FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 699, 26 June 1929, Page 10

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By '‘THE LOOK-OUT MAN.” THE DAY OFF On the absence of a verse from the Watch tower column yesterday: Oh, Watchtower man, please hear our views. . . . The absence from your column Of any tribute to the Muse Has left us sad and solemn. Bray, why does bold "XXX” droop, Has “ Beowulf” tried to duck it, “T. Toheroa” sought the soup, “McShovel” kicked the bucket ? In any case, it’s passing strange, You did not borrow from — —Exchange. THESE FRENCHMEN The recent discovery of a Monsieur Murphy among the members of the French Cabinet, and the historic example of a MacMahon among Napoleon’s marshals, is no greater oddity than the coincidence that Mr. de la Perrelle, representing the New Zea-. land Government, should have had the pleasant task of welcoming Captain von Arnauld de la Periere, captain of a German man-o’-war. The one is as good a New Zealander as the other is a German; yet in the names, at least, there is sufficient reason for both to be made the guests of honour at a meeting of the Auckland French Club. “BIG BOY ” , Things are happening at a great pace in the young life of James Joseph ('Gene’) Tiraney, late champion fisticuffer of the world. All in a short few months he has trounejed Heeney, renounced the ring and all its works, married an heiress, pummelled a few photographers, and been sued for breach of promise. Furthermore, it is revealed that he recently stood by and paced the floor in approved style when his heiress wife was operated on for appendicitis. And the “wept like a big boy” when it was announced that the operation had succeeded. For the sake of this domestic idyll it is to be hoped that the litigious Mrs. Katherine King Fogarty does not succeed in her claim for £IOO,OOO of the Tunney money. Tunney categorically denies that he ever proposed to her. But you never know with these champions of the ring. SHIP’S REWARD The Iron Cross emblazoned on the bows of the Emden is a reminder of the distinguished war service of her predecessor. Iron Crosses could apparently go to inanimate as well as animate objects, though a ship, of course, has a personality of its own, so perhaps should not be grouped in the former class. In the British Navy illustrious ships are sometimes decorated. H.M.S. New Zealand Is a notable instance that comes to mind. But the British Navy does not hang medals on its ships. The D.S.O. conferred on the New Zealand was worn by one of its officers. Major Blount, a marine officer selected by consensus of the officers as the man- most worthy to bear the ship’s mark of distinction. TASMANIAN SEA

The day when people will gaze skyward and say: “Hullo, there go the Kights In their Eagle runabout,” seems to be coming appreciably nearer in America, where airplane builders are advertising their products as alluringly as motor firms advertise their cars. “Skyward Ho, Ride the wind. Youth and romance find new setting in the clouds,” reads the announcement of one concern. Another, the Ryan, majfes the following announcement: “Captain Hurled flies a Ryan across the Tasmanian' Sea, 1,339 miles. A record trip between Australia and New Zealand. Just an incident in the breaking in of a Ryan shipped to the Antipodes.” Kingsford Smith, the only matt publicly credited with reaching New Zealand from overseas, flew a Fokker. Hood and Moncriefi' flew a Ryan, but it never got here. Lindberg flew a Ryan to Paris, so it is evidently a very good plane. But the little “Incident” of the record trip has unfortunately been overlooked. PIER POR PIPER

Many a piper fisherman will recoil in horror at the Auckland Harbour Board’s threat to demolish the old St. Heliers pier, now used only by casual traffic. “Most inconsiderate,” said a man who has fished for piper there for twenty years, and hopes to do so for another twenty. The alternative is that the city should take over the wharf, but short of erecting a dance pavilion at the outer end. making St. Heliers more like Brighton every day, it is hard to see what the city can do with it. Yet there will be a strong body of opinion against removing the wharf. People dislike seeing familiar objects removed bodily from the landscape. The old inner harbour bridge at Napier was replaced by a structure costing £120,000. But it was the longer way round, and people continued to use the old one, even though they had to get down on hands and knees to negotiate the gaps in the decking.