FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 585, 11 February 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

THE TOWN BOY’S CHANT Speaking to the Minister of Education on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce, Mr. A. G. Lunn said that a feeling of snobbery toward farm work was growing up among boys. “They are looking down on the cocky,” he added. We must have the white lights of the city And really respectable toil, Not for us the brawn-rasing labour That comes of commerce icith soil. Eet them say we look down on the cocky — That’s a taunt we can very well stand As we drink from the sweet founts of ■pleasure Denied them that sweat on the land. O, farm work is much over-rated, With ledgers we’d far sooner strive — A man who tots up the figures Is finished his toiling at Jive. Not for us the birds as alarm-clocks, The chasing of cows in the dawn: It reads very nicely in stories, But it’s not for city men born. The smooth ways all lie in the cities. The rough ones poor cocky feet tread — Mr. Bunn may blithely attack us. But the ledger gives easier bread. * * * SOLOMON MODERNISED Women may not be fussy about appointments, but they always keep their powder compacts. TACTLESS Two examples of tactlessness: The man wlio whistles the “Wedding March in the corridor of a Divorce Court, and the undertaker who sings “Waiting For You.” GOLDEN SILVER WEDDING The Earl of Athlone, GovernorGeneral of South Africa, and his wife, Princess Alice, received a silver tea service and a cheque of £5,000 to mark their silver wedding. In South Africa marriage certainly seems to pay. • * * AN EARNEST BAND The United Party has been described by the Hon. H. Atmore as a band of earnest men. He also says that the Auckland members of the party are men of outstanding ability. There must be something in that band suggestion because United men seem to be able to blow their own trumpets easily enough. ABOUT COMMAS The Pope, it is reported by cable, spent much time correcting the final proofs of the treaty between Church and State. He is said to have contemplated even commas, saying there were cases when the presence or absence of a comma modified the meaning of a sentence. There is a story concerning Oscar Wilde in which similar regard for commas was exhibited. Wilde once complained that he had endured an exhausting day. “What did you do in the morning, Oscar?” asked a friend. Wilde replied that lie had put a comma in a proof. “And what did you do in the afternoon?” asked the solicitous one. “I took that comma out again,” . replied Wilde.

NO MORE COLDS Recently published statistics show that colds cost Chicago’s industries £4,000,000 a year. To save this vast economic waste the city Medical Society is seeking to promote a “No Cold Club.” Students have made themselves available for research purposes, and a fund of almost £40,000 has been given to aid investigations. If this sort of thing goes on, it is difficult to see where death will get a look-in at all. As it is, he probably thinks a good deal of unnecessary attention is being paid to the preservation of health.

BRIGHTER EVANGELISM A brighter evangelism movement has been inaugurated by a negro preacher at Waterbury, Connecticut. It was announced in the newspapers that there would be a funeral service on the following Sunday. True enough, when the congregation filed in for the service there was a flowercovered casket before the altar. Instead of the usual funeral panegyrics, the preacher began a violent denunciation of the body which, while living, said the preacher, had committed every possible sin. “He was not ready when the trump sounded,” said the preacher, “damnation is his.” He then invited the congregation to gaze at the dead monster. A looking-glass was the coffin's only contents.