LANDSMEN AND THE SEA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22250, 26 October 1935, Page 9 (Supplement)

LANDSMEN AND THE SEA

AN ENTERTAINING GUID£ As many a landsman setting out upon a voyage or holiday cruise in a liner must have wished he was not so thoroughly ignorant of ships and the ways of ships, Mr. C. R. Benstead has written a small volume full of information calculated to remove some of that ignorance. But even if all one's voyaging is to be done in an armchair, the book is no less entertaining, for it has escaped being what it so easily might have been—an indigestible technical treatise. There is plenty of technical matter in it, but it is for the most part presented in a humorous vein such as might shock the dignity of the serious compiler of text books. Scene: The bridge of a warship. Yeoman of Signals: Flagship's weighing, sir. Officer: Let me know when she's a weigh. Yeoman: Aye, aye, sir. . . Flagship's under way, sir. Officer: Has she way on her? , Yeoman: No, sir. She's aweigh, but has no way on. . . . Flagship's under way, sir. The interpretation of this dialogue and many other perplexities give the author opportunity to exercise his sense of fun. " The Landsman's Guide to Se» Lore," by C. R. Benstead. (Methuen.)