Oddments

Greymouth Evening Star, 24 June 1950, Page 4

Oddments

Out of every 100 of my followers, 60 are fools, 39 are criminals, and one is a Communist.—Lenin, founder of the modern Russian State. * » « * *

Who discovers a uranium mine can rest comfortably on his ores. —Pathfinder. . . The highwayman’s approach Was to rob a coach And demand kisses From His Lordship’s missus. —The Humorist, London. * # ♦ sis *

A’smart husband will buy his wife such fine china that she won’t trust him to wipe the dishes. —Leo J. Burke, New York. • . * sjs * * *

“Under socialism, everything in life is like trying to write a. letter with a post office pen.”—Cecil Palmer, London Published. s** * #

The French are still the masters of the 'perfect phrase. ' At the graveside of M. Blum theie stood the French President, M. Auriol, who, in the grip of deep emotion, said to the assembled crowds: — “Let us hasten the organisation of peace in an dthrough liberty. I appeal to you—let us not wait for the storm to unite us, nor for death to make us esteem each other.” *****

In a note on black as the colour for men’s evening wear the Manchester Guardian says that little more than a century ago brown, blue, and green were generally favoured. The change to black was due to a passing reference in a novel, or so the first Earl of Lytton declared. “One of the' changes which ‘Pelham’ effected,” he wrote in his biography of his novelist father, “has kept its ground to this . day. Lady Frances Pelham says in a letter to her son: ‘Apropos of the complexion, I did not like that blue coat you wore when I saw you last. You look best in black, which is a great compliment, for people must be very distinguished in appearance to do so.’ ”

So in 1928, when the novel appeared, every man who wanted to appear “distinguished” abandoned colour for black, the Earl claims, and so it has continued. But this neglects the other aspect, white —of which there has always been an accompanying expanse. There is room here for a woman novelist to step in. —The Seeker