FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 501, 2 November 1928, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By “THE LOOK-OUT MAN.*' THE WIDOWS 9 MIGHT “The Labour Party will raise widows* pensions when it gets into power.”—Extract from “The Hustings”: The pension ire have long deplored, Known ae the “Isidores’ mitc/ J Scarce keeps as clad in self-respect — It is so i very slight, And many widows toed again The first unlucky wight, To offer them a brief release And freedom, from their plight. But now strong men uphold the cause — The prospects look so bright — That all the widows clap their hands, Quite reckless with delight. They say the pett-sion soon will soar To such a lofty height, That we shall reign as queens again, And revel in our “mite.” ... WORK FOR THE NIGHT Mr. G. C. Mums, United candidate for Roskill, will speak this evening in a motor garage. If his remarks are anything like those frequently heard in our garage, he should deliver a vigorous indictment of labour. * . * DRY EVENINGS It was at an open-air meeting in the suburbs. One the fringe of the crowd stood a cheerful reveller, interrupting the candidate in a bibulous voice. “You want a drink of water, my friend,” said the speaker reprovingly; but "his friend” misunderstood him. He moved off unsteadily, and was soon back with a glass and a jug of . water, which he solemnly handed to the candidate. Not only that, but two or three others had done the same. Apparently they thought the speaker sounded dry. “ALL FOR YOU ” “Excuse me for rough writing.” wrote a modest Chinese gardener, in a letter to an Auckland produce firm, this week. “Dear Sir,” ran the delightful epistle, “Very so happy of your letter last week. So is the ton of kumera coming up on steamer. It's all for you. I,aEt week it Tuesday it was wet and so I didn't sent the kumera up, but at last. Here they soon be up yet they coming on ship, Ngapuhi. So thanking you for your kindly of replying my letter every time I write to you. Yours faithfully, Mr. Sing Sing.’ THE BIG CHIP Multi-millionaires have their moments of human generosity. At Deauville (France) a pale young woman rose from a table in the casino, and staggered toward the doors. Passing the Aga Khan, swarthy Indian sportsman and millionaire, she paused: "I’ve just lost my la'st sou. How does your Highness always, always win?” The Aga Khan is a descendant of the true prophet, and a gallant gentleman. “Take this, ma’m’selle,” he said, banding her a huge oblong chip. “I make only one condition. You must never play baccarat again.” In a hypnotic state the woman moved to the cashier’s counter, where she cashed the chip for its face value—--100,000 francs, nearly £4,000.

TEUTONIC FURY Though dedicated to the arts of peace, the Library of the University of Louvain, Belgium, continues to be a storm-centre. One of the wealthy cloth centres of the Low Countries in medieval times, Louvain caught the eyes of all the world in August, 1914, when German soldiers plundered and burnt the city, killing many of the inhabitants under circumstances of sheer butchery. The library, with its wonderful collection of books and pictures, was gutted, and it is over the restored building that trouble is now raging. Thousands of books were collected in England and handed over to the library not long after the war, and in 1921 America stepped in to aid the good cause by offering to help with rebuilding. Here enters New York architect. Whitney Warren, whose inscription on the balcony of the building, in Latin, was to read: “Destroyed by Teutonic fury; restored by American generosity.” Cardinal Mereier approved, and so did the rector, Monsignor Ladeuze; but there is a suspicion that susceptible Germans influenced Monsignor Ladeuze with the result that his approval turned to active disapproval. Hence all the trouble, fostered by enraged townspeople, who, remembering the bitter days of 1914, stood by and cheered while a master mason demolished the balcony when it was erected without the challenging inscription. The rector, however, is still adamant, hut so is architect Warren, who stands by the first inscription, and now talks of taking the case to the courts, on the grounds that the donors have a say in the matter.