LONDON'S RUDEST MAN

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 57, 8 March 1930, Page 20

LONDON'S RUDEST MAN

BERNARD " SHAW &NB HIS:' KETOMT

; When Mr. Bernard Shaw, replied to an-invitation to a New York dinner in his honour, '"Thank" you for -nothing ■. ' . . blood sacrifices are not in my line," he may Have-surprised'his-'Ame-rican admirers, tut" official hosts in London have proudly collected countless similar; refusals/says a writer in ;an overseas journal. ,'/' ' ; '. . ,\ '■■ 'Of these- the classic example is prob|ably.:his; reply, to. an' invitation to attend the Stratford centenary:- "I do keep my dwn:•- birthday, and I cannot see why I should keep.'"'■' Shake- -- ".•■■: .:'.''■ '.-.,'. ' . < ■ .;.The.reaspa .why secretaries"of numer;ous societies continue- to solicit, the. honour of Mr. Bernard Shaw's presence on every suitable occasion-is probably the fact that' 'an answer from Shaw, oven a T'tido; oiio, contributes-more .to the gaiety of a dinner .than all the perfunctory compliments of politer celebrities! > To have provided tho occasion for a bon mot,as better than to have a banquet;, for better and i duller men. If not over-ready with, the granting of his company) Mr. Shaw, on his side, fails to answer his letters. Kecently a big stores firm in London wrote to Shaw,- Wells, and. other colebritiea offering them an enormous fee. to .write a ..copy advertisement. ;Shaw, replied with' several ] pages of insult, autobiography, and. diatribes ■against dramatic critics who basely-ac-cept theatre tickets; The firm accepted tho reply gratefully—and printed it as a full-page advertisement. : ■ In 'refusing a ■ dinner invitation on thogrbund that he -ia a vegetarian, Mr. Shaw is, of course, quite sincere. He has always announced'theso principles, and given the reason that ho is a vegetarian not because eating meat is bad morality, but because it.is bad taste. Hp on'cei when sielc and hear to death, iwrote an .article deelaTing that his hearse ought to bo, drawn by all the he-had not eaten. Ho also, hates public.foasts, for ho haai no love, for college memories, and not the .slightest vestigo of a taste for Eotary Ito link him to other men's dinners and wine. Ho does not." drink toasts; he do.es-;'..'not-',.-Jvee]>' anniversaries; and though he-is, intensely; musical, nothing on earth would persuade him to sing—; least of all a-chorus. r .-■■, v Vet-London has grown to relish >this austere 'Irishman's brusque retorts. It forgives him- the reference to "the Seven Deadly. Virtues,"and the bored response to; the '•' enthusiast, " Who was Hall Came?" Hosts do not resent.his refusals; and wtien ho replies to an invitation: with a few lines, of■ pointed abuse the chairman reads it at the fes-. tive gathering to delighted, if slighted guests..-.. ;■,;.: ■■.■■■■. ~ . ..... : ■ ' , ' .. Whatiisith.o secret _of_ the .popularity which in his old age has overtaken theagile humorist? (- - - The first fact:that- those who hear him on ; the platform realise, if wo may believe; another- great humorist, is his c voice, f'Primarily,'',says Mr. G. K. 1 Chesterton, "it is the voice of an Irish- i :nlan) and:then-(something-of the voice r of a musician. It possibly explains s

The voice,: according to this criticj is not only Iris,t^ arid1 agreeable,'it is also frank, .and; as.it .were, inviting confer-. once.' The "style and gesture • that go j with"., it.,are. caiual,, yet,.:.. forcible... No man can say, "I tell Mr. Jones he is totally wrong-"- with more air of un* forced and'.-'cas'uir':conviction. • ;■ ,' This ''talkativelrishman with a kind voice- and ta-browri-coat''. has ".'talked hims'eif intd' the; affections: of ■tirpse.whp mast disagree.,.with hini>. 4? ■■ ... ..-..-■ .;.; ... ' : Mr"; Shaw'sT'-face -has been- -iho ."delight- of caricaturists,;wli'd*"havo" shown it no mercy, :and;perhap3 not much justice, either... ..It. is. a .Mephistophelean face, with; fierce "f.uffed. eyebrows.. and pointed red beard,Vand : to make Shaw look like Satands' an. easy. as well as a doligbtful exercise. When recently Shaw appeared on the screen, most of us were surprised to-find that actually the facias well as the voice, was extremely benevolent. It is not only the humour of. Shaw -p'hich shows in his eyes, but the essential aloof kindliness of the man who all'his life has been the champion' of tho poor - (though .without much • sentimentality), - the' vegetarian for ppnsciencp . sake, and the fierce '.fighter.' against cruelty to animals.. , .... .. .' "By this-time,''' writes G. K. Ches"tertpn, ','his costume has .become a part of his personality; one has come to think of. tho reddish-brown Jaeger suit as -if it were a sort of reddish toowii fur, and was, like the liair and eyebrows, a part of tho animal; yet there are those who claim to remember a Bernard Shaw of yet more awful aspect before Jaeger came to hia assistance;, a Bernard Shaw in a dilapidated frock coat,'and aome, aort of straw hat.: I can hardly believe it; the man is" so much of a piece, and must always have dressed appropriately. In any .case, hia brown •\voollen clothes,' at. once artistic .and hygienic, completed the appeal for which he stood; which might be defined as an eccentric healthy-inindedncss." ' Mr. Shaw lias been as generous with publicity copy as Sarah ■ Bornhardt herself, "Wherehq sees a public fetish Ids practice has.been to kick it neatly bet»yeeji the ribs. ■ He refuses to pay 'the traditional homage to Shakespeare, and respects not the gravest conclusions of science. ' "When astronomers tell me," he says in one of his works, "that a star is so far off that its' light takes'a thousand of' years to feaeh us, ' the magnitude of the lie seems to me inartistic. " "...'' ■ His hearty boasts about himself hav.e provided paragraph writers with.neverfailing; material. .. —. -'-.. ~ .

-With all this, lessis known of Sliaw's private life than of any other celebrity of his day. In spite of the onslaughts of tourists, Adelphi Terrace guards his peape like any fortress, and all that is recorded of his private life is that he marriocV Miss Payne-Townsend, and .is an ideal husband;, < ■