POSTSCRIPTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXX, Issue 27, 31 July 1940, Page 6

POSTSCRIPTS

Chronicle and Comment

BY PERCY FLAGB Wars cannot be made or fought without oil, but they can be finished byoil. « * * There is a possibility at least that Japan is calling tenders for trouble. Maybe America will be one to oblige. * * * News Note: "Nine per cent, of the American population is left-handed." But how many are light-fingered? « * * Apropos Mussolini's horsemanship the other day: he managed low hurdles, but he still has the big fences to negotiate. * * # AT HOME SATURDAY NIGHT. No movie, no wrestling, . No dancing, no show, No night club, no bus ride, No lights burning low, No football, no hockey, No thrill and no woe, No tickie, no washee — No boy friend, no go! Evelyn L. Cooper. * * * UP TO DATE. Small boy to his mother: Please, mum, can I have my boy friends in our yard to play with me; these roads made on the German plan are not safe to play on. Mother: Yes, but who are your little friends? Small Boy: They are Comrade Must stinksky from Russia, Fritz Yon Luckner from Germany, little Tony from Italy, and little Suma from Japan. Mother: And where is little New Zealand, my boy? Small Boy: He. could not say "Heil Hitler" properly, nor salute, nor wave the Swastika properly, so we put him in a concentration camp to learn better. Kind regards— COUSIN GOWAN. * * * SEDUCTIVE ADS. The following advertisements have been collected in French IndoChina: — Notice displayed outside a depart-. ment store: Come in, our salesmen are as amiable as a father trying to marry off his daughters. A dentist announces: When we pull out a tooth, it is as pleasant as eating a vanilla ice-cream. Printed on the door of a tearoom: You will always be welcome here as a ray of sunshine after a rainy day. A florist promises: My flowers art as fresh as the soul of a young girl. A stationer asserts that his paper is "as strong as elephant's hide." A baker advertises that his goods are dispatched to their destinations "with the rapidity of a 10-inch shell." * # * OIL WILL WIN THE WAR. Points from Wentworth Day's article entitled as above: — Rumania's present output of oil is about 6,000,000 tons of crude oil, which would not nearly suffice to cover Germany's war-time requirements. Britain has access to the Abadaa (Persian Gulf) refineries, one of which produces more than 11,000,000 tons of finished oil per annum. In addition, she can call on the Dutch East Indies with its 7,700,000 tons per annum, Irak (4,400,000 tons), Colombia (more than 4,000,000 tons), Trinidad (2,700,000 tons), and Peru (2,200,000 tons).. This does not include the United States, the world's largest supplier, and our friend. The British Empire, United States, and Norway own more than 71 per cent, of the existing tanker tonnage. The average tanker carries from 10,000 to 15,000 tons of oil. In the Mediterranean alone Britain's battleships can refuel at Cyprus, Port Said Alexandria, Tripoli, Turkish and Greek harbours. - At Port Suez are some of the biggest oil storage tanks in the world. Today Hitler has practically only the Rumanian oil fields to rely on. * * * THE MOTHER. Alert, upon her sea-girt isle, 'Mid swinging bows of steel, Her watchful eyes scan mile on mile, Ears prick to the droning wheel. There's danger in the ambush-cloud. There's warning in the.breeze, And death lurks 'neath the silken shroud Of sleepy summer seas. To sanctuary, from lands aflame, A million migrants fly; Defenceless, stricken, hunted game Of war-birds in full cry. Uprising boldly from her nest, She packs the wanderers in 'Neath armoured wings and shielded breast, To foster with her kin. Full-nurtured from her furrows steep, From pasture, sea, and mart, Her motley brood find shelter, deep In the fortress of her heart. Alone, she guards her native clay. While silver fledglings rout The blood-besotted bird of prey. And drive the eagle out. Full-preened for battle, to the end, For liberty and love, With strength from God, will she defend The freedom of the dove. E.S. * * * ASTONISHING PEOPLE. (The Tunnel Duke.) William John Cavendish BentinckScott, fifth Duke of Portland, was bora in 1800. By the death of his elder brother he succeeded to his seat iii Parliament, where he represented King's Lynn till 1826. The turf and the management of hi» house at Welbeck in Nottinghamshire occupied most of his time. Living the life of a recluse, unmarried, and seeing little or no society, it is said that he even refused to allow the workpeople engaged on his estates to show any respectful recognition on meeting him, writes G. It was not till after his death that the full extent of his life's activities was discovered. He had been so absorbed with his hobby of tunnelling that when the new Duke arrived planks had to be laid down, to enable his family to enter the hall which was without a floor. The other rooms were all painted pink with parquet floors, and all bare and without furniture. The drawing-rooms were high—a floor of bedrooms having been abolished in order to make them more lofty. An underground passage led up through a trap door into the building which had once been a riding school but was now lined with mirrors and had crystal chandeliers hanging from every corner of the raftered roof, painted to represent a sunset. In the great kitchen the Duke's perpetual chicken was always roasting on a spit, so that whenever he should ring for it, one should be ready for eating. One tunnel, about a mile and a quarter long, had a carriage drive to Worksop, overhead windows throwing a ghostly light down at regular intervals. The Duke showed a marked kindliness to his employees, providing them with donkeys to ride to and from work, and umbrellas to shelter them from rain. When he travelled he never left his own carriage, but had it placed on a railway truck on the train and kept the blinds drawn. He died in Decem* Iber. 1879.