MIGHT HAVE TO REMAIN

New Zealand Tablet, 30 October 1913, Page 61

MIGHT HAVE TO REMAIN

When Mr. Joseph Cannon was the United States Speaker of the House of Representatives he once rose in response to a toast at a dinner and began his remarks so as to create the initial laugh which is so much desired by orators as a preparation for weightier matter to follow. 'Astronomers tell us,' he began, 'according to the_ gentleman who has just sat down, that an express train moving a hundred miles a second would consume several million years in reaching a certain star.' He paused and looked toward the guest to whom he had referred. That was the statement,' said the Speaker's neighbor, nodding. ' I was just thinking,' pursued Mr. Cannon, 'what a predicament a man would be in if he should miss the last train and have to walk.'