POSTSCRIPTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 145, 16 December 1939, Page 12

POSTSCRIPTS

Chronicle and Comment

BY PERCY FLAGE

If the Soviet ever publishes a White Paper it will probably be printed in red ink. * ■ * * Anyhow, why shouldn't Hitler marry the girl? He'll need someone to darn his socks and patch his pants later on. * * * Another reason why the Graf Spec anchored in Montevideo harbour, cables Isidor Messerschmitts, was to get the right time —the commander' 3 watch had stopped. * * * News note: "The President of the Chilean Senate has asked the Government to take steps to prevent Senators being bombarded with tomatoes and potatoes during the debate." No veges., by request. * * * PUTTING ON AIRS. Dear Percy Flage,—Glad to see the sensible note from "1914-1918" about the current misuse of the word echelon. It is getting beyond a joke. Can't something be dorte. about it? Surely it is within the jurisdiction of the editor to edit the Ministerial statements to the extent of replacing an obviously pointless word by one that expresses the meaning intended. As it is, the newspapers are simply condoning the absurdity. W.I • • « SCHOOLBOY HOWLERS. The following schoolboy howlers were quoted by the Hon. W. Nash at the closing ceremony of the Hutt Valley Memorial Technical College yesterday. Government is of two kinds —good government and bad government. Compulsory service means saying the Lord's Prayer. Mussolini is a sort of material used for ladies' stockings. Another name for Tories is preservatives. When Englishmen on one side fight Englishmen on another it is called a General Election. Karl Marx is a character in "The Third Round" by Sapper. General Smuts are what all the different black races are called in the north-western quarter of Africa. * * * A BOX—NOT A MAN. Dear Flage,—Albert Hall (11.12.39) asks for information about a Tamil bell and "Mahamud Bux." There was no such person. The inscription is Moheiden box, or bux, and means, "This bell belongs to the Moheiden box"—which was the name of an Indian brig. It is not known when the vessel was in New Zealand, but the bell was discovered by the Rev. W. Colenso in 1837, and he presented it to the Museum. One correspondent, in 1865, suggested that there might have .been traffic with India in past ages, and that might explain the arrival of the Maori in New Zealand, but the suggestion was ignored by students. As to Mr. Hall's further query: According to Brett's "White Wings," the Dover Castle, arrived at LytteltOn on May 7, 1872. ' H.B. » * * SCHOOL'S IN. Do you know that— 1. Plants, like human beings, acquire immunity if they recover from a disease caused by a virus? 2. British air experts have developed coloured smoke screens of yellow, brown, brick, and grey, which float horizontally above the ground in various layers? 3. A religious news service estimate! that about 60 per cent, of the American people make no profession of religion? 4. Alligators of Panama are valued for more than their hides—gold if actually "mined" in their stomachs? 5. Finland, in the 13th century, accepted cheese as payment of taxes? 6. London is the hair market of the world, and •nerchants ship it in halfhundredAveight sacks called "parcels"? 7. It is said that Louis XII of France kissed every pretty woman in Normandy? % 8. ""Robespierre continually ate oranges, and it was the task of an unhappy marchioness to peel them for him? 9. In Abyssinia the Austrian Maria Theresa thaler of 1780 was legal tender until 1919? 10. An alloy containing nickel was used in China as early as 3000 8.C., and similar compounds have been found in Assyrian excavations? * * * THE VANISHED PEOPLE. Tall Kings tawny-bearded And Queens whom love hath kissed Come walking through the woodland* Among the bluebell mist. And ships with scarlet cordage With towers as high as noon Sail in these silent spaces Beneath the silent moon. These are the vanished people Who sleep behind the veil Of the sunrise and ihe moonrise And the, lily stars so pale. These are the vanished people Who are our kith and kin When the world's great tides are falling And the heart's te tidr cor * in. They bring blue days for singing, They give white horns for prayer, And scatter gifts like blossoms On this, soft midnight air. Words that are sweet as honey, And dreams as strong as time, And tiny songs so delicate That will not walk in rhyme. A. G. PRYS-JONES. * * * CHRISTMAS MESSAGE. Dear Percy Flage,—l have just received a Christmas card from Faith Baldwin. New Zealanders will remember her, for it is only about four months since she visited the Dominion, and subsequently wrote an excellent article for an American weekly with a circulation of more than 2,000,000 and extolling New Zealand as a scenic and hospitable gem. Incidentally, she has done a good job—publicity speaking—for my country, too. However, I was so impressed with the message her card contained (it is a photostat of her own handwriting) that I wish to take the liberty of passing it oto your thousands of readers. "Perhaps (she writes) you feel thai in these anxious times the accustomed Christmas greeting finds no true echo. Yet there are trees to trim, hollywreaths to hang on lighted windows, stockings to fill, and, everywhere, children whose hearts stand v tip-toe with expectation—and rt>*ays, people whom we love, for whom we thank God. "I believe that the gentle gaiety, the promise which underlies the Christmas spirit, was never more needed than how —it is sanity over chaos, a star shining • through storm, hope above £orror. "And so. from my heart. I wish you and yours a Merry Christmas. "Faith Baldwin, Fable Farm, Nevy Canaan, U.S.A." Best regards to yourself. ' W. J. H. WILCOSS. Australian Pavilion. Centennial Exhibition.