FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 226, 13 December 1927, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

rHE LOOK-OUT MAN”

By "T

C R EDIT AX D PAXKI\T PT C V The particular ease witli which credit is secured in this country is exampled by the case of Israel Gelhor. Already four times bankrupt, and with a fifth insolvency pending, he succeeded in obtaining credit for many hundreds of pounds from various firms. The credit system is now so general that it seems to have become one of the fixed customs of the community, but it is very apparent that credit is too easily granted. Gelhor got three months imprisonment for having contracted debts which he had no reasonable expectation of paying, but many others escape punishment, and the creditors have to wipe the amounts off. Naturally, these losses have to he made up, and eventually the public pays in the form of increased prices. It is due to those who do pay that merchants should be careful not to give credit to those who don’t, or who caif’t. * * * OFT THE BACK One of the best motoring jokes of the year comes from Wellington, where a quick-witted Wanganui man is said to have successfully “sardined” the track for the traffic authorities. Meeting a friend in Willis Street, where cars may only be parked for 15 i minutes, the man from Wanganui sojourned into the nearest bar to talk with the aid of a little lubricatiqn for the vocal chords. It was not until an hour had passed that the pleasant conversation ended, and when the door was gained the Wanganui man noticed a policeman taking a particular interest in his car. The owner turned at once, and making his way out by a rear exit, went straight to the police station and reported that his car had been stolen—from Cuba Street, where he had left is an hour and a-half ago. An hour later he identified the “stolen” car as his own —and escaped a prosecution. DELAYED ACTION — Excuses for refusing invitations to lunch are legion providing the “excuser” is possessed of a sufficiently fertile imagination and the “excusee” is moderately credulous. Possibly the most classic refusal must be credited to Oscar Wilde, who had received an invitation to lunch from a Nouveau riclie merchant. He replied: “Mr. Wilde’s compliments to Mr . He regrets that owing to a subsequent invitation he will be unable to take lunch with him on Thursday.” An Englishman in Durban, however, seems to have a legitimate excuse for missing a meal. In March, 1925, a friend wrote to him in London asking him to lunch. He has just replied that he would be unable to accept as the invitation arrived on September 1, 1927. It had followed him to New Zealand, Tasmania, New South Wales, Japan, China, India, and, last of all, to Durban! He has promised that he will accept the invitation for September 1, 1928. It should be a good party! ye. y'r. rU W-. Vr. '-x ?r.

SOUTHLAND INTELLIGENCE Southland dairy farmers have protested against daylight saving, stating that the cows dislike it, and consequently give less milk. Southland cows are such intelligent animals that they know very well it is only four o’clock ■when they are bailedup at the artificial hour of five, and they show their resentment at the deception by giving less milk. The cows of the Auckland Province are stupid brutes; they don’t know the difference, so that there is no difference in the amount of milk they yield. It will be noted that this extra intelligence is general in Southland, extending into the Otago Province. Even the men there are mentally superior to those of the North. There are several Southlanders in Auckland, and they will -willingly—nay, eagerly—confirm the truth of this remarkable ■peculiarity ,