FROM THE WATCH TOWER.

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 588, 14 February 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER.

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN

THE ART OF SPENDING A young man charged at Lhe Police Court yesterday is said to have spent £ 400 in a month. i marvel that it's possible, I wonder how lie did hi thirty days of joyousness Expend four hundred quid 1 Conjecturing, of course, is vain. The proper test no doubt Is to obtain four hundred And try the business out. Pictures, shows and suppers, Cabarets and “fizz” — That’s the way to splash it And make the money whiz. But still there must be limits To Joy’s engaging rounds, And spendthrifts, Alexander-like, Seek new ways to shed pounds. Ah, faint-heart, no, the task is light, Bring comely dames to shop with you, And very shortly, I am told. They will have spent your last, lorn sou. TROTSKY’S TOUR Trotsky, after wandering in Europe, has finally landed In Constantinople. Judging from the cable news of European blizzards, they have not been making things very hot for him. OREWA’S BATTLE A mock battle was fought at Orewa to-day. Had the Defence Department wished to colour up the attack with realistic touches, a few of the Melbourne strikers could have been Imported. These men like combat, and they’re pretty accurate with stones. LINDBERGH AND WOMEN A wife has been found at last for America’s idol, Colonel Charles Lindbergh, and he will be freed of the future attentions of energetic matchmakers. “Lindy’s’’ heart seemed hard to stir, but last year social chatterers got busy when he spent time at Mexico City in the home of Mr. Dwight Morrow, the United States Ambassador. Daughter Anne was charming and 22, and now the pair are affianced. In France, Lindbergh was regarded almost as the symbol of masculine purity, and it was in this guise that he was represented in a play written by the famous Sacha Guitry. Produced at the end of November, it was called “Charles Lindbergh—an Heroic Melodrama.” ST. VALENTINE'S DAY There was a time when February 14 —Saint Valentine’s Day—brought heart flutterings to youth and maid In England. But now the pleasant old customs have fallen into disuse, and it Is now no more than February 14. A popular form of celebration was for an equal number of bachelors and maids to assemble and write the names of the lovers fancied on slips of paper. These were picked at hazard, and chance decided which were to he partners for the day. Old Pepys records that gifts were given to ladies in his time by the gentlemen chosen in the lottery. In 166 S he writes: “This evening my wife with great pleasure did shew me her stack of jewels, increased by my valentine gift, a Turkey-stone ring set with diamonds. She now hath something to content herself with.” Mr. Pepys, it seems, had other gifts to distribute as well, but he mentions little of them. SZZ si; Sic % lii m & 7ii Mr af IK

A CRITIC ASSAILED Winning fame as a castigator o£ American thoughts and manners, H. L. Mencken, famous American writer, has roused the righteous ire of many lesser critics. That 'the art of vituperative personal attack has not been lost is shown by some of the hostile estimates of Mencken, the man and his work, which have been gathered together in a recent anthology of hate called “Menckeniana.” The following are some of the things said about the poor fellow: Mencken's meutal tastes remind me of the physical appetite of a seagull. —Allan T. West. He is one of those little skunks who spread their poison wherever they go. —O. B. Andrews. If Mencken only ran about on all fours, slavering his sort of hydrophobia, he would be shot by the first policeman as a public duty. —E. F. Keene. Come to Arkansas, Mr. Mencken, and get your liver drained. —“The Arkansas Democrat.” Why, I tell you folks, Mencken is just a dirty buzzard, and the folks that follow him are no more than damn scoundrels. —Rev. Lincoln McConnell, D.D. These are bad enough, .but worse still has been said. ,