THE PASSING SHOW

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 137, 13 June 1938, Page 6

THE PASSING SHOW

(By THE MEN ABOUT TOWN.)

It is pleasing to read that at the sale of ' thoroughbreds conducted at Ellerslie racecourse last Friday a bay colt was purchased by the Hon. F. E. Lark. The ON THE BIT. breeding of the horse makes interesting reading. Its daddy was named Inflation, and mum, curiously" enough, rejoiced under the name or I Gold Flare. What name will be allotted to |the colt? Such names as Reserve Bank or Silverstone will probably be passed over in i favour of something more topical. Of course, ;tlie purchaser may have bought the colt with I the intention of presenting it to Mr. Nash. If hurdle racing is to be its forte, perhaps Onwards and Upwards would be appropriate and the horse would be described in racing parlance as ''"a master of the battens*' (including Jean and John). On giving the matter earnest consideration, I have come to the conclusion that in view of the whole circumstances and of the popularity of the latest novel the "horse should be called Gone With the Wind. —B.C.H. When Copey won the Great Northern Steeplechase in the winter of 1932 he did it on stout, one bottle of that beverage being include*! in his daily THE MILKY WAY. menu. In 1934 and again 011 Thursday of this week Valpeen .toddled home in the lead, making several other highly estimated pieces of horseflesh lool: like so many eabliorses and—-Valpeen did it on milk! Like <he innocent babe, Valpeen loves his drink of milk, and while giving him credit tor his excellent performances, surely they are equalled, if not surpassed, by those" horses who have won the big steeplechase and had nothing stronger than water to quench their thirsts. A few drinks will sometimes make a Samson of a weakling, and it has been said that on one occasion when a travelling circus was showing in a country township somebody innocently gave the pet monkey a drink of whisky. The upshot was the monkey issued a challenge to Leo the lion, and finished up by blowing the tent down. If Copey can win a Great Northern on a bottle of stout, and Valpeen can win two Great Northerns and two Grand Nationals on a bucket of milk, the day is coming when a gee-gee treated to a bottle of champagne will clean up the whole programme. —Johnny. How often a familiar quotation turns out to be Biblical in origin. You may hear every day of "people being "a law unto themselves," but not many would be QUOTATIONS. able to say where the phrase had its beginning. It is from the Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans, chapter ii., verse 14: "For when the gentiles, who have not the law, do by nature the "things contained in the law, these ; having not the law, are a law unto themselves." This praise of the Gentiles illustrates the fact that a familiar quotation often takes a meaning foreign to the original meaning. Nowadays we speak censoriously of those who are a law unto themselves—that is to say, lawbreakers—whereas Paul praised those who observed the spirit and not merely the letter of the law. He praised the man, in other words, who was able to govern himself. Robert Burns wrote something in the same strain:

The fear of hell's a hangman's whip To hold the wretch in order. But where you feel your honour gTip Let that aye be your border. Apropos of honour, -the story' is told of • a business man whose son asked him what business morality was. "Well, my son." he said, "it's like this. If a man gives me a ten-pound note 5n mistake for a pound, I have to consider whether to keep the nine pounds myself or cut it up fifty-fifty with my partner. That's business morality/—'Touchstone. I noticed recently that a couple of tearoom proprietors were fined for permitting an employee to tell fortunes—teacup reading or something of the sort. I SNAKE IN tender this as an excuse •THE GRASS, for relating an incident which lias truth stamped upon every link and which took place in the home of a Ponsonbv resident. The limitation of statutes would place the culprit now beyond reach of the law—it was over six vears ago when the incident took place—so Sam, one of the central figures, could not now be charged. Dinner had been served and done justice, the dishes had been washed and shelved, and Sam was playing clock patience and looked like getting it out if a king turned up. Mrs. Sam was reading the social gossin. Then Hilda called. Hilda was a girl of seventeen summers and as knowing as most girls of her age. It was while Sam was riffling o the cards preparatory to spreading them out in a circle again that Mrs. S. suggested he should | tell Hilda's fortune. Xow Sain knew as much j about fortune-telling as a gee-gee knows about I geometry, but he could appreciate a joke, and 'Hilda being willing, he handed her the pack Ito shuttle and cut into three stacks. She did I so, and Sam then began. As he turned the I cards face upwards he" mentioned a few unimportant items, and then, as the queen of hearts came up, he paused, and. looking at Hilda, said, "You have a friend (Sam "was well aware of it), a fair girl of whom von are very fond. She is about your own aire and you trust her absolutely. But she is not a friend—she is your worst enemy and is doing some underhand work to take* from you a young man whom yon think a great deal of. Take it from me, 'don't trust lior." It was two days -later and Hilda was waiting for a tramcar. Her friend approached. *'-'Hello. Hilda." she greeted. "Oh, go to h /' said Hilda.—Johnnv.

Since Larry has suffered 110 permanent illeffects fiom this little episode, ho can see a dash of humour in its grimness. Under old Sailor Jack, the P. and T. LONG PIG. gang were stringing up wires in one of the citv streets, with an occasional glance at tlu Town Hall clock, which was showing 11.50 a.ns. Sailor sniffed the air appreciatively, and cast a speculative glance at a nearby restaurant. "By CI ipes, they've got roast pork on there to-day," he remarked. "Smell it:' makes your month water. 1 reckon wc won't boil till! billy to-dav; lots chuck our sandwiches away and Jia\e a slap-up roast pork dinner for once." The "ayes" had it. "How's that, Larry?" someone yelled to the man who was still" 011 the top of the pole by which they were standing. No answer came. "Ilcy, Larry, arc you deaf or—by eripes, he's burning!" Larry was standing 011 tile top rung of the ladder leaning against tlic arms of the pole, and the wire which lie had been solderins, and which had come in contact with a power cable, was still gripped in his paralysed hands; a faint jhaze of blue smoke hung around him. Stroim las a bullock. Sailor has also a,gift priceless amongst those of whom Kipling said. "We handle deatli out our finger tips."as we piece and repiecc the living wire"; by lone custom lie has become inured to electrical charges that would kill most men. 111 a split second"ho was up the ladder and down again, with Larry slung over his shoulder. While one was 'phoning for an ambulance, the others gathered round the unconscious Larry, on whom Sailor Jack was applying' artificial respiration. The smell of roast pork was so strong and sweet that Toki the Maori's mouth was visibly watering, though Larry was his particular cobber. "And now you know, you blokes," quoth Sailor Jack, as he pumped air 'into Larry's collapsed lungs. "Xow you know why the Kanakas, 111 the old cannibal days, called any poor sailorman whom they captured 'Ion" pig.' "-I.il. \