POSTSCRIPTS

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIX, Issue 49, 27 February 1945, Page 4

POSTSCRIPTS

Chronicle and Comment

BY PERCY FLAGE

Highland troops enter Goch. Stopf yer whistlin', Goch! . * * * "Japan has been- reduced to a fifthrate naval Power by the recent battles off Formosa and the Philippines."— Vice-Admiral Mitscher. * * « A quarrel has broken out between German commanders in the field and Goebbels, the military chiefs alleging that Nazi propaganda has so confused the troops that they have to listen to the 8.8.C. to know how things really stand. * * ■■ * WE COULDN'T! Oh! Percy Flage, how could yovit Misinterpreted, misunderstood, mis-' judged, miscredited, misdoubted, misqualified, misrenorted, misplaced: mispleased, misery . . . (Result) missing* P. FLINDERS. * * * HERE YOU ARE. _ Dear Flage,—Here is a neat varia-. tion of the old one about "brothers and sisters ha^ye I none" which- should: puzzle Postscripters for a while: "Brothers and sisters have I plenty, And this young so-and-so's just turne* twenty." How old am I? < —WIKI. ; * • * CENTURIES AGO. Do you know that Queen Elizabeth? could not bear coal, and in her reign many society women, following the royal example, would not enter a house in which it was burning or eat a meal cooked by a coal fire? There had been a duty of 2d a chaldron since 1421, and, finding that payment had somehow got into arrears, her Majesty raised the tax to Is instead of claiming a lump sum to make up the deficiency. Charles II settled this tax on his natural son, the Duke of Richmond, but in 1799 the Government bought it back for an annuity of £ 19,000, and thirty-two years later it was abolished. • * * « PLAN DIRTY TRICKS. Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet has its official "Dirty Trick Department," It is a group of six members of the admiral's staff, headed by Rear-Admiral Robert Carney, 49, one of the navy's youngest non-flying admirals, and including Commander Harold Stassen, a former Governor of Minnesota, who is mentioned as a possible future President. Rembert James, Associated Press correspondent with the Third Fleet, says: "The group goes into a huddle and someone says, 'Wouldn't it be a dirty trick to the1 Japs if we -,' hence the name, which is Vice-Admiral Carney's own idea. One of their best efforts was tipping off General MacArthur of certain enemy weaknesses which led to the advancing of the date of the Philippines invasion and catching the Japs flat-footed in Leyte." * * » QUICK WORK. HIRED—We wanted a youth for the -office, To do just an odd job or two. One applicant seemed to b» likely. He was hired at two twenty^ two. TIRED—He started with verve, vim, and vigour, With energy pleasing to see, But slowed up to almost ai standstill, He was tired at two twentythree. FIRED—He seemed to be dweUing in dreamland, And moved like a sloth uninspired, We thought he'd be too tired to sign for his pay, So at two twenty-four hft was fired. LITTLE FRANK. * * » * BE CAREFUL, GIRLS. Only one woman in five from' 20 to 25 years of age in England can hope to marry soon after the war, according to social welfare experts. These believe the dice are heavily loaded against an increased number of marriages after the war, and make a direct appeal to the Government for marriage grants and allowances. They recall that after the last war many marriages had to be postponed 10 years or more, because engaged couples had not sufficient income or security to marry and have families. One move to maintain the marriage rate of young people is, being.made by nine women members of the House of Commons, who are seeking the removal of the marriage bar that affects many thousands of permanent women civil servants. If) women are denied matrimony until the late thirties, it is felt that the birth-rate position, which is already; causing concern, would deteriorate even further in a decade after thai war. . ;