FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 685, 10 June 1929, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By “THE LOOK-OUT MAN,” RIDING FEES F. Foster, who rode Uralla to victory in the Great Northern Steeples, collected £ 126 in riding fees for the race. — THE SUN sports news. When Paul Revere ■upon his steed Began the scrap that sundered peoples, He -wasn’t quite as highlxf feed As if he’d won the G.N. Steeples. And though he’s famed in song and story, Such fame is cheap—so what price Glory? Bearing the news from Ghent to Aix, Sprang Dirk and Joris to the stirrup, Yet for this epic feat their pay Was Browning’s verse—mere soothing syrup, Compared with that which placed young Foster Head of the winning riders’ roster. The hero's pay is scant. ’Twould, not Purchase a garment for the baby, And better far the jockey’s lot — A gross reflection, that, but may be I feel this way, reproaching Allah, Because I didn’t back Uralla. — PUNT&R. DEPRESSED f On the burning question of whether or man is descended from monkeys, no public reply has been made to the series of lectures delivered by University professors. It is feared that anti-evolutionists have got their tails down. • • * BOY ERRED For a handful of piastres we scribes may become members of a jovial organisation which watches our needs with a paternal eye. It has a badge that is the “Open Sesame” at fires, funerals, and affairs of State. Hence an office boy was entrusted with what in Police Courts and other places is known as “a sum of money,” and sent to procure membership and a badge for a superior. The lad fared forth into the bustling city. In the smiling innocence of youth one organisation is much like another, and perhaps it wasn’t the boy’s fault that he inadvertently secured for his master membership in that illustrious organisation, the United Party, and a badge symbolic of same. But Avhether or not it was the boy’s fault, delicate negotiations are now proceeding for the return of “that certain sum.” ONE OR THE OTHER Away hack in the dark ages the farmer could be a yeoman, but nothing more. A gentleman? Impossible! Still, in an enlightened age like the present, when dukes work In motor garages and baronets stand up in impeccable garb and harangue miners and other troglodytes in the sacred cause of Labour and a Labour vote, the former hard-and-fast divisions seemed to have been blurred. Yet here is a lady—a widoAV —to whom they are still a reality. The gentle soud advertises, view mat., for a “gentleman or farmer” with whom she may correspond. The whole of the Farmers’ Union should reply in a body, and tell her where she gets off. OUTBOARDS OVERBOARD The possibility that there would shortly be a blue ribbon of the Atlantic for outboard motor-boats, or an annual race for outboards between Onehunga and Sydney, had been suggested by the growing popularity of this type of craft round these parts. But the unfortunate experience of 40 odd outboards between Dover and Calais seem to discount it. An enterprising Frenchman recently rode across the English Channel on a curious kind of floating bicycle, but he had more luck than the outboards, which ran out of petrol, had breakdowns, and were generally out of luck. As a matter of abstract preference the L.O.M. cordially admires outboard motor-boats, and has a great respect for their capacity—as long as they are driven by someone else. And the happenings at Dover give no cause for him to alter his intention —that he will make his next crossing to Sydney on the Aorangi. FORCING THE SEASONS The seasons are not now arranged by the sun in its relation to the terrestrial globe, but are in the hands of football unions, tennis associations, and other well-meaning organisations which determine when Winter is finished and Summer is due to begin. In the case of the Manukau Rugby Subunion, which seems to prosecute its business with unusual dispatch, some miscalculation appears to have been made. It is reported that, so early in the season, the Clevedon team has won the championship. Unless something is done to counter-balance this premature ending, the footballers of the district will have to occupy their time with marbles or some other strenuous exercise until the dairy herds, the croquet clubs, or some other arbitrary factors determine that summer sports are again in the ring.