THE PASSING SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 163, 12 July 1928, Page 6

THE PASSING SHOW.

1 (By THE MAN ABOUT TOWN.) I l Reference to The big game of Africa s-eercs ' to have caught the eye of several. and M.A.T. ! has had one or I wo. interesting letters on the subject from ex-soldiers i MORE BIG GAME, and' others "whose work or • 'Measure has taken them I abroad. The odds are not always on the side I of "be hunter, as- witness a terrifying exper:- | ence which befe] Jack Hosram now a solicitor j in England, and once a resident magistrate in j Northern India. A panther had caused considerable destruction of stock and also loss of huraan life near the ancient city of Jhansi. and He-ran was besought by the natives to try to kill the A "mac-han." or platform. was built in 2 tree, and a goat was tethered below as bait. Jack t<-.ok up his post a- right '■?.me rm and waited till moonrise Ito get a shot. Moonlight flooded the jungle, but no panther can e. Then darkness covered th~ scene again. and in the pitch-black hour before dawn the ferocious animal did make an appearance. He killed the goat, ate what he wanted of it. and then—smelt the man: Repeatedly he leaped at the machan. which shook and nearly collapsed under the blows. Hogan nearly collapsed, too. It was too dark to f.re. and the only thin:: to do was to hangon and wait till dawn. As may well be imagined, daylight was never more ■welcome: There 5* an c.;d and "rue journalistic ; savin™ that there is always good "copy" in a ! murder, a Liz bcxing match and a sailing j BIG FIGHT'"COPY." trio —but onewhich never i fails to hit the public imagination "whether separately, together •.? : in bulk." Oceans «f ink have been -t-ilt about I the forthcoming fight between Gene Tunuey ! and Tom Heeney. and it must r-e admitted 1 that the American new spapers are giving the ! lad from Gbborne a very fair share of publicity. He is even allowed to say: "It make' ! me laugh to read these American sportuig . articles failing a six-to-one shot for: • the coming match. I fee! certain I can tu;iij ■ the tables." There is more in Press publicity i . than meets the eye. for in the fistic- rinsr . well as in warfare there are su<-h things a? 1 j "moral."' and even "moral ascendency. v M-A.T.; \ ha- had a few re:: arks in make with regard to the q-rtp permissible booking by the Yankee) « pat*eis r, i Tunney. but he is ai-o clad to admit 1 .".at th-"* transatlantic capers are 25vine our j 1 a "v •:-rv ~ Mav the 1- -t n an win: j t 1 ~~~~~~* ! T-'-r-nr: ow will be the •">4 i th anniversary I 1 of the death of Bertrand du <rue>clin. Constable j ! of I ranee. Lieutenant of Normandy. Count of: 1 Longueviiie and Duke of i : THE GALLANT one of the - BERTRAND. est men who ever bore, arms against England, and I a- gai.ant a figure as ever graced the fares' ; of rr.edieid! history. "Nev.--r was there so bad! ! a bey in the world."' said his ladv mother, but ' j £e leit his mark on posterity —"a name at 1 ; which the world grew pale: to point a moral or' j aoorn a tale." As a youth he vanquished; ' fifteen (Lampions in turn at the great touma-' | meet of Rennes. Then his own father rode j into the lists to challenge the unknown warrior.! I oung Bertrand fiung down his lance and lifted j ] his -visor. There was no mistaking that law. \ I and tne proud father embraced his son and: i knew tiiat he had given Eranee a champion ! : indeed. E--»r twenty-six years he fought against i the Eng.ish. J-our times he was captured, and J ; b--t of ail by the Black Prince, who held him ■ i for a year. "They I fear vou too much • to set you free. ' said tne Prinze. "Name vour i 1 ran-om. Du <Tue~cl:n proudly declared it at I !a hundred thousand florins. ' "The King o: j i Era nee