POSTSCRIPTS

Evening Post, Volume CX, Issue 132, 2 December 1930, Page 10

POSTSCRIPTS

BY PERCY. FLAGE

Chronicle and Comment

Mr. Justice Hefdman: "What a reasonable man is I have never been able to discover." Why, he's the chap who never fail* to defer to your views or your wishes* * » # "Post" headlines: CHANGE COMING. WEATHER PROSPECTS. It has arrived, and not before jti time. The summer tended to bccom« "terribly monoti" t*.ous. * * ♦ Prom a newspaper report: "A Bu3a* pest poet, who was arrested in a faßh» ionablo apartmont, confessed that he had intended to shoot the owner out of revenge, but had forgotten to bring th« revolver." He may have been a poet, but we'U bet his father was a plumber. * • • News notes: Camera battered Paolino the Basque int,p submission. His countryman, P irnasconi, fled the ring in Sydney to showers of peanut confettL Therefore— A note on that mountainous smiter, Whose win o'er the Basque was no fluke. H is patent to me No Eyetalian is he, But a home-aud-dricd Bashi-Bazouk. And it's ever so clearer, Camera— i On this we are willing to bet—he, Unlike Bernaseoni' (Whose pet name is "Tony"), Did not grow that huge bulk' on spaghetti.! »«' * ■ And now for the last word on tha "m" monographs. Placentius tho dominican wrote a poem of 253 Latin hexameters called "Pugna Pareorura per P. Pareium poetam," every word of which begins with, the letter "p." It begins thus, a« translated: Praise Paul's prize pig's prolific progeny, Finally, this well-known alliterative jingle. An Austrian army awfully arrayed, Bravely by battery besieged Belgrade. Cossack commanders, cannonading, come, Dealing destruction's devastating doom; Every endeavour engineers essay For fame, for fortune, forming furioua fray. • Gaunt gunners grapple, giving gashes good£ Heaves high his head heroic hardihood. Ibraham, Islam, Ismael, imps in ill, Jostle John, Jarovlitz, Jem, Joe, Jackj Jill; Kick kindling Kutusoff, king's kinsmen" kill; Labour low levels loftiest longest lines;' Men march 'mid moles, 'mid mounds, 'mid murderous mines. Now nightfall's nigh, now needful Na* ture nods, ' Opposed, opposing, overcoming odds. Poor peasants, partly purchased, partly; pressed, ' ■ Quite quaking, "Quarter! Quarter!" quick* Iy quest. Reason returns, recalls redundant rage, Sees sinking soldiers, soften signiors sage. Truce, Turkey, truce! truce, treacherous Tartar train! Unwise, unjust, unmerciful Ukraine! Vanish, vile vengeance! vanish, victory; yam! Wisdom wails war—wails warring words. What were Xerxes, Xantippe, Xiiuenes, Xavier? Yet Yassy's youth, ye yield your youthful yest.' ' ' ' . Zealousy, zanies, zealously, zeal's zest. * • • . "Our medieval ancestors were absolutely ruthless in demolishing old castles and other historic buildings," deplores an English historian. Now wealthy Americans arc doing it . . . and shipping the junk to th« States for re-assembling. .♦, # * As cabled yesterday: Prominent bookmakers declare that the Lang Government's tax on racing winnings will kill racing altogether. Bettors would desert the courses, and tho breeding of racehorses would b8 retarded. Those noble philanthropic men, M'Tartan Schwartz and Paxis Pha.cks, Not speaking for themselves, ye. ken, Deplore the racing winnings tax. ' 'Twill hurt their tender souls to taka That ten- per cent, from7 you and me, Because (they warn us) it will break I ' Or shake - the breeding industry. That is the right high note to strike In these degenerating days, When men do mostly what they like (And whom), in various selfish ways;' Thinking no more of anything But personal and immediate gain. Not so the ring-tails of the Bing; The lead they give the world is plain. They love to see their wealth mount upi Until it makes a glittering pile; They love like Sybarites to sup, And flash a fat and golden smile; Their' womenfolk must go in furs, Bejewelled, too, you may be sure. But more than all, they want, good sirs, To keep the Studs at work—and pura. ! Thus for no dark ulterior ends ■ The "books" condemn the tax to be. We have misunderstood our friends-^ And say so, unreservedly. Only the cynics will remark, If punters no more bet en masse, That each bookmaker and his clerk Will have to take to work —alas! * » * From a young member of a high pro» fession whom economic exigency hat dumped temporarily on a north Northi Island farm. Still alive after a lifetime's work all done in one woek. Conditions 0.X., but weather and food awful. Where is "sunny" New Zealand? And fancy being supplied with "tinned. food in a farmhouse! No wonder the farmer and his family have mottled complexions. I « tt « Rationing work is one thing, but rationing beer is another, and none the less serious, if the Vine Leaves Society, Inc., is to be believed. It is an ■experiment to be tried in Britain, on the recommendation of the Eoyal Committee- on Licensing. The rationing bogins with "beer cards." Each person will receive a control book containing registration forms that must be handed in at the time of each purchase. Single women and young men are permitted loss than older people. Purchases are limited to particular shops where the customer's name is registered. This control affects also the supplies to restaurants. A certain amount of food must bo ordered with a certain amount of liquor. The system is similar to tho Bra'tt scheme inaugurated in Sweden before the war. Under the Swedish mode of enforcing greater sobriety nobody is allowed to buy more liquor a month than it is calculated the average abstemious person would feel any need for. Before you can get a ration book in Sweden such questions are asked: "What is he? How much can he afford to spend on drink without deprivation to himself and family?, What j are his drinking habits?" It is claimed that the Bratt system reduced drunkj enness in Sweden from 58,909 convicI tions in 1913 to 29,900 in 1926. During the same period, it is contended, convictions for inebriety in England and Wales declined from 188..J77 to 67,126 —an- even greater proportions without the Bratt. system.