From My Verandah

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 56, Issue 4047, 13 May 1938, Page 3

From My Verandah

j Notes on the Passing Show |

By

J. T. P.

“ The Little Digger.” A West Coast “Digger” who was at The Landing, made the trip with the Anzacs to Sydney and, in the course of a letter to J.T.P., from Wellington, where he is reporting, makes some interesting observations, not the least entertaining being his references to “the Little Digger,” as “Billy” Hughes, Australia’s war-time Prime Minister is affectionately known on “the other side.” The correspondent says that Mr Hughes was one of the most interesting personalities met on the tour. He was somewhat surprised to find that Australian ex-servicemen have an affection, almost a veneration, for the white-haired but determined little man who was at the helm of Australia’s destinies during the dark days of war. Twice during the great Anzac Day march Mr Hughes was rescued by the police from enthusiastic Australians and New Zealanders who tried to get him to join the marchers. Immediately lie appeared outside the Commonwealth offices in Martin Place the “little digger” was hailed by some of the marchers. Breaking the lines, several surrounded him. Clasping him by both hands, they urged him to fill a place in the ranks. Mr Hughes took it good-hum-ouredly, but shook his head. Another police officer moved up alongside the one with whom Mr Hughes was standing. Thousands of diggers cheered and shouted their tributes to Mr Hughes as they passed. At times he was compelled to use both hands to meet the demands of those 1 who wished to shake hands with him. “Good old Billy!” and “Come on, Little Digger!” were some of the calls. “To day’s march will remain the most me movable of our Anzac Day celebra Hons,” said Mr Hughes later. “They left me with an impression which passing years will never efface. I recaptured some of the exaltation of spirit that entered into the peoples of Australia and New Zealand when the Mews of The Landing was first made known. Australia’s prosperity is due to the men who fought for this country. We must never forget that, nor must we ever forget the price al which it was purchased . ... It is not enough to rally to the banner when tiie tocsin rings out; long and arduous preparations are necessary to enable a free people to defend their country, and the world events to-day should brand these lessons on our souls.” Turn nil nous Reception. The New Zealanders were fortunate enough to meet and hear Mr Hughes speak at the luncheon which was given to them by their hosts at the Sydney Trocadero, a huge building which comfortably seated the 3000 men present. On rising to propose the toast of “Anzac,” Mr Hughes found himself unable to proceed with his speech for about three minutes because of the tumult of cheering. Having uttered “ten thousand words of welcome” to the New Zealand contingent, he declared that Anzac stood out like a great mountain on a wide plain. The lesson of Anzac, of its sacrifices and suffering and heroism, had burned itself into the hearts ol the people. It taught us that none but the valiant could win and hold freedom, and that our liberty, if it were again called in question, would once more call for sacrifice. This grand old man, who instantly won tin affection of all New Zealanders, spoke in a voice heard plainly in all parts of the huge building. Journey. She stood upon a stage, the triumph h ers. Around her feet, in petalled splendour heaped. Lay flow’r on flow’r in azure. gold and rose. Radiant her face and sweetly proud her pose. Amid the plaudits from a thousand throats She drank deep of the glory of the world. She knelt beside a cradle. Tn it lay .1 dimpled rosy babe with sunny hair. Whose tiny hand, outflung. held fast her own. The mother smiled. For from that grasp alone (fame sweet content. 'Twits mirrored in, her eyes Since noir she knew the joy that’s in the world. Sin stood beside a grave. All that had been Had vanished like the sun of yesterday. Her hopes and dreams, her laughter and her love Lay buried there. Front o'ercast skies above She felt the rain like teardrops on her head— Iler heart filled with the sorrow of the world. She lay al rest. About her oner' again Were blossoms grouped, their colours manifold. Their beauty and their fragrance filled tire air And all was still and calm. Gone was all care. All grief and pain had fled —and in their place Had come to her the peace of God’s own world. K. I. M. This Birth-Rate Business. Every woman will acclaim the news that Senora Rafaela Corrias has given birth to six girls and a boy at the same confinement. Before treating this as a record, one must make a few investigations. Admittedly, official records do not even contemplate events of this nature. The odds against twins are 8000 to 1, and the odds against quadruplets ar© 1,000,000 to 1, and against quintuplets 57,000,000 to 1. Above that odds are rarely given. Not many years ago it was mentioned in some medical reports emanating

