FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 24, 20 April 1927, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

the LOOK-OUT MAN

THE BETTING MARKET Ellerslie showed a decline of nearly £IO,OOO in totalisator betting at the recent meeting. Wonder how the “bookies” fared in their town offices which are supposed (in law) not to exist? Rumour hath it that they cut their credit betting to a minimum. It is remarkable that in an “antigambling” country there is no surer indication of the money market than the “tote.” It is said that bank managers feel their way by it. If so, their overdraft accounts must have been curtailed, for this season’s Ellerslie figures show a falling-off of £128,440, or compared with the legitimate betting of two years ago —a decrease of 17 per cent. CANBERRA Will Canberra values contain themselves, or will they burst? New Zealand land gambles, inflating land to explosion-point, have taught New Zealanders a lesson, and it is hardly likely that men from these parts participated in the recent speculations in land at the Federal capital. The land sold was not freehold—it was 99 years’ leasehold—but buyers bids far exceeded the upset prices. Canberra is as yet merely a paddock centred by a Parliament House, yet an insurance company paid £8,700 for a 20-ft. frontage, and a small corner block realised £5,100. Upset values of £14,800 were sold for .£35,100. A motor service site with an upset price of £2,000, was knocked down at £11,300! This was bought by a representative of “Lizzie,” and as “Lizzie” is no bad judge, values may not be so much inflated as they seem. Still, these are “ca’ canny” times, in which one looks before one leaps, and so the Canberra sale must be regarded as being largely a gamble, and the buyers mostly as those who belong to the theoristic school of “If you don’f speculate, you won’t accumulate.” Many of those who speculated in New Zealand land during the boom accumulated—liabalities. It is to be hoped that the Canberra spec" l -! tors do not fare likewise. THE VERY RMAEIjEST Now, unless something smaller comes along, this is the very smallest: Mrs. L. Buckley, of Geelong (Victoria) says she was the smallest baby on record. For two years she was on show in the ""'elbourne Waxworks. She was then placed in a cigar-box, to bring to town or take home. To-day she is sft. 2in. in height and has two baby girls—both born normal weight. She was a sixth child, and although born with two teeth was normal in all but size. Her mother had no difficulty at all in rearing her. At seven months she weighed just on 101 b., and when three years of age was a wellbalanced child. * * * ON ELEPHANTS Three elephants took fright at a cat in New Jersey (U.S.A.) and stampeded, innocently killing a woman and injuring three men. The larger the beast, the more timid. A mouse is stated to once have caused a whole herd of elephants to stampede. But

the mouse is a dangerous beast. The only thing it can’t stampede is the cat. Horses, of course, are notoriously nervous. The Look-Out Man once saw a fine horse stop, shy, and drop dead at the sight of an elephant which had just been landed with Fitzgerald’s circus at Burnie (Tasmania). A post-mortem showed the horse to have been in perfect health, functionally and organically. It had died of pure fright.

ANOTHER- PRIMATE ON DANCING Talk of the “dancing evil” reminds one that Archbishop Julius, late Primate of New Zealand, looked with kindly eyes on the form of amusement which is classified among the deadly sins by some ministers. “I never condemn a good thing because it may be used wrongly,” he once said. “When dancing is properly controlled it is healthy and invigorating, and it need not be associated with evil tendencies. The clergy of the Church are at liberty to allow dancing, and they have no authority to condemn it in itself. On the other hand, dancing without restraint or restriction is liable to serious misuse and danger.” When the archbishop was a parish priest, he “not only allowed, but encouraged,” the properly-controlled dance, and in Ballarat (Victoria) the communicant members of his church with his sanction held a weekly whirl.