CURRENT TOPICS

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVI, Issue 304, 21 November 1936, Page 8

CURRENT TOPICS

(By “\Vaytar<*.”)- ; .Mussolini: ‘The greatest - seizer them- all! —- £ '*~ ' .. . . Glovemakei-s reportfftliat Women’* hinds are growing larger. A-painful outlook for tli-s (coming‘small - boy. :i -: -, 1 .\ v- ’ There ,is something: inexpressibly tragic about: the"destruction^ ot.old cities, apart fronnthe loss;of-life ffhereHy j nil feted,,, and in, -the case, of Madrid, which: has been very /much, in,the news this, week, ; the loss isy incalculably uThe. form of; Madrid proper, exclusive- of the " modern, suburbs, is that of a square with ’rourtded corners. Of the - former 'l6 city, gates-.- only three now -exist.- The'’ Manza'uares-River, on which the - city stands,' isvspanned by six bridges. The. Puorta del. Sbl, on which bombs were, rained this week, isitlie. eentfe of‘ the;atMffhe. largest o& its many - plazas, anagthe place or most traffic. On ' its'righ.ffvstands the Ministry" of' the Interior., ;'a building dating from 1768. The Calle de Alcala, another prominent targetffor : the iriiurgeffts contains the.(Aca^my.pf.Fine Arts, in Which there is a cpllcet-ipn of paintings BW Spanish,-'masters,-gnoludyig ; of .; : Miirillo. The house occupied' by.. ; Cefyffntes,- author of »‘Don •Duixatßi’.V.frdiU 1606 until his death- in 1616 r arid-,which Avas wrecked <in the latest .bombardment,; stands where the Plaza ■ Mayor, formerly the scene-of tournaments,/ meets -thc/Calle de Leon. . lit this street is thri Academy of History,' with ’a Valuablelibrary-and collections. fff" manuscripts/;and^plate. fit lithe cdntr'e; of theßlaza { del;Oriente [s' an equestrian- statue-ol •J'hUhp IV . (i6ii'--665),., which - was designed .by Vfelasquez.; r. . ! W ’< - Mudrid-has' made'., very;.;rapid; progress- during- the' 20t'h - century, and pew- suburbs have-grown; t'bjthe; north lin'd' east. Many new. parks and fine buildings ffiave/, beeriff ■ ; Ihe Basilica de Nuestra: Sell ora clc Atochn was originally- fourided'-'-in 152 d- -Ibe hdllegiate chtfrcli. of (San "Isidro - e Real dates' frpm 1651;and is -dedicated td -the patron’ .saint of;-:.Madrid, who died "in' 1170 and;'whose-remains are entombed there. The* -church, p£ San Francisco' el Grfindc, • Which contains many interesting ,'nioiiUhibntS, is . also linow'n as the National Pantheon. ’ To the south- is tlic royal prmoury, which contains'- what/ is ‘ -possibly • :the best collectioff ; of --the - kind .in ..existerice. . --1 ■■ } . « ‘ m ■■ ■«'- ' ” ’ • " . M.' Salengrd,. . whose ■' tragic death, this iiveek,! toiioivihg a campaign, ol calluuiny, has aguin idcussea the world’s attention on the feve-ridh condition of Erepch politics, had. hot attained- the degree of limelight that Some of his compatriots had but his record .such as to atigub thkt he would become a strongerldr'ce* ih the affair* of Kis country.; .;• • • ;M. l|og er Salengro was born at Lille (where: hs„ldied)_in.,May,.. I.BBQAlter concluding his studjefe at the Sorboririe lie .joined tho,- Liile/.'.branch; of the / Socialist'-'Party. *-When the war broke out, he (whs Arras. He Tat once. volunteered 'for service "at the front and" was captflred by the Germans in October, -1916. ; Sent to work at a loundrV' which -was producing war material, he-refused to, help the : Germans ; against, his .country,.and. went! on strike. After three hearings before a court 'martial h e - W as ed to two years’ hard, 1 aboffr; whicH he performed at a' war. prisoners’ camp ‘ in Prussia. On His/' return -to France ; after the end of tlie war lifejyas elected tq the Li|)e ,T6wn-' Couiicil ' arid to the General Council qt . the’ N’ord Department. In 1925 he became Mayor/ of Lille. As a: member -of the Socialist Party’ he • was elected to the Chamber for his department; in -1926/ f He then became a member of-the party council and its executive ih file Chairiber. ’ As Mayor of/LiUefM. /Salehgro nad iriu-oh experience of. strikes, i- Shrewd and practical, lie was - a good Organiser and a man of action. ...AVhcn M.'Leon Bluriv formed-his Government of the People’s' Frontiiii Jlinfe,' ,1936, lie appointed M. Salengro -Minister-for the Interior. He was at once; faced with ap epidemic' Of- “stay.-iif”- strikes’on. a huge scale.. . M. : Salfengro declared that he was determined ’to maintain order and before he had beeii a fortnight in office the Communists had nicknamed him the French Noske. after the German' Socialist who showed great energy in suppressing disorder in Germany after the war. ? ' Soon afterwards- ’ came the accusations, in the Chamber, of cowardice in the face of 'in war; and although officially 'M| Salepgfo’s honour was vindicated^-the strain:of this, and several deaths .in’liis( familyunhinged his mind so niffch that lie died by his own hand. , 1: One of the most unique collections is the 8.8. C.-music library t 'oiie;df the largest aijd piost comprehensive of its kind in the world,- which had a very modest beginning. -In December, 1922, a piaiiist lialped Frank 'Hook joined the staff of the -British BrpadcttStirig Company. In addition to his normal duties as a pianist lie -undertook -to-start a music libraryi", 'With-'sriiall sums of money in lif| pocket ‘he walked round the music publishing' offices; begging, borrowing, and, as ft- last’ resort, paying for such lniisic as he could lay ’ his hands, upon, ;In ■ March,' 1923 j Mr Hook was appointed Anisic librarian of the 8.8. C., but lie' lVris riblp 'to cpnibine with his duties a considerable amount of work at the. pianoforte. Early. in 1925'he had to deyote. his./whole time to. the library. Now lie has a total of thirty-one assistants/ -On the shelves are .120,000: vocal scores,-14.000 songs, and some thousands of; part-songs and similar music. In tile main ; orchestral section there . are '15,000 ’ items, many of them triplicated, forthe library caters for the regional studios - as well as! for the orchestras at the 8.8. C. headquarters in London.- There are also soine 2850 band works, .1000 for chamber music programmes,- and/60,000 miscellaneous itemS. ' ' -V ; ' ■ It is prograinnies’ such as*the “Song* from• tlie Shows”-that.'give-/.the music library most anxiety: In a-single hour’s broadcast there?/lifay); be -'-as-; many' as fifteen or sixteeiv' items'; )sung by principals and ebonites,ean'd. for-each item, of; course, band parts are .needed as well as the chorus music. .The symphony orchestra makes, the ? largest demands on tlie Anything from ten to 120 / separate pieces .of printed music -may, lie needed’ fortaii ‘ drcltestral work. Owing to excitement.- spee;d, or temperament, > orchestral- music receives very hard weaiy arid the repairs departmenteriiplqys' four workers permanently. It is,'impbssltiie to. state the precise value of the tousi'c library. Many works; notably, d&nce" music, are of ap' ephemeral, bhriractffr.Xbu£ the. 8.8. C. lias.!been able.:to. compilea' most valuable collection- of/tiriainjscrjiit music. Th'e library / lias, mariy Russian scores which '(are no' longer obtainable elsewhere: " - .. -.fi ; '