In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 10, 12 January 1929, Page 26

In the Public Eye

Commissioner James, Hay. Forty-seven years.'ago. a. young-cadet 6(. a- Scottish branch of'.tli'o Salvation Army expressed his determination .to V|>e a'credit to tho,.cause he had espoused, and itc/seems. that his declaration reached its 'fulfilment... . He,, first en- ' "-.' "■'■:.■ tered the work

from Go van Corps, Glasgow, as ,a lieutenant, and since then he has pas so d through all ranks until ho has attained that of territorial commissioner. As a young: officer, he rose at 5.30 -in the summer and 0 o'clock 'in" the

•■•■'• , ■ ■ winter, aiid retired at 10 each evening, unless special ('alls kept/ him later, and in all his leaking hours service was given to the cause of the Salvation Army. 'By t.lie time lie had reached his nineteenth year he; was a. captain, and- at the age of twentytwo was a staff officer. All through 'his: career he ha's successfully . striven to .cultivate all his powers, whether o'£ mind or the heart, and for. evidence" of this .one. has only to. recall that tyenty-five ..years after he,left the .'garrison at Clapton, a young lieutenant not yet out of his;teens, he returned, with the rank'of .-commissioner to take upi the , position' of 1 International Training Principal. He-has had a Taried experience, and close association with the fo.under of the. Army, and particularly with ;'General " Bramwell Booth, who/; as Chief of Staff, was his immediate' chief during the eight years Commissioner Hay was;. British Chief Secretary. This; training,,together with special knowledge';of the organisation of the. Salvation (Army which he has jicquir.ed, fitted him to take- on the office of President, of the Council to ■•which. he: was'':elected during the present week, and to,guide its deliberations to a successful, conclusion.. Commissioner Hay's next "appointment was to the territorial 'eommaiid of Australia, where ho carried, out valuable work, bringing, to the position a great deal of. organising and administrative ability, as well,as statesmanship of a very high order, with'the result that the Commonwealth • sooii felt the m-ge of liis leadership. . For twelve years he ■laboured in the Australian field, during which the Army's: cause advanced in leaps and bounds.','.* The attendances increased., tremendously, cadets in training increased from 58 in 1909 to 213 iii 1921, the year of his 'departure,, there w'as,.aiy. increase of more than ,i) 00 officers,;¥6o hew. buildings were erected, 'and.34" new. social institutions opened,'; while the Army's income; in- : creascd 100 per cent. He was then sent Home to take on the duties of British ./Commissioner, but his health broke down, under the cold and damjjpess after, the.congenial climate or ■Australia, so he . was sent'to South '.'Africa, where.'he made equally notable ' jidvnnties. -In - September 'of . 1926 he became Commissioner in charge, of New Zealand, 'and his work in this Dominion need not be' enumerated on this • .'occasion, as it,.is': already well known . ;jiihl appreciated.' '; Throughout most of !!}iis career the,. Commissioner has had the invaluable support !of his .wife, who possesses a remarkable, capacity for public and, i-ulminitratiYe undertakings., She ,hiis done" '■valuable' work --in the slums of London, making it a.centre of Army fightingi/which' has 'yielded amazing 'trophies'..^ •;.>."."

Sir Tlipmas Be'ecliam. ; Tlie. association o" .twu such fanious jnusiea']'- celebrities ',as Dame N v ellie Mclba. and.Sir Thomas'ißeccham in any projep" shouidiina'tiirdlly vmean: its .success, aiia,,thevfact r.thiii these' two" have dpcid,ed'^o;3fi'lii)(;h^a;sieheme;; : foi' rebuildl

'.--. ing.'iCbvcnt. Gar- . ""deii Opera House 'i:"fl.s: i\' national uu- ■■;' .■.(lertn'king,. withj/ the-' Support of -r-iho -Britisli ;• Em- ■ ■ pire for Snaneial ... - .backing,'-"-V should .v'-rinbtin •the .-" carry-' .-, iiig out. of one of ■■''the- biggest. thea- ■: .trical plans .■everinaugurated. Sir , Thomas Bfiecham ;■■■ has never writ-

