OH, YES, GEORGE KNOWS HIS POULTRY!

NZ Truth, Issue 1183, 2 August 1928, Page 9

OH, YES, GEORGE KNOWS HIS POULTRY!

Barnyard Expert, Radio Lecturer And Literary Pirate Plunders An English Publication "TRUTH" GIVES EGGSTRAoMINARY POACHER "THE BIRD"

1 1 (From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Auckland Representative.) . if ll THERE IS A SIMPLE WORD of six letters m the English dictionary which comprehensively describes Geo. H. || |1 Ambler— and that word is spelt PI RA T E. You have never heard of George ? No ? Well, then, it is time you met him— If [! make his acquaintance through the columns of "N. Z. Truth/ George H. is a contributor of special articles on poultry to if if the Auckland " Sun" newspaper, a self-confessed poultry expert, lecturer on poultry for I Y.A. radio broadcasting station |! f| and member of the Glen Eden Town Board if |J People with a passion for calling a spade a garden implement may, after reading this article, say that George H. is a literary |f if ,■ kleptomaniac. "Truth," however, prefers to call a spade a spade and be done With it — literary pirate is the tag to tie on George. If i11,,,,, iiittminiiinimmiiiinmii »» miii timmimiiiiitmiiii imiiimiiiuti inimiin i minium i > mi miiiiiiiiiiii iiiiniiiiiini miiiimiinjiiiiiin niiiimnii inn nuiii iiiimu iiiimiiimiiiiiiii imilii i iium iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiunii|iiniiiiiiiiiiiimiiil| SliumiHiiiiimuiiimiiimiiimiiimimimiiiiiiiiiiimi'iiimiiiiiiiiiiii luiimiminmuitiimiiim iiiimiiimiHiiiiiiimimimiiiimiiimiiimimiiiiiiiiimiiii iimimiiiii mm iiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiniM i«. minimi iiiiimmniiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiuiuiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinMmiiiiim^^^^

•THERE is no getting away from the I fact that George H. Ambler ambles through life with a firm grip on poultry — it is his mission. In that respect he is not unlike many others, except that poultry for the public palate is his speciality. Other people certainly have a mission m life. Take, for example, the man who swallows beer- by the quart; he does so, he will sometimes tell you, with the object of impressing upon those <who don't like "hops" the more or less obvious fact that he does. Then, again, take the furtive gentleman who explores your pockets with nimble fingers and lifts your "roll" or your watch. He doesn't usually hang around to hear you voice a protest, but the probabilities are, that if he did so, his re^ply would toe that he merely wished to see if your notes were genuine or counterfeit — or your watch a dummy. Now, George is not of this olass. Pirate, he may be, but there is this touch of refinement about his work, he only "lifts" articles written by other men. These people with a mission m life crop 'up everywhere. Take George, for example. He is urged along through life with a burning desire to take the world into his confidence about poultry. Now George H. Ambler knows his poultry, or — if you prefer it m the parlance of the day — he "knows his onions." George selected the Auckland "Sun" — the "Sun" may even have selected George, it does not really matter — as the medium for unloading his poultry patter on the public. A Poultry Pirate In his special column m the "Sun" supplement every Saturday, "The Poultry Yard (By Geo. ,H. Ambler)," George H. tears aside the veil and reveals all- the mysteries surrounding the lives of black Orpingtons, leghorns, wyandottes, purple cockerels (if there are any), the way to tell an egg when it's fresh — and the way to avoid it when it isn't. His learned discourses on the domestic fowl clearly indicate that George knows his poultry. To the poultry farmers served by the "Sun" circulation, life would indeed be a idull affair without George's "Poultry Yard." These professional and amateur enthusiasts long since discovered that what George doesn't know about poultry he soon picks up. Now, it is about this "picking-up" habit he has fallen into that "Truth"' must mainly deal. Whether the editor of the "Sun" is paying George' so much per line or a lump sum per lump of poultry patter; or whether the latter is helping to fill the columns of the paper just for sheer love of poultry, is a matter upon which we cannot speak. The editor of the "Sun" doubtless hoped that everybody would be pleased when Geo. H. Ambler broke into print with his poultry profundities. Unfortunately, a lot of people have shown distinctly that they are anything but pleased with George. It can truthfully be said that there are a lot of poultry people who are thoroughly disgusted with him — m fact, they allege that he is a literary pirate of poultry puffs prepared by other experts. The bulk of the weighty views . on Let George Do It eggs 'n chickens 'n bantams — on the whole barnyard generally — as expressed by George, had a familiar look about them, certain experts assert. So much was this so, that one enthusiast buried himself for a couple of' days m a publication widely known as "The Poultry World Annual." This journal is published 'by "The Poultry Press, Ltd., Link House, 54 and 65, Fetter Lane, London." A comparison of an article written m the Auckland "Sun" by Geo. H. Ambler, with an article- contributed to "Poultry World" by B. Birkhead, left the poultry enthusiast a much-sur-prised man., He made the discovery that George had simply "lifted" Birkhead's artiole and published it m the VSun" under his own name- iand as his own work. As already Indicated, George knows his poultry. It 'becomes evident that the editor of the "Sun" does not know his. For the (benefit 'of those who have" not voraciously devoured poultry a la print, prepared 'by George's skilful hands, "Truth" furnishes a typical example of his "picking-up" work. On Saturday, April 21 of this year, there appeared m the "Sun" supplement m the cojumn, "The Poultry Yard (By Geo. H. Ambler)," an article on black leghorns. It commences: "My views have,'during the last ten years, been broadcast , freely, but I am mindful of the fact that the poultry industry is a changeable one, and, as old ones drop out, new adherents appear. "After trying various ibreeds m close confinement, I am forced to the conclusion that for confined spaces, such as a great number of the small poultry-keepers have to put up with, there is no breed that can equal the black leghorn, with its bright yellow legs, red comb, white lobe and black Dlumaee.

