OBSERVATIONS

Northern Advocate, 23 July 1938, Page 11

OBSERVATIONS

J OVERHEAD, one day during the , week, a suggestion by a Whangarei resident that the “Advocate” might with advantage publish say once a week a thumbnail sketch of a local notability. It was further suggested that the- sketch might be accompanied by a photograph or a caricature. A VERY interesting suggestion, indeed! But I could not help wondering what would be the reaction of the individual who made the suggestion if the first subject of the sketch or caricature were himself. I am l afraid that would be a horse of another colour altogether. It is wonderful how many people are ready to suggest that all sorts of things should be done so long as the person to be affected is somebody other than themselves. J">Y the way, the same observation may be made upon the readiness with which some people propose or support a line of action that is to be taken by somebody else. Go to a public meeting, where a proposal t' - do some work for the social well-being of the community is concerned, and you will invariably find individuals who will strongly support the scheme it is proposed to put in hand. But, when the setting up of a committee, or the providing of funds is proposed, the eloquent ones fade into nothingness. This is not an exaggeration, or an observation born of biliousness. Its truth can be proved without trouble of any kind. J>UT, to revert to the suggestion that thumbnail sketches of local notabilities should be published, I expect the editor has lived long enough to know that such a feature, unless it were conducted with great circumspection, would make life harder than it is for him under the best circumstances. F has been said that the best help some famous politicians have received has consisted in the extent to which they were caricatured, and the

liberties which the caricaturists took I can quite imagine that to be true. Personally, I find great amusement in scrutinising the Caricatures of New Zealand politicians, which have been done wonderfully well in recent years. They have been pointed arrows, but the tips have been dipped in good humour, with the result that the subjects, for the greater part, have enjoyed as much as anybody the caricatures of which they have been the subjects. Indeed, I have heard, and I have no doubt there is quite a lot in the report, that politicians who have not been dealt with by the caricaturist have been openly envious of those who have. F is quite a different matter, however, when a proposal is made that the citizens of a comparatively small community should be dealt with by pencil or pen. How easy it would be for a gifted observer to make an interesting daily study of, say, the business and other habitutes of Cameron Street. There are many whose posture, and mode of conversation, mark them out for public notice. They have individuality, which is more than can be said of some people. But it would be foolish to suggest that in some cases individuality is not akin to eccentricity, which, of course, takes away from the value which individuality in the proper sense of the word suggests. 4-NYWAY, call it what you will, there is not the slightest doubt that the observer in Cameron Street, to name only one of the main streets of Whangarei, may find many citizens who do the same thing at the same time every day, and in exactly the same way, just as do the mechanical objects of which the world is full at the present time, I have noticed, for instance, that two business men invariably meet on the post office steps at exactly the same moment every morning, and indulge in a brief conversation. There

By “ THE MAN ON THE LOOK-OUT"

is no reason that I know of why they should not do this. I presume they are their own masters, and the exchange of pleasantries goes far to make the day’s work more cheerful than it would otherwise be. fpHERE is a tremendous lot, by the way, in the manner in which greetings are exchanged. “Good morning” can be either a cheer germ or a woeful willie. There are some people whose salutation is so obviously mechanfcal and stereotyped that it is not worth the breath expended upon it, whereas other people clothe their words with such character and feeling that the recipient cannot but feel helped and inspired. J’J'HIS reminds me that the real meaning of “Good morning” is often lost. A friend of mine told me that he wished a friend “good morning” one day during the week, when mackintoshes and umbrellas were the order of the day. He was astounded when his friend, who, from what I know of him, can keep a straight face when saying what he knows to be contrary to fact, rounded on him, and asked what he meant by calling such a morning good. He denounced the weather, which, he said, was responsible for an attack of rheumatism, and declared that anybody who regarded a wet morning as a good morning, had a perverted idea of things. My friend bided his time, and, when the grouch had finished, explained that all he wished was that the upset one might, have a good morning. Surely there was no harm in expressing such a wish. J>UT it occurred to me that if “good morning” were extended to an individual wno had been made a butt in the daily paper *oy a caricaturist he would experience a very unpleasant five minutes. For that .reason. I think that the suggestion made by the resident to whom I have alluded may be considered to have fallen upon stony ground.