POSTSCRIPTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXII, Issue 149, 21 December 1936, Page 12

POSTSCRIPTS

Chronicle and Comment

By Percy Flace,

Wally Hammond's innings is of the dour-die variety, don't you think? 'Or don't you? . . . ■ » * • At the moment, castles in Austria are much more popular than those in Spain. . . Jesse Owens may succeed in his race against time, but time will still be flying when Jesse finds it difficult to walk. . * *, •» Not so long since somebody advertised for (among other things), "Smart Young Women for Sandwiches." S.E.L. comments: "There would be a human touch about those sandwiches!" a ■ •* * ECHO FROM THE PAST. Many*- many years ago a song was v^ry popular in England, the chorus of which was:— / I'd, a crown resign to call thee mine, Sweet lass of Richmond Hill. This was in reference to the thea Prince of Wales and Mrs. Fitzherbert. History repeats itself! '' ".• "99." AN OLD RHYME. ' Quoted from "The Berkshire Book," by Arthur L. Humphreys. Man to the Plough, ' -. Wife to the Cow, Girl to the Yarn/ ~ Boy to the Barn, And your rent will be netted. Man Tally Ho! Miss Piano, . . 'W ■ Wife Silk and Satin, Boy Greek and Latin, And you'll be gazetted. The lesson is obvious. What a pity it is so unpalatable. ■ NEMO. •. ' •• # # CONSCIENCE MONEY. "■> "Colin" writes: Add to theVlist of conscience money these: In 1915 Mr. McKenna received, a sum of £5000,' and on another occasion Britain's Chancellor acknowledged ' the receipt of "two bars of gold" (dimensions not stated). About 1870 a boy stole an apple from a stall in the Cowgate, Edinburgh, and in 1910 the Edinburgh Town Council received a letter from him in Vancouver enclosing a dollar to be devoted to public purposes by way of restitution. (Think of a man going about under that intolerable burden of guilt for forty years!) And it is not uncommon for borough councils to receive odd shillings in atonement for unpaid tram fares. It is a curious point that conscience money (so far as tha Chancellor of the Exchequer is concerned) never seems to appear in wills. So it looks as if death-bed repentanc* was not so common after all. • F.E, Dear Flage,—We all know that tha New Zealand Civil Service is the most efficient in the world,, and what is the reason? It "is because of the liberal use of "blisters." To the uninitiated, "blisters," or "blueys,"»as • they are sometimes called, are brought into use when anything is wrong. They are usually on a blue paper, addressed to the offending officer, and commence with the awful .words: "Please1 explain." It is undoubtedly^ a'sign of immense 'progress internationally bur very own High Commissioner has thought to apply this very effective method to the/present messy state of affairs in Europe. All the New Zealand Civil Service is watching with great interest to see the effect of this truly Newj Zealand method of trying a "Please explain" upon Messis. Mussolini and Hitler. It is simply astounding that the- so-called "experienced" j statesmen at the other end of the world J have not thought of this before, for the effectiveness of a "blister1.1 is almostinfallible, as anyone in the Civil Service will vouch. If that does, not fix them, then nothing will! Mussolini and Hitler have many more rivers to cross before they can get over Jordan! W.H.A.T. ». « « I A CHRISTMAS CAROL. (With apologies to Dickens.) So many things to do! So much to buy! We haven't time to ask the reason why We're celebrating Christmas. We rush with feverish haste, Now here, now there, We're jostled in the street—folk never care When celebrating Christna^. We spend for self and friends, Without a thought i We leave the little Cratchits, who hay* naught When celebrating Christmas. We open up our gifts, Both small and great, White elephants are there—but that's our fate When celebrating Christmas. Our table creaks and groans. If we're in luck, We feast upon a turkey, or a duck When celebrating Christmas. We rest upon our couch, Well fed I vow, And Marlcy, risen from the dead, askt how ' v We celebrated Christmas. DOROTHY M. RANDS. # # «■ SOLAR PHENOMENA. Dear Percy Flage,—Apropos "Jumbo's" discovery during Monday's eclipse^-the effect of shadows ,was ; pointed out to me by a newspaper photographer during an eclipse at Dover, England, about sixteen years ago. Since then it has been a neverfailing interest.' The absence of clouds On Monday gave the observant spectator a wonderful Opportunity to see these "natural photographs." The bush in the vicinity was transformed into a fairy land by the crescent-shaped shadows thrown on the banks and tracks. . GEMINI. Touching on this subject, "Q" rang up to tell us of a photograph she received from America in 1932 of an eclipse of the sun which was curiously distorted. - From "Fetone." —■ ( Your correspondent from Masterton asked whether any other person had a similar experience to his Own (re the eclipse). Well, yes; I had a sight that I thought very wonderful also. After looking through a smoked glass, I went into the washhouse and was struck with the sight of a glorious small replica of the sun in eclipse on the washtubs. It travelled across the top of the copper, only arriving to the back edge when the shadow disappeared. Tracing the origin of entry, we found it came through a nailhole on the roof. (It was about the size of a shilling, and perfect: no eye-strain needed to see it.) "Jo Wile."—l, too, saw the image of the eclipse projected on to the .ground through foliage. I believe It is due to the laws of refraction, the HmnvjHt* ing like a lens.