"HOOK 'EM" HOOKER

NZ Truth, Issue 1141, 13 October 1927, Page 4

"HOOK 'EM" HOOKER

OEVERALi men with their pliant rod 3 O m hand flicked the face of the sweet blue waters m the Rotorua district beneath which swam the fickle trout. But while one jovial old gentleman hooked and landed the glistening beauties again and again, as though with charmed wand, those on either side of him whipped the waters m vain. Nothing is more exasperating to the angler than to see his neighbor getting all the luck, while his efforts go unrewarded and finally one more daring than the rest breasted up to the cheerful and . rotund old angler and asked him what fly he was using that the finny game found so enticing. A comparison of flies failed to reveal a solution of the fickle finny ones' preference, but the lucky fisher said m explanation: "My name does it — I'm Hooker." Hooker he was; "Bill" Hooker to his intimates — or, m business matters, William — and no more ardent follower of the famous Isaac is to be found m the region of geysers and sulphur. "A man is as old as he feels," and with a rod and a pipe and a modicum of liquid comfort for the inner man and a fish or two on the rise: "Who so happy, who so contented as I?" may be said to be the sum total of Hooker's philosophy. Is there any greater wisdom m the world? FRAE ABERDLEN IT has been said that Scots and measles are found wherever human beings live. Further, just as there are different degrees of measles, there are different types of Scots; and those from Aberdeen are the Scottiest of the lot. Take J. Annand- Smith, for instance. He is a diminutive Aberdonian; but, what he lacks m height, he makes up m keen, vigorous energy. After all, Napoleon wasn't too high and he made his way m the world. J. A. Hyphen S. is manager of J. Tlott, Ltd,, producers of snappy advertisement and profitable publicity. And to be manager of such a business calls for a little more common-sense and ability than the average man possesses. The whole of Annand-Smith's successful business career has been mai'ked by a keen devotion to his workand a rare ability to size up men and business propositions. To his office come all sorts of men on all sorts of missions; but every one goes away satisfied and contented. J.A.S. knows how to be tactful and courteous. AUCTION BLOCK ' IF you went to Wales and asked where Charles Jones lived you would probably have quite a number of addresses to look up, because Jones m Wales is what Smith is to London — rather well-known. Christchurch has its bit of Welsh Jn Charles E. Jones, the alert, sharpfeatured, maxim -gun talker, auctioneer and land man, ready to sell the public anything but the proverbial pup. The best >way to enumerate the social and civic bodies with which Charlie is associated is not to enumerate them. He is on pretty well everything. As a staunch Savage he is nothing of a cave-man; as a Rotarian he is square and often, it is said, he mounts the Rostrum of River City fame. If .he has any hobby that stands out more than another, it is probably work and his spare time is devoted to work also. A good chap is C.E.J. and really nothing of a Welsh Rabbit. CORNER MAN YES, a corner man is Arthur Stacey, without any connection with the footlights. He sells corners and anything else that comes within the category of real estate. A.S. hangs no shingle to tell the world where he can be found, for the world that is Christchurch knows where to find him — and that's home. He is one of the men who can claim mediumship for the transfer of ownership of valuable chunks of Christchurch mother-earth. Arthur's hobby is boxing. Sportsman ever, he has tried — but alas! tried m vain — to coax back the breath of life into the Christchurch Sports Club. But like Julius Caesar, that great institution has gone beyond recall. A small man of big business. He flirts with the ether via radio quite a lot. RULES THE WAVES ]l yfERCANTILE officers are generally IVI acknowledged to be very fine fellows. Both ashore and afloat, they seem to have a charm and courtesy all their own. And no exception to the rule is Purser Stevenson, king-pin m that comfortable little office which is at once the field of work and the home sweet home of the purser aboard the good ship "Wahine." You know "Stevie." He is inside the blue serge and the brass buttons which stand so nonchalantly at the saloon gangway of the Cook Strait flyer. He stands there like Horatius keeping the bridge; but Horatius could never smile like "Stevie." If you are feeling pretty lpnely because of the girl you've left behind you, just take one long, lingering look at "Stevie" as — with a smile which would make the sunshine jealous — he .annexes that little slip of paper which entitles you to breast the rolling waves. Next time you're aboard the "Wahlne" — when she rolls from side to side and your anguished eyes stray to "Instructions m case of shipwreck" — just think of the man away up on deck whose job goes on, night after night, fair weather or foul. A FAMILY MAN A CCOUNTANCY and the intricacies Jt\ of figures and finance are as familiar to John Laurence Arcus," public accountant, of Wellington, as the flowers m his garden. A very approachable chap m the true sense of the word, John L. Arcus can be found any day of the week at the offices of the Wellington Cooperative Building Society, of which he is" secretary. He also holds down a similar position for a number of other big business companies. The Accountant Students' Association also finds him keenly interested, but what is there m the business community as' a' whole that he does not take an interest m? Arcus can be summarised m three simple words — "a family man." His whole staff is one big family. But it is m and about his own home that the true family man comes out. A keen and enthusiastic amateur gardener, he makes this outdoor exercise practically his sole hobby.