WISE AND OTHERWISE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 40, 16 February 1910, Page 8

WISE AND OTHERWISE.

(By "OLD SALT.")

So many little difficulties which present themselves to students of the Bible are easily and airily dismissed by parents and guardians as discrepancies, due to imperfect •transhvtion from the original, that one may, without irreverence, sometimes find himself wondering over some passage as to whether or not just the right word is in the right place. For instance, if the exhortation to search the Scriptures might have the word "search" replaced by "quote" it would be quite refreshing to note the numbers of us engaged in doing as we have been told to. Before going farther with this subject, however, perhaps I had better, by way of solemn warning, recall the story of a rash youth who, in an examination paper, was invited to tell the story of the death of Jezebel, and who wen* to his faH 60 filled with pride in the extent of his Biblical knowledge that he prefaced his tragic story with a few remarks to the effect that it was always best, in recounting Scriptural history, to adhere to the phraseology in which it was handed down to us. The conclusion of his story read: "And the prophet said unto them, 'Throw her down,' and they threw her down, yea! threw her down even unto seventy times seven; j ■then the dogs did eat her, and they picked up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full!" Now, all this talk of quoting Scripture and so on, is the result' of reflecting over the wanderings of the unlucky Kaipara's cargo, and the sequential conclusion that if the bread we cast upon the waters does not return to us after many days in better shape than the meat, we shall be in possession of something less than a liquid asset of more than doubtful worth. Lest this reflection should prove a deterrent to the kindness of the philanthropic, it might be well to point out that bread is more adaptable than meat. The meat in its present condition is graphically described as a responsibility that' nobody cares to shoulder; but in the case of bread—well! philanthropy may go a length further and the mess be turned over to the hospitals for poultices; the doctors will then indicate its destination on shoulders or any other old place. Curiosity is very generally considered —justly or not—a feminine prerogative or weakness, which you will. When the same quality is exhibited by man, nineteen times out of twenty you will find it is due to feminine instigation, and here is a case in point. During last week there came before the City Council a request from the Ponsonby Ladies' Swimming Club that gas be laid on to their dress-ing-shed upon Shelly beach; it was decided to consider the matter in time for next season. Now, what in the name of all that is wonderful can those good ladies want the gas for? Is midnight swimming coming into fashion? Does modesty prescribe the bath by dark, To make their charms elusive From the glance of man obtrusive Who wants to watch the mermaids for a lark? Do they fear the dire effects of salt, salt water? Which we know of love the fondest heart will rob. And in this same connection Would each hunt for her complexion? She'd want a blooming search-light for the job! Nol now I think we've dropped upon the secret. We know, for victims every woman longs. And so much their beauty hinges On their girly curly fringes, They want the gas to heat their curling tongs. Fortunately—very fortunately, perhaps —it is not given, either to communities or individuals, to see themselves as others see them; but notwithstanding that, it comes as something of a shock to read the remarks of a cinematograph expert who is now among us, taking notes and pictures. "The purpose of my visit," he confides, "is to give Europeans and Americans some idea of the high degree of civilisation in New Zealand. Of this, many people abroad are in profound ignorance, thinking this Dominion to be a cannibal country, peopled with hosts of savages." It would be a reflection upon our high degree of civilisation to tell a visitor point-blank that we did not believe him; but it certainly looks as if we had thrown away a lot of good advertising money and a Dreadnought. Possibly scenes of London slum-life, side-li"hts upon Packingtown or pictures of Chicago's wheat-pit have been fathered on to New Zealand for want of a parent who will own them. Hence the cannibal and savage impression. It is an old saying (and as true as most of such) that the camera cannot lie, and it really seems an excellent idea to present facts to our ignorant neighbours in the shape of pictures—a form which must appeal to the most illiterate. No lon;er do we seek to draw the mote from neighbours' eyes; The mote that makes them look cross-eyed whene'er they criticise; The mote becomes a "beam"-ing smile when Alms in our machine. Display facts as they really are, projected on a screen. Scriptural precedent is all right when quoted from the pulpit, but coming from ! the solicitors' table in defence to a charge of furious driving it is hardly convincing. In Wellington lately, a barrister quoted from the Book of the Prophet Nahum, "The chariots shall rage in the streets; . . . they shall run like the lightnings," and upon the strength of this sought to establish the right of his client to drive his motor-car at a speed exceeding the statutory eighteen miles an hour. It may be a Scriptural precedent; it is certainly a dangerous one, and, if permitted, we may expect the next defendant charged with cruelty to animals by-

overcrowding to I"l»u , 11 and the incendh c w„ ?*° a W.l I j turn for eoi iSt tions have mate rUdE 1 <S? Do my readers f ggfiS* 4 8in * W if the finding day his parentage would be tery, mth meWy a Z,^. left » a*,. against I'haro£hi L^f* 3 ?'*** not; the been as far faL wstt^ST* to-day, vhen|he y:a^^d^ "How oth the HWe W "v-,_ .. : aggrava : g .riddle us sine trl^ childhood; butl i?»W m.t th: -.ntai read-tne skippe> the Jdariorie *& last v. '*' •W' did httle bit. .That vessel, it in the Kaipa Pl (I saw LS river -. Helerwffle, w»rta££ , " l JV swan. i. •*, which, led bytSJ»« took up ; quarters m eros tri - d were wee, :a when the harqne Sydiwy. captain resolvedTw! ther „:-, xrbed, which mdieateV^ sid .„■ nount of wisdarH^ pai' '•■ I should dnvwine tf? laztf ,-ber of t * lt & .-uer 01 the cre w *» live |n deputed to g3 ft 3 overh. .he £*?* andleec .nes. She carries no w* yard, or naturally the queea I^Z gone on to her own. It k *JzL"» think of distilledsweetnessdiS^ aloft m a sailing ship, and quite Yd*? from rnarlin-spikes, curses. thiJu* blocks; but what I^7^** how the little busy hee "doth" »t * on what? In these day* 0 { £* crews, grog blossoms are too «£?* keep a swarm of bees busy, Z^J flowers of rhetoric are much too hiS flavoured to make good honey V conviction is that these stowawi^Jf 1 many others of their kind—-were 'Ti of drones, and when some advening spirit does determine to smoke ttem^ he wiH find the thing a big "«n» J5? absolutely nothing in it. ° - Some birds do agree wifli benjau; unanimity when in their little artTa is when th»y come out that ironS.'),!* gins. At the Knyyett indrgMtka ing the other evening, defiance ««, ijj ed at "Colonel Bobm, Major-Gaenl Cock Sparrow or anybody' mirabile dictn—by a gentienan my "Peaeock(e)." Although one cumofcW admire the enthusiasm which proaray the utterance, it is a pity almost tWa, gentleman did not act as prompter oJ let the defiance emanate from same otis spokesman; for Then "tread on the tall of my emt tf m can!" No wonder his hearers turned (tieFor defiance like that should not come tm. a man. Who carries his eyes In Ids Ufl.