AUSTRALIAN BOOKS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20958, 22 February 1930, Page 4

AUSTRALIAN BOOKS.

ANECDOTE AND ADVENTURE. "Worshipful Masters." By A. ton. 1 Sydney: Angus and Robertson, ltd. (7s 6d net.) • "We and the Baby," By Hector MacQu&rrle. Sydney: Angus and Robertson, Ltd. (7a 6d net.) Mr Justice Piddington’s book is a most cheerful. and disjointed narrative, full of happy, reminiscence and anecdote, which can be opened anywhere with the assurance that something amusing will be found. “ The title suggests," ne writes, “that here you are invited to meet in/ surroundings of hospitality certain notable exemplars, some of life, some of mirth, some of learning, but all of.humkn friendliness _ and service in their day. These worshipful masters crave the honour of taking wine with you.” This is a very excellent introduction to the book, which indeed provides entertainment of a warming and exhilarating nature. All the lions of the political, legal, and literary world of an older Sydney are met in " Worshipful, Masters,” sometimes in the law courts, their comments not always as learned as one might expect, occasionally in the New South Wales Parliament, where they slept or spoke dr moistened their alimentary canals as choice dictated, arid more often at the Athenaeum Club, or in some other peaceful resort • where dignity could be lowered sufficiently to permit of a quip or a story hardly meet for public peroration. Mr Justice Piddington takes one behind the scenes, but ,he does not betray any confidences or retail any anecdote which might reflect upon the good qualities of these brilliant and ’ sometimes erratic men.

Sir George Reid has a chapter to himself, and he deserves no less. He had his little weaknesses, one ,o£ which was a' facility for sleep during the course of a debate ra the House, but the author con ■ aiders that his reputation for laziness was undeserved, and that his sleepy de-; tneanour disguised his industry. He was sufficiently wide awake, at any rate, to rouse himself when occasion arose. Sir. John See, who seldom spoke without re-; ferring to the manner in which hia Premier, Sir George Dibbs, had saved the country during a financial crisis, would, become most enraged at Sir George Reid’s slumberous habits, and one evening* complained to the Speaker. Quoth Sir George: “Mr Speaker! I was not asleep. 1 I was merely endeavouring to become mentally oblivious to the honourable and financial nuisance opposite." At an election meeting, Reid, who. rather cultivated audacity in the matter of personal allusions, paused in, his address, turned his back on the audience, ■ and sipped a glass of water in the most leisurely fashion. A woman in the front row said: “If you wer i e i» busband, I’d put poison in your tea! Reid mounted his monocle, looked the .interrupter over carefully, and replied, I d take it." Reid’s bulk was great, but .he had a contemporary of even larger proportions. Sir Thomas Bent, the twenty-stone Premier of Victoria. The Premier’s chief secretary, having cause to defend his chief at an : election meeting from a charge of ’ brusquene and rudeness, said: “Nothing of the sort! He’s really one of the politestmen in Melbourne. I’ve seen him get up in,.a tram and give his seat to three ladies.

The author recalls Loisette, who was the inventor of a memory system, and during his visit to < Sydney > produced a book on ’ How to Attend and Never Forget.” The printer of the book complained that whenever Loisette called to see the proofs he departed without his umbrella. But the difference between precept and practice was even more conspicuous in the case of a public performer named Datas who had a remarkable memory for Sates names and figures. Datas and Houdini were both staying at the Hotel Australia, and after supper one . evening found. they had so much in common that when they finally went upstairs Datas could not remember the number of his bedroom andJloudini could not get his latchkey our of his pocket. David Buchanan is the subject of several of the author’s reminiscences. His braggadocio about winning cases was well known, and on an occasion when he was travelling with Frank Smyth from Orange Circuit Court to Bathurst he surprised his companion by pointing out a house or cottage and saying; Smyth, d’ye see yon dwelling? There’s a mon there whose wife I defended for aidin and abettm’ in the stealin’ of sheep. It, was a purrfectly clear case, but I wrought upon the jury with the utmost of all my power and eloquence, and I got her off.’ r And so with other criminal offences Buchanan boasted of his victories. At last Smyth saw his chance: Do you see that hut on the hill, Buchanan? ”he asked. “ A client of mine lives there. 1 was defending him when

he lived near Dubbo, and everybody thought he must go up because it was as clear a case as could be. However, I pulled him through. “Aye, Smyth,” said Buchanan. "I congratulate ye, And what was the charge?" “Suicide!" came the reply, . In this humorous, chatty vein Mr Justice Piddington describes the men he has known, and some of the places he has visited, including India, where he made the acquaintance of Gandhi, “perhaps more saint than statesman.” ‘‘Worshipful Masters ” will be read with especial enjoyment by members of the legal ■ profession and politicians, but there is something in it to please everybody with a liking for anecdote.

“We” are two New Zealanders, Mr Hector MaiQuarrie and Mr Dick Mathews, and “the baby” is the little car in which they made an adventurous motor tour from Sydney to Cape York, the . most northerly point of Australia. Their funds'were low, their knowledge of motor cars was negligible, and of the nature of the country through which the two adventurers had to travel they knew nothing when they started out on a trip which the publishers describe as “ the most remarkable journey made by any motor ear in Australia; and the most remarkable journey made by a small car anywhere in the world.” MacQuarrie and his friend were determined to travel somewhere, however, and'this seemed as good a route as any other. Certainly they had sufficient exciting 'experiences during the course .of their drive through trackless bush, over mountain ranges, across the boulder-strewn beds of/ dry creeks, and over, rivers infested with crocodiles.

Mr MacQuarrie writes brightly, with amusing references to people and places visited qn route, and never emphasises' thp nature of the difficulties^. they encountered— perhaps because there, is no need toT plain language , being expressive enough: “The going was not very easy; it'"vfos actually a matter 1 of crossing many ditches and water courses, between fallen timber and. rocks and between growing trees. - It must always be remembered that cross-country work in Australia, certainly near the coast, is a journey through forest. In fact, most of our journey from Brisbane northwards was thrnegh the forest.” At times the work of ferrying the little Austin across very formidable rivers must have been both difficult and dangerous, jndging from the numerous photographs illustrating the stages of the venture,- and it' must'nave been equally hard to keep the car clear of unsuspected ditches and bogs in which it occasionally tumbled. There were other troubles also: “ From Coen onwards we averaged six punctures a day; between MrDonnell and Cape York we enjoyed some 25.” This book is an interesting and exuberant account of. a remarkable achievement in which the adventurous New Zealanders and their British vehicle deserve equal honours for their display of endurance and courage. A. L. E.