In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 108, 8 May 1937, Page 20

In the Public Eye

Mr. H. W. Bingham, the American Ambassador in London, who has emphasised the joint concern of Britain and the United States in preserving peace, was born in North Carolina on November 8, 1871. He is publisher of the "Louisville Courier-Journal" arid ''Louisville Times," having acquired these papers in 1918. Previous to his entering the publishing business he was a successful lawyer, active in public affairs in his city arid State. ; Mr. Bingham is a former president of the Southern Commercial Congress arid in 1923 was chairman-of the executive committee: of the National_-Council •of Co-operative Marketing Associations in the 'United States. He received ; the congratulations of, the Kentucky House of, Representatives for his organisation of the Burley Tobacco Growers' Mairr ketirig Association and the . Dark Tobacco .^Growers Marketing Association. ■■' '"•'.. ■■■'■'~ ■■. ■ ■ ■'■'..'■"•' - A graduate of the Bingham School of Asheville, N.'C.,-and the University, of North Carolina, Mr. Bingham: holds degrees also from the University of Virginia and the University of Louisville. He is a' Jrustee of Berea and Centre Colleges and is a member of the American, Kentucky, and Louisville Bar Associations. ': Mr. Bingham is a director of the American Creosoting Company, the Liberty Bank and Trust Company, arid the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. From 1904 to 1907 he was attorney; of Jefferson County, Ky., and in 1907 he became Mayor' of Louisville. In 1911 he became chancellor of tKe. Jefferson County Circuit Court. r Mr. Bingham has been married three times. His first wife was Eleanor E. Miller, of Louisville, whom he married in 1896. She was killed in an automobile accident. His' second wife was Mrs., Mary Lily Flagler,■ widow of Henry M. Flagler. She died in 1917, a year after their marriage, leaving Mr. Bingham £1,000,000 of her £14,000,000 fortune. In 1924 Mr. Binghsm married Mrs. Byron Hilliard, the former Alene Muldoon, daughter of an old Kentucky family. The marriage took place in London. He was appointed to London in 1933. ■. . v Prince Pu Cliieh. Prince PuChieh, heir presumptive to the orchid throne of Manchukuo, was married recently to a. Japanese commoner, Hiroko: Saga, in the first of two ceremonies 'to solemnise the dynastically important marriage: The, bride is twenty-three years 01d.■.--■>• .y The prince,: brother' of • Emperor Kang-teh of Manchukuo, and his Japanese bride were united in a simple Shinto ceremony. They will complete their marriage five months hence in Chinese rites at Hsinking,' capital of Manchukuo. ' -.<■■ • . , Through flag-bedecked streets filled with cherry blossoms and merrymakers, the wedding procession wound to Tokio's military- hall, and there was performed, the ceremony that some day may place a Japanese consort on the, Manchukuoan throne. An act of Imperial succession, promulgated on March 1 to govern the throne of Japanese-dominated Manchukuo, made Pu Chieh heir presumptive to the childless emperor. The act, like Japan's succession laws, barred women from the throne. Emperor Kang-teh's minister of the Imperial household, Hsi. Chia, and members of the bride's family were the only witnesses to the ceremony, performed before an undecked Shinto altar. ' •' As priests, clad in gold brocade and blue linen, chanted an ancient ritual, the bridal couple exchanged nine cups of connubial rice wine, sealing their marriage vows as they drank it. Thus Hiroko Saga, daughter of an illustrious family, of Japanese nobles, but a commoner,'because not of royal blood, became a princess of the royal house that once ruled China. Emperor Kang-teh, the former Henry Pu-Yi, was once boy emperor of the Chinese empire. Miss Helen Keller. The famous deaf and blind Helen Keller has arrived in Japan, where she will conduct a three months' tour of the blind institutions in the Land of the Rising Sun. . The object of the tour is to introduce the little-known Talking Book to the Orientals who must sit in optical darkness. . ■ ,■;■''. "It is only three years since the Talking Book has been perfected," said Miss Keller, "but we are now able to put 80,000 to 100,000 word books into voice recordings and reproduce the sound, so that those unable to see may still enjoy the beauty of literature. • "Of course, not many of these Talking Books have been cut as yet, but we hope to build the library as time goes on. Aside from books there are musical records and animal imitations. We recently sent a man into the woods with sound apparatus to reproduce the songs and sounds of birds. These he augmented with names' and descriptions. In this way the blind may enjoy the full loveliness of the forest wild life. Interviewed in her suite in San Francisco, Miss Keller listened to questions by placing her sensitive fingers over her questioner's lips. Born mute, she Is now able to speak in fairly articulate sounds and answered queries with alertness and keen understanding. She displayed pleasure over her recent trip to England and France, explaining that she was conducted through the Rodin Museum by Gutzom Borgium, the famous sculptor. "Through his artistically-trained eyes I saw every masterpiece in the museum. She laughingly told photographers she could tell When the picture was taken by the slight heat radiated from the flash bulbs. "It is tantalising to feel the vibrations of music and laughter and yet not thoroughly get the full beauty out of what you feel is there. Certain radio music I am able to feel, but the thing [ have enjoyed most was 'listening' to Big Ben and the Christmas carollers in London." In a typewriter roll was a letter con-

