FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 853, 23 December 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

f “THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

SKY SIGNS When night descends on the city, And folds in its sombre shroud The tops of the tall white buildings, The towers and the turrets proud, That is the hour when the sky signs Their flickering signals spell, And up aloft over Queen Street Beams the message of “J.C.L.” In symbols pinned to the darkness, In letters of clockwork fire. The "Farmers” blazing beacon Lights up Saint Patrick’s spire, For the banners of commerce are flying And the bright electrics play, Endorsing a blameless butter, Or extolling the “Alaple” way. Blue stars high in the heavens. Or lights on a cryptic sign— From 8 o’clock till eleven The pulsing sky lights shine, Till the gathering midnight legions Extinguish the glow of the “Sun,” And the lights on the roof of the city Surrender, one by one. BOOKSHELF INCLUDED Compstition is keener now in the encyclopedia world than it ever was before, and useful summaries of all the world's knowledge can now be acquired from itinerant pedlars for a song, or from reputable bookshops on production of the proverbial “small deposit.” Perhaps to meet this competition the Britannica is now brought on to a human basis. One of the standing jokes about it in the old days was that articles on scientific subjects could not be understood by any but authorities on those themes. One of the articles on chemistry was said to be utterly beyond any but three or four brilliant men, including the author. Not only is the latest edition written in plainer terms, but it can be purchased on easy terms, which is better still. It is even possible to have a mahogany bookshelf thrown in, an inducement which perhaps will persuade the Auckland Library to seize a rare opportunity of bringing its works of reference up-to-date.

=* * * COACHING DAYS All this week and tor weeks to follow, service cars, charabancs and private cars will be conveying holiday makers to and fro. The horse has very little say in modern transport arrangements. It is all done by horsepower. Hence a little reflection on the old coaching days is perhaps timely. The motor-cars of today raise dust on the coaching routes of yesteryear. Drivers cooling off after the wrestle with the wheel over Titiokura, on the Napier-Taupo road, pass the spot where a coach plunged over a precipice in the gorge of the foaming Mohaka River, rt seems a long while since the coach era, yet as late as 1914 they were putting new coaches on the road. In that year Mr. A. Hall put the “Prince’s coach” on the road between Halpin’s Creek and Otira. Five years later the smart red and gold turn-out bore the Prince of Wales through the gorge and over Arthur’s Pass. It is perhaps strange that we, who never rode upon a coach, are so erudite on this matter. But the secret is really simple. We have been reading it up on a cigarette card. * * * THE SINS OF OMISSION The accident of being born at sea is a happening for which proper legislative provision is now being made by the more enlightened races, but it was not ever thus, and a launchman of foreign extraction has been for some time in the unfortunate position of wanting a birth certificate and being totally unable to get it. He was born at sea on a foreign ship, which has long disappeared with all her company into the limbo of forgotten things. Although he lacks a birth certificate, normal people accept his existence as prima facie evidence of the fact that he was born, but this simple means of escaping from the difficulty does not appeal to the Marine Department, which refuses to survey or certificate his launch unless he can produce the missing document or some other formal evidence that he was introduced into the world in the orthodox manner. THE BRITTANICA One of the changes that from time to time alters worldly institutions has slightly modified the character of that pillar of knowledge, the Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Once put out more for the sacred purpose of spreading knowledge than for the venal object of making money, the Brittanica has now passed into American hands, and with characteristic thoroughness has been brought thoroughly up to date. The erudite pugilist, Mr. Tunney, contributes the section on pugilism, and W. T. Tilden writes with authority upon tennis. Those who think an encyclopaedia that bears the name Brittanica should be primarily British in outlook may cavill at some of the more obvious Americanisms, but the work as a whole has been improved, even though in the course of its improvement it has been brought down from its aloof scientific pedestal.