WE MERELY NOTICE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21264, 19 February 1931, Page 18

WE MERELY NOTICE.

It is probably no exaggeration to say that 99 per cent, of the population does not see —it simply notices (writes F. W. Memory in the Daily Mail). _ By this I mean that the majority ot people have no eye for detail or distinguishing facts. They notice a form or figure, dub it pleasing or otherwise, but if called upon half an hour later for a detailed description would probably fail entirely, and give a totally inaccurate and misleading picture. That is why the £SOO offered by the Daily Mail for information as to the whereabouts of Mrs Hearn, whom the Cornish police are anxious to interview in connection with the death of Mrs Thomas, remains unclaimed. Always assuming that Mrs Hearn is alive, this is a typical instance of the lack of observation on the part of the general public. Her description and photograph have been published far and wide, and there can hardly be one person in the British Isles capable of reading who has not a more or less clear idea of the missing woman’s personality, and what she looks like; yet with a sum of £SOO as an incentive to sharpen their faculties no one can recall having seen her. Scores of people must have passed her, but they have all lacked the power of observation. After all, this is not unusual. It will be recalled that a year or two ago a young Guardsman on sentry duty at Buckingham Palace abandoned his post and disappeared. His description, meticulous to a degree, was broadcast all over the country, but he travelled the length of England to his home in Scotland without being recognised. Men and women of the present day do not use their eyes. Test it for yourself. Ask the person with whom you travel to town daily to toll you if you are in the habit of wearing, say, spats; cover your collar with your hand and ask him the colour of your tie. It will be surprising if he is able to give the correct answer. Indeed, at mid-day it would puzzle the majority of husbands to describe accurately the apparel of their wives at breakfast. Women as a general rule are a little more observant than men, particularly so far as clothing is concerned; invariably they can toll the colour of the eyes of all their friends and even of acquaintances But the most observant of all civilised people are young girls and boys, particularly the latter. Life to them is an adventure upon which they embark wide-eyed and inquisitive; their minds are receptive and retentive, registering all that their eyes observe. But even their powers of observation are as nothing compared with those of the untutored ravages of the wilds. Nothing escapes their attention: a broken twig in the jungle, a misplaced stone in the river bed, each tells its tale to the savage.