FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 983, 28 May 1930, Page 10

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

••THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

lIATS OFF! “I£ anyone comes and tells you that this is an Inefficient show, you can tell them that they’re talking through their hats.”—Major-General R. Young, at a recent review. He’s talking through his hat! He’s mad, by gad! That’s fiat! An inefficient army? Rot! A most efficient force we’ve got. And anyone who says we’ve not Is talking through bis hat. He’s spouting through his hat. A statement such as that Is utter imbecility. Without a doubt you’ll all agree That agitators such as he Are spouting through their hat. “Oh, dear,” we sadly groan, “We really might have known That it is most inopportune Through any type of hat to croon, For none of us is quite immune From talking through his own.” PAKITI. fr * AIR SAFETY A blustering gale and a leaden sky, heavy with advancing rain, combine to form anything but ideal aviation weather. Yet, disdainful of the conditions aloft yesterday afternoon, a lone airplane swooped and banked in speedy flight above Waitemata’s troubled waters. Despite the gusts and the rain-storm into which he was heading, the pilot seemed safe and snug in his purring machine. Like a gull wheeling about the bulky bows of an oncoming ship he skimmed the edge of a black cloud, hesitating before diving toward the rain and murk. Suddenly he banked steeply, swung into the wind and, in an instant, was swallowed up. A few moments later he reappeared, riding high above the ! storm and heading for home. Such i sights as this strengthen one’s admir- | ation for man’s mastery of the air; I also one’s resolve to wait until the i weather picks up before taking that '[ long-promised flight over the isthmus. !TABLES TURNED It appears that the airplane which braved yesterday’s storm, accompanied by a companion machine, was engaged in an anxious search for the speed-boat attached to the Hobsonville Air Base. This little craft, recently built and commissioned, was missing for part of the afternoon, having taken shelter from the w-ind and choppy sea by running into St. Mary’s Bay. The gentle irony of the situation lies in the fact that the speedboat was secured by the authorities at the air-base for the purpose of assisting planes which might be compelled, through bad weather or mechanical defects, to make forced landings some distance from the Hobsonville moorings. Thus the airmen found themselves obliged to go aloft under bad conditions to rescue their official rescuers. If the speed-b.oat pilot manages to survive the chaffing he is bound to receive, he may consider applying for a huskier charge. JUNE, JULY The present domestic troubles of the steamer June, now lying at King's Wharf, focus attention on the unusual name for this, a Norwegian vessel, engaged in the phosphate trade between Nauru Island and New Zealand. It appears that the June is owned by two brothers, Christoffer and Hans Hannevig, the former being a British subject and the latter the present captain. When the ship was built in England last year Christoffer cast about for an English name and his choice fell on the month of the launching—June. A sister-ship was completed a month later and the idea was extended to her. She was christened Juliet. The Hannevig family name is well known in the United States, where Christoffer carried on extensive shipbuilding operations on the eastern seaboard during the Great War. As a result of these he is still claiming a huge sum from the American Government and refusing to be placated by the offer of a comparatively small amount. Meanwhile his American slips and yards are grasscovered and deserted. CONDESCENSION According to a statement made in the Otahuhu Magistrate’s Court by a police officer considerable difficulty is experienced in persuading witnesses to attend and give evidence unless the full amount of 10s for expenses is paid, if such a reward was not forthcoming in return for a day or half a day “out of hearing but within call,” it would be impossible to get anyone to come along, he explained. We are left to imagine this sort of dialogue: Policeman: Now you admit you saw that accident. What about a little drop of evidence for the Crown? I think you’ll manage to get a dollar for the half-day. Wm. Bloggs (with finality): No. If what I seen is worth anythink, it’s worth fifteen bob.

Lengthy haggling. Policeman: Well, we’ll make it ten. Bloggs: Orl right, then; but I can’t say all I seen for less . . . it seems rather extraordinary that the power of the subpoena cannot solve this Otahuhu difficulty.