RANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 282, 26 November 1921, Page 18

RANDOM SHOTS

P\ Xbt

Some write a neighbour's name to lass, Some write—vain thought—for needless caift, Some write to please ttie conntry ciasa And raise a din; For mc, an aim I neTer fash, I write Tor lun. Sinn Fein alleges that there i≤ a secret array in Ulster. Certainly there is nothing secret about the Sinn Fein army. Let mc balance this remark by pointing out to the "die-hard" loyalists of Ulster who are still breathing fire, that the King and the Government, of thel? loyalty to whom they make such a parade, are uniting for peace and reconciliation. Why not be loyal to the extent of assisting? iWrfMrAiMWWr Mr. Wells hopes and believce that the British Empire will not last more than another hundred years. Being the modest man ho is he does not say how long Mr. Wells will last. wtirirtrtrSrtr£ That is an interesting story about the youths from Takapuna who put to «ea in a dinghy, had to make Tiri localise tlioy (lore riot turn back, put, out njrnin. and were heading for the Little Barrier lor the same reason, when they were rescued. Perhaps if they had made the Little Barrier they would have put out again and boon compelled to make America. Conan Doyle has written a book about his travels, in which incidentally he says nice things about New Zealand, though nothing nicer, I imagine, than we think about ourselves. He docs well to remind us that every man looks on his land as "God's own country." Hut while he ha 9 been writing about the Hominions he has also been resurrecting Sherlock Holmes, who is making almost as many reappearances as Tatti. I love Sherlock, but I must say the quality of this current reappearance suggests that mixing literary work has the same effect on his creator as mixing drinks has on some men The talc reminds mc of the confession "Punch" puts into Sherlock's mouth, that he had never been quite the same since his "fatalfnccident" in company with Professor Moriarty in the Alps.

■trirZ-ir&fiii-iz-t; -If you have teare," quoted the outraged citizen as he gazed at the Harbour Board's idea of l>eautifying t*e Qu*y Street waterfront, "prepare to shea them now." iWn!r£-iS"£rfr£ir "The City Council, I hope, will not be long in following the example of the Harbour Board in the matter of this shed. Why not use some of the old iron from the Old Markets now in process of demolition, and erect a ehed out of it in Albert Park for housing gardeners' tools. A spot on the pretty slopes facing Victoria Street East would be s\iita.blc. ftTWrfrfrfr£-£rt 1 do not know Ihow old or how honourable ie the family of Viscount Laseolle?, who is going to marry Princess Mary, but the engagement rooalls the remark of the Scottish woman when she hoard that one of Qiicm Victoria* daughters wae going to marry the Marquis of borne. The Queen will bo a proud woman this day, marrying her daughter to a son of the M<-C'allu:n More." One is often sorry 'for Royalty, but most often, 1 think, in the matters concerning eoui-tehip and marriage. It ia

not only thai Royalty often cannot marry whom it will—for a dramatic treatment of this theme see "Old Heidelberg,"' aud read " The King's Mirror." liy Anthony Hope—but that making lo\e must be co difficult, and the days of both courtship and marriage must b<: like living in a house with the front ehorn oft". Lord Lascelles, I suppose, now that he has surmounted the obstacles of proposal—said "the hard word," as they say in Ireland—and acceptance by 'both"the- lady and her royal parcnte, will not be able to take heir a bunch of violets or a box of chocolates without running the gauntlet of sentries, footmen, caTnera fiends and reporters. Aβ for going to the theatre together—l put it to you, which has the better time —Dick Brown and Ethel Jones going from Suburbia by twopenny tube, and 6ittinjr unnoticed in the stalls, holding each other's hands and munching sweets unashamedly, or Princess Mary and her intended in the fierce light that beats upoj the Royal box? Who, by the way, perpetrated the phrase, "As happy as a king 1 '? A really priceless admission was made by the Leader of the Labour party in tihe debate on the Forests Bill this week. In its original form the bill contained a provision that a. forest officer should have the right to require all men in the neigWbo-urhood to assist in fighting a forest fire. Quite right, too, I hear some of my readers say. But"the Lands Committee thought Uie clause too drastic and struck it out. Vv'hen the Bill reached the House again members hiivc expected to hear Mr. Holland cordially agree with the committee's action. What right has the State to ooTupel men to act for the general good? But Mr. Holland took the apposite view. "For the life of mc, 1 cannot see why the committee should have cut that clause out of the Bill. . . No great hardship is imposed upon nn individual if in the hour of danger he ie called upon to lend assistance in saving the State forest, and, in saving the State forest, to save his own homestead in very many cases. My experience is that .very few people require to he called upon at a time like this." Substitute "the State" for "the «tjite forest" and you" have the argument for compulsion in tJie world-wide fire that raged between 1914 ajid 1018. Vld Mr. Holland believe in compelling roon to help to .put out that fire* 'flush—don't ask unkind questions.