If Denmark is the most informal of countries, Mr. Thorwald Stauning, the Danish Prime • Minister, who visited London recently, is the most informal of Premiers. ■ One can meet him almost anywhere in Copenhagen, from the Royal Palace or Parliament down to the humblest farm-house or country inn, and wherever he goes he is equally popular. and equally respect. His powerful frame —he stands over 6ft—and his .long flowing beard make him, next to the King, the most conspicuous figure in Denmark. An episode which struck me forcibly as an indirect tribute to his popularity occurred when I last called on him in Copenhagen, writes George Soloveytchik in description of him. The porter and attendants' at the Government office who- ushered me in did not refer to him as "Herr Stattsminister" or "Excellency," but as "Stauning." " They did not even add "Mr." or "Comrade." When I told him that he chuckled with delight. Indeed, it would be hard to find a statesman who combines dignity with joviality in such striking' degree. Mr. Stauning's career is astonishing: 63 years old, he is the son of a wheelwright and began work as an errand boy with a push-wagon. His first employer was a small hawker in one of the side streets of Copenhagen. References to this humble origin leave the venerable statesman of today^ completely unruffled. He remembers, his early days with tenderness. Forbears he was a cigar roller in'a factory, and his election to thePresii dency, of the Cigar Sorters' Union, together with the editorships of the "To-bacco-Workers' Gaaette," marked the ; beginning of his active political career. :\H6 has;been in Parliament for more th£jn 30 years,.and his first ministerial appointment was in 1916, when, as the first Socialist in Scandinavia, he entered a Coalition Government. In 1924 he became Denmark's first Socialist Prime Minister, and after a three years' interval he returned to the Premiership in 1929. Since then he has- been in power without interruption, but has had to deal with many grave political and economic issues. His1 authority is such that he can sway all parties in the Riksdag. He has ceased to be a party man, becoming a national leader a long time ago. , '.'' On his sixtieth birthday he was presented with a house by his many friends and admirers, belonging to ;' Herr"S^yon' Paperi. , When' the German' Foreign Minister, Baron Constantin yon Neurath, visited Vienna recently, the warmth of. the welcome which greeted him surprised even the most fervent of his supporters and gravely embarrassed the Austrian Government. Special i features and troops had to be called out to maintain order, while,, at the same time the Government, tried to keep up a display of friendship for Germany which might have been jeopardised if unduly .severe methods had been used against the Austrian Nazis. , The German Minister to Austria, Herr Franz yon Papen, who arranged the visit of Yon Neurath to Vienna, found himself in a somewhat delicate position. He is heart and soul in favour of Austro-German rapprochement. His policy is clearly endorsed by many Austrians in Vienna, and, in spite of the preliminary contretemps over the disturbances at yon Neurath's arrival, the visit of the German Foreign Minister;has been rated internationally as a'success. It is since yon Neurath's visit that rumours have been current .that yon Papen, whose relations with'the Nazi masters in Berlin have been improving since the dark days following • the bloody purge of June, 1934, when yon Bose, yon 'Papen's secretary, was shot, would be rewarded with a diplomatic post more brilliant than Vienna. ' It has been said that various capitals would receive yon Papen as German Ambassador* but London particularly is being singled out as his next appointment. :' '.-V . . . .. Diplomatic speculators have had two reasons,for; qoflsidering such a possibility. In the first place, yon Papen not only is now in the good books of Chancellor Hitler because of his tactful handling of the Austrian situation, but there has been a possibility that yon Papen is feeling himself uncomfortable in Vienna as a result of incidents arising from the welcome to, yon Neurath. There-also is a feeling that the present Ambassador to Lon-; don, Herr Joachim yon Ribbentrop, has not made himself particularly popular with circles close to the present Government. Such considerations might lead observers to think there is a possibility that Herr yon Ribbentrop may be removed, leaving the Embassy open to yon Papen, but well-informed quarters are not inclined to give credence to such rumours. In the first place, yon Papen, :who is not rich, would find it somewhat difficult to run the German Embassy in London, which yon Ribbentrop, who is a very rich man, maintains 'in great state. Secondly, yon Papen's unenviable "propaganda" career during the war is still remembered in London. Finally, German official and semi-official circles in London declare there is nothing in the rumour, although they are careful to add that, in a dictatorship, it is difficult to forecast what tomorrow will bring. taining some of the most beautiful sentences reporters had seen. It was addressed to President Roosevelt and expressed appreciation for his letter of greeting to be read to the Japanese blind. As the letter was not yet dispatched, Miss Keller drew a Solemn promise from all reporters that no part of it would be published. The 57-year-old blind woman was to be accompanied on the trip to the Orient by Rev. T,,Komuro, minister of the Japanese Methodist Episcopal Church of New York City, and his wife. Miss Polly Thomson, secretary and companion for 23 years, was also to make the journey. . .