THE PASSING SHOW.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 49, 27 February 1937, Page 8

THE PASSING SHOW.

(By THE MEN ABOUT TOWN.)

"B.O'NW" par. last nipht oorn-orniii:.' cows aiul mu-ic ip of more than passin- iinere*t. Many farmer* aver that music acts a* an eneoura-i'ment t <"» Dai*y MUSICAL to put furtli her be-t CHEERS. effort*. Whether such liquid tones would !«• considered !iy the- Milk ( ■•uncil an adulteratiou uithin the me;fniti;r of the Act 1 cannot -ay. iiut ne\erthele-« the fact remain- that as far •it- the kine arc concerned everv bar i* a milk iiar. Some poultry farmers state tiiat "concord of r«f.t i-ound" i* an in<lucc:]ient to the lien- To "lay two." Not having had milch experience with fowl-. I eannot offer an opinion, hut am inclined to believe that the theory applies to !«oth fowl* and duck*. I once owned a -ood laying <ltick. hut for no apparent reason *sln- -uddenly cea-ed to lay. Tee explanation of her conduct makes peculiar reading. It appear* that the poor bird wa- -! r. i 111-11 with re mll re ow in;: to the per-ii-tence of -ta'.ion IVA in at lea-t once a day "Drake We*.t."— 8.C.11.

When my wife props a liat on her ri-lit eye-brow or haiif:- a bit of material under her chin and ask*. "Do you think thi* will *tiit me'.'" I more often than WHERE IS not trues* wrony. Then I TASTE? am told that all my ta^te ir- in my mouth. Actually, -O Other hubbies tell me, it'* not the fault of my tarifp, ),ut of rny hearing. I should be able to tell from the tone of her Voice what her own verdict i*. and —iv e mine aceordin _'iv. but my ear* don t iseem to be -ullicientl v keen. At any rate. I have always accepted tiie verdict that my ta-te j- in my month. Vow local baker* and \i-itin- 'Xpert* publi-h that it i<- impo*-iI)le to make <;<>od. ta*t v bread V. ith tne flour available timler fiovernment control. My palate mu*t also be faulty, for I have not noticed any change in the ta-te of the daily bread. Hearing this confession, the baker. I Mippr*;<\ will tell me that my ta-te is all in my eye. lie can ar-ue it out with Mrs. M. if he like*. T wont. But ju*t out of curiosity I would reallv like to know where mv ta*te is.—T.M.

Everybody wants to live in a Covernment house. 'I hat. at least, is the inference that may be drawn from the wholesale wav in which the populace in HOUSES. lining up with applica-

tions for the Jack Lee bungalows. houses, one assumes, are going to be built with a thoroughness that will prove that, in housing, as in other things, the Government knows its job. The term jerry built" is going to fade, from our vocabulary, and thp opportunities for funnv men to amuse m by apt comment on the reputed fOiortroming* of our homes are going to tie cut to a minimum. Tn the Government - built hoij-.es. for instance, ft will not l>e necessary to have a radio aerial to hold tin- house up. nor will t lie stability of the structure depend on the i.resence of wallpaper. Of cour-e. there will be radio aeiiaN for the purpose <>f conveying to the (■ ••ver'i ti.ent built ra/lios freoiicnt accounts of the policy of t lie < >o\ ernment for the edification and encouragement of the people who live in the Government houses. Houses were not always thu*. There wac a period, perhaps apoerophal. when a man's house was his castle, and presmnahl v was a very rugged and solid affair. Both history and fairy lore seem to attest that that sort of house was con-fined to Englishmen. Whoever heard of a Scotsman's house being his castle, and. a* for the Irish and Welsh, there seems to be doubt whether they had houses at all. At anv rate, the En-dish immigrants to New Zealand didn't bring'any of those castle-like ideas in house#! with them when they started here. The immigrant just got a few planks and thing*. and there he w-as. He called in the neighbour to see the result. "Grand walls, Tom." he told the neighbour. "Yes." agreed Tom. who was f a etP? ,ito - " T wait. Tom," said he. till I jro into tlie noxt room. \ow can voti hear me, Tom?" "Yes." said Tom. -But 'can you see me. Tom?" "No." said Tom. "Well there's walls for yon!"—B.O'X. '

T read with interest tbe par. by "Of." in a recent "Star." He is quite correct in his contention that Nature is careful of the t.vpe and careless of the "CAREFUL OF -ingle life. This w THE TYPE.' brought home to me mativ v«»ar* a«ro in \Wllinjjrtnn. It was in the old hand-getting davs—lx-fore the linotype lia<l even been heard of. T attended a "enmps." smoke concert. The type- ! -n.itclietv were out to enjov themselves, and ' before the evening was w : ell advanced had ' more than "a wee drap in their eve." One 'comp. contributed an elocutionary item, quotations from Burns. Bracken, Byron. Tennyson, etc. He wound up with a peroration.' culminating in Tennyson's famous four lines from "In Memoriam": Are CJod and NTnture then at strife That Nature lends such evil dreams' So careful of the type she seems— careless of the single life. The chaw-man was a humorist. He gazed on the assembled "comps." Most of them were hilarious. and he rapped the table vainly endeavouring to get the tvr.esnatchers' attention. "Gentlemen." be said "If lennvson were liere tonight be would have altered the words of hi- quatrain, so ably quoted by our elocutionist. He would nave said, 'Nature may be careful of the t\ |»e. but she is darned reckless with the compositor!' " —H.M. KNOWING THE CLASSICS. '•Touchstone" writes: A friend has forwarded the following clipping from the funny column of an English newspaper with the suggestion that it might form the basis of a note on the importance of know in" something of the classics: r "The old chnp is certninlv well read Ho repeated a beautiful quotation last niirbt " "What was it?" "I can't remember the exact words but he said he <i rather lie a something in a something, than a something or other in a j something else." A note of this description is indeed welcome, for it illustrates much more than the need of a knowledge, of the classics. The quotation could be nothing but Wordsworth's Great Cod! I'd rather he A pagan suckled in a. creed out worn' f>o might I, standing on this pleasant lei Have sihmpses that would make me le-s forlorn: Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea horn r Tri ton blow his wreathed A woman would 1«« more likely than a man to give that funny story a start, for women are more careless than men in matters of | quotation. That is why they make stHi "nod gossips "It is amusing, sir." said Dr. Johnson. 'what, deviations there are from precise truth in the account which is gi> en of almost everything. T told Mrs. Thrale, 'You have so little anxiety about truth that vim never tax your memory with the exact ' thing,' Now what is the use of the memory to truth if one is careless of exactness?"

THOUGHTS FOR THE DAY.

Every life is a profession of faith ami exercises an inevitable and silent propaganda. —Auriel. Literature is very ancient, but Nature iolder far. Words are wonderful, but the life of things around you is more than word*. — Robert-P^Downes.