COMPLIMENTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 290, 8 December 1925, Page 9

COMPLIMENTS.

WHOSE IS THE BEST CITY? Good natured banter' between the Minister of Education (Sir James Parr) and local members of Parliament, caused amusement at the opening of the new Kaiwarra school on Saturday, says the "Dominion." Sir James Parr set the ball rolling by stating how impressed he had been with the open-air school at Christchurch, from where he has just returned, but, in passing, remarked that he had contracted a chill in Christchurch, and this was .readily seized upon by Mr. R. A. Wright, M.P., who followed. He 'Was glad that the Minister was recovering from his cold in healthy Wellington, he said, amid laughter. Mr. Wright was saying that he was not too sure whether the open-air school would prove suitable everywhere, when the Minister interpolated: "Oh, no, never in Wellington; there is too much wind here!" (Laughter ) Mr. Wright (determinedly) : I don't know. I see that the wind was so strong at Auckland the other day that it lifted the roof completely off a house (Laughter.) Then, in defence of the capital, Mr. Forsyth, M.P., the next speaker, said he thought there was a microbe at Auckland known as "Waitemataitis" or some such name, the germ having its origin on the banks of the Waitemata, and so affecting people up that way that they were inclined to overlook everybody else. (Laughter.) Although Christchurch might be flat and cold, continued Mr. Forsyth, Auckland could boast of plenty of hot air. (Prolonged laughter.) By the time Mr. J. J. Clarke had risen to champion the cause of Wellington, the Minister, amid roars of laughter, had declared: "Oh, I love Wellington."