FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 405, 13 July 1928, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

SILHOUETTES OF THE SESSION No. 1 — The Hon. A. D. McLeod, Whenever he’s allowed, Speaks of Reform perfection, Though drowned by interjection . DEAD LETTERS Seventeen hags of mail were destroyed in Sydney this week when the motor-lorry carrying them burst into flames . . . Sydney’s Red Letter Day? TAKING- A RISK Councillor E. J. Phelan, who recently attended for the first time, a concert of the Municipal Band, was particularly appreciative of its excellence, and suggested yesterday that the council should attend one of the concerts en masse. It seems a pity to introduce discord, even if potential only, into a harmonious evening. CHARITY BEGINS — Soon after Auckland pokes its collective nose above the counterpane to-morrow morning, some 1,500 workers will be busy gathering clothing and funds from Takapuna to Papatoetoe for charity purposes. Many a resident will hand over some article or other, cherished for years, with something of a sigh. Regret? Slight. Pleasure? Surely, for the collection is for the best of purposes. Goods for the “drive” will be sent free to the city by the Northern Steamship Company and the Railway Department. WOMEN AS ELDERS “Taipo” writes: So women are to he eligible for eldership in Auckland kirks and the Rev. E. R. Harries raised the only protesting voice when the Presbytery discussed the proposal.’ Mr. Harries thought it might not be desirable for women to be in spiritual authority over their husbands. I go further and assert strongly that it is not desirable at all. Think of the additional spirit-breaking hunker for the Sabbath golfer. Mid-irons and putters would be locked in the tool-shed until spiritual obligations were discharged. SUITABLE FUNCTION News item: “The erection of a new courthouse at Hamilton will he commenced shortly.” Among the more public-spirited members of our criminal classes this information has been received with great interest, and it is proposed to send a skilful and experienced man down to the Waikato to commit some really remarkable offence in order that the opening of the new building may coincide with the hearing of a trial worthy of the great occasion. SUPERLATIVE OPTIMISM “I am going to heaven,” exclaimed a Chinese murderer, as he stood on the gallows waiting for the trap-door to drop. Yesterday’s cable conveying this intelligence convinces the L.O.M. that he was the world’s prize-winning optimist. The previous record is believed to have been held by the man who fell from the parapet of a 40storeyed building, and, as he passed the 35th storey, said to himself complacently: “Well, nothing has happened yet!”