THAT BLACK CAT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10602, 8 April 1912, Page 5

THAT BLACK CAT.

ITo The Editor.'] Sir,-—: I join issue with you on the subject of the Terra Nova's black cat. These Antarctic men are toiling in; the Field of Highi Endeavour. Not the least of the terrors of their calling is its monotony. Any story of Polar exploration is pitched to the keynote of monotony. Without ponies, creva>S£eis, ice, wind, .dogs, and ship's cats there would be no incident at all upon which to found the story. Yet, the story, when published, never fails to quicken the .pulse and stir the Wood of at least some of us who stay a* home toasting our toes— and why? Because the story .represents- the daily doings of men who are toiling in the Field 9, of High Endeavour, and.pur imagination conjures up the very presentment of the men 'themselves-. It will be a bad day for us when our imagination ceasra to respond to tales of the every-day lives of the workers in the Fields of High Endeavour. If there were more sHcii stories to read and fewer tales of how Mary.. Jones took prußsio acid in New York, and Bill Sykes bashed his Missus over the head in New South Wales, the cable columns woidd be vastly more entertaining. No, sir, 1 have no quarrel with the Terra Nova cat story as'a typo. I have, however, a certain amount cf hesitation over accepting the yarn—a-s a fact. Oats, are cautious animals, and bad swimmers. How that oat let itself get washed overhoaird at all, how it weathered the deck-sweeping gale that mutt have been raging, and how they managed to stop the iflvip and lower the boat in Mich a short, dsflta nee as would enable theon to keep their eyes upon that cat—these, sir, are little matters' that might form a neat subject for a nautical enquiry. Tt looks as if the Terra Nova, if it did not bring Knu-k the Pole, has at least brought back the champion cat story.— I am, etc., H. O. ROBINSON.

[To The Editor.']

Dear Master, — I hey always looked o .nnew&papers as very useful and necessary artickles. Not only doss they come in handy fer wroppin' up bottles of beer, .tucker, dirty washin', and other adjuncts of civvylaisa.tion, but they aJeo gives a man a ehanst to fly .off at these blokes as thinks, they're faffs and let 'em no what a. cove thinks of "them. Now I want to 'ave a thy at ther Borrow Cbwncel. The. other nite I takes me tart'fer a walk down lay the Noclw Ghcreh ait' she nearly 'got' her bloomin' weep whipped out wi' somep.rickl.y- stuff afe g,rowp. at the back 01 the premises. Ag it was her chiv wiiz scratched 'sif she'd had a nargument wi' a bale o' •"barbed wire. We chucked that and ducked up Queen Street, and turned down by that three-decker show what they calls the Cummerehall .. and Gowspankers' club, a. yer go down ter the Park. Bli me if there wasn't a lot more green stuff what ketches me tart'fc lid and tares the trimmings outen it, and it ccssen me a \ ginny only lar,s' week. Blokos 'as bin settin' tw me about it an', wants ter no what T bin dealin' wi' me tart's dial for. Don't ther lnepectre of New'senises rot:ee ontcr the«e blokes as girow.s this porkypine green stuff when they lets it ripen too much widout ibarbeiring.it a bit? An' ca.m',t me tart get some dammidges fer what it done tor 'er lid? I reckon this bizzynesft i's like the kid * st-unvmick what •swa Tiered his m.unny-ibox—it want's lookin' intc<r. Hcppm' you will agree wid me about this prickly pear stuff. —I am, your affectihinable friend. ■ 'TIMOTHY TUGMUTTON:! P.'S.— I made- a hit of er win at 'Terrvlvn-nt'^w. —T.'i.