FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 375, 8 June 1928, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By “THE LOOK-OUT MAN.” PROSPEROUS JOCKEYS i Sam Henderson rode five winners and drew £432 in riding fees at tile A.R.C. meeting at Ellerslie. Not bad for three days. Instead of encouraging large physique, we shall have to find some means of dwarfing our sons so that they may become prosperous jockeys. IT WAITED “Dear L.O.M., —I note with great pleasure that New Zealand cruisers are to patrol the seas between Fiji and Brisbane with Australian warships, so as to be able to render assistance to the Australian airmen, if anything untoward befalls their airplane. Pardon my bad memory, but did the New Zealand Government send out ships to patrol the Tasman when the New Zealand airmen, Hood and Moncrieff, were making toward these shores—or did it wait until disaster had overtaken them?—‘Seeker.’” CONSCIENCE “Conscience doth make cowards of us all.” But was it cowardice that induced the young sailor-burglar to return to the police the jewellery he had stolen from a Wellington shop? Conscience or cowardice—did he repent of his theft because it was wrong, or did he fear that the stolen goods would be traced to him? Perhaps he would have done better had he posted the goods without a long written act of contrition, for even though the letter was anonymous, the police traced its author. As it is, the young man is under committal to the Supreme Court for sentence, together with an accomplice. Probably he is now endeavouring to analyse the psychology of conscience. * , * “ONLY A FEW SECONDS” The Canterbury branch of the S.P.C.A. has resolved not to support the Hon. G. M. Thomson’s Bill for the suppression of live pigeon shooting, on the ground that “the sport as carried on by the Christchurch Gun Club is not cruel—no bird living more than a few seconds after being shot.” Of course, “a few seconds” agony is nothing to a pigeon. But the L.O.M. is prepared to wager that there isn’t a member of the Christchurch S.P.C.A. game to face the few seconds agony of tooth-extraction without a local anaesthetic. They don’t anaesthetise pigeons before shooting them. * * . “THE CITY OF BLAZES" The impressive array of figures which Mr. T. Hugo supplies in connection with fire losses in the Dominion recalls the fact that in days long since gone by a Southern town used to be known as the “City of Blazes,” for what at that time were obvious reasons. During a municipal election campaign a candidate innocently referred to the proposed electrification of the city as a burning question.” It raised an audible titter. The candidate went on unconsciously to refer to other “burning questions” amid increasing hilarity on the part of his hearers. But the climax was reached when he termed the building of a new fire station “another big burning question.” It brought down the house. A DOG’S DELIGHT Motorists are accused of mauy things; but it is doubtful whether they deserve the charge of being cruel to dogs. The S.P.C.A. considers it is cruel to allow dogs to travel on the running-boards of motors, as the animals suffer from cold and are liable to be injured if thrown off at a bend. Dogs don’t object, anyhow; motoring is a dog’s delight, and it is remarkable liow fond they become of the car after one or two outings. The dog which has become used to the road will howl his disappointment for hours if left at home when the ear moves out. The dog is fine company, too, and “if he prefers to travel on the footboard (which he does), what’s cruel about it? Fortunately for the dog, he is infinitely more agile and resilient than a man, and a fall, even from a moving car, rarely hurts him. PITY FOR BUNNY It is a wonder the idea has not occurred before. The R.S.P.C.A. has offered £3OO as a prize for the best invention to supersede the present cruel steel-mouthed rabbit trap. Poor bunny is oniy a rabbit, but be gives us meat, skins and fur, and we thank the tribe by setting vicious steel teeth as traps, careless of the wholesale suffering thus inflicted. Rabbits caught in these traps endure hours of agony before mercifully being killed by a blow on the neck. It should not be a hard thing to devise a trap which can capture without inflicting torture. The inventor will earn the £3OO prize, and with it the thanks of humanitarians. WHERE “V” IS “F” Why “bough,” “cough,” “dough” and “rough” should all be pronounced with different vowel sounds is part of those diverting little idiosyncrasies which (make English one of the most difficult languages for a foreigner to learn. But why on earth should “mon petit choux” be a cherished term of endearment in French when it actually means “my little cabbage!” These reflections were prompted during a korero on the All Blacks’ scrum formation by a South African gently supplying a correction to a Maorilander’s pronunciation of “Transvaal,” which the Afrikander averred was pronounced “Transfaal.” Similarly with “veldt,” which is rendered “feldt.” From these examples, the company got to the basic fact that in Dutch “v” is pronounced “f” and vice versa. It is something worth relUnembering now that the All Blacks’ South African tour is in full swing.