FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 373, 6 June 1928, Page 10

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By “THE LOOK-OUT MAIM.”

WAR GRAVES Mr. Stanley Baldwin has returned from a tour of the battlefields and cemeteries of France and Belgium, and his words will carry a message of comfort to all those parents overseas whose thoughts ever turn to a sacred patch of land on a foreign held... “The beauty and magnitude of the task must be seen to be believed,” says Mr. Baldwin. “1 believe that nothing In this world could bring to the people of the Empire so much help and solace as, the sight of these cemeteries, all tended with love and care by the former comrades of those who lie there.” Yes, the War Graves Commision has done its work admirably. Its efforts have placed it above criticism, and its success has been brought about by perfect organisation, actuated by genuine sympathy and reverence. WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE The Mayor of Devonport has protested vigorously against the penchant of some citizens for bathing In the placid waters of Lake Pupuke. It is not that he objects to winter bathing or Sunday bathing—in fact, he probably agrees that anyone who has the temerity to take a plunge into a lake in winter-time deserves something more than mayoral commendation. But the North Shore boroughs draw their water supply from Lake Pupuke, and although we all know that “what the eye doesn’t see” —and the rest of it, it is time officialdom called a halt to a practice that is to he deplored from the health point of view. ... PERNICIOUS “This offence is a pernicious one,” said Mr. F. H. Levien, S.M., in fining a Whangarei hotelkeeper £2O (costs, £2l ss) on a charge of selling liquor not true to label. The citizens of the Dominion will agree. Whatever opinions individual members of the community may hold on the subject of licence v. prohibition, all are agreed that the least the hotelkeeper can do is to serve liquor which is true to label. A few more prosecutions of this kind would cause many publicans throughout the Dominion furiously to think. ... FAME Mr. Coates. Prime Minister of New Zealand, had a distinguished career at the war. As Prime Minister of New Zealand he has naturally become known in many countries of the world. He is, of course, a Privy Councillor. But there has been something which has kept him from becoming a figure of international repute. That “something” has now been remedied, and Mr. Coates may take his place among the Truly Great of the world. He has been included in the waxworks exhibition of Madame Tussaud! Pamela Travers, The Sun’s London correspondent, writes that Mr. Coates, resplendent in morning suit, and wearing a troubled look, keeps the Iron Duke and other celebrities company in the Hall of Fame. Miss Travers adds that the Tussaud management has, in Mr. Coates’s case, lived up to the advertising slogan, “All handsome men are slightly sun-bronzed,” and has given him a complexion of a tan the most surprising. * * * NO HATS The New York Hatters Union is seriously concerned by the slackness of trade in their particular line. This they attribute to the vanity of American college boys in “displaying their wavy locks and allowing campus zephyrs to blow gently through their hair. The depression in the bat trade in Wellington, New Zealand, is not due to such vanity. There, no “campus zephyrs blow gently”—there is a hurricane at every corner, and hats get blown to glory. The wind has even been known to blow the hair right off the head in Wellington—the stranger is profoundly impressed with the preponderance of bald heads at the theatres. The wages of the Wellington youth do not permit of the purchase of thirty or forty hats a year, so he goes without any, and cuts his hair close, like a boxer, which gives him a formidable appearance and a constant cold in the head. In Auckland, where the atmosphere is soft and balmy, there is a suspicion that some of the unique species of youthful genus homo which goes uncovered is somewhat vain of its head ornamen tation. But it is not yet proved. HONOUR TO WHOM. ■ . . The Birthday Honours conferred this year are of unusual interest, covering as they do almost every phase of man’s activity. Representatives of the Crown, in many outlying parts of the Empire, have been knighted. That, however, is a usual feature of an honours list. The man iq the street is always more interested to see which of the workers in unofficial spheres has been singled, out for his Majesty’s consideration. The coveted Order of Merit, one of the most jealouslyguarded honours in the world, has been bestowed on Sir George Grierson, whose studies in Indian languages and dialects have reaped for him this rich reward. Mr. Archibald Hurd, whose articles on the navy and naval problems have appeared regularly in the English newspapers for years, becomes Sir Archibald, and joins the ranks of journalist-knights, which already include Sir Philip Gibbs and Sir Percival Phillips. Old friend Max Pemberton, whose novels have won for him an appreciative public, and who is now interested in a correspondence school for short-storv writers, is among the new knights. Once on a time he edited “Chums,” a paper that still has thousands of youthful supporters. The stage receives an honour. Sir Nigel Playfair, sound actor and producer, becomes a knight. He has successfully staged many plays of an earlier period, and is keenly interested in the intellectual side of the theatre. Among the women, the honour conferred on Dame Edith Campbell-Walker, of Sydney, will meet with approval in this part of the world. Dame Edith is reputed to be immensely wealthy, and owns, property on a large scale at Parramatta. She has devoted her Income and her time to charity, and thousands of Australians will rejoice that she has been singled out for recognition, ..