FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 144, 8 September 1927, Page 10

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By “THE LOOK-OUT MAN” "FAR-FLZ'y G" A daily newspaper, referring to the “far-flung” circulation of its weekly offshoot, mentions that the only information concerning New Zealand received by its subscriber in the United States was contained in the said publication. "God of our far-flung battleline!” Some of these newspaper runners must be powerful throwers. Presumably, our subscriber having returned to New Zealand, our flinging to the United States will now cease — and that country will revert to its former regrettable condition of benightedness. rHE LITTLE KOALA

Even hot political controversies have failed to arouse such wide public interest as the proposal of the Queensland Government to declare an open season for the pretty little koala, or native bear. People of all the States are joining in the protest, and it has actually been urged that the Commonwealth Government should prohibit the slaughter, though by what power it could do so is not indicated. The killing of these animals merely for the value of their skins is; declared by a professor who has made a study of the koala as one of the most brutalised occupations in which anyone could engage. Not in any circumstances could the koalas be deemed a pest, for they eat nothing but the leaves of the gum trees, and they are the Quaintest anrl most affectionate pets, although, unfortunately, they will not live long in captivity. But in its native bus the koala is very tenacious of life, and when wounded will cry like a child. One would need the heart of a Nero to hear those cries and not mentally register a vow never again to countenance their killing. There must be some Neros in Queensland, surely. “ FLIARS ”

The French airman Callizo, having outdone Dr. Cook, of polar ill-fame, the hitherto most recent rival of Munchausen, falls from the clouds. He has admitted that his claim to have reached a record altitude was a fake. Callizo’s barograph said he had soared to a height of 42,640 feet. His fatal mistake lay in not having suspected the presence of a second official barograph, which had been secreted, in his machine, and which said he had only ascended 12,000 feet. It seems there are flyers and fliars. Callizo may continue to lie, but he will not continue to fly—that is, officially—for the French Aero Club has disqualified him for life and deleted all his records. * * * TO FIT THE CRIME Does Justice, as administered from the Bench, always strive to “make the punishment fit the crime?” Over in Melbourne a man was convicted of having unlawfully incited another to defeat the ends of justice. What he actually did was to attempt to “square” a jury. The Judge told the prisoner that his offence had been very serious. “Possibly,” said his Honour, “no more serious offence, other than a capital affence, could be committed.” Then he imposed a sentence of twelve months imprisonment. This should prove a distinct deterrent to murder, for on the same basis a murderer would be gaoled for at least 18 months.

PEER ON RANGITOTO It having been reported to the Devonport Borough' Council that the deer on Rangitoto Island are damaging trees and undergrowth, the Dr. Jekyll council (in its Mr. Hyde capacity of the Rangitoto Domain Board) has decided to exterminate the deer. Such a fuss has been made about the alleged destruction of flora by campers at Rangitoto, the wonder is that Mr. Hyde doesn’t order the extermination of all the men and women who go there. Nobody ever counted the deer on Rangitoto—in fact, the casual visitor fails to see a sign of them —but somebody told Mr. Hyde that they were very numerous, and that he had seen as many as 20 in one herd. Probably this is the one and only herd on the island—and anyway, the statement smacks of the story of the boy who told his father that he had seen a thousand dogs fighting. It boiled down to his own dog and the dog next door. It’s a poor island that can’t carry a few head of deer, and the bloodthirstiness of Mr. Hyde, in ordering the extermination cf the lot is extraordinary. When Rangitoto is further developed as a pleasure resort, a few deer would prove a big attraction for visitors — they are extraordinarily pretty and graceful creatures —and some at least should be left. Some people think that nothing,in the way of wild animal life should be permitted outside a zoo, and they would poison or cage every bird for fear it might peck a cherry. The Devonport Council would be belter employed in exterminating the rats which infest its waterfront and various other parts of the borough, and which are far more menacing to health and property than are a few deer in the bush.