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The Spike: or, Victoria University College Review, September, 1922

Birthday Greetings

page 33

Birthday Greetings.

It gives us great pleasure to announce that on the occasion of the celebration of "The Spike's" majority, we have received hundreds of entirely unsolicited and spontaneous testimonials from prominent citizens and readers all over the world. We print with modest hesitance a few extracts that have gratified us unspeakably.

"'The Spike' is one of those regrettable accidents which ought never have been allowed to happen."—Harcus Plimmer.

"I am sorry to see vice flaunted so openly in the face of the public…'The Spike' pains me."—Hon. C. J. Parr.

"Ah! Child of my nurture, thou hast fallen upon evil days, and art become the handmaiden of publicans and sinners. II Samuel I, 19."—P. B. Broad.

"I have followed the career of 'The Spike' with great interest. I am sorry circumstances precluded me from purchasing it as I feel sure I could have raised the circulation several thousands, almost at a bound."'—Shade of Lord Northcliffe.

"While expressing profound admiration for 'The Spike,' might I suggest for subsequent issues, some feature which will give scope for a little more display of the emotions. After all, it is Love which makes the world go round. I have discussed this with Professor F. P. Wilson and he agrees with me entirely."—Prof. Mackenzie.

"Congratulations on 'The Spike'! I wish, however, you would not send your rejected articles over here. Waste paper baskets are cheap and tasteful."—Ed. "Bulletin."

"'The Spike' is an epoch-making magazine. The bright, conversational atmosphere of its pages will go far towards socializing mankind. I myself have benefited enormously by its perusal."— Rev. H. B. Ward.

"I am rather disappointed. 'The Spike' once promised to become subject to the amusement-tax, but it is getting further and further away every day."—Rt. Hon. W. F. Massey.

I have 'The Spike'. It is a pernicious habit, and should be dropped."—Sir R. Stout.

"'The Spike' proves what I have always maintained about students, that one can't argue with children."—Messrs. J. P. Firth and V. Potter.

"For God's sake buy a typewriter."—The Printers.

"We read 'The Spike' with great interest. We are looking forward to seeing your comments upon our dear daughter Mary's marriage. What did you think of Edward? he told us that he had written to all the primary schools, so no doubt you got a letter from him."—King George V.

The above letter was most gratifying, but perhaps the most pleasing of them all was from C. Q. Pope and W. E. Leicester."Although we have both been rejected by the 'Bulletin" a good deal lately, yet in our prosperity we do not forget the dear old 'Spike' which took our infant efforts so kindly under its wing and in no small measure contributed to our present fame."

Another welcome communication was from Messrs. Lenin and Trotsky. It would be perhaps inadvertent to reproduce their exact words, but the substance of the letter was as follows: "We page 34 have read with great pleasure the official organ of yet another kindred society. Best wishes for your widely red paper."

Mr. Holland writes in somewhat similar terms about "year very bright (coloured, no doubt) little magazine."

Lord Jellicoe's communication was not quite so happy;"I am afraid I must discontinue taking 'The Spike.' It is causing insurrection in my household, and I am sure any publication so closely connected with that pernicious Debating Society should at least be discountenanced, if not suppressed."

We will close with a very choice literary tribute from an anonymous correspondent (whom, for obvious reasons, we suspect to be Prof. B. E. Murphy)."Hail, oh 'Spike'! Effulgent flower blossominig in a sea of dunces and dullards; whose clarion call doth summon man to rise from his couch of indifference and hold aloft the torch of progress four square to all the winds that blow."

Greetings.

Dear Spike—

Congratulations on your twenty-first birthday! We thank you for the invitation to participate in the celebrations, as conveyed in the pages of your last most excellent issue—and here is our modest but warm-hearted response.

Who are we, you ask? Admittedly you may not recognise us under the formidable, collective title appended hereto, though individually we were once of some account—but hush! we must not talk of ourselves, but of you.

Sufficient then, that as your grandparents and sometime foster-parents, we rejoice with you on this festive occasion, and glow with pardonable parental pride to behold the lusty development of the offspring (in part, at least) of our wild and radiant youth.

Why, what a man you have grown! Often we dream of the days when you were hut a little child (a knowing child, withal), in the old days when we toiled up the hill to the Old Clay Patch. Ah!Those days, those days!

Now that we are exiled far from Salamanca, we find it pleasant thus to dream; but we have done something more than dream. We have gathered ourselves together, and, fortified by a "constitution" redolent with high sounding legal phraseology, we have raised the Standard of the green and gold in this far-flung corner of the wild and woolly places. Already there have rallied round the old flag a goodly assortment of ardent elaypatchers of all years and all faculties. We have talked and sung of the old times, and we have talked much of you, dear "Spike."

By common voice we are agreed that you, and you alone can adequately fulfil the high destiny of keeping alive the old spirit, of welding closer the loved bonds that bind us to our Alma Mater—yea, though we be at the farthest extremities of the earth.

That you may grow ever lustier and stronger, oh "Spike," to fulfil that destiny is in very truth the sincere wish of—

Yours most affectionately,

The Association of Ex-Students of V.U.C.Resident in Otago.

George W. Reid, President.

Dunedin

, August 28, 1922.

Edith Davies, Vice-President.