FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 942, 8 April 1930, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

THE PHENOMENON The people of Wellington are said to be feeling anxious because there has lately been so little wind.—News item. In windy, windy Wellington Old custom never stales The beautiful monotony Of hurricanes and gales. Few cobwebs ever gather there. The summer afternoon Is tedious and incomplete Without a small typhoon. Suppose rude Boreas is seen In tranquil, tender mood, The people in bewilderment Anxiety exude. But when in zest he raises clouds Of leaves, and dust, and foam, The citizen of Wellington Is perfectly at home. THE WAR-HORSE “Shorty,” the inveterate heckler of all politicians and public men, Is such a well known figure that he needs no introduction. He is so skilfully versed in his art that he can. make any candidate quail. The other day an acquaintance rail across Shorty and asked him whether he would be taking any interest in the Parnell campaign. Shorty lives over Ponsonby way, so Parnell is, strictly speaking, off his beat; but he is too proud to let mere electoral boundaries stand between him and his duty. “Oh, yes,” he said, with the shining light of martyrdom in his face, “I shall be covering it as usual.” COMMERCIAL LYRIC Commercial enterprise shows itself in a number of unusual but often delightful forms. The latest addition to Queen Street establishments is a shop called “The Ladies’ Paradise.” One Imagines that with a name like tills the place might be the headquarters of all sorts of mysterious rites. It seems too exotic to be devoted merely to the sordid processes of shopping. Another excellent contribution toward a brighter Auckland is “The Lyric,” a hairdressing shop—for men. Somehow one has not hitherto associated men’s tonsorial parlours with anything very lyrical; but in this case perhaps the barber, instead of talking to his clients in the traditional manner, croons to them softly as he works. THE DEATHTRAP In reply to representations from Whangarei, the Minister of Railways has stated that the question of eliminating the two railway crossings at Hikurangi will be considered at once. Government departments are always ready to oblige by closing the door of the canary cage after the bird has flown. When representations on the same subject were made on two different occasions some years ago, the successive district engineers replied from their desks at Auckland that the crossings were not considered excessively dangerous. Even a district engineer can be wrong. Some person in authority may now have the satisfaction of reflecting that his decision cost six people their lives. This will probably help to accelerate the elimination of the Hikurangi crossing, though, the inexorable law of averages is all against the possibility that such a dreadful affair will ever happen there again. AT THE POINT Point Chevalier has accepted its tram service philosophically, just as if trams had been running along past the Old Stone Jug for years, instead of a mere matter of days. However, the congestion of buses and trams at the junction of Point Chevalier road with the main road has already had a subtle influence upon the atmosphere of the corner. It now wears almost a metropolitan appearance. Buses line the kerbs, a tram stands in the middle of the road, “commuters” spare a moment for shopping in between commuting from bus to tram or tram to bus, and altogether it looks as though this particular . corner is destined to become a very busy little place. It may even become another Newmarket, though the absence of a hotel (it is In a dry district) denies it the chance of reproducing the Newmarket atmosphere as faithfully as it otherwise might. GOOD KHITTERS As a fitting complement to yesterday’s paragraph about the London men who are taking up cooking, it may be mentioned that another domestic art, that of knitting, is also practised there, and by no less exalted persons than (to name only a few) the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Gloucester and Lord Lascelles. This might have been expected of Lord fiascelles, but in the case of the Prince and his brother it is entirely inexplicable, and suggests either .that there is fascination about knitting that is not apparent to the masculine observer at a cursory glance, or else that some high-minde4 ideas of duty have led them to undertake this hobby. At any rate, their illustrious example may cause the habit to spread, and the future All Black forward who is ordered off will perhaps •welcome the diversion as giving him an opportunity to “get on with his knitting.”