, Page 4

THE LUMBER ROOM

"PAUL

PRY."

GLOVIg

SANGRAIL.

[a]

Himiorous? I notice that au Americaa uuivereity is offering its studeuts a complete course iu "Hutoor". The purposd, «o say fche authorities, is to develdp the studeuts' ability to view life' frotu the staudpoijttt of a spectator at a oomedy, to perceive tjxo comio elements in situations aud iu people without beiug upset by them, aud above all, to recognise the comic elements iu himself. I fear the "bumour" of this situatioh struek me fairly forceahly. A piotttfe of stuilous professOrs dxawing up thrt yearly currxctxltim iu comics would maka even BatemaU jealdus. Naturally the scientific American mind would require [ the help of numerous eiectrical gadgeta to assist in measuriug the risibility oi 1 th© situations to which the studente 1 would be submitted, a soi't of ' 'lauglio1 meter" — withi emphasis qu the £onfi'- — 1 Then again how wtiuld they aualyse th« I cOmio elements iu the students themselves ? Would they be required to pass befor© a laughing gallefy Of magxe mir- [ rors, with a sOufid recorder Hafidy to measure the volum© of sound as it arose from the helpless audience of tortured investigators* And as one never knows what wiU happen next, perhaps it is advisable tof conclude* Our own universities may adopt similar courses and then, maybe, even the "Lumber Room" "will have to meet soientific dissectiou as well aa general criticism. Have Wea National Humourf We are told that American humou* consists in teiling small stories, relating anecdotes about other people and then laughing beartily at tbe other fellow, British hiumour on tho other hand consists very often. in laughing he.artily at ourselves. But .what of New Zealand. humour, have We a natiohal form of humour? I have no intention of answering tbe question, because I hope somebody else will maka an effort. I must confess to a fely feeling of satisfaction at hoping that my friend the Editor will have numerous letters to perttBe on the subjeet of our national humour* Perhaps some of the letters will make him laugh? Osy After Day, * I have found great succour in the memory of two desks in a bare Auatrian workroom, a symbol of resourcefulness in industry* This' workroom, i^iougb formerly the study of the gfeat Emperor Franz Joseph, is sparsely furnished — a few stiff-backed ehairs, and tbe two desks, one low, the other high; When the Emperor was so weary that he could no longer work at the one, he would rise and, standing, work at the other* THe change of position gave him ' just the necessary respite i instead of succumbing to exhaustion, he Was able to contiilue his labourg almost indefinitely. Most of us havo to contend agftinst the monotonous strain of doing the same thing day after day. We know . that if we could only have. a change we Would feel better, but we do not realise how slight a change would bring relief. Most of us can find two desks— or their equivalent — F. K« Keyea.. " Summer Skies, > The sky is like an envelope, One of those. blue official things ; And, sealing it, to mock our hope, . The moon, a silver wafer, clings, R.W.S. On The ignoranoe of The Learnsd. "The book-worm wraps himself up in his web of verbal generalities, and- see# only the glimmering shadows of things reflected from the mittds of otbei's. He turns from the bUstle, th© noise, and the glare, and th© whirling motion of tbd world about him. You might as well ask the paralytie to leap from his chair and throw away his crutch, or without a miracle, to "take up his bed and walk", as expect .the learned readed to throw down his book and think for himself* « * . His dread of being left to himself is like the horror of a vacuum. . . . . He xs a borrower of sense. He has no ideas of his OWffl and must live on other people."— "W, Hazlett. Frozen Assets. Thousands of years ago* retreating northwards with. the ice, the ma moths of Europe and Asia ffiadt* a last stand in Siberia. Countless numbera bogged down in the soft, icy marshes, were frozen in nnthawing soil* They are occasionally discovered now, perfectly preserved for more than 10,000 years in nature's refrigei-ator ; the hide, bair flesh, even the remains of imdigested meals in their stomaehs ; bunehes of moss, grass, sedges And Wild thyme unchewed in their mouths. Siberiau farmers ouib off chttnks of fche red flesh to feed their doks,— L.D* Charaoter camoeg, H© Was rather a deplorablc thing in rotters, and quite hopelessly top hole in the way of getting through money. She was scarcely pugiiacioUs by temperament, but belonged to that more successful class of fighters who ar© pugnacious by cjrcumstxmce. She was a sort of advance sgent for calamities. He can be rather decenfc in lots of ways, a sort of financial ambulance, you know, that carries you off ihe field when you are hard hit. Overdoing it Or Dawn on the BrahmaPutra, The amber dawn-drencbed East witb sun-shafts kissed, Stained sanguin© apricot and amethyst j O'er the wasbed emerald of the mango grovCs Hangs in a mist of opalescent mauves, While painted parrot-flights imping the baze . Witb scarlet, cbaleedon and obryoprasq.