FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 351, 11 May 1928, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

HAPPY ONE TREE HILL

One Tree Hill rates have been reduced by an average of 3d in the £, and this in spite of the increased Hospital Board rate and the heavy charges for street lighting. The consolidated rate is now only 2s 3'id. At this rate, One Tree Hill must he a fine place to live in. There are few places in New Zealand where rates have been reduced in recent years. “ KATHLEEN HAVOUHNEEN ” Mr. J. H. Luxford, S.M., has discovered a flaw in the Motor Licensing Act, and he rules that a licence taken out last year, like an old soldier, never dies. Licences for 1927 will become known as Kathleen Mavourneens. "It may be for years and it 8 LAN 6 “Aussie” writes: “The Sun’s leader on speech and slang led me to recall some ‘Australianisms.’ Here are a few: ‘Back chat,’ to answer back. ‘Beak,’ a magistrate. ‘Beano,’ a feast. ‘Biff,’ to smite. ‘Did his block,’ lose his head. ‘Bonzer, 1 ‘Boshter’ and ‘Bosker,’ excellent or better. ‘Do a break,’ to depart in haste. ‘Buckley’s chance,’ a forlorn hope. ‘Do a bunk,’ depart. ‘Whip the cat,’ to fume or rail. ‘Chew the rag,’ to sulk or nurse a grievance. ‘Chiack,’ to banter. To ‘chin,’ to talk. ‘Cliner,’ a young unmarried female. ‘Conk,’ the nose. ‘Clobber,’ clothing. ‘A fair cow,’ a most obnoxious and otherwise inexpressible person. ‘Crack a boo,’ to divulge a secret or betray emotion. ‘Croak,’ to die. ‘Derry,’ a dislike. ‘Dickin,’ a term of disbelief. ‘A dirty left,’ a formidable left fist. ‘Done his dash,’ failed. A ‘finger,’ an eccentric person. ‘Gazob,’ a fool or blunderer. ‘Gizzard,’ the heart. ‘Grafter,’ a hard worker. ‘Straight Griffin,’ the truth. ‘Ginger,’ make-believe. CRITICISE ANYTHING Sir Robert Greig, chairman of the Board of Agriculture for Scotland, has a pretty humour. Here is his idea of running a newspaper:—“Journalists had a great tradition to live up to, and they had enormous influence for .good or evil. Time had proved that in general that influence was used for good,” he said, at a meeting reported by the “Scotsman.” “The proof was, that, in spite of the dangers of a corrupt Press, the Anglo-Saxon people had continued to demand the freedom of the Press. He thought it would do no harm if it was still freer —if it undertook to criticise everything of public interest. He did not understand why the Press would criticise a book, but not a brand of tobacco on a proprietary medicine for sheep-dip. Why shouldn’t a newspaper, for instance, make a round of the restaurants and tell them which had the most tender beefsteak, or the most polite waiters or waitresses? A newspaper’s expert would critically describe some make of motor-car, but its shopping expert, if it had one, wouldn’t tell them where they could get the best value in boots and shoes. If editors would adopt his suggestion, he was sure it would add to the circulation of their papers and the gaiety of the nation.” * * * THE MAD MEMBER The story told the other day of a lunatic being empanelled on a jury in Sydney was not so remarkable as that of the lunatic who was once elected to the House of Commons. T. P. O’Connor tells it in his “Weekly”: A very stately figure appeared in the House one day; he had won a byeelection for the Conservative Party; he was tall, handsome; with venerable white locks, with eyes gleaming out of a respectable pair of gold spectacles. He sat immediately behind the Treasury Bench, which was then filled with the leaders of his own party. Altogether he looked the kind of reasonable, moderate, respectable man who could always be relied on to vote with the Conservatives. For a while—though he showed a rather disproportionate eagerness to join in debates, he still retained the appearance of the respectable, well-to-do professional man who is the backbone of the Conservative Party. Then his interventions became more frequent, and increased in violence with their frequency, until in the end his insanity was quite palpable, and he had to be sent to an asylum. * * . COCOS ISLANDS The historic fight between the Sydney and the Emden was recalled recently by the celebration by Mr. John Sydney Clunies-Ross, owner of the Keeling-Cocos Islands, of the centenary of the possession of the group by the Clunies-Ross family. The first member of the family to land on the islands in 1825, when they were still uninhabited, was John Clunies-Ross, a sailor from the Shetland Islands, who was in search of a life of adventure. He had with him a companion, Alexander Hare, from London, formerly employed by the East India Company, and about 165 Malays, Hindus and Chinese. The two leaders differed about the manner of life on the islands, and Hare, who wished to treat all the rest of the company as slaves, finally went to Singapore. Clunies-Ross then laid claim to the whole group. The family were granted possession of the Cocos Islands “for ever” by Queen Victoria in 1886. The son of the original settler, John George Clunies-Ross, developed the resources of the islands, and asked the British Government to annex them. An official was sent out, and he so approved of the administration of the community that the chief was appointed Governor. John George Clunies-Ross married a Malay woman of Royal Sulu blood, and they had nine children, six of whom were sons. These boys were educated in Scotland, and the eldest, George, was the father of the present ruler, his mother being a Malay woman. The chief industry of the group is the production of copra, and the rulers of the islands have imported machinery and tools, and established coconut' palm plantations, so that the islands are in a prosperous and flourishing condition. George Clunies-Ross, who died at Ventnor, Isle of Wight, in 1910, left over £200.000.