RANDOM EMARKS.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VIII, Issue 715, 24 October 1914, Page 6

RANDOM EMARKS.

By Onlooker. A visit from my friend, the oldest inhabitant, enlivened the drab monotony of journalistic existence the other day. He waa out for business. Thera waa a battle glint in j his eye, and hia tone demanded re- ' aeect. "It's the war I've came to see about. What the deuce ara men like you and the rest " I see about town, thinking about? You ought to be afc the front steadying the boys they've sent. 1 dun't like to think it, but the men seem to be a decadent lot. Thirty years agj it would have been impossible to keep men from going to the fron£." This 3ort of bombardment is only bearable up to a certain point. Firmly, but kindly and insistently, 5 interjected, claiming a fair hearing. I pointed out that I belonged to the Legion of Frontiersmen; that we had been among the firßt eager volunteers, but that the military authorities in their wißdooi had Been fit to give the younger fellows first chance. , In short, we were an ill-used and misjudged section of the community, I concluded triumphantly. "Don't let it worry you," said my calier. "You may be worse used yet. You will all be wanted; before the war ia over. What are you doing to keep fit'for service?" he demand ed abruptly. I was hardly prepared for a searching question, but hod the presence of mind to murmur I had joined the bowling club. He gasped, and before he could recover I warmed to my subject, pointing out the opportunities for manoeuvring, and the illimitable opportunities for scrapping to say nothing of the inspiration afforded by the presence of the ladies on the adjoining.croquet green. Everything, in fact, was present to make a man play his part in keeping with the highest traditions cf the race. "Moreover,!' I concluded, "Drake was playing bowls when the Armada waa sailing up the English Channel. "Aye," he murmured, reflectively, as if struck with the contention, "Keep to your bowls. If everything I hear is true, you can get some rare talking practice, anyway, and the Kaiser takea some putting down in that line. There must he something in the bowling atmosphere that makes men ready to fight." I don't agree with my friend's conclusions. Peace and amity and sociability are said to distinguish the modern green, find the local institution is no exception. Before I could get in a contradiction, however, my friend ad started on another phase of the war question. "The women; aye, the women. They're the inspiration right enough. Sometimes the inspiration drifts into a man through the very atmosphere in which the inspire? exists. Sometimes it is driven into him by force of circumstance, helped along by a lusty arm, or a nagging tongue. Both are good influences, though I've a leaning towards the man who ifights for the love of action, and whose conduct is governed by the merajory of gentle women folk. Women can plsy 8 big part in this war," he continued, "but some of them will have to alter. "Fancy a woman in a harem skirt as the inspiration of the strong right arm of a warrior! -The healthy, wholesome women who are content with the Bimple life; who delight in the homely pleasures, and the wise prattle of children mors than in gossipy teas and abbreviated clothing, are those who nerva th 9 warrior's arm, and inspire the EDpreme effort in the time of test. "But," I said, when my visitor's eloquence abated, "these things you object to are mere matters of custom. The loyal heart, and the higher thought may be concealed under any garb." "Don't you believe it, man. This is a simple old world, and the people are grown up children. Before this'war is ended the issues of life Will be reduced to very simple forma. Wora«n, as well as men, will be called upon to make their personal sacrifices. The inspiration of the warrior and the worker will become of greater importance than ever. The men worth inspiring are those to whom the simple pleasures appeal. Tho primitive issues are paramount, and direct methods are necessary to deal with them." I failed to follow my friend's reasoning altogether, hut gathered that he approved of bowling as fit training for a warrior. His views regarding the correct type of inspiration appeared somewhat vague. It appears to me that, as Sam Weller remarked, 'lt all depends upon the taste and 'ancy of the individual."

What does the colonel's lady think? Nobody ever knew. Somebody asked the sergeant's wife, And Bhe told them true. When it comes to a man in the case Thye're as like as a row of pine; The colonel's lady and Judy O'Grady, Are sietera under their skins.