FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 553, 4 January 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

THE FALLACY According to The Sun's Cambridge correspondent, the sunshine records show that Cambridge enjoys considerably more sunshine than Auckland, and also much less wind. Last, loneliest, loveliest , exquisite, apart. On vlio'i a constant sun teas wont to shine. Auckland—this revelation take to heart , Humiliation's thine. When Kipling came along, and made a About - : st i, the si nny hour i You p'raps could talk—but Cambridge note enjoys Considerably more. The game is up, Queen City of the Xorth, Our graphs and records shout the reason why. So to our baltny hamlet sally forth And seek another lie! —ISIS. THE GLAD XEW YEAR A message from the "Wilkins party at Deception Island, on the fringe of Antarctica, claims that New Year w as celebrated there with a cordiality unequalled anywhere. The claim must he disputed, as Rotorua on this occasion excelled itself. It is unlikely that any town in New Zealand has ever entered into the spirit of a carnival with the zest that characterised the first New Year carnival held at Rotorua. Elderly tourists in dinnersuits flocked into the shops to buy masks and weird headgear. One portly tripper, bereft of all garments save the essentials, paraded round in a Maori mat and other barbaric habiliments. Much of the fun was contributed by parties of sailors from the ships at Auckland. Next day, even the geysers seemed subdued. It had been a heavy night. THE AFGHAN WAY Little, portly Amanullah, the Afghan monarch who paralysed a London crowd by blowing his nose -with his fingers while driving through the streets with King George, is not carrying his passion for civilised methods to his dealings with the rebel factions, which have recently caused so much trouble in his kingdom. Forgetting his Saville Row morning coats, he marched In the streets at the head of his soldiery and he countenanced barbaric methods of inflicting punishment, as witness the fact that the heads of decapitated rebels -were borne through the streets on bayonets. It takes more than a trip to Europe and a pair of striped pants to civilise an Afghan. OX THE SERPEXTIXE Every true-born Londoner regards with veneration the Serpentine, where the annual race for swimmers, young and old, has just been held; but it will be -widely thought that the ancient sheet of water, formed two centuries ago at the instance of good Queen Caroline of nursery rhyme fame, is going to the dogs. There was no ice for the greybeards and adolescents to break when - they plunged in for their swimming race. Crossed by a bridge that has played a part in history, the Serpentine offers tempting refuge for those tired of life. It was here that Harriet Westbrook, the first wife of Shelley, ended her existence. Not far away, in former days, was the famous Ring, scene of many wild .debauches, and the famous duel in which the participants, the Duke of Hamilton and the dissipated Lord Mohun, succeeded In accomplishing a rare feat by killing each other.

OVER THE HILIj Hundreds of e'x-soldiers know the Rimutaka Hill —where a fatal motor accident has occurred, bringing the roll of holiday disasters to a terrible total —for the simple reason that they had to march over it as part of their war training. Clerks and tradesmen, flabby specimens a few weeks before, shouldered their packs lightly at the end of their training at Featherston, and set off blithely on the gruelling march over the range. It was a great tribute to the hardening effects of military life. At the summit of the hill was a tea-house, with white notice-board close by. Toward the end of the w r ar the noticeboard carried thousands of scribbled signatures. It -was the autograph book of the New Zealand forces, though the road was in bad order n those days, it was from wind, at a ouple of sharp corners on the Welligton side, that the chief danger to totorists was feared. Gusts of ind blew a train off the line on the djacent Rimutaka incline, with fatal suits to a woman passenger, and on c h road and railway there are ind-brcaks and warning notices.