THE PASSING SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 99, 29 April 1935, Page 6

THE PASSING SHOW.

(By. THE MAN ABOUT TOWN.)

Soon the Empire will be holding an Empire Trade Week, during which all shoppers will be asked to purchase British-made goods. And to-day there c;ame into PATRIOTISM. the writer's office a patriotic citizen waving a strip of narrow ribbon, at the same time asking, "What do you think of that? mat was the ribbon, a strip of about a foot long, red, white and blue, and purposely got up to be sold to patriotic British people durirtg the King's jubilee celebrations. Printed on the ribbon was the following "George—M.wyi and underneath the Crown; then "God Bless Our King and Our Queen —1910 to 1935. Arid at the bottom in small letters "Made in Switzerland." •

Dear M.A.T., —I think the following should be made as widely known as possible. In London recently a Turkish commander who

fought against the Royal TURKS AND Naval Division in GalliFOOTBALL. poli, paid a tribute to the sportsmanship of his troops. Major-General B. C. Freyburg, V-C., who was presiding at the Royal Naval Division Association reunion at the Union Jack Club, recalled' that some inter-battalion football matches were played at Gallipoli. He said: "The only ground suitable was within a few hundred yards of the front line and within range and observation of the Turkish troops. Although we had an audience of many thousands of men, we were allowed to play the matches. But when the football was over we received a message, heliographed, that the area was no longer sacrosanct. In other words, wo were informed that we could play on it, but not fight on, or from, it. I think," said the Major-General, "that this act of sportsmanship will never be forgotten in history."— M.H.

Dear M.A.T., —The par re "Left Luggage" recalls the following. Some years ago in Wellington an English railway magnate was addressing a gathering of LEFT LUGGAGE, commercial men and high

, railway officials. There was the sprinkling of Scotsmen in the audience. "Irishmen," said the speaker, "when they finish their journey, with their natural impetuosity to disembark, very often leave sotno of their luggage behind. An Englishman placidly checks up his belongings, and is careful to leave nothing behind. But the Scotsman, after securing his own luggage, invariably waits till every traveller has vacated the carriage in the hope that one of the passengers may have forgotten something." A Scotsman in the audience glared savagely at the speaker. "But," he continued, "this is but a tribute to a Scotsman's honesty. He knows that he can withstand temptation better than any other race, and he merely takes any left luggage in order that he may lodge it at the 'Lost Property' office." The countenances of the Scots immediately lit up, and during the remainder of the Englishman's address the Caledonians were generous in their applause.—H.M.

The bad luck the Avondale Jockey Club has experienced in the matter of weather is proverbial, but the club has not been nearly so unfortunate as many WET FOR people believe, and in reAVONDALE. cent years Jupiter Pluvius lias treated the club much more kindly than some years back. On Saturday last the weather was fine except for perhaps an hour, but it was that hour which made all the difference, because it was then that people who intended going out to the suburban course to try to pick a winner or two, wore in many instances deterred, and decided to stay at home. As matters turned out, the rain cleared off just after mid-day, and the afternoon was fine. The Avondale course has undergone great changes. Many will remember when the grandstand was on the opposite side of the course to where it now is, and the horses raced left-handed. Again, the course was the plumpton for the greyhound sport, and hero tlio hares were located. It was a common sight to see "puss" streaking for dear life at the head of a field of horses, and suddenly dart under the rails when the horses were getting close. Little boys used to have the time of their lives chasing hares which were never so casual as the one tli&t raccd the tortoise.

From an entertainment point of view tlie approaching municipal elections do not promise as well as Parliamentary contests, and even in those times things arc not THE CANDIDATE, what they were. Many will remember tlie candidate who, because of his nickname, was known to everybody. He addressed the electors at street corners and one niglit was foolish enough to select the top of Beresford Street as a likely place to catch a vote or two. His address was cut short when somebody secured a reel of hose from the fire station, and, fixing the hydrant in the street water plug, turned the nozzle of the hose, and a volume of water on the candidate. Then there was another and milch younger candidate, who got to know all the back streets of the city well— lie used to dash through them the while a swarm of young men and boys hotly pursued him. And the questions a-sked t-liose candidates. They would be something like this: "Is the candidate in favour of givino- the North Head a haircut?" "Is he in favour of Bible reading in two-up schools?" Perhaps the next Parliamentary campaign will not be without its bright spot.

Mention of the Parliamentary candidate whose name was a household word in Auckland because of his nickname brings up the subject of nicknames. The NICKNAMES. arcli-inventor of nick-

names is the schoolboy, who never fails to call a red-haired acquaintance "Ginger," or a long-nosed chum "Nosey," and in many instances the names will stick to them for life. If a nickname is not too opprobrious ns opprobrious, for instance, as Fathead, or "Skinflint"—it generally denotes that its owner is popular with his intimates. In some parts of the North of England there are men who to their fellow workers and friends are never anything but Tom, or Dick, Jack, Ted, and so on. In the same way there are others who are never addressed or named in talk other than by the nicknames they bear. There is a story of a lawyer's clerk who, armed with a legal process, visited a Lancashire colliery township and inquired for Mr. Adam Green. Everyone he asked shook his •head and replied, "Nay, I know nowt of a man named Adam Green." As he was about to abandon his quest he accosted a young woman and submitted his question to her. She replied, as all the men had replied. Addressing passing men by their hicknames, she asked: "Dost ta know Adam Green?" The replies were still in the negative. Suddenly, she exclaimed, laughing, "Dash my buttons! Why, Adam Green's ma feytherl You should lia' ax'd for Old Blackbird"! "Quaker," applied to a member of the Society of Friends, is a nickname. It had its origin in a famous remark by George Fox, founder of the sect, who commenced preaching nearly three hundred years ago. Another religious nickname is "Shaker," applied to a member of an American sect, whose religious fervour •produced a shaking, trembling movement. j