ABOUT TOWN

Northland Age, Volume XX, Issue 10, 10 November 1950, Page 4

ABOUT TOWN

Not having the desire to be worrisome to you people, I would like to break this news gently to you all. Don’t get alarmed if you see grown men down on their marks as would be a sprinter, with mum on the back lawn complete with shotgun, firing off the odd shot as dad flies from the mark, accompanied by little Willie and daughter Harriet. This is ail in preparation for the great day of the sports on the Oval on Saturday 25tli. Even Mum herself is practising a spot of sprinting and bolts off at the drop of a broom, or when dad drops a plate when he is drying the dishes for her. We don’t expect that she will get much practice from the last mentioned, however, not that dad doesn’t drop plates, but he doesn’t dry the dishes too often. Anyhow, keep the date free for the event, and make sure you have your running shoes there and your acid drops. ® On the same day also there will be a Baby Show. I can see those mothers now busy polishing the skins of their offspring, rubbing away with curry comb and dandy brush. Better get in and buy up all the stock of | ribbons and things in the town, too, | for there is also a competition for decorated bikes and prams. You’ve i got to be in to win, haven’t you? ® ! Tomorrow also, athletes of the j Awanui district are asked to be at i the Waipap drome, as the Awanui Athletic Club will be holding their j opening sports meeting for members and prospective members. Then on the following Saturday they are hold- | ng an open meeting for all athletes j and cyclists, and this should be a good I pipe opener for those- who will compete in the Gala Day in Kaitaia on the FOLLOWING Saturday This seems to be getting a spot involved, but if you sit down and burn the midnight oil, you’ll get it all worked out somehow ! In any case, your next three Saturdays, including tomorrow, are booked right up to the hilt from ! about 10.30 a.m. daily. ® | Reg Rule whispered to me the ithei [ day that things will soon be happeni ing once again on Russell Lake. He j meant that there would soon be speedboat races, and shore events happenj ing there. A few enquiries round the j place elicited the fact that there are now more speed boats here than ever i and with the fact that there are qu;U: ] a number of young fellows busy buihi- | ing small sailing craft, it looks as ! though we might have some better I times there than we had last year. I They were good, weren’t they ? Let’s j all look forward to an early announce- ! ment, shall we? ® This is strictly between us both, and off the record. On the night of the presenting of the Mayoral Chain, we all knew that it was to be on in the A. & P. Hall, didn’t we? Well, would you believe it if I tell you that the chief participant in the affair, and the one who was to wear the weighty chain of office, was busy flitting round the R.S.A. Hall some time after 8, wondering what time the show was to start, and why the hall was in darkness. He almost wondered if he had forgotten the date. Now, that wasn’t a bit like our Lave, was it ? ® Apparently the north road from the tar-sealing on is not so hot. Firstly, there are none of the gentle curves which Bob Bird speaks of around Waipapakauri way. There seems to be nothing but angles there. Secondly, the state of the road has sadly deteriorated lately, so motorists tel! me, to the degree that a couple have rolled within the last week or so. This seems not to be quaite naice and nobody likes to play marbles with motor cars as taws, do they’ Peculiarly enough, the owners of those cars are quite cross with matters, and they threaten not to use the North Road AT ALL if this is not put in order. I don’t suppose that a threat like that will worry anyone unduly, but the fact remains that lue care and attention should be paid to the road, especially where it becomes dangerous. ® And did you go to the Coronation Ceremony at the Oval. I did. 1 saw Johnnie O’Carroll, Fred Lunjevich, Ernie Goodhew, Ted Divich and Andy Srhoj looking most revolting in period costume. What is more to the point, I’m sure that cigarettes were not used in those days. Fred Lunjevich only needed a black mask to give a fair representation of Dick Turpin, the only other thing lacking was Bonny Black Bess. Teddy Divich looked like Scaramouche or was it Chauvelin who doted upon lopping off the odd head during the French Revolution. Ernie Goodhew with a pair of his wife’s stockings on, over which was a pair of his own socks, was reminiscent of the Scarlet Pimpernel—rather wilted. Andy Srhoj was unusually clad, and looked like Captain Bligh after the mutiny. Now w e come to one of the pieces <’e resistance. Johnnie O’Carroll. His wig would insist on going askew, and

when he presented the Privy Purse, I thought his ti'ousers would burst as he stooped. The man looked dry ! He looked most uncomfortable ! ! He looked horrid ! ! ! Then there was Frank Begley as Lord High Chamberlain. He was dressed in a nightshirt effect, with a black bed jacket, the whole surmounted by a black skull cap with a bobble on it ! An extremely chic get-up, with a black and white motif which suited his colouring admirably. It has been said of him that he refused to get out ol the rig until he had slept in it, but Awanuvians managed to get him unconscious, and thus divested him of his finery. He really should have taken up the calling of a cleric. He has the build for it, and with a little tuition and thg right grog, could probably acquire the l ight outlook ! A show very well done, on the whole, but why must they drag MEN into these affairs. To provide a little light relief perhaps? ® Come along all you cryptographers, work this one out for me : “A new undeclared war has suddenly turned the fast ending bentd wifshrdlu cmfwyp vhgkaj shrlu cmfwyp vhgkkqjcmfw Tokio observers said today”. That is a quotation from an introduction to a story by one of our evening newspapers on Monday. Now, I have heard a great deal through a | cupla wars of “Don’t talk, walls have j ears” and “The enemy is everyj where,” but this is the first time I ' have noticed that the newspapers themselves have done much to keep things a close secret. Possibly they thought the Communists in our midst should not have the chance of forwarding such vital news to their friends in Moscow. Let us hope that the translation of this means nothing serious. We will wait in fear and trepidation for the result of this shattering announcement, and hope for the best, always of course, expectj ing the worst. ® Forgive us for the things we have done which we should not have done, but forgive us even more greatly for the things we have not done- which we should have done. On Tue day last there were a couple of ti digs which we should have had in the issue, and which -.ever found their way ] there. ‘This was due to the fact tnat j the power kept coming and going, and in between whiles our melting pot became cold, and took a consider- • able while to get hot again. Ergo, some things were left out, and we had to fill the columns with things which we had set, and normally would not have used in the places where they were found. Our apologies.