"It is a thing of beauty that floes' not show the dirt like its white sister and can still fulfill its mission. . . " The word "mission" is an appropriate spot at which to leave George and his article for a moment, while we delve into the "Poultry World" and produce "Black Leghorns. Their Type and Breeding. By B. Birkhead, ,Hon. Sec. British Black Leghorn Club." This is a short article, strangely enough, on the very same variety of domestic fowl George selected as a subject for the columns of the "Sun." The "Sun's" poultry expert did not think it worth while giving Birkhead any credit for it, though, when hs purloined the fruits of another man's brain.

Commencing at the second paragraph, the article by Birkhead says: "Mv views have, during the last THREE years, been broadcasted freely, but I am mindful of the fact that the poultry industry is a changeable one, and, as old ones drop out, new adherents appear." Even the most casual reader could draw a somewhat odious comparison between the article written by Ambler and that written by Birkhead. The only change George made, when he "picked up" another man's story, was to substitute tho word "ten" for the word "three" m the phrase "during the last three years.' 1 The "Sun's" barnyard expert is entitled to state that ho has been broad'ii"ii"i'i'i!iii'ii"'i'iiiiiiii!ii'i!'iil!i'iim!iimiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiimiu iiiiimiiiiuiimii miiimiimuu

casted freely, but it is very much open to question whether he has been "on the air" for ten years. The Radio Company also appears to have "picked up" George as a promising ".bird" without troubling to ascertain whether he had any feathers to fly with. He is a slick little go-getter — even though his name is Ambler. But it is m another paragraph, picked out at random, that he lives up to his reputation of "knowing his poultry. 1 ' For example: "Walter Hurst, one of our greatest experts on blacks to-day, says m leghorns we have to look for heads and tails, and I am quite m agreement with him. "In 1924 I wrote optimistically on the future of the breed and I find my optimism was justified, and after seeing the different birds m various parts of the country and m the show .pens, I cannot be other than gratified at the progress made ..." Comparison of the above with the original, as written by Birkhead, leads to the conclusion that George might have no qualms about "lifting" another man's work, but he hesitated about an* nexing another man's friendship* What does Birkhead say? This: "MY FRIEND, Walter Hurst, one of our greatest experts on 'blacks to-day, says m, leghorns we have to look for heads and- tails, and I am quite m agreement with him. In the 1924 year book, I wrote, optimistically on the future of the breed . . ." So it goes on. word for word, letter for letter— this poultry piracy. In this paragraph Geo. H. Ambler simply omitted the words "My friend" The Feathers Fly and "year book," It seems a pity to have spoiled such wholesale plundering for the sake of a few words! George, m his article, leads the public to believe that he wrote with optimistic enthusiasm m 1924 about the future of leghorns. He may haye — he may have written 'about the future of crimson elephants m 1924, for all "Truth" and the public know. The great idea for the editor of the "Sun" to grab hold of, though, is that unless he comes to know his poultry a lot better, George is likely to continue writing optimistically about the future of almost any old thing m the poultry line — provided Birkhead and other poultry experts don't get writer's cramp ! "Not for a moment do I think we have reached our goal," George confidingly tells his breathless public, as he grabs another large slice of Birkhead's article and comes to rest for a breather on the plundered phrase: "It will be much preferable to get back to the real type of leghorn, with its nice long, black tail carried at an angle of about forty-five degrees, plenty of depth m the body, legs well apart, a good back and wide front . . ." If signs count for anything, then just about the time George ambles up to his goal, the "Sun" office, with his next wad of poultry patter, he will get the "bird." Yes, George certainly knows his poultry. What Birkhead observed several years ago, so also has the "Sun's" poultry expert looked upon that identical incident. "JJet us get away, from the black Malay, standing in-kneed m the show pen," writes Birkhead m his article.