..,'■•■ i ■■■■-.:' -p^i; '-.' ■;■■'. .toil' any famous composition, nor.has' lie ever.' become Ilre.jnia.ster of ■•■'any instrument,-, but lie lias.the 'marvclloiis.talent 'of being able to into ''orchestration the. wotks .'df the; great ■composers;.:.written originally for-the piano br:yoices. He is also-one of the-, few. British conductors ;\vho arc, entitled-, to^ be" torined an' impresario^—anorganiser, of-public entertainment. "Sir ThoiMs^.wfis'' educated at..Bpssall; Schbdl=; anYlV.^adhaiii :.Ce.lleg'c, Oxford,-.and gave, his! fii'sif-eoncert with tlie-.iQueen's Hallv Orchestra in 1905, ■ when he was twentyrsjx-''years;6ld. He founded and;, afterwards conducted the, jN'cw Symphony and •Bc.echam VSym phony .Orchestras, .and"'' also' the Beecham Opera Coinpaiiy.' -f,After- producing operas,-byi Delius: and;' otliei is..at Covcn't. Gardeii. Theatre, in 1910/ ho. gave ;ti bvilliant season.; of Russian opera and ballot at i),i-ui-y Lane in; 1013, when Chalia]itii;c,.. took- the title'role ; in ''Boris." JJui'ing- the war - Sir':Thomas, conducted:; a 'season ot'< opera :in ■English' at' the iShat'tsliury Theatre, folio wed -by' others at tli'e, y* A Itlwycli. /]'« .-iOlfijh'e '-.'■. was Iniiglittul,. sueceediiig 1"' to'-his father's baronetcy the same year. ..-..Later on'he' jirodiiced Kuasian, Italian, ; and German operas at,' Drury Lane, returning in; 1939 to Covcnt'Garden, .where- he £H.vo a first pefforniance" of ,Maisoiict's "Thcrese." Th 6; following ;year he".launched the Grand Opera Syndicate, a-disastrous venture,.which entailed the loss of a considerable sum of Jiipiiey. ■ It a(lded, ho^^^oyel■ ) to his musical' reputation, .the operas produced beirtg .by Debussy; Puccini, Bizet, and others. The .work which Sir Thomas" undertook of producing some of.; the'iiiost famous of the Continent-al-operas in English lias been of great value,, md contributed • largely to tho j'mnidatioji of the British National Opera- Company.

Dr. Jnlius Maniu.

A c.liiingc of Government' recently'Occurred'ni the Humanism Parliament, Dr. Julius"iManiu, Leader of Hie Peasant Party, being charged, with the task of forming v new Cabinet. He was naturHy very elated when the task, was first entrusted to him, as he has been fighting for his party over ft. number oE ..years, and (■ongratulat ion s !• & vo since 'ponreel :i'n upon ii'uii froni all- parts 'of';'Euvdpe. M. Titiiloseo vainly^ enifjcavoured X" to iov')\) . a ; : Cabinet by means of a co-

alition, but . lio

, '■"; ■ '. '.was ..unable 'to bring his own and the Liberal Parties into entire agreement. -While.-'Dr. Jtaniu was being received in audience by. tlic'ilßcgciits, a groat crowd collected outside the Palace, filling the square, whicly'has been the scene of so many dramatic happenings. When he reappeared, ho was greeted with- frantic r'litjiusiasiii, and it was half an hour before his car, with cheering supporters swarming on the running boards,

was able to -push its -way clear. With Dr. Vayda-Vocvod, who also has a seat in the new Cabinet, Dr. Maniu was leader of the Bumanian National Movement in Transylvania before the Great War, and was one of the heads of the Directoratp which, after the Armistice, voted for-union with 1 Bumania. Dr. Maniu has: made his mark as a, leader in the long fight.for theJast ten years against the Liberal Party,, during. which, by sheer 'force of ■ character, .ho hus kept a most heterogeneous Opposition united and under control. He is revered by his followers for his unquestioned integrity and disinterestedness. •. • A . peasant by origin, he started his career as a. villago schoolmaster. Ho has shown remarkable ability, and has a wonderful grasp of affairs in. Parliament, representing one of the,, strongest forces in the Cabinet, it is understood thatione of Dr. Maniu's strongest objectives will be to»get on'better terms with Hungary and to.dissipate the. bad feeling which has arisen through, overmuch controversy. In a statement shortly after he had announced his Cabinet, Dr., Maniu, said: "Our'first aim will*'be to give :the principles' of' the Constitution their real; meaning and. impart a character of-, strict legality to the working of •tho. Administration. . . As to foreign policy . . ... we shall, maintain existing friendships \and alliances, and try to establish good relations with ail our neighbours."

