THE TROPHY

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 129, 22 August 1927, Page 12

THE TROPHY

A recent announcement from the College of Pestology that a gold medal ■would be given to the person writing the best essay on “How to Kill the House Fly” drew forth the following verses from the clever pen of “Lucio,” of the “-Manchester Guardian.” • j "What did you do for that medal, ! daddy, The medal that hangs on your chest? Did you -win it in youth as a sodger - j laddie With your blade at the foemaris breast? Or was it at sea with the tempest roaring? Did you save men's lives from the deep? Or was it well earned when the flames were soaring With children upstairs, sir, asleep? “Or was it a mark of admiring clamour, And the sportsman's approving shout? Did you get it, daddy, for throwing the hammer, Or scoring a hundred not out? Oh, tell me at once how you came to inherit That emblem of valour or sport. For a medal like that, sir, it must mean merit Of a very unusual sortV* “My son, you do well to admire the possessor Of a trophy so rich and refined — It proves that your parent was once a professor Of courage and culture combined; To learning it certainly testifies lo udly, Of valour ’tis also the prize--I won this medal I wear so proudly i For an essav on swattins: flies!”