THE DIVINER’S CLAIMS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26078, 15 February 1946, Page 6

THE DIVINER’S CLAIMS

Sir,—Several things in reply to " Diviner ”! First, I never guessed that the magic well to which he refers was in either the Ida Valley or the Maniototo. What I did say was that, living between the Ida and the Maniototo, “ Diviner ” will have done quite a lot of successful divining for his neighbours. So “ Diviner ” Is a travelled man—having shown his prowess on the Canterbury Plains, in Southland (whether on the Waimea or the Southland Plain he does not say), in Auckland (doubtless in the Waikato), and in Westland (between the mountain arj*i the sea). What does this prove, except the flat, where it would be hard to go that he had sense enough to keep to wrong? As for the hills being “ the diviner’s paradise,” when “ Diviner ” can produce from hill country, say the King Country, Upper Central Otago, or the wilds of the Urewera, as many diviners as I have found .on the flat, I am prepared to believe him. During a recent week-end I was able to test 12 diviners .in , the Oamaru district. In a similar trip to Cromwell and Queenstown I tested one —and searched far more diligently than in Oamaru. Can “Diviner” explain that? “Do two swallows make a summer? ” “ Diviner ” knows as well as I do that he must produce reasonably consistent results. I agree that “ There’s none so blind as those who will not see, nor so deaf as those who will not hear.” It is surprising how “ Diviner,” his colleagues, and camp followers can delude themselves. There is another hackneyed proverb—they seem popular, Sir—“ The proof of the pudding is in the eating.” Can “ Diviner ” explain the results of my tests on 55 diviners, or would he care to be tested himself? I note that “V. B. W.” has not accepted my challenge. I asked “ Diviner ” for his percentage of successes, (a) in the hills, and (b) on the flat. Am I to understand that the two wells mentioned are the sum total of his successes in Otago, “in Auckland and Southland, in Canterbury and Westland, in England, Scotland, and France ”? One final word! Apart from the strained nature of the metaphor, Jacob’s well was a very bad example for “ Diviner ”, to choose. First, there is nothing in ! the Bible about Jacob “ digging ” the well; secondly, it often contains no water at all; which thirdly, is just as well, because the water, when present, is polluted.—l am, etc., Common Sense. February 14.