RANDOM SHOTS

Auckland Star, Volume LV, Issue 307, 27 December 1924, Page 18

RANDOM SHOTS

~LL

My companion peers, Take from my mouth the wish of happy 3'eara. 1 Shakespeare.

It is strange that in all the discussion about the merits of the 2—3—2 and the 3—2 —3 formations in the 6crum, no one has thought of consulting the ladies who attend bargain sales.

In an article "boosting" Eltham, a Wellington paper describes that delectable town as "the sunspot of Tarauaki." Another impending apology.

A small boy in Timaru informed his mother last week that they had been singing "Christmas Caramels" at school. Certainly there are more caramels than carols about a New Zealand Christmas.

Which is bettor—to be a member of Parliament in New South Wales, or to he a prisoner in the same State'/ Politicians who have served three terms in the State peniten—l mean Parliament, are, so it is proposed, to have railway passes for life. Prisoners there are so well p*id that one of them, on being sentenced to a year's gaol, asked that the sentence be increased, and the judge granted his request. Some -Kathleen Mavourneens" have drawn as much as £-i,-> oon their release, and the judge remarked that when the advantages of the prison system were better known there would tie more applications for longer sentences. Obviously this kind of thing can be pushed too far. One can imagine the broken-hearted father bidding farewell to his son on his withdrawal from ordinary life, and t lie son replying, "Never mind, dad; it's good waged in there and not nearly such hard work as I have been doing. I'll have enough when J come out to start us both in business." There is a well-known story of a gaol in the early days in New Zealand where the prisoners were let out for the afternoon and warned if they didn't come back in time they would be locked out. New South Wales seems to he rivalling this more-likea-home-than-a-gaol atmosphere.

Another insult to Scotland! It seems that there is a factory where bagpipes are made —in London! Whether it :3 the chief factory or not is not stated, but seeing that it turns out 300 pipes a year, I hope, for the sake of suffering humanity, that it is the largest. Not a single'workman in the factory is Scottish. ° Is that strange? Pc-haps not. The Scote may all bo doing something more profitable, leaving it to the inferior Sassenachs to shape the instruments with which they (the Scots) commit murder to make a Scottish holiday. "The maker says the bagpipes enjoy a kind of desperate- popularity in many London parlours, but they are more popular in the Dominions, where there is more room." Koom may be a relative term. There are some of us who can assure the writer of this that the 103,802 square miles of New Zealand are not big enough to hold us and a piper.

The new judge of the Supreme Court is, like the Chief Justice, country-bred. Sir Robert Stout, in giving a sketch of Mr. Ostler's career, said that after being educated in England, he returned to his mother's farm, and it was "only when a friend pointed out to Mrs. Ostler that her son had the ability to do better than plough and reap that he was sent to Wellington, took up his studies once more, attended Victoria College, and gained his LL.B." But if some people are to be believed, there is nothing better than ploughing and reaping. Sir Robert Stout himself recently deplored the drift from the country to the towns, and expatiated on the delights of n rural life. Some day we may see a paragraph like this: "Mr. James Brown, who has just been appointed manager of the Station, has had a most brilliant record. As a young man he was considered the most promising law student of his year, and a distinguished career was assured him when he entered the oflico of Messrs, Costs and Costs. He realised, however, that a man of his ability could do better than be a lawyer, so he went on a farm, and in a few years he had a national reputation as a breeder of Shorthorns and an eradicator of blackberry. He has received congratulations from all over New Zealand on his appointment to the station that is generally considered the finest property of the kind in the country."

An exchange says that a certain Minister's secretary has a double, and that a man meeting the double on a bowling green mistook him for the secretary and went home with a lot of highly interesting information, such as that Sir James Allen was retiring shortly and that Mr. Massey was going Home to take his place. No doubt the report has travelled far by this time, nnd the doubtfulness of 'its origin is not known. This reminds mc that the late Br. Mac Arthur, who is well known to many Aueklanders, bore a considerable resemblance to Sir Joseph Ward. Once when Dr. Mac Arthur was travelling through Canterbury the word went round that Sir Joseph was in the trajn, and at one of the stations .a deputation was waiting for him. Dr. Mac Arthur, who had a keen sense of humour, gravely received the deputation, heard what it had to say, promised that the requests would have every consideration, and went on. An unkind newspaper gave the show away.

"'A girl's mental and physical strength counts a good deal, but a girl's domestic capabilities count a very great deal. , ' Wi'h this remark Miss" Allen invited those present at Friday's break-ing-np ceremony at the Hamilton High School to partake of afternoon tea raaTle by the girl students." So runs the paragraph, which may do an injustice to Miss Allen. I ask you, however, to observe two points: First, there' is coupled with "domestic capabilities" an exhibition of afternoon tea, emplying that this is a fair test of domesticity" I would rather test a girl's capacity as a housekeeper by her ability to cook a chop. But one hears curious stories (I don't refer to Hamilton) about the things they give girls to do in the cookery classes. Then note the implication that a girl'a "mental and physical strength" are distinct from her "domestic capabilities." Given a taste of housework, the cleverer and better edu cated and stronger a girl is, the better housekeeper she will be. I know this idea of higuer education is accounted , nonsense in some quarters, but I believe iin it firmly.