from America that a native of Italy had produced 22 children in two confinements, ten at the first effort and 12 at the second. A case more authentic than this was reported in 1936 from Serbia. Madame Vibovics startled the neighbourhood by giving birth to ten living children or her twentyfirst birthday. Previously, however, she had had two sets of twins and two sets of triplets, making 20 children by the age of 21 years. Past Records. If these increasing references in the news to the birth of quadruplets, quintuplets and now septuplets mean packed nurseries in the near future, the past has set records that will take some beating. The children of a settler named Webb, in the Cumberland district of Kentucky, lived to see 1651 of their progeny. Jason, the eldest brother, was responsible for 444 descendants. Miles had 402. The three sisters contributed 230, 208 and 201 respectively. The roll concludes with the modest effort of the youngest brother, who contributed a mere 166. It is on record that Mrs Shiver, of South Georgia, spent the last of her life visiting in strict rotation the homes of her descendants that numbered 310 in tour generations. Mrs Sarah Woolf, of Utah, left 303 living descendants when she died, aged 91 years, including 189 great-grandchild-ren and 23 great-greats. “ Large Families." For devotion, to family matters it would be hard Io find a record more splendid than that of a peasant girl who lived in Tuscany. This woman had “large families” in her blood. She was the twin daughter of a woman who was herself one of triplets. Gravata started the foundations of her family with a baby girl. This was followed in the course of time with a further contribution in the shape of six little sons. Next year the husband, now somewhat alarmed, was presented with five more sons. Two sets of triplets were then followed by quadruplets. Ones and twos then appeared with four boys as the grand finale. This brought the family circle up to 62 living children. It must not be forgotten, however, that Edward Henry, of the State of Georgia, U.S.A., had 60 children. But it took five wives to produce that total. General Gomez, ot Venezuela, moreover, is stated to have been the father of 111 children. They all lived at his ranch, which had 200 rooms. .l.s’ The World Goes Round. In ■ more peaceful circumstances than Spain, Te Awamutu has now got its up-to-date bull ring with the promise of motor drivers and cars in place of the matador and the toreador. These Te Awamutu bandsmen are great. When they are not dispensing harmony to the public, they are fighting among themselves like Kilkenny cats. The musical temperament fully developed, no doubt! The new Te Awamutu Borough Council should be able to keep things moving, as no less than four member. 1 : are directly or indirectly connected with the motor transportation business, while that good sport and City Father, Cr C. J. Spiers, can boast of, or regret, a conviction for “cutting the corner” - just over 30 years ago when, as a horse bus proprietor, he trotted his team around Stewart Dawson’s corner at Wellington and thereby committed a breach of the city’s by-laws, which ordained that that part of the journey should be performed at a walking pace. Will Cr. All. Rowan find the municipal going as tough and as hard as that which Cheval de Volee sometimes encounters on the racecourse? Once again we have had exemplified to us the Biblical assertion that “the first shall be last, and the last first.” At Wednesday’s municipal poll, the four candidates whose names were on the bottom of the ballot paper came out in reverse order at the top of the poll. There is something in a name after all. Yesterday our esteemed citizen, Mr J. F. Brooks, chemist, was congratulated on numerous occasions on becoming a City Father as a result of Wednesday’s poll. Blushingly he disclaimed the greatness thrust upon him and had to take some pains explaining that the honour was not his but that of Mr A. C. Brookes, Public Works overseer. Still J.T.P. could record quite a number of instances wherein a vote was deliberately cast for that “nice man Brooks” (the chemist). In the welter of debate and discussion regarding the pros and cons ol the proposed site for Te Awamutu’s clock tower, everyone seems to have lost sight of the paramount governing factor. Who is to pay the piper? Who is going to find the £l5OO necessary for the work? Ask anyone in Te Awa mutu and the answer is just a bland smile. ’Nuf sed. Mayors and the Epidemic. There are very very many people in New Zealand who pride themselves in the belief that they get intorfiiatlon "right from the horse’s mouth,” and they can now add J.T.P. to the list of good and faithful tipsters. Because J.T.P. did get one very valuable piece of information straight from the horse itself that is except for the fact that rue Horse happened to be a mayor or mare, or however you spell it. The horse’s name was Georgie Unopposed and of course everybody knows that Georgie is a good goer whether the going be hard or soft. Well, they were discussing the cattle scourge that has so badly affected the countryside and the losses present

