FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 743, 16 August 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By “THE LOOK-OUT MAN.” BANNED In the House yesterday, Mr. G. C. Munns, member lor Roskill, wa.s ordered to withdraw the word “crucify.” When loyal party henchmen try The foeman’s ranks to scarify— What better word than ‘‘crucify”? But, so the Speaker’s ruling runs— Crucify not. O Mr. Munns! Replace that word with milder ones. The Speaker’s ruling- goes. He’s boss. No crucifixions—that’s a loss! No wonder Mr. Munns was cross! BEOWULF. VANISHED SQUARE Life’s institutions are after all very fleeting. Their transience is depicted now at the Civic Square, which is as good as gone. The massive mountain of bricks that is to be the Civic Theatre has put the imprint of finality upon its departure. One of the other buildings is so far advanced as to be having the trimmings put on its facade, and a third is rising, storey by storey. It all happens in a few short months, and all that remains is a forlorn-looking expanse near the Town Hall. Soon people will forget that there ever was a Civic Square. When a new building Is planned we say, “Now won’t that alter the look of Queen Street?” But by the time the building has climbed bit by bit to its summit and completion we have forgotten what that part of Queen Street looked like before. THE DAVENPORT Hi 3 Honour the King's judge is to have something extra special in the way of refinements at the new court building in Hamilton, where a folding bed in the judge’s room will be a novel feature of the appointments. With such an amenity close at hand, the learned judge will have less excuse than ever for nodding under his periwig. But in an age when the somnolent judge is encountered only in legend, perhaps the thoughtful provision will be superfluous. The “davenport,” which is the name by. which these folding beds are known in the ingenious land of their origin, has never become a very popular fitting in New Zealand. A friend who prides himself on being right up to the minute bought one for £SO two years ago, and has never used it yet. FROM THE SKIES It is queer to reflect that as the world becomes more and more airminded, people will attain a new and beautiful perception of familiar surroundings. The haunts of men are divested of their squalid earthiness. Mean streets and squalid dwellings are lost in the spacious beauty that is the world seen from above. Even behind the walls of the gaol are green vegetable plots, symbolic of a freedom that persists even behind locked doors. People are wont to say now tlial the approach to New York, the approach to Rio. surpasses all the world’s views. But what shall be said of the approach to Auckland when the cities of the world are approached by air? The fretted formation of an intricate coastline, the silver gleam of sinuous tideways, the glorious expanse of the Manukau and the clusters ot islands in the Gulf, all these combine to enchant the sky-rider. Thus for earthbound Aucklanders there is a new sensation waiting. Fastidious motorists of 1929 often have sliding panels in the tops of their saloon cars, that they may enjoy the scenery. And by the same token, the airplanes of the next generation will have to have glass floors. ISLAND IDYLL As any respectable local body would, the Devonport Borough Council, in its joint and several capacity as guardian over the moral and spiritual welfare of Rangitoto Island, received a shock the other day when it received from ,two of the island’s Inhabitants a request for an account. Whether the account was for rent, rates, or even primage has not been publicly stated. The council’s interest was heightened by the disclosure that these two openhanded subjects have a hank account. They are living the simple life on the far end of Rangitoto. All they see of the outside world are the steamers that go edging in and out, with perhaps an extra large spark of interest on mail days when the trim and imposing Aorangl comes to port. Why people with a hank account should live on rocky Rangitoto may be a mystery to some. Of course, there is the possibility that only in a sequestered spot like the far end of Rangitoto could a bank account survive intact. After this it need never he assumed that people who dwell on Rangitoto are on the rocks—even if they do live on Rangitoto.