RANDOM REMARKS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 623, 29 November 1913, Page 7

RANDOM REMARKS.

The jutification of the local gardeners occurred or, Thuisiay, and after viewing the result of our gardeners' efforts, I offer an humble apology for any flippant remarks which I may have uttered concerning the horticulturists After being dazzled by the wealth or colour and beauty in Ins hall, 1 crept as'ay to reflect upon the beauties of life, and flowers came an easy first. Fortunately, I did not examine the labels of the exhibits to discover who were responsible for the ; results. Beauty is not individual, and to identify Jones with a lovely c!us- ■ ter of rose 3, or Brown with a choice | selection of carnations or sweat peas is to destroy a great portion or the effect. Brown may be a man who chews tobacco, whiie Jones is possibly an outcast who violates our pet prejudices and few of us but are guilty of scepticism concerning the good which emanates from Nazareth. On the other hand, it is quite likely neither Jones nor Brown, nor any of that ilk, were associated with flowers. It is more comforting to think that the exhibitors were those" with whom we would like to associate beautiful thoughts, noble actions, and the sweelness of life generally. Jones and Brown probably grow potatoes, which get blighted. The Public Works Estimtes have been presented in Parliament at last and much of the interest in Parliamentary matters will evaporate. The loaves and fishes mean much to the country member, who has to be indefatigable in pressing the claims of his district upon the Minister for Public Works. There are many pulling at the purse stings, and the man who is clothed with the reponsibility of apportioning the public funds has no sinecure. We are al! looking forvvari to the time when the country will be ao far advanced that the roading problem will have been solved by the completion of the roads, but until that time arrives it behoves us to urge upon the authorities the necessity of the district. The Minister has slyly hinted on more than one occasion that there is a tendency in some districts to exaggerate the importance of local needs. Unfortunately in this district the trouble is to command sufficient eloquence to depict the urgency of our needs as they should be depicted. Some day a backhlock member will grasp the portfolio of Public Works with both hands and the Minister of Finance will be bep busy finding money for urgently needed roads and bridges. A fierce conflict is bping waged among the local bowlers concerning the colour of the flannels to be worn by the club members when they appear on the green, and the strenuous nature of the conflict appears likely to affect the play of some of the leading members. A solution of the difficulty appears to lis in allowing freedom in the choice of colour, limiting the members to either grey or white. The fact that the whites would probably decline to piay with greys need not cause any repining as they could play against them. A prominent bowler who also pretends to an interest in fishing threatens to take a hard in the dispute and settle the difficulty summarily. His method of procedure has not been disclosed but it is understood to be associated with hats. Deportment and general appearances play such an important part in bowls that the dispu f e has got to be settled before harmony and drawing the shot can be re-estab-lished. A suggestion made without prejudice and in the true interests of sport is that the matter be referred to the croquet players to decide. The true sport is never anything but a gentleman as far as bis social conduct is concerned. Being mortal he may, of course, have lapses of greater or less frequency according to temperament or environment,, but they are not breaches of the code which embodies the absolute essentials by which the true sport is dignified and identified. The cardinal virtue?,of which so much has been heard, are after all merely national, while the sporting code is universal. It is bounded on all sides by snace, and recognises no distinction of creed or colour. Even a bowler may aspire to the distinction, while the angler is one of the recognised brotherhood as long as he doesn't use bread bait in a fly stream, or insist upon telling his best story in the drawing room. The brotherhood thus embraces a fairly wide fields and helps to sweeten life the globe around. Admission to the circle cannot be bought for gold, nor can expulsion be exercised except by the individual upon himself. It seems strange that any should be outside the magic circle, but the deplorable fact eixsts. Speaking off band the man who traduces his fellow man; who circulates groundless rumours calculated to harm a person who has no means of refuting damaging statements which are not made cyenly; this typa of perpon is undoubtedly outside the brotherhood. There may be others. In the inter-State tennis match, Victoria defeated New South Wales and South Australia. Brookes states that he and Dunlop will leave far England shortly to meet Wilding preparatory to trying to win back the Davis Cup. He describes Wilding as the greatest tennis player in JTthe world.