FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1010, 28 June 1930, Page 8

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By

“THE LOOK-OUT MAN.”

CROSSING THE “ POND ’

The Viking did it with straining of oars And a mast that went by the side; With hearts that laughed in the hurricane wrack— And never a mark to guide. Columbus did it with wind and sail, And a courage divine and bold. And forged the way for the ships of Spain With their cargoes of silver and gold. The clipper did it with ease and grace, And passed like a summer dream, Then came the tussle twixt paddle and screw, And leviathans sped by steam . . , But what manner of thoughts would have filled the minds Of Drake and the dons~of Spain, Could they have heard in the lull of a storm The drone of the aeroplane? A.H. A SC OUTER'S MOTTO It has been made abundantly clear that preparedness is one ot the secrets of successful long-distance aviation. Squadron-Leader Kingsford Smith has proved himself a great organiser and a careful man, and Rear-Admiral Byrd, who made a west-to-east flight across the Atlantic, also is a flier who leaves nothing to chance. It was particularly appropriate, therefore, that Kingsford Smith should reply to Byrd’s greeting with the words: “Preparedness undoubtedly is half the battle.” That opinion forms the theme of Byrd’s own booh, “Skyward,” in which he relates that he was scolded and sneered at by a section of the American public because he delayed his hop from the United States to France so frequently and cautiously. Kingsford Smith, for his part, has had the experience of being chided on this score. Who does not remember the utterance of the Mayor of Christchurch on the eve of the Tasman flight: “The fliers have been hanging round Australia for weeks”? MYSTERY MAX So his name is Paddy Saul. In every city and town to which news of the recent flight was being telegraphed, cable editors and readers were puzzling over the Identity of the man who navigated the Southern Cross across the Atlantic. But each day, until the arrival of the big plane in the United States, the only description of him was “and an Irish navigator.” It was almost intriguing, and reminiscent of the famous flight of Ross and Keith Smith from England to Australia in their Vickers-Vimy. On that occasion a mysterious person, whose identity was kept secret, met the aviators and flew with them for part of their journey across Australia. Public curiosity was roused to a high pitch when it was learned that the passenger was a masked woman, and valuable added publicity was secured. Later the fair stranger confessed that she was Ross Smith’s fiancee. But Kingsford Smith’s Paddy Saul is “real Irish,” and, judged on performance, an excellent navigator into the bargain. AN IDOL TOTTERS

He who achieves greatness hy .a single shout, but doubts his ability to repeat it, should consider the value of silence. This philosophy is prompted by the news that Mr. R. C. Sheriff, author of that phenomenally-success-ful first play, "Journey’s End,” has lost a good deal of money with his second play, “Badger’s Green,” and seems likely to lose a good deal more. In other words, Mr. Sheriff has “flopped.” A fickle public has removed the foundations of vogue from beneath the idol and left it tottering on the brink of obscurity. Clearly the young author doubted his ability to repeat his world-rousing, dramatic shout, for it is announced that he set aside £IO,OOO as a sort of fighting fund for the new comedy. However, the fact is that a successful play requires no fighting fund. Mr. Sheriff is learn iug the age-old lesson that popularity is a balloon with a very leaky valve. A POISONING PROBLEM

Memories of the notorious “Man They Couhj Not Hang” sensation are revived by a report from Berlin which tells of a unique legal dilemma. Taking advantage of Estonian law a condemned man chose poisoning rather than hanging. The legal dose of poison failed to kill him. and he now “refuses all invitations to be hanged.” And a very natural refusal. In the earlier case the man concerned was John Lee, an Englishman. Three times he was placed on the scaffold, three times the bolt was drawn, and three times the trap failed to fall despite the attentions of carpenters and assembled experts. At last the presiding clergvman intervened, asserting that the failure of the apparatus was clearly an act of God. Lee’s sentence was commuted to that of imprisonment. , ::: dainr my 2 Somewhere in Fiji is a mau who craves five minutes with the agricultural editor of a certain New Zealand newspaper. While reading the dairy notes of the journal in question he noticed a paragraph announcing that “molasses mixed with milk” was good food for calves. Accordingly he tried it, but with disastrous results. Two calves died and another had a narrow escape, surviving only after an operation had been performed. This indeed was a sticky business.