FROM THE WATCH TOWER

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1038, 31 July 1930, Page 10

FROM THE WATCH TOWER

By -THE LOOK-OUT MAN” ANONYMOUS IDEAS According to a recent article in an adjacent column, "suggestion boxes” tor the bright ideas of employers are dc rigueur in the best business houses. An intriguing feature of the scheme is that the author of a suggestion remain Anonymous unless his (or heri brain-child receives official approval in which case he is hailed to the sanctum, patted on the back and told to sit at the head of the class. Jok ing apart, however, the suggestion box appears to be an admirable institu tion (incidentally it is by no means a new one). “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings . . .” is a pro verb that can be applied to- business as well as to any other sphere of activity. The writer of the article in question thinks that the suggestion box serves to circumvent a form of in feriority complex which makes one hesitate to beard the Boss in his den and tell him home truths about hi* organisation. This is rather cruel Where is there a manager who would thank the office boy for wasting five minutes of his time in laying down the law on economy in envelopes’ The suggestion box merely provides a properly-regulated channel for these proposals. * * * BRIGHT IDEAS Could the Boss with -his knowledge of the staff guess the authors of the suggestions? It is unlikely. Take this mythical quartet from a small staff:— Sugg. 1: That cigarette smoking be permitted in office hours Sugg. C: That the girls be encouraged to look their best by the supply of free lipstick. Sugg. 3: That an economy be practised by diluting the ink with a bootpolish solution. Sugg. 4. That tilt* lift be dispensed with in order to save electricity. That’s easy, you will say: The office boy. the typist, the crotchety old bookkeeper and the manager himself. Not at all. The old book-keeper wanted to smoke because he is within ten coupons of an E.P.N.S. soup ladle The manager himself likes to watch a pretty face while he is dictating The office boy wanted to play about with the ink because —well, because office boys are like that. Lastly, the typist preferred the stairway because climbing improves deportment: any way, she always was scared in lifts. So there you are. * * « PRACTICAL HERO WURKIIIP I Dear L.O.M., —I was interested in your paragraph dealing with the ‘Mike Flynn’ haircut, but I must point out th*t you have told ouly half the story. This particular style of haircut was introduced to Auckland b\ the reran whose name it has taken Many of your readers will remember Mike Flynn, the boxing footballer who visited Auckland a few years back, and played several games, be sides appearing in a Town Hall ring On the occasion of his first match in the Domain he played for Mari time, now Kiugsland Athletic, and all the lads among the onlookers were greatly taken with the peculiar hair cut he affected. His appearance in a boxing ring was the signal for an other chorus of admiration, and before long youths were invading every barber’s "shop, demanding a haircut “lik< Mike Flynn's.” There is no doubt that this was the origin of the name. • * » SPEAKING HIS .IJf.Vfi Dere Luk Owt Man,— i was going too tell the railway komishion how to stop waistiug taxpayers’ aiuny and run the traues to soot the man on the streat but i see they want me to speak my mind seven times over they must be deff or sum thing ennehow they want it sedd on a tiperiter and mine only makes fore kopis i did want to tell th<*m about wayking me up on the limited to stear at mi ticket as if i was a crimi nal every time i fell into a fltfull sleap also about their restrong san witches witch are wurse than the coffee or visea verser and there r other things but fore kopis is over the edge therefore i hope u will air my greevences in your collom. PLANE TRAVILER AN EDITOR LOSES Anon: Monstrous though it seems, editors do not always win arguments. A story of the inner workings of a country paper has just been noised abroad, in spite of understandable efforts to preserve secrecy. It was in a Southern town. The youngest reporter had stumbled across the most important story In years; In the frenzy of the moment, he appealed to the editor to assist in preparing the “copy.” The two shut memselvea up for several hours, emerging triumph ant with a sensational article. So startling was it that the senior re porter, reaching the office later, took it upon himself to rewrite the editor’s story in reasonably moderate news terms. Of course, there was a ter rible argument when the paper came out to stagger the world. There was one good aspect to the unpleasant ness—a joyous staff had the privilege of hearing the senior reporter criti cise the editor’s writing and emerge from verbal conflict unscathed.