FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1055, 20 August 1930, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

PROS AND CONS During the voyage of the RIOO from Canada to Britain the passengers were unable to smoke. Barge liners were seen tossing and pitching in mountainous seas below, while the airship remained as steady as when moored. — j Cable item. Poor llttlo Out-of-Dates, down on the main. Tossing and pitching and tossing again. How you must envy us up in the blue Crossing the Pond in an evening or two* Vou in Deviathans, stately and trim. Subjects of Neptune, enslaved to his whim — We in a ship without funnels or sail Mocking Atlantic and riding the gale. Poor little Modern Men up in the sky. Nobody envies you as you go by— Roaring along twixt the sea and the moon Pinning your faith to a giant balloon! We may be Out-of-Dates, down on the main. Tossing and pitching and tossing again, Yet we all pity you—famishing folk, Bolling at ease but UNABLE TO SMOKE)! M.E. ,4A T HISTORIC DAY By the Tahiti’s reckoning of time, the accident that has put an end to her days afloat occurred on Friday, August 15. Apart from the fact, that Friday is considered by sailormen to be a most unlucky day. the date is of great historical significance to British steamships. It was on August 15, 1812, that a public advertisement appeared above the name of Henry Bell stating that a steam "passage boat,” the Comet, would ply on the Clyde between Glasgow and Greenock; "the terms, 4s for the best cabin and 3s for the second.” Henry Bell was a simple, uneducated sort of man who amused himself with his inventions while his wife kept an hotel. His little Comet was the first example of a steamboat brought into serviceable use in European waters. James Watt, the famous improver of the steam engine, in his old age enjoyed a trip on the Comet. BOWS FIRST The best laid plans of mice and men. . . . Yes, that was what happened yesterday when the absence of all but the barest details from the scene of the Tahiti sinking caused grey hairs to appear on the heads of descriptive writers on the staffs of New Zealand newspapers. Rightly and properly, each journal embellished the brief messages to the best of its ability, and each writer did his utmost to paint an effective word picture of the sinking with the slender materials to hand. One trier not a hundred miles from Auckland decided that, as the damage to the Tahiti was in the stern, it followed that the vessel must have sunk stern first. So he described it thus in vivid phrases. Unfortunately ships have a habit of sinking nose first because of the comparative lack of buoyancy in slender bows, and the Tahiti was no exception. It must have been intenselyannoying to the writer to find this morning that the veteran liner, in going down, had let him down too. NEW’ ZEALAND—THE DOG One learns from London's "Daily Mail” of a few weeks ago that there has been another earthquake in New Zealand of three-column-blaek-type-heading dimensions. After examining the heading in question, which reads: “Earthquakes in Three Countries —- Spain, India, New Zealand.” one learns "vide” other headings, that people were flung to the ground and 35 bridges were wrecked. Down a bit farther one reads a thrilling story from Madrid, and continues on to discover that the bridges were all damaged in India and the people were thrown to the ground in the Spanish town of Baena, a place about the size of Hamilton, but of considerably lesser importance. Finally one reaches the end of the story and reads in very small type: “New Zealand —Earthquake shocks at Wellington, the capital. No damage.” Apparently New Zealand will never live down its shivery reputation. Give a dog a bad name. . . . INGRATITUDE ‘ Exceedingly angry with Amy Johnson are the newspapers of Sydney. “Johnny” has told England what she thinks of Australfa’s metropolis, particularly its Press. “The Press of Sydney I hate, loathe and detest,” said she in London. This statement has the virtue of candour, yet undoubtedly it is unfair. It is true that the young air-woman was mildly pilloried on one or two occasions and, during the latter part of her stay, severely criticised by at least one journal on the grounds that she was exploiting her achievement and capitalising it in every possible way; yet, to a certain extent, she was “made” by the Australian Press. As far as the public’s idols are concerned the adage that good wine needs no bush is a complete fallacy. Be that as it may. however, Amy may be certain that Sydney will never forgive her. One newspaper has gone as far as the following parody under the heading “Omar Amy”: “Oh Thou who elitist, with Lingerie and Frocks, Accept our Homage, and our eight-day Clocks: Has Hull no school where Manners may be bought, Or Ducking Stools for Scolds, or eke the Stocks?”