FROM THE TOWER WATCH

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 587, 13 February 1929, Page 8

FROM THE TOWER WATCH

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.’’

THE BALLAD OF SMITH Two men, charged at the Supreme! Court yesterday -with theft, explained that they had received stolen property from one Jack Smith, “He’s an old offender,” remarked Mr. Justice Blair. If you should ever evade a crib And fail to make a scoot, You only need to tell the court That Smithy pinched the loot. The policemen and the lawyers And the twelve good men and true, Know all the sins of Smithy , So it is safe for you. No dull incarceration Need ever be your lot 'When you convince detectives That you “popped” what Smith got. Murders, theft and arson, Transgressions such as these , Are handled by illusive Smith With admirable ease. But the mystery about friend Jade Is one that must astound: He’s always very active, Yet he never can be found. SOLOMON MODERNISED Luxury is the mother of instalments. WHICH? An old settler in the Duller district recently heard a brass band for the first time in GO years. Has he earned sympathy or congratulation? A BARREN FIELD, Three German balloonists, blown across the North Sea, landed in Aberdeen. They had a look round, but the consul is now arranging their return. Had it been any place other than Aberdeen, they might have been able to stage some sort of show that would have yielded profit. "THE RED FLAG” Although he never received the same return for his labour as Irving Berlin and others, Mr. Jim Connell, whose death is announced, wrote a song that has been sung in many lands —‘‘The Red Flag.” For years now it has been the radicals’ anthem, and the words have borne a rich crimson challenge. The air is that of an old American song, “Maryland.” Connell, an Irishman born, was a writer on Socialism, and red interested him more than green. AN IRISH INTERRUPTER Among the interrupters in the House of Commons, Mr. Tim Healey, lately Governor-General of the Irish Free State, was one of the most dreaded. When he practised at the Bar he was also noted for disarming comments. He was once appearing when a melodramatic plea was being made by the opposing counsel. So effective was his oration that members of his client’s party began to weep. Rising to address the Court, Healey remarked: “Never has there been such a flood since Moses struck the rock.”

THE SPORTING PRINCE There is certain pathos in the cable message describing the farewell of the Prince of Wales to his horses at Melton Mowbray. His hunting days, apparently, are over, and it looks as if he will have to direct future attentions to the business of preparing for kingship. In many ways he has served better apprenticeship for the responsibilities of that position than any heir in English history, but now he is not being allowed to take any more chances on the hunting field. He has always been a lover of horses, and even oil his visit to New Zealand he frequently went riding. On a visit to the Riccarton racecourse, he went: astride a restive animal, and was thrown in the presenec of a large race crowd. Still, he has always been the true sportsman, and mishaps did not quell his ardour. 7jE~ST BEGINS To-day is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of the penitential period of Lent, which ends on Easter Sunday. According to tradition, “those of ardent spirit make self-sacri-fice during the period for their spiritual good/’ but the immolations of self now are rarely more drastic than forswearing of sugar in tea or something else that occasions no greater revolution of habit. The word Lent is derived from lengten-tide, the Saxon term for spring. There are many customs associated with the Lenten period, but most of these have fallen into disuse. There was a time when a gentleman known as the King’s Cock-crower crowed the hours through the night at the palace, but this was too disturbing for George 1., who caused the practice to be stopped.