CORRESPONDENCE
The Editor will be pleased to ■ accept for publication letters under this heading. It should be clearly understood that the views expressed are not necessarily those of this paper. Sir, —I read with considerable interest the report of the Queenstown Progressive League in your issue of June 18. While it must be admitted that the league has done much for Queenstown it seems to me that their present ideas are rather elaborate and expensive. One feels justified in asking just how they intend to finance this scheme for foreshore improvements, are they expecting the ratepayer to foot the bill with an increase in rates or. have they some other method of finding finance? I am sure many of the residents of 'this town would like some information \ . . on this point.—l am, etc., Progress Within Reason. Sir, —Would it be possible for you to advise me through these columns if the local football match which was to have been. played here on Saturday, was cancelled owing to the weather or the unplayable state of the new playing area recently acquired by the Borough Council. Has the council, made any provision to drain this area in the near future or to forestall and remedy the state of affairs that exist to-day. —I am, etc., Player. [lnquiries are being made and a reply will be published next week. —Ed.] Sir, —I wish to bring to your notice and consequently air a fact that is hidden from the public eye by a heavy veil of modesty and humility. There is an organisation in our midst whose quiet and persistent labours should receive some sort of public recognition if only by reason of its application to duty. It is known as the Society of the Sacred Cow. Its rules are but two, and are simplicity itself —(1) Each member must own a cow or cows and (2) the cows must be allowed to wander at large. Few people appreciate that our little borough and India are alone in the world in giving proper place to the sacredness of the cow. We could emulate India still further by abolishing the law that limits their activities to certain residential areas and,, throwing open the main street, give these patient animals the freedom of the city. Humanity is seldom consistent. We proclaim the value of milk puddings but despise these poor beasts. I took a stroll in my gardqn last week and there behind a dejected looking cow (accompanied by the usual entourage of blowflies), casually choking itself over the sixth of my seven cabbages. It must have suffered a transitory gleam of conscience, for it left the seventh cabbage unharmed, where any other creature, humans included, would have taken the lot. A fine example of “ live and let live.” I was touched. War-mongering politicians could easily follow the exI ample of these peaceful quadrupeds. If declarations of war were signed at the speed indulged in by cows when clearing the road for on-coming cars, the politicians would have to start quarrelling as infants in the cradle with the j vague hope of getting the war machinery in operation before the lids were screwed on their coffins 70 years later. An enormous amount of organising must be necessary to ensure that at least two cows are always at large. The hiking type do the day-shift. Cows in this class are capable of eating or otherwise disposing of every cabbage and up-root-ing every lawn within an area of 10 acres in one morning. These captivating creatures are replaced by a nightshirt of wanderers sr>eev’ll TT selected on account of their family bereavements and excruciating internal oa” i s. st n nd outside a person’s gate and me’odiouslv moan through the mef’mv hones untM mom. T his the s!cen°r fn »'°SS f]ie nie-fit w'tho>'t beeom’ng unduly bow'd. It a's° a rn r ""W o' telling the time, for, f» I Vw ; n fr °t two-minute intervals between moans of
a minute duration, you can rely upon a steady 20 noises an hour. Thus, if this classical entertainment commences at midnight, you will realise that the 80th blast suggests 4. a.in. Oh, the dulcet tones fading into the crisp night air followed by a gusty fortissimo with the lid off. The Hungarian Rhapsody with knobs on. All this is arranged by the Fellows of the Sacred Cow in a quiet humble manner, and is visited upon Queenstown free, gratis, and for nix.
I suggest that, in return for these benefits, some sort of public subscription be inaugurated to assist the society to procure cow bells .and in that way add to the beauties of the night. I regret that, owing to temporary adverse circumstances, I am unable to contribute, but trust that some benefactor will start the list with a couple of guineas. I will, however, offer my services to such a concern in an lionary secretarial capacity and grow an extra 20 cabbages next season for feeding purposes. —I am, etc.,
Pro Bono Publico
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/LCM19470625.2.15
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
Lake County Mail, Issue 5, 25 June 1947, Page 2
Word count
Tapeke kupu
835CORRESPONDENCE Lake County Mail, Issue 5, 25 June 1947, Page 2
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Allied Press Ltd is the copyright owner for the Lake County Mail. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons New Zealand BY-NC-SA licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Allied Press Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.