THE PASSING SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 129, 2 June 1934, Page 8

THE PASSING SHOW.

(By THE MAN ABOUT TOWN.)

It was lately cabled that the King, for the first time since his illness, had taken a ride on horseback in Kotten Kow, which is an excellent indication that GENTLEMEN— for a man of sixty-nine THE KING! he is fairly fit, although it was recently cabled that an English hunting swell aged" seventynine had taken his third purler for the season. An equestrian picture of the King mounted on a magnificent charger and meticulously completers a British field-marshal may remind old stagers that as the Duke of York and in the uniform of a Foo fguards regiment the King rode in Auckland Domain when he was much younger! Immense care was taken to select a horse for'the Duke's riding that would be kind and biddable ajid not shy at the synthetic statuary and belltoppers of the civic cognoscenti, and a rather dashing little chestnut was selected of good manners and nice appearance. Although interested in the little chestnut which behaved so nicely, one has never been able to really declare where he came, from and to whom he belonged. It pleased the horse jokers of the day to declare that the Duke's charger usually had the job of pulling a milk cart, but proof is lacking. The Duke on that occasion 'personally .presented men of South African units with" their medals and in the presence of "my friend Mr. Seddon," and a, crowd in the Choral Hall, showed his remarkable gift of. public speech, simple and telling in form, matter and subject—arid in impeccable King's English.

PERSONALITY OF THE WEEK.

Two buds with but a single thought' (at present), two hearts that beat as one: co-pilots elect of a Dragon Moth they hope to fly in the Melbourne Centenary NO. 437. air race. Squadron-Leader J. D. Hewctt and FlyingOffieer Cyril Kay are birdraen of distinction. "J.D." is a Kihikihi boy, schooled at Wanganui College, and gazetted to the R.F.C. in 1910. He served on the Somme, over Ypres and elsewhere. Has trained at Brookland and Grantham, graduated instructor at Bedcar, has battled in the air over India and fought in the Wazijistan Field Force. He wears the French Croix "de Guerre with palm. He lias, covered eight hundred miles in a non-stop flight from Dunedin to Auckland in ten hour*. Cyril has been a flying instructor in the R.A.F., and has distinguished himself in blind flying. He has A and B licenses and a second-class navigation license (the only one in New Zealand). He flies any on© of twenty kinds of 'plane, was test pilot in England, and has been demonstrating pilot over every bit of Europe, He flew with Piper from England to Australia in 1930. i •

Victoria threatens to drive tlie Duke of Gloucester round in a resurrected Cobb's coach, all complete with an old-time driver in a cabbage tree hat. It is anti- , THE WATER cipated'that if the Duke DIVINER, sits .in the driving seat \yith the old-timer he's bound to tell the old story: "It was drought time. No grass.' Water,scarce. The red roan bull kept breaking through the fence for water, so they made a yoke that Would stop him. " Next day they saw him. pawing up the ground in a hollow' and bellowing as he had never bellowed before. The yoke was made from a willow tree, and was therefore a divining rod. The bull had found water!"

The Scriptural poet who desired that the rough places be made smooth for the human foot possibly wore sandals, but more probably went barefoot. Modernlv, MAN AND as you uote in Auckland, HORSE, the smooth places are being made rough for the feet of the shod pilgrim, who slippeth on the sidewalk. The roughening of pavements for man, who can go barefoot"if he wants to and can wear sandals if be wishes, reminds om> that the roadway where the occasional horse has to relearn the art of walking is often as smooth as slate; it is far more difficult for a horse in shiny shoes to toe liis way along glistening, polished asphalt than for a man in modern shoes to walk on an unshipped pavement. Occasionally the horseshoe is fitted with cogs, or bars, for icy roads or smooth, payed way, but on the whole, nobody has ever made modern roads safe for gee-gees. The unfortunate neddy in a thousand towns oh earth is still expected to get an iron-shod toehold on cobbled streets, and traffic ways .slippery as ice. The motor car has made the rough places smooth for the neddv. and one wouldn't blame them for sending a'deputation to the Highways Board about a few wood blocks, a bit of pood macadam, a new type of rubber shoe for draught horses, or some of the roughing the foot passenger is so keen on 'to prevent him 'hitting the footpath a nasty bang.

Dear M.A.T.—"This business of commercial integrity," said the man with frost-bitten ears, "is entirely a matter of geographical latitude so far as Xew LATITUDE 37. Zealand is concerned. Down in Invercargill, where I come from, we never think of asking a man for money or even giving'him a receipt. We trust each other, ye ken. In Dunedin they ralght wish to see the. colour of ver siller first before they'd pas.s over the goods. In Christcluircli they conduct business in the perfectly gentlemanly way of putting everything in black and white, Justus between friends, dori'tchcrknow. In Wellington von must sign on the dotted line and keep on paying the instalments on the due date, or el'se you'll know all about it. But in Auckland* everybody should go about with a bodyguard, first'of ail to stop other people from getting your money, and, secondly, to help you to collect what's your own. Every buyer and seller apparently employs a start' of lawyers and you can hardly | buy a packet of fags without a* contract note, properly signed, sealed and delivered. It's the limit! Why, liere am I trying to sell some perfectly good shares in a gold-sluicing proposition, and I'm tempted to use my brass knuckles on some of the hard shots to make them realise that it's a real money-maker. Why, hang it, they actually want to see the gold before they'll sign up. Good-bye, I'm going to hire a couple of Alsatians' to -go round with me."—E.A.

A THOUGHT FOR TO-DAY. The only true way to make the mass of mankind see the beauty of justice is by showing to them in pretty plain terms the consequences of injustice.—JS. Smith.