FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 724, 25 July 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

BREAKING THE NEWS

“My telegram was of such a character as to be accepted as an imitation to resign."—The new Foreign Secretary, Mr. Arthur Henderson, referring to the resignation of Lord Lloyd, High Commissioner in Egypt. The diplomat wrote a courteous note. With delicate grace he wired him; He’d understand that Pharaoh's land Less urgently required him. And so with tact he disguised the fact — The Foreign Office liacl fired him. He didn’t say.' "Well, you can go to—■" Or correspondingly whacked him; But to send him in level terms to the Devil He cudgelled his brains and r ached them. With generous will he coated the pill, But, nevertheless — he’d sacked him. And the noble lord can hardly applaud This evasive circumlocution, For the acid’s the same whatever the name Applied to the rank solution, And the sacked, as of yore, will always feci sore. (See Pettit, on Evolution!. BEOWULF.' LOUD APPLAUSE Public speaking has always had its perils. Even a practised speaker like Sir Joseph Ward may suffer a slip of the tongue and say £4OO when he means £450,000, which just shows that figures do mean something after all. Numberless other instances occur, and they all centre on the nervous oppression induced by public exposition. A reputable literary gentleman who was lionised at a women’s club so far forgot himself as to applaud heartily the woman who proposed him a vote of thanks. There is the more recent local instance of a budding Cicero who talked vigorously and then in an excess of nervousness sat down and clapped himself warmly. * • * THE NEW FREEDOM Stern-faced men may not realise it, but there is a bloodless revolution in progress, a revolution which may leave them once more the complete freedom of their former sanctuaries, the hairdressing saloons, and of which the outward and visible signs are the shy tresses that peer from beneath the close-fitting hats of young women seen in the streets. In the evenings the intermediate stages of “growing it” take various and perhaps fantastic forms. It is not polite to comment thereon, but one who should know tenders the information that those who are growing their hair are just young enthusiasts of the post-shingle era. They are trying out the new sensation of having flowing locks, not necessarily for permanent wear. So perhaps the day of the expected freedom is still far distant. * * * PIONEERS A visit to Orakei model suburb discloses that there are now three occupied houses on the block and two more, including the first two-storeyed place, in course of construction. The day when a teeming populace will inhabit the favoured spot is therefore not far distant, especially in view of the report that other section owners are only awaiting summer before beginning concerted building operations. Others are waiting for trees to grow, and to that end haA r e raised netting fences around their aspiring vegetation. There is probably no subdivision in New Zealand which has had such good roads as Orakei. Even now there are no doubt more miles of good road per house than anywhere else in the country. By an unfortunate oversight some short pieces of approach road have been left unsurfaced. HoAvever, one can’t carve a home out of the wilderness without enduring some hardship. IN THE CRYSTAL

Just an idea, prompted by the sight of an artist plying a nimble brush by the shores of Hobson Bay. There mightn't at first glance seem much to appeal to an artist in Hobson Bay, more particularly when the tide is out. But when you spare time for more than a cursory glance, there is really a lot of colour about a tide-washed foreshore, even if the tints are just the subdued hues of old boats, mangroves, and a tin shed on which some prentice hand has tried daubing colours from a painter’s store. Mud receding to the background of a sewer pipe may seem drab, but it’s surprising the number of fleeting little lights it may catch and hold when the sun is setting. And the chalky forelands of Point Resolution and Orakei frame the picture nobly. It is probably a great pity more people could not spare time to see things with an artist’s eye. There would be less possibility of nauseous factories sprouting on suburban waterfront. But that, again, would reduce the interest of fifty years hence in the very remarkable old painting showing the changes wrought in Hobson Bay since 1929.