FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 827, 22 November 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN,"

they survive. As for sailing on a Friday, we note by the shipping columns that the Moeraki, now laid up at Auckland, is to re-enter the Fiji service by sailing from Sydney on Friday, December 13. So much for nautical superstitions! HAND CLASP Captain Ernst Hashagen, the German U-boat, commander, who is being entertained in England in circumstances that have c\*oked some painful memories and conflicting sentiments as the recent visit of Captain Lothar von Arnauld of the Emden did here, is credited by Mr. Lowell Thomas, in “Raiders of the Deep,” with an excellent character that cannot have been completely undeserved. Unfortunately, the trouble with Mr. Lowell Thomas is that all his geese are swaus. He even manages to make some sort of apology for Schwieger, whose name is linked with the most infamous sea massacre of history, the sinking of the Lusitania, with the loss of over 1,000 lives. Schwieger, who became a national hero in Germany, is said to have been reprimanded by the Kaiser. Nevertheless, this master in the gentle art of massacre, who later sunk the Cymric and Hesperian, had a submarine named in his honour after he himself had gone to the mysterious doom which claimed so many of the U-boat warriors. I>E.\D M F.V'.S* r.l/.F.s* Although “Raiders of the Deep " is a colourful and interesting chronicle of a campaign unparalleled in warfare, the true and judicial story of the submarine crusade has yet to be put on paper. In the meantime, it is inevitable that the visits of even brave and honourable men like Captain Hashagen should produce poignant echoes in England. It is true that he, like so many others engaged in the submarine campaign, treated his captives with scrupulous chivalry and courtesy. But there is a lot that has yet to be satisfactorily explained, and there is a lot of damaging testimony that has never been conclusively answered. The tales and adventures of U-boats make fascinating reading. Their escapes. their exploits, were the feats of brave and patriotic men. And then there is the grim roll of those who did not return. Almost 200 of the raiders went down with their crews or were captured. The tales on record now are of those who escaped and triumphed. There is another series that will never he written, the chronicle of the last voyages—the talcs of dead men.

7A' GAY DUNEDIN The Rev. James Burns advocates brighter dresses for the women of Dunedin. I'm going clown to Dunedin town This season, if I'm able, To eye the maids in assorted shades— Miriam, Aland, and Mabel. And Jean and Margot, who’ll make Otago The place with the rainbow label. In Rattray Street they were once disThey were sombre and dull in Princes. But now they’re vivid, sublime and livid. And the tone that each gown evinces May range from prune to a chic maroon, Or the yellowish lint of quinces. So show me a piece in a bright cerise, Or a gown jocosely hectic; With the sheen of rose on her shapely hose, And a bonnet of lines eclectic. And with glance ecstatic, that scheme prismatic I'll chase—till I’m apoplectic! DRESS REFORM It seems queer that the movement in dress reform should start away up north at Rawene. yet Dr. George Smith, whose downright utterances slightly marred tile serenity of a luncheon to the Commerce Train delegates, is as unconventional in dress as in his idea of what constitutes a few well-chosen words. Dr. Smith proudly proclaimed that he has only been in Auckland three times in 15 years, but when he does come he is easily recognised, for along with other accessories he favours an open-necked shirt, no stockings. and a very hygienic-looking sandal. In this respect he is not so unconventional as the Sydney character who roamed the streets in a Grecian tunic. Nevertheless, it will be admitted that Dr. Smith has courage. They breed ’em hardy up Rawene way. It is the place where the he-men come from. OX THE HIGH SEAS Nautical people are supposed to be a superstitious breed, and one has hitherto cherished the notion that the last thing a sailor would do is sail on a Friday, shoot an albatross, carry a strange cat. or do any one of the many other things that lead to maritime disaster. There is even a presumption that ships that change their names are inevitably doomed, and this belief flourishes in spite of the fact that many of the ships trading to this port have at some time or another changed their names. Some have done so more than once, yet