POSTSCRIPTS

Evening Post, Volume CXVI, Issue 142, 13 December 1933, Page 8

POSTSCRIPTS

BY PERCY FLAGE

Chronicle arid Comment

Even if that campaign taken up by the Oxford colleges should fail, England can still be sure of her Beefeaters. ♦ ♦ ♦ Coincidence. Mr. Cann and Mr, Cant kept goal at opposite ends'- in a recent match between Plymouth and Bury, England. • • * Then there was the vegetarian who died of a broken heart when he heard that his only son had a steak in tin country. • • • Local library statistics reveal, according to the Mayor, an increasing desire for learning on the part of the public. The politicians, of course, just go ou being politicians. ■ * » ■ # DEFLATION. Further depreciation in the not so high-and-mighty U.S.A. The other day; President Koosevelt said, relevant to' N.8.A., "We are on the way." Today that is watered down to,'' We seem to be on the way." Later on will it be, '' But wo did think we were on the way"! s • ■ • ■ • v PECK CHECKED. Forwarded by "Lily of Laguna," Masterton:— There was a young fellow named Peck, Who signed the wrong name to • cheque. ■~'-. Now lie looks very cute In his broad-arrowed, suit, And his coat buttoned up to the neck. * ♦ ■ ♦ YOU NEVER CAN TELL. It could happen only in America like this. The names of Johnny Goodman, Johnny Golden, Frankie Parker, Joe .Miller, Stella Walsh ,(one ojt the heroines of the'last Olympiad), Aloysiu's Simmons, and Tony Piet are well known in athletic circles in ,the U.S.A. today. But how many, besides Polish people, would recognise Goodman as Janek Wojciechowski, Golden as ' Janek Przemysl, Parker as Pajkowski, Miller as Obuszkieinicz, Stella Walsh, as Stanislawa'Walasiemicz, Siimnons as Szymau* ski, and Piet as Pietruszkat ♦ ♦ ♦ MOBE POTTED WISDOM. The educated Arabs have the pret« tiest saying about a book you have ever heard. "A book," they say, "is like a garden carried in your pocket.'' Another one-—this time from China— which, appeals to the imagination is:' '^If you have two loaves of bread, sell one and buy a lily/ West Indian, proverbs, are a queer blend of jungle sayings imported front West Africa by th» first slaves transported, and of " darkiefield" versions of Spanish, Portuguese, and British wise saws they have encountered in the last three centuries or so. " When cow tail cut off, God A'mighty brush fly," for instance, is a nan-sheep-farming isle's version of our "God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." And "Ebery man know where his hous6 leak" is a barefooted version on an isle periodically afflicted by torrential rains, of our "Every man knowj where the'shoe pinches." ■ . * ■ •'■«■■'■; ■» ; ':■; '..: CUEIOUS EOMANCE. "Whoosit" (Karori) forwards a cutting from an overseas journal as a "follow up" of that Postscripts pap about the South African native Darby and Joan. Hie clipping tells how a Balham (England) couple who were divorced seven years ago after live years of married life were to have been remarried last month. The lady in the piece explained that separation, came about because she was passionately fond of travel, and'her husband, who had seen lots of the vworld befora he settled down, developed an immov* able stay-at-home : condition of mind. So they decided to live apart, and later, when she got a job in America, they were divorced. . Each year, she spent her annual leave in England, and each year the ex-husband proposed to her. ' "Gradually," adds the lady, "I realised that I was fated to marry him again. This year, when I was ou my seventh holiday, I decided I had had enough of travelling and accepted him. We are both' much older now and have learned a lot. This time ta« marriage is going to be • real sue* cess.". • •■».■■# •-.',■ THE SHADOW OF YULE. The turkey cast a mournful glance upon the bantam cock, t And he said, "I do not like th» farmer's ways; Of my fourteen, pounds eight ounce! ■he is fond.of taking stock; And I often think there's murder in his gaze. i , I strut about and gobble1, as imposing as of yore, And to see me you would think thai I was brave; , , But a sense of ills impending over* powers me more and more, And 1 feel as if I'd one leg in th« grave." The bantam cock ■ responded, in-a pcs« simistic tone: "In your gloomy observations wisdom! lurks; .',.. The season folks call - Christinas •is approaching, and it's known That it's not a wholesome period for . turks. i . If you ask for my opinion, I'll give Hi plump and plain; I am open any time to take mj£ 'davy,' That before the month is ended tabl* honours you'll obtain, And you'll find that you have both" legs in- the gravy!" /*' P. LOVELI* ♦*' • ' . TOAVERING TASMANIANS. Elliott Cumberland, former Melbourne engineer, dead in England, was one of > four giant Tasmanian brothers. They, averaged 6ft 2in, 'and Elliott was the tallest of the lot. All were athletic enthusiasts, two of the brothers excelling in track racing (bicycle), the Australian football code, and golf. Perhaps Elliott liked nothing better as a diversion from studies than to be out with the niusterers on the hills rounding up strayed cattle, and what he could do. from a horse's back with a six-foot raw-hide stockwhip was worth seeing. As he hunted a bit, he had an excellent seat and a fair pair of hands, but those things did not save him from a spectacular tumble one hot morning whea the whips were cracking on the lowranges like pistol shots and the dogs were particularly vociferous. As Elliott rode hell-for-leather to head off a wildeyed steer he was crowded under the low-hanging branch of a white gum, which hooked him neatly out of the saddle. He finished up with his long legs pawing the air, so to speak, but was soon aboard again joining in _ the chase. In those days—no doubt it is the same today—Tasmania sent across to the mainland tall, re.-ichy, gangling fellows, many of whom left.an honourable mark on the score-board of field games. One of the most spectacular of the crowd was Eady, who once toured with the Australian XI, and the three Beauchamp brothers, who were cracka* jack cyclists, , ' .