FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 160, 27 September 1927, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN”

WORK IT OUT! A mathematically-minded gentleman informs us that one inch of rainfall is equivalent to 101 tons weight of water an acre, or 14J millions of gallons a square mile. Already this year 4S inches of rain has fallen in Auckland, equivalent to 4,848 tons an acre, or 696,000,000 gallons a square mile. What is the total weight of water that has fallen on Auckland this year . WHALES AND WHITEBAIT Now that the Discovery has returned to Falmouth, after two years in the South Atlantic, where, scientists have completed investigations in relation to the life history of the whale, what about investigating the lifehistory of the whale’s small brother, the whitebait? “The Life History of the Whitebait” would make thrilling reading, particularly where it reached the climax of the restaurant fritter—three whitebait to a fritter and three fritters for eigliteenpence. DANCING IK THE BATHROOM A weekly journal informs its readers that a. well-known Auckland lady gave an enjoyable party in honour of her daughter. It should have been most enjoyable, not to say unique, for according to the report, “dancing took place In the bathroom, which was gay with streamers and balloons.” The Look-Out Man trusts that the garb of the dancers was proper to the occasion and the place. A DREADFUL INFLICTION The unfortunate electors of Raglan are to he pitied. No fewer than eleven members of Parliament have descended upon them, volleying verbiage. It must he worse than the Seven Plagues cf Egypt. Lest anyone should imagine these M.P.’s have nobly come forth from their snug fortress, solely with the altruistic aim of helping one or other of the candidates for the Raglan seat, it may be remarked that it lias been rather a dull Parliamentary session, that many members have gone almost unreported in the daily Press, and that “Hansard” has a limited circulation. As a certain amount of interest centres in the Raglan byelection, and the general elections are within sight, these adventurous M.P.’s have a good chance of seeing their names in print. To the Parliamentarian, publicity is as the nectar of the gods. m * • -4 HOSPITABLE GOVERNMENT The hospitable, New Zealand Government paid the travelling expenses of Dr. MacEachern and Dr. Main while those gentlemen were in this country to the tune of £2lO. In return for this, sojne members of Parliament were expecting a report oil the Dominion’s hospital system; but the Minister of Health has informed them that Dr. MacEachern was not invited to report by the Government, but by the British Medical Association. Seeing that Dr. MacEachern furnished a report to the 8.M.A., and that the report was mainly a plea for “paying wards” in public hospitals, so that medical practitioners could charge fees to patients they treated there, there appears to be point in the question of Mr. McKeen, M.P., as to why the B.M.A. did not “stump up” the visitors’ expenses. Also, it appears that the Government has been too hastily generous with the taxpayers’ money.

PICKING WINNERS The Sun’s sporting competition revealed to what an astonishing extent people interest themselves in horseracing, no fewer than 30,000 attempts to pick the placed horses at Ellerslie on Saturday being made. It also made starkly evident the futility of people trying' to beat the totalisator or make money out of the bookmaker. For, of all the 30,000 entries, not one man placed nine first horses. The most successful entrant anticipated the placing of six firsts, and he was unlucky not to have won, for he was beaten on points by the man who actually named 10 horses in the order in which they were to finish—three firsts, three seconds, and four thirds. It being just as hard—if not harder—to place a second or a third as to place a winner, there was great discernment of ‘“form” displayed by this "picker,” who scored 21 points out of a “possible" 54. One entrant got five firsts and three seconds; another five firsts, two seconds, and one third. But 29,900 and odd entrants would have left the racecourse lamenting if they had gone there to back their fancies. In the next competition Sun readers will have their task simplified, for they will be asked to pick first horses only. To pick eight firsts would be absurd, as friend Euclid would say. Still, by entering the competition, nothing is risked, and the entrant who selects the-greatest number *wins £lO, even though he misplaces most of the horses. Punters do not fare so well with the totalisator or the bookmaker.