The Waipawa Mail WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5, 1928. CURRENT TOPICS.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XLIX, Issue 148, 5 September 1928, Page 2

The Waipawa Mail WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 5, 1928. CURRENT TOPICS.

The All Black Tour. Saturday’s win by the All Blacks against the pick of South African Rugbyites was a fitting climax to a most successful tour. When the team left the shores of New Zealand there were many supporters who anticipated a repetition of the success which attended the last tour of Britain, but they reckoned without taking count of the prowess of the Springboks, and without giving due consideration to the difficulties which a touring team has to overcome in South Africa, particularly in regard to the exigencies of travel and the nature of the playing areas. The first real shock came when the All Blacks were beaten by the Cape Town Clubs, and when this loss was followed by another against Transvaal and defeat in the first Test, the pessimists were on the box seat. Then came a series of successes, and hopes rose that they would yet pull off the Test supremacy, but when they lost the third match against South Africa and also "the next against Western Province, it must be admitted that the prospects

were not by any means encouraging. However, a brilliant effort capped the tour and saved the situation. But, apart from the success of the tour from the Rugby standpoint, it will have a far-reaching effect in bringing the two dominions closer together, in cementing those Imperial bonds which are far more effective in preventing war than so-called peace pacts. To those players who constituted the All Black team the tour must have been of great educational value, and they have had an experience the memory of which will live with them through life.

Well Deserved Honor. It was recently announced that Professor A. W. Bickerton had been honored in New Zealand by Canterbury College conferring upon him the title or degree of “Professor Emeritus,” the highest honor which a New Zealand University has at its disposal. Although he has now been a resident of England for a number of years, Professor Bickerton is by no means unknown to residents of the Dominion, especially by those who are capable of reviewing the past twenty-five or thirty years. He and his family lived at Wainoni Park, Christchurch, where besides delving into the mysteries of astronomy the professor made many fireworks to delight the hearts of juveniles, and incidentally to make a little money to make ends meet. Professor Bickerton first eame to New Zealand in 1874 as Professor! of Chemistry to the New Zealand University, remaining in that position until 1902, but the greater part of his time was spent in the study of astronomy, in which he occupies a pre-eminent place. The professor has written a number of books dealing with the heavenly bodies, many of which are recognised as classics, and though he has many opponents to his theories he is generally admitted to he one of the great astronomers of the present time.