and future. Georgie, just kept his nose in the feed-bag so to speak and said nuffin’. But when the others had brought the discussion to the point of a major disaster a calamity even— Georgie whispered to J.T.P. that it was pretty bad, no doubt, but it could be still worse. “Think,” he said, “of the disaster it would be if the mayors were similarly afflicted!” Now, you can take another tip from J.T.P. It. is this: Georgie Unopposed will set the pace, run true to form, and finish strongly, even if he has to do a bit of hurdling to get over that two feet obstacle he told the Council lors about last Monday night. Recreation for AU. The remarks contained in the following paragraph could, with some degree of justification, be applied to Te Awamutu: The president of the Wanganui Hockey Association (Mr A. C. Watts) expressed concern at a recent meeting at the comparatively low percentage of young men (aged between 16 and 25) who take part in any winter sport. “On Saturday afternoons in the winter months weedy youths smoking cigarettes are to be seen on every corner,” Mr Watts said. “The physical standard could be improved .100 per cent if these boys could be induced to go in for any form of winter sport. It is estimated that some 6000 take no part at all.” Unfortunately nearly every town in New Zealand can be brought within this undesirable category. It is to this class of youth which the National Council of Physical Welfare and Recreation will be called upon to give attention. The Minister has made it clearly evident that the underlying idea of the new scheme is to encourage all to indulge in recreation that will be healthful and tend to physical fitness. He does not want to see hundreds of “side-liners” while a few indulge in sport—and exercise and recreation. It is to be hoped that the Minister will witness the materialisation of his ideal, for it is by tffiat means only that the people will be prevented from deteriorating into a Cl nation. A Pied Piper. Our Post and Telegraph Department are noted for their up-to-date methods, but they apparently are not so advanced as our American cousins Some years ago (according to “The Katipo”) a country post office in the land of the Stars and Stripes, waitroubled by rats and mice. After a good deal of writing to headquarters permission was given to the office tc get a cat and its keep was paid for by the Government. There are now 2,206 cats living on the bounty of the ratepayers, and only a condition that first and secopd class offices may employ feline members of the staff doubtless saves the ratepayer from having to keep an army of cats. Now Mr Post-master-General, what about it? Are your offices free from rats and mice, or are you able to conjure a Pied Piper to free them from vermin?. “ Bobby Calves." In regard to the recent inquiry from Panetapu with reference to the origin of the term “bobby calves,” an old Te Awamutu resident states that in Lincolnshire and neighbouring countries of England fully sixty years ago it was an almost universal prac-

tice among farmers to kill the young calves not required as potential additions to the herds later on. The calves were bled by tapping a vein in the neck, then kept in a small pen un til next day, when they were killed the effect of the bleeding being tG leave the flesh white. Just before the killing, the calves would be very weak and “tottery,” and were referred to as “staggery bobs,” a term expres sive of the condition of the animal. It was at that, time not thought to be cruel to bleed the calves. When killed, the carcase was hung up by the nose, disembowelled, and skinned, the latter being commenced with a cut across the face and round under the throat, and so on to flay the whole body. The flesh was white, and considered by epicures to be with out equal in attractiveness and flav our. The old Lincolnshi reman says the term in common use nowadays, “bobby calves,” probably originated from “staggery bobs.” A Budget of Stories. J.T.P.’s Puahue correspondent sends in this little collection: “It is my privilege and honour,” said the best, man nervously, “to propose the health of the bridesmaids. I would only express the hope that, in the near future they will, one and all, be taking the place of the bride.” Jones—Do you agree with the theory that a man and his wife eventually get so they think of the same things? Bones —Certainly. Why, right now, my wife is thinking of the things she is going to say to me for getting home late—and so am I. Judge—Do you consider the defendant a reliable man? Has he a good reputation for truth and veracity? Witness—Well, to be honest with you, that man has to get somebody else to call his pigs at feeding-time. They won’t believe him. Wife: So you met Smith again? Husband: Yes and although he has not seen you for twenty years he recognised you at once. Wife: It was probably not me he recognised, but my hat and coat. Still Hope ! Mr R. Coulter, the re-elected Mayor of Te Aroha, and Labour M.P. lor the present Waikato seat, remains in a state of single blessedness. Addressing the electors the other night. Mi Coulter, mentioning his single station in life, smilingly remarked that it was not his fault, but rather his misfortune. While there was life there was hope, however, and some day in the near future he might yet surprise Te Aroha. (Applause.) For the Kiddies: “Why is a rabbit’s tail white?” The answers given are bewildering in their variety. Some say a rabbit’s tail is a danger signal to all other rabbits, and is shown only when he’s making a frightened bolt to his burrow. Others say this popular belief is a fallacy, since the white tail tells the hunter (not necessarily the man with the gun—but the natural hunter) where to mark his quarry. Further theories advanced would indicate that at one time the rabbit changed colour with the coming of winter —as does

the ermine—but that for some unaccountable reason the tail never changes. Or again, that the white tail is used as an attention-getter to attract a passing friend —in the manner of a ship-wrecked sailor waving his shirt. Who why a rabbit’s tail is white?