FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 25, 21 April 1927, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By the LOOK-OUT MAN A SPIX OF THE COIX _ _ Captain Atwell relates that he was so casual about having a run for the Mt. Albert mayoralty that he tossed a coin to decide the question. “Heads” won, and so he is a candidate. It may be all right, but it certainly

seems queer that a man should seek the suffrage tfcf the ratepayers on such

slender seriousness. It may be that, if he is elected, the policy of the Mt. Albert Council will be decided on the spin of a coin. Instead of putting questions to the vote, the mayor might say, “Come on boys-r-let’s toss for it 1 Heads we shall; tails we shan’t.” It would probably save much of the long-winded argument for which the Mt. Albert Councillors have in the past been notorious, but there may be ratepayers who will object to the affairs of their borough being decided by a spin of the coin. xrCARAGUA Nicaragua’s latest revolution appears to have fizzled out, and its leader, Dr. Sacasa, is said to have exhausted his treasury and to be in readiness to flee across the border into Mexico, while America is preparing to assume an “unofficial, benevolent dictation of affairs.” This means, of course, that the United States will pour in its capital, and exploit the tiny republic for all it is worth —which may prove just as good a thing for Nicaragua as for Uncle Sam, in being the means of doing away with the annual revolutions, which waste •an immense amount of time and gunpowder, not to mention a few lives. Nicaragua lies between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea and between Costa Rica on the south and Honduras on the north. The East is peopled by Indians and negroes from the West Indies, and the West by Spaniards, In-

dians and people of mixed Spanish and Indian origin. The East produces bananas, coconuts and pineapples, and the West, coffee, sugarcane and cocoa. Extensive forests yield mahogany, cedar, gums and medicinal plants. Over a million cattle provide hides for export. Gold and silver are mined, and extensive copper, tin and zinc deposits are known to exist. Since Nicaragua became a republic, freed from Spanish rule, it has had a very troubled history, lighting internally when it has not been fighting with its neighbours. It has an area of 49,200 square miles, and its population is only about half that of New Zealand. * * * SEAS AT SYDNEY HEADS Living at Manly (Sydney) has many delights; and it has its drawbacks. In the recent gale, for instance, the ferry service was subjected to several days’ disorganisation. When it blows hard from the East, immense Pacific rollers come smashing through the narrow heads,, and not many shipmasters care about taking their vessels out against them. Fine, large boats as are the Sydney ferries, they are not unseldom prevented from negotiating the Manly run, for to get to you have to partly cross the heads, and a heavy beam sea is liable to smash things. The only other way to reach the famous ocean beach resort is by ferry to North Sydney, thence by tram, via The Spit—a long journey. In the recent gale, the tram service, too, collapsed, and Manly’s thousands had an unenviable time getting to and from the city. Auckland is not the only metropolis that has its traffic troubles. * * * THE WOLF-BOY. Another freak child has been discovered ill India, where a tigress occasionally runs off with a baby, and takes it home for her cubs to play with, instead of eating it. This one, like Romulus and Remus, was being reared by wolves. It has an enormous appetite, crawls instead of walks, and makes ferocious attacks on its new guardians. It is recalled that in Melbourne some years ago the police found a young child locked in a fowlhouse, where it was being reared with the poultry. It had existed (Heaven knows how! 1 on the scraps thrown to the “chooks," and it crowed like a rooster, gave cockling sounds like a hen, and flapped its arms as though they were wings. It was bathed and placed in an orphanage; the mother was arrested and placed in a gaol.