BY THE WAY

Evening Star, Issue 19352, 11 September 1926, Page 2

BY THE WAY

'By. Q.7.]

M The time has conw*,** the Walrus said, **‘io talk ol many things. ** It is suggested that another crowded hour of glorious life be added to school ‘children. The Inspector of Fire Brigaded, Mr Hugo, points nut .the advantages of adding instruction in tire prevention Jo tho curriculum. VeVy likely such an innovation would bo a good thing in itself. Confronted witli .a sudden blaze, our impulse is to call in expert - assistance in the shajw ol the fire, brigade and await developments. The trouble is that there are now so many of these special subjects more or less officially recognised that one wonders when the youngsters find time to acquire what used to be considered the foundations of education. Perhaps they do not acquire them. Wo know a young fellow' who stubbornly asserts that he’was never taught the geography of this dominion in either a primary or a secondary school. No doubt bo is mistaken, but he most certainly knows very little about it at this day. A teacher’s equipment used to consist of a few books and a strap or cane, according to taste. Now he has to be a minor authority on international politics, elementary science, physical culture, music, nature study, first aid, training for athletics, and tho use and abuse of tho gramophone. All sorts of societies clamor at his door for permission to distract the attention of his scholars for an hour or so a week. Medical officers from tho Health Department harry him at regular intervals, and medical students seeking firsthand information on rickets and similar subjects carry on tho good work at irregular times. Teachers got long vacations. They deserve them.

With modest pride tho town clerk reports what ho calls a “ bumper year.” Never before has municipal trading in this dominion shown such good returns, and it may be that wo shall never see profits on such a scale again. Visitors to the Exhibition brought much money to Dunedin, and we saw to it that they took as little homo again as possible. “ Wo like you,” we said, “ leave us a few souvenirs to remember you by,” and they left them. They bad little option in tho matter. When the next exhibition comes along it will bo our turn to part, and, ms tho song says, “’lis hard to part,” especially to a thrifty folk such as wo are. Nevertheless, wo shall do so with a grace. But one wonders what becomes of all these municipal profits. Tho rates are about what they were. The tram conductor is as firm as ever in demanding fares from the just and from tho unjust. The usual polite demand for tho value of the gas and electricity consumed by us comes along punctually. The town clerk continues to make us pay our dog tax and to forbid the animal to accompany us where we may roam unless be is towed along at the end of a leash. Every now and then we are invited to vote for another loan For something or other. No doubt we have made wonderful profits, but we do not appear to bo any the better off for them. The Department of Agriculture has just informed us that there are nearly 241 millions of sheep in New Zealand. What do wo not owe to this patient and uncomplaining animal? Ho represents boots and clothes, food and housing, motor cars to carry us swiftly to destruction, or should our luck be in ai present, hearses to convey our remains to tho cemetery later on. On his woolly back the sheep supports banks and insurance companies, stock and station agents, storekeepers and publicans, not to speak of a fair share of the Public Debt interest. Tie does not do all this unaided, of course; his distant; cousin, the cow, bears even more of the burden than be docs, as is but just, the cow being tho larger animal; but without the sheep wo should be in a sorry plight. If some gigantic epidemic exterminated our humble friend, think of the freezing works closed down, woollen factories idle, ports empty of ships! Friend did we say? Al as! the terms is far from accurately used. Man, proud man, dressed in a little brief authority and clothing according to his means and taste, _ gives but small heed to tho source of his fortunes. Did you over hoar the remarks of a motorist trying to steer through a flock of sheep, or, more wisely, waiting for them to pass him P If so, you witl know tho average person’s opinion of sheep and possibly also enriched your vocabulary. Man is the most ungrateful, as well as the most cruel, of the animals. # # * *

One hardly ever hears of tho millionaire’s wife. Like a sultana, she is a veiled figure, whom she exists at all. Somehow’ one cannot think of these Croat men marrying for love and regretting it later on, like us ordinary mortals. Wo suspect that many of them manage to escape tho snares set for them, and remain happy but dyspeptic bachelors. Still, they must dream occasionally after business hours and during holidays.

She. I am but a simple country lass, And ho is a millionaire; Yet stranger things there have come to pass Than a future rich and rare; For a King once loved a beggar maid, And raised her to his degree; A millionaire is of lower grade, But I am as fair as she. He. She is but a comely country lass. And 1 am a millionaire. She finds her dreams iu her lookingglass And talcs of the days that were, When a King might wed a beggar maid, And no one thought lie was mad ; But times have changed, and, if truth bo said, I feel uncommonly glad; For tho married state is full of ca.ro, And I have troubles and some to spare. Perhaps wo would make a handsome pair, With bay seed decking her shingled hair; But it seems better to leave her whore. A cattle show is a great affair, , And little it matters what you wear. If she came to town my friends might stare, So it’s Homo, John, Home. » # » » A Captain Lowenstcin has suddenly bounded to the centre of the stage with a dramatic offer to lend tho Belgian Government ten million pounds for two years free of interest, and to tho French double that sum at 2 per cent.—just to keep him in petty cash, one supposes. Hero is a wholesale money merchant for you! There is nothing paltry about the captain. He is a living proof that the Americans did not get away with all the cash m Europe. Naturally, everybody wants to know who Captain Lowenstcin is, and, even more than that, how he managed to acquire so much wealth; hut millionaires are modest, retiring folk. If you want to see John D. Rockefeller you had bettor charter an aeroplane lor a couple of. months and fly over his high-walled demesne daily about the hour he devotes to golf and meditation. But do not fly too low, lest some of his armed

guards, may be tempted to. try. the accuracy of their shooting. Sir Basil Zahnroflf, a gentleman of Greek descent, who founds’universities with what is left over from the monthly housekeeping money, is more accessible, hut not less mysterious. At the ago of seventytwo ho married.n duchess, that is about all you will discover concerning him. You had better moderate your desires, and be content .with a close-up view of King George. If yon happen to. know onr Agent-General, and possess suitable garments,.and.a belltopper. this can be arranged without much trouble.