In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXVIII, Issue 114, 10 November 1934, Page 21

In the Public Eye

The Eev. H. E. L. Sheppard, D.D., has accepted the carionry 4n ;Sfc '-Paul's Cathedral/vacant by the resignation of Canon Quick. "Dick"Sheppard is probably the best-known and most widely beloved priest in the' Church. , The appointment is in the gift of the Crown. It carries with it. the office of Precentor. Dr. Sheppard will thus, have a special responsibility for the ordering of the services in the Cathedral. From 1929 to 1931 he was Dean of Canterbury, but was obliged to : resign owing to persistent ill health. In the meantime he has, made, a : remarkable recovery of physical vigour, and is in robust health. ■ Sinco May he.has been in charge of his old parish of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, .while'the vicar,, the Key. W. P. MeCormick, has been _ taking his first real holidayin's'even year's.: 1 ■•' -' ■ It was at St. Martin's that "Dick" Sheppard first, came into great prominence. He filled the. church .to overflowing'by his simple preaching of the' Gospel. ' . ■ - • 'Ho was one of the first .to see the possibilities of wireless broadcasting. The .first' .religious broadcasts, were made from St. Martin's, and they.have continued regularly ever since. To him also.is due the 10.15 a.m. daily radio service which was conducted by one of his assistant curates. Though . that clergyman is now rector of .a country parish he remains responsible for'the service, ■ ; . ■. • • M In ecclesiastical, affairs Dr.. Sheppard has gained^ a reputation, for. icono.clasm. His book, "The Impatience of a Parson," published in 1927,. made a stir owing to its attack on. complacency arid rigidity in .the Church of England. . ■ Sir Dan Godfrey. ' • j . Sir Dim Gocfrey has conducted his last symphony concert before his re: tirement and was given 'ah ' enthusiastic reception by a large audience .-.at Bournemouth. He made a'brief-speech at the end and offered to head a -sub-scription-list for a' fund for mombCTS of the .orchestra' who-,woii]d be thrown out of employment by the Teorganisa: tion scheme of his successor (Mr. Biqhard Austin). Sir Dan shook hands with his deputy conductor and walked "off the platform- ivith bowed head at the end; amid the plaudits of audience and orchestra; ' In his farewell speech the retiring conductor said that that was about the two thousandth symphony concert given by the Municipal Orchestra under his conductorship since 1897, ■ and ;'it was a unique chapter in British music. He mentioned that his successor believed that, the term "symphony" frightenedl'people away, and in future the Wednesday concerts at Bournemouth would no longer be called symphony concerts. Referring to the new musical policy adopted by' the corporation, Sir Dan said that tha .borough . council had acceded to Mr.-Austin's request 'for full authority to reorganiso the orchestra for the new requirements,; and bring it in all respects "up to stand: ard." Mr. Austin was entitled to the. best possible available talent to assist him in his very responsible work, and this meant that fourteen- of the players there that day terminated their, en : gageinents' on the following Sunday., There were some, r like himself, well over sixty, who should give way to younger men,,but these men were', not eligible under the Superannuation Act. A very definite .pledge had been given that, every possible J consideration would be given in these and other cases, but he suggested that there wero some who -would like to augnionifc 'tho council's grant, and he offered to head, a subscription • list. '. ■ ' • Regarding younger men' who would not be re;engaged Sir Dan said: "There is a fear that they will be seriously prejudiced by the wide publicity caused by the statement, 'Below standard.' This definition is only a point of view. I have* always required a very high standard.'1. A player may suit one conductor but not another." In conclusion he thanked the 'orchestra for their- consistently loyal cooperation and said there was every confidence that' Mr,- Austin would at least maintain Bournemouth's, musical reputation. . M. Vantcho Michailoff. Judging by 9,11 the signs, the. Georgieff Government in, Bulgaria is having more success in its-campaign against the Macedonian revolutionaries, than was expected. , This movement,-, which for fifteen years terrorised not only thethree Macedonian provinces of Bulgaria but .also' Sofia and other parts of the country, as well as the various Governments,, is now dissolved,. disarmed, and checkmated, its leaders either imprisoned, or interned" in concentration camps. Tho task of cleaning up this dangerous organisation, which during the last fifteen'years had poisoned Bulgaria's relations with Yugoslavia, proved less difficult than ■ anybody expected. The lion's share of tho work was done by a single regiment. . As an epilogue to this round-up came the news that .the most dangerous man of the movement,, its supreme leader, Vantcho Michailoff, had made good hi.s escape to Turkey. ~ - •■ . .Michailoff, a comparatively . young man} was the evil spirit of the movement. Former leaders, such as, the famous Todor Alcxandroff or .General Protpgeroff, had at least a broader political '■'outlook.. Michailoff was a child of the Macedonian mountains, limited and. ferocious. He had been the bodyguard of. Todor Alexandroff, and a-de-voted/ servant of. his master. After Alexaridroffi's murd.br he forcibly.., socured'the succession to the leadership. This, was nearly ten. years ago, iyid'eyer sinco he had conducted a'merciless feud against all Macedonians who did * not agree with his vic.ws.' .The Government's clcaning-up campaign,' however, deprived .him of his best lieutenants, and he. fled from tho country to escape certain arrests With his wife, Mencia Karhiciu (whose name became famous when ten years ago she murdered tho Federalist, leader. Todor Panizza in Vienna), lie'reached Burgas in a motorcar, and from this town he succeeded in crossing the Turkish Thrace.

