LAUDER WIT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 644, 22 April 1929, Page 11

LAUDER WIT

Comedian Amuses Rotarians NEW ZEALAND PRAISED Sir Harry Lauder did two important things this afternoon. Tie praised New Zealand lavishly, without a hint of canniness, and lie entertained members of the Auckland Rotary Club with dry Scottish humour. Fish stories, tales against himself; the Rotarians took the comedian to their hears. After Mr. G. W. Hutchison, president of the club, welcomed Sir Harry, “Roaming in the Gloaming” was given as a club chorus. Mr. Hutclinson said tliat the club’s visitor had addressed Auckland Rotarians on two previous occasions. “Sir Harry Lauder lias just offered five shillings for the club’s Maori mere,” Mr. Hutchison said, “but as there are two half-crowns embedded in it, he is not going to get it.” Seriously, Sir Harry stated his Pleasure to be in Auckland. “When I left Home to go on the longest seatrip I knew —to New Zealand—l was an old man, broken,” he said. “Well, I have been to your country four times, and I’m 25 now. As long as I live, I shall be grateful to New Zealand. lam going to tell all the world about this wonderful little country. “Well, I went up North to catch those sharks. I wondered what use there was in catching them. We could not eat them, and I like catching things to eat. If I cannot eat them I send them to my friends. And I should have sent you some of the trout from Taupo and Rotorua.” “WILL ALWAYS RETURN” “No, it is not the last time I shall visit New Zealand. I shall come back as many times as I can afford it. And, ye ken, I have been saving all my life. That’s a wonderful thing to be able to do. It’s not like one man I know at Home. Every year lie takes a wonderful holiday. He writes to the tourist people, and gets their catalogues. “There’s no better trout river elsewhere in the world than the Waikato. I caugfiht trout—six in two hours at night—up to 10£lb in it. I used to watch the trout swim from one bank to the other. Every time they came back I always caught one. You can always find a daft fish. “Then I went away down South to see my friends. . . Sir Harry’s audience saw the inference. “Yes, you may laugh, but it’s cheaper to live with friends.’ ‘’Then, in one corner of Lake Wukutipu, I met a Scot, Hugh Mackenzie. He said he had 23,500 acres of land untouched by the plough, and it had taken him 50 years to get as far as that. That is Scottish patience. At the end of his talk, Sir Harry Lauder sang a song he composed in New Zealand, “Dear Old Cronies of Mine.’ “I shall sing that song,” he said, “when I tell other people about the New Zealanders.’