Madame Sigrid Undset. Last year's Nobel Prize for Literature was'awarded to Madame • Sigrid Undset, who for nearly a decade has been acknowledged as the literary genius of Norway.;' She is the daughter of a professor of archaeology, who died .;.■':.<;"'''■ „ when she was

but a small child, her mother being a Scots lady. She and her mother were left with ;■'■.. very little money when the professor died, and the .'. daughter, after . passing school age, was compelled to earn her living by typewriting, her desire to be a

writer finding its expression in her spare time. From her twentieth birthday she. was making an income sufficiently large to make her and her mother financially independent, bnt real success did not come to her until 1920, when she published "Kristin Lavransdatter," a three-volume novel. Referring to the period ; of her life tyheii she was a typist, she', said 1 recently that she was employed in that manner for ten years and three months. "The three mouths of that time was endurable because everything was new to me, but the rest was dreadful," she said. "I would rather have polished my father's boots than have had.to obey orders from a man whom I do not know." Madame Undset was born at Kallundborg, in Denmark, on 20th May, 1882, and after completing her studies at the Christian Mercantile College, entered a city office in 1899 and remained a clerk until 1909. During this period she gained an intimate knowledge of. the empty and unenlivened existence of the girls with whom she came in contact, and utilised her experience'"lll her first literary works, initiated in 1907 by "Fru Maria Oulie." ..In 1912 she achieved fame by the, great Christiania novel "Jenny,'' which was translated into English in 1920, a book remarkable for its courageous treatment of an erotic problem. After revealing in one of her -minor:,works the religious crisis, in her mind, which, in 1925, caused her to join the Roman Catholic Church, Madame Undset published her greatest work, "Kristin .Lavransdatter." This particular'work •.■■.shows- psychological depth and-an. ability .to. appraise the .mind and temper of bygone ages, bait these qualities are nowhere enlivened by a sense of humour. Her literary successes have enabled her to build a spacious house near the small town of Lillehamnier, where her love for the past lias found expressy^n in the style of its architecture. Beside her work and "-her children, her interests are. divided between the; growing of rare flowers and the running of a marionette theatre,'for which; she writes her own plays. ■-.- ''.■'..' . ' ,;. . .■:.'. i

Dame Nellie Melba. According ..to'- cable advices during the- present week; Dame jSrellie Melba, the famous Australian prinia donna, who is perhaps better known in Eng'a.i;.l and Europe than she is in New Zealand, nr even, in her native land of

Australia, is in-, teresting herself in the rebuilding, .of the famous. Covent, Gar- , den Opera House - as.an Empire un- ■"■ clert-akmg. • In combination with . Sir Thomas Beecham and many •'■ * other musical celebrities, siie. '' proposes to make .' an appeal for

■ , •: '■'.' '' '■, '" funcls from ■ all parts of the I.British Empire to.'builil "a vast Empire Opera House." Dame ;Ne.lli6 Melba has always bcon a wotnan to take full advantage-; of her opportunities, mid there seems to be no reason why her present scheme should not be'as'successful as her own career has been. 'She first captured the Australian musical public by her rendering of the character of the Princess of Delhi :ijr "Lalla Rooldi,;' which was played in Melbourne, and from that performance -her fame went forth to grow and grow, until to-day she is the most " famous of the world's living' women singers. Dame Nellie was born in 1859, at. Burnley, near Melbourne, her father being: a contractor of Scottish blood. She first sang publicly when only a child of six years and she was'afterwards given a splendid musical education. In 1882 she married' Captain Charles Armstrong, and four years later she went to Paris to study singing under the famous teacher, Madame- Mathikle Marehesi, whoso (laughter, Madame Blanche Marchi'si,' also a fam«us singer, was associated with her. In 1887 she made her debut an opera at' Brussels, taking the stage, name of Madame Mclba from her connection with Melbourne. In the next year she sai:g the part of Lucia di Lammermqor, which, has ever since remained oho of her favourite roles, and in which she has been particularly successful - at Covent Garden, which building she now seeks to.rebuild. Critics have -.frequently complained of her coldness as an aetrcss. but- her liquid -voice and brilliant execution have made ,/hcr famous as ■thji greatest successor to Adolina Patti, especially in pure vocalisation, on the operatic-I'' stage. • She .Has maintained 'this position '■, for a great ninny years, her triumphs ' being- celebrated in almost every country,, and it is c/'iy a year or two back that she decided finally ■to retire from active operatic work, ■ though still maintaining her interest,in the"world's music. -