Luigi Pirandello, wfio has been awarded the Nobel Prize for literature, has b'eeri Uhei ifnost widely-: 'discussed dramatist in the wo_r\d. For this middle-aged, grey, gesticulating Sicilian forced upon European and American attention a• new dramatic form: •a; form difficult to ■ explain in just so many words, but a form that "intellectuals" everywhere are agreed' is remarkable. A thing is so, if: it seems1 so—that; briefly, is Pirandello's dramatic credo. He relies upon psychological situation rather than upon plot and incident in his play-making. Muob' of his "action" happens only in'the trains of the characters he puts on the stage, and the audience has to follow, it in those brains. ' It sounds all very difficult and obscurej but Pirandello has the' genius to I make clear what he is driving at. He j contrives to bo vivid, and ho is held Ito rank with Ibsen and Shaw. ; : I In' his early days lie was a school- , master who wrote short stories and 'novclsih his'spare time.' One of- his i.novels, "Il:Fu Mattia Pascal," is very famous in Tt'aly. He suffered the' common lot of so many geniuses, being freely abused and ridiculed. People could' riot, label his work, and, not understanding it, jeered at it. But .in the end he won;, his "Six Characters •■ in ' Search.•' of 'an Author,'' a strange, original piece m which'half a.dozen half-forirfed psychological entities force'a'theatrical-man-ager to' Jet them try'to '."work-out themselves, 4t last /gained. him wide consideration^ ' ; ' Pirandello spends most of his time in Borne, where Tie runs a 1 little-purple arid silver box': of'a theatre.-.called' the Teatrp dell' Arte'in !a; .biiildihg-that was once a stable', partly subsidised by the Government ana : independent ■; of its box-office." .'.''■' ' • '. ' , Dr. N. Gordon Munro. ' ; The stoVy of the-destruction by fire of the results of a' unique research into -tl[e history. Of. ft rapidly vanishing primitive- race hrts -been revealed in England. ' -:, Dr. N., Gordon .Munro ( had spent years of his.life aniong the Ainu people in Yezo, Japan, slowly and.laboiious-, ly collecting 'data by. observation, re-' search, and questioning^ and cross-' questioning. Then., one ', night tho native hut ie 'which ho" was living caught fii-e, and all of his papers were destroyed.". Although in weak health, Dr. Munro simply recommenced, with ,the help of the British 'Ass,ociation,_ his painstaking investigations, and_ is now, in process of making'good his loss. But now he has to work against time, for the Ainu are as a-race vanishing so rapidly that the old members provide practically the only source of information' about, their .; almost forgotten customs. Age-old, traiXtions are no longer being passed on to the small number of the younger generation, and many of tho old people have died since Dr. Munro lost his papers. -He 'is now sending his : information 'to the Com-, mittee"' of the -Anthropolbgica] Section of the British: Association, which is' collating the data in his latest- report;, Dr. Muriro states that- much of his information has been-gleaned from an1 old man of eighty, 'who' is as' bright as a!man of forty, does not- drink, and is an accomplished ritual- dancer. Dr.1 Munro also took from dictation about' seventy or eighty prayers' which throw' considerable light on the religion of these people. { Among the various in-' teresting magico-religious expedients 1 which are fading away is tho bullroarer. ■ ' The report presented to the anthro-1 pological. section states that the ■ wo-1 men wear a secret girdle which no man is-, supposed to see, and which is thought ■to have magical properties. | Quoting'from Dr. Munro's communications, the report states: "When my1 house was burnt-out a distant group; of. women, dimly lighted by the blaz-' ing house,, were waving their arms to ' chase the evil spirits from the village. Suspecting that they >were then waving their girdles, X. found that every Ainn woman:wears one.

'.'Cordial-.,' relations, : established through medical treatment of children and urgent cases, combined, with gentle persuasion, gradually elicited frank information and even obtained two.specimens. Each Ainu.woman, cherishes the belief that the length; of girdle is :■ an invaciable measure, of .identity given by a particular deity to a remote ancestress- and that ,the girdle, is- ..the gift of a special god." ,