RANDOM REMINDER

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29108, 21 January 1960, Page 21

RANDOM REMINDER

KNIGHTS ON WHEELS

Most of the holiday traffic these days is homeward bound, and soon the summer vacation will be little more than a memory. As usual these days, the season was marked by the extraordinary number of young people hitch-hiking, with confidence in the generosity of motorists as support for the huge packs on their backs for a few hot miles. The progress of the average hitch-hiker makes an extraordinary tale, if the experience of two young Christchurch girls is typical of others. In the course of a few days, they were given lifts in a peculiar variety of vehicles. One of the earliest ones was in a somewhat broken - down machine, driven by an

aged farmer who spoke through clouds of pipesmoke, much in the manner of the cartoon character, Popeye, in one of his more belligerent moods There was already one other passenger in the car when the girls climbed aboard—a prize pig sitting by the back seat. The arrival of the extra passengers demanded a rearrangement of the seating, which the pig clearly regarded with disfavour. These same girls were also given lifts by young men who infested brightly-col-oured cars bearing dozens of slogans and remarks of absolutely killing humour. One of these drivers owned a vehicle which used up oil as sand absorbs water. But because of his delicate financial situation, he insisted on

purchasing only waste oil. When the clouds of blue smoke from the bonnet announced that it was time for more oil, he stopped at a garage. Often the garage was clean out of waste oil, so on the motorist went. almost in flames, until he found one which had the waste oil in stock. The girls rode on the tail of a truck, once inside the high fences of a sheeptruck, very recently vacated by its normal complement. Their most memorable aid, however, came from the driver of a sleek black car which pulled up for them. As they got in they saw it was a hearse. Conversation over the next mile or so elicited the information that the driver was definitely on duty.