and Castile, the Pope and the Duke! j of Anjou would lend it to me."' laughed the! ; gallant Bertrand. "and the women of Erarc-' j would earn it for me with their distaffs."' And! Iso they would. He was the ugliest knight ' | in Christendom, but the ladies loved him. and! ■ by ail the blood of chivalry he was a bonnv ! . lighter: ' ' i Conversation or. th» homeward ferrv last i } pvpning turned to the subject of sharks. ' \oung Bill. who has _nad some «-xperience of * the terrible "grev nurse"' 1 SHARKS. in Australia and th-'j > I'lands. said shark trage-i : dies could in many instances be avoided. 'a\ bather who saw a shark approaching nearlv : ! always made a frantic attempt to swim awav. j and generally the brute would be too quick fori : him. w;*h the result that a limb was lost or! I a bad wound inflicted. ' What vou ought to! , do." said Bill, "is to swim straight at the : shark and not away from it. Bv so doing vou 1 i discon<-ert trie shark and he will nearly alwavs , swiii- away. He is used to previnji on creatures ' which try to escape, and he' is" mot used to I having a fight." M.A.T. added the useful sue-' pest ion that it might be a good idea to jump j or. the shark's back steer it ashore'with ' one's braces, but Bill seemed to think This | facetiousness uncalled for. and M.A.T. had to i to pa?? c-n the real instructions. So there you are. Mr. Tom Bloodworth. who nearly aiwavs : has something original and refreshing to sav when he sr»eaks at a social gathering, was in excellent form at the LOCAL BODIES. Advertising Club's "smoker ' tne other evening. Responding to the toast of "Local Bodies?' ce struck a nnv note t»y declaring round; v Txiat the work of those vho direct and carrv • out our civic affairs is not appreciated as it j should be. "I siKak with ten years* first-hand! ex:>erience." he'said, "when i tell you that! 1 for every mistake or misdirection in civic affairs , tiiere are ninety-nine ]»ieces of useful and sue-- ; ce-sfv.] work. People have pot into the habit I ; of saying unkind things about our local bodies, t Occasionally they are deserved, hut far more' offtn than not th:y are not deserved. There nay be oecisioru] errc<rs of judgment, but 1 ' these are honestly made and not with sinister! i intent. I think it is only fair that this should | be said."' —— It is Wf-ii Known 1 nst the Irish a 1 laughable habit of v akirg taneb-d uticrar.ces. ' but M.A.T. finds it .lifncuh to the storv ; <■! the so;-, 0 f Erin t:> BACKW ARD the following GLANCES, is credit--d. It m Gisborne. Pat was sit-, i ting in the chair in the establishment of a ' 'barber whose prc-mi-es had been raided bv i la 7- .lice off! ,-er in search of evidence of illicit ! ■ horse racing int-re>t». He was condoling the 1 ; wielder of the shear;, but the seriousness of 'his sympathy was entirely lost when he' | lamented, ".fust rke That—to pat a man on' j the ba r k before -;s face ar.d tnen hit him in • | the eye behind his back." Probably no audience outside Taranaki i woiud appree.ate I'iby ana ir.i-atheticallv the remark made by a Taranakian when relatins of his e\REAL periences <' ; a recent ! HOMESICKNESS, visit to Japan. " "It was." ht- said, "a remarkable 'thing that though theie was i-ienty of l.utter 1 j and milk at tilt- h"tfi« ve ns-v r r saw a cow. ! We saw water buflalo in the ]-audy fields, but - never a c-ow. Lo-.k here, felk-w-s. 1 would hav,- | -riven a j-fiund to Lave set n a g. .- .d old cow—J I would really." The earnest of the speake: , ! wht-n dt-ploring the lack of this "one hub i touch of home" brought down the liuu«e. 1 i | CHAOTICS. The "top of column" clue to U Want a Bon Mot enabled several leaders to turn the words to To-day we ha\-r Tse cf i Nia gm. which is a deai simpler than it locks, j