RONDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 78, 1 April 1922, Page 18

RONDOM SHOTS

*rawiiiHC

Some write a neighbour's name to lash. Some write —vain thought—for needless c Sonic write to please tbe country rlash And raise a din; For mc, an aim I never fasti, 1 write for fnn.

The Christchurch City Council is considering the establishment of a municipal fish shop. With Auckland's experience before the council—-a loss of -4000 ill nine months—this looks like Hie triumph of hope over experience.

During the defence of a claim for alleged wrongful dismissal heard in Auckland the other day, it was contended that an employee had been unduly familiar in referring to his employers as

"Frank" and "Hob." Has the com plainant forgotten the historic "Duck Rirdie. duck!" of Gallipoli'.'

Let us hope that the witness who said in a motor case during the week that he had driven in other countries at

"real speeds," much higher than that of which defendant's car was capable, will, while ho is here, drive with a moderation befitting the backwardness of this count rv.

If smoking among women increases in America, the American Press may echo the question of a London paper: "What is there more pathetic in life* than the spectacle of a sturdy Boy Scout attempting to perform his day's good deed by begging his mother to give up smoking'. 1 "

That New York ordinance against smoking by women in public places may have been issued by mistake, but it added to the gaiety of nations. The city of Tammany concerned about women smoking! It recalls the statement of Jabez Balfour, of Liberator frauds notoriety—be was largely responsible for the ruin of thousands of people—that he never read a paper on Monday morning because it had been produced on Sunday.

"Hides are not of much value at pre sent, judging from the recent experience of a county councillor farmer, who recently took a hide to a Napier linn of brokers, free of any charge, and got credit for a paltry sixpence." So says a llawke's Bay paper. But think of the satisfaction this man must feel when he pays half a sovereign to get his boots resoled.

"Plaintiff," says the report of a Court case during the week, "claimed to recover the sum of £4"2S with interest at the Tate of 8 per cent, from March 14 to the day of judgment." It would be interesting to know what arc plain! ill's religious view's about the future. Some people expect the day of judgment quite soon, and if their expectation were realised defendant would not suffer much. Perhaps plaintiff was trying to better the Allies' original demands on Germany.

A long list of penalties has been imposed upon Dr. McKibbin for his offence against the regulations in criticising his Minister. He is to be censured, he is to pay expenses, he is to lose salary—and he is to ibe reduced in status and sent to Dunedin. What the Dunedin people think of the idea that appointment to their Athens is a punishment, has not ■been reported. They have a tine large round opinion of themselves and their city, have our Dunedin friends, and no doubt they will attribute the decision to the prejudice of the Xorth.

We have been reminded —luring the week that while storms occasionally work havoc in New Zealand, they are zephyrs compared with the worst of winds elsewhere. Still, it can blow » bit in New Zenland. There is a legend iv the Wairarapa that sometimes farmers are obliged to sow grain a field away from the paddock they are cultivating - the wind does the rest. -And it is said that in Canterbury the nor'-wester sometimes banks up the earth in a ploughed field so that one can walk over the fences. I have heard of a dog being killed on the Canterbury Plains by a stone caught up by the wind. Some people to whom I re-told this laughed. and said the dog must have had heart disease, but they changed their tone when they experienced one or two of these Canterbury "blows"' near flic hills.

A correspondent writes:—"You missed the point in that paragraph of yours about Lloyd George and Wrangel Ts'and in the Arctic. If Lloyd George were requested to annex it he would ask: •Where's the Arctic?'" This is unkind, and could come only from one of L.G.s highly prejudiced opponents. The gibe must have had its origin in L.G.s admission that before the Peace Conference he did not know where Tesehen was. There were millions of other men in the same state of ignorance. Another story has it that a delegate wanted to knowwhat the Turks had to do with Silesia; apparently he had never heard of Cilicia. English history is rich in instances of geographical ignorance in high places. Did a British Government not give up Java, the Minister concerned not knowing where or what it was? It has also been stated- - though I have never real any corroboration of the story—that when the I/egisiature of one of the American States congratulated Queen Victoria on her jubilee the reply, drafted by some official. thanked the State for its "loyalty."

Here is a strange paragraph from the "Dominion." of Wednesday: "'Blue sky and passing showers' was a phrase in the Auckland official report of the weather to the Government Meteorologist at n a.m., yesterday. Doubting the message. Mr. I). C. Bates asked for a report, when the original message was repeated. Tt is a most unusual phenomenon in Xew Zealand,' said Mr. Bates, •though it happens fairly frequently in some parts of the world. It is on "such occasions that old sailors say that the devil is beating his mother-in-law." I should say that blue sky and passing showers was a fairly common combination in Auckland, though in their present weather depression most Aucklandors mi-ht say that there was precious little blue and many showers. But, of coi.'rse. Auckland is a much favoured town climatically; "last. loneliest, loveliest"—hut no doubt you have heard that before. I suppose to anyone living in Wellington weather half "tears and half smiles might be a curiosity. There it is all tears and tantrums.