FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 701, 28 June 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By “THE LOOK-OUT MAN.” THE DISTRACTED MUSE Some happy minstrels merely strum Their eager strings, and swiftly come j Felicitous and tuneful themes, But these I lack. To me, it seems Unjust that some should sit so pretty So facile with the lightsome ditty, 'While I, devoid of sparkling wheeze, Just smite these unresponsive keys For naught. And yet, I'll feel a goat if I can't devise a decent motif. My harp, my lyre, my ukulele, Come, spring to life, and answer gaily ! Yield me a melody that starts Responsive tears from readers' hearts, Or wreathes each jovial face in smiles — Observe how my machine beguiles Me into flattery seductive; But that, alas, is unproductive, When more important topics clamour. The Question is, can King's beat Grammar f McSHOVEL. * * * St MPA THETIC At Kurri, N.S.W., home town of Thomas Temperley, the Sydney University student suspended as a result of the recent riot on graduation night, great elation was shown when the news came through that Temperley’s suspension had been lifted. Even though they live at Kurri, they don’t like to see a lad get it hot. «= * * BARON PASSFIELD Noted economist Sidney Webb, elevated to the House of Lords, in order to take a Cabinet portfolio and oblige Ramsay MacDonald, did not go far away from home for a title, nor strive to evolve one suggestive of ancient heraldic significance. He becomes Baron Passfield, of Passfield Corners, his comparatively modest dwelling. Scions of the aristocratic line may in later generations venerate Passfield Corners as their ancestral home. In the meantime the new peer’s choice will cause less surprise than that of Mrs. Cara Leland Broughton, widow of a noted British engineer to whom a title liad long been promised. Mrs. Broughton, an American, had the audacity to select for her title the name of the fishing village where she was born. Many another notable has chosen a foreign title —Kitchener of Khartoum, Byng of Vimy, Napier of Magdala. But those names savour of martial exploits. There is nothing martial about Cara. Baroness Pairhaven, late of Fairhaven, Mass. THE NEW BE lAEA II Successful larceny credited to a girl who became New Zealand’s first “hotel barber” reveals a new peril for unsuspecting males. The tired businessman or careworn navvy in this country has not yet become used to the idea of being shaven by females, but the innovation is surely one that will spread. The danger is that in yielding to the sweet conversational blandishments of these tradeswomen, mere males may be preyed upon by Delilahs whose skill' with the razor or scissors is secondary to their acquisitive capacities. This first experience in the case of the hotel barber at Wellington suggests the dreadful possibility that a girl may be a lady barber but nevertheless no lady. Incidentally there is an interesting line for speculation in the direction to be followed by the conversational efforts of women operatives. As they deftly insert a chunk of lather in the nostril, will they talk blithely of Saturday’s Rugby results, or say, as tradition dictates: “Getting a little thin on top, dearie,” which would in truth be the crowningindignity. * » * HANDY ANDY A word about Sir Andrew Russell, of whom the Prince of Wales said: “And here is my old friend, Andy Russell.” Not many New Zealanders have had the privilege of being spoken of as familiarly as that by his Royal Highness. Not many, too, have the right to weai- the Order of Danilo, a Montenegrin decoration which was among those collected by Sir Andrew for his war services as officer commanding the New Zealand Division. Though a sheep farmer, he had military training and a military tradition behind him. His father was Captain A. H. Russell, a brother of the Sir William Russell who was the bewildered Conservative leader when the Liberal wave first overwhelmed New Zealand in the early nineties. The family had big land interests in Hawke’s Bay—the name of Russell figured among the famous “twelve apostles" who sliced up the Heretaunga Plains between them—and Sir William was popularly credited with opposing the introduction of the railway to Hawke’s Bay on the grounds that it would spoil the hunting. First at Harrow, then at Sandhurst, Sir Andrew was trained to occupy high military posts. Those who know him assert—as a Digger once said — that he is a sportsman “to the bootlaces.” He stood for Parliament for Hawke’s Bay in 1922, was beaten by a mere handful of votes, and made a sporting speech that might well have been treasured as a model for the use of all defeated candidates.