Anecdotes of the Great

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 308, 29 December 1938, Page 2

Anecdotes of the Great

General Robert E. Lee was once asked what he thought of a certain young officer whom Jefferson Davis was considering for an important position. Lee gave the officer an excellent recommendation, and the young man was immediately promoted.

“That officer has said some very bitter things about you, General," some of Lee's friends told him, “and we are surprised that you gave him your recommendation. ''

“I was not asked," said the greathearted Lee, “for the officer's opinion of me, but my opinion of him.'' While poring through the books in a second-hand stall, George Bernard Shaw found a volume containing his own plays. It was marked down very low. The volume was inscribed to a friend beneath whose names on the fly leaf was written, “With the compliments of George Bernard Shaw." Mr Shaw bought the book and wrote under the inscription, “With renewed compliments. G. 8.5." Then he sent it again to the original recipient. The President's favourite slogan came quite handy seeing me through a rather delicate situation (wrote an American, Gabriel Wells). Entering the tea rooms of a West End hotel in London, I found every table fully taken; except one where a distinguished greyhaired woman sat by herself. I asked permission to take a seat at her table. She nodded gracefully. Presently the waitress came to take her order, asking if we were together. “We are only good neighbours," I replied with & smile. The lady seemed to be pleased with the answer. I therefore explained that it was a pet phrase of our President. In the end, we were not only good neighbours but understanding friends. Americans, always impatient if they don't get results immediately, might learn something from Jimmy Yen, the great Chinese scholar. A graduate of Yale and Oxford, a student of the world, Yen several years ago selected a group of provinces in China with the idea of modernising the education of the people. He wrote a new dictionary for China, so that the masses of the people might learn to read and write. When I asked him how long it might be before he could report results in his provinces, he replied: “I should think about 30 years." Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, at a dinner in London, related a bantering conversation which he once had with a £2-a-week actor who was in the cast of one of his plays. The young chap laughingly suggested that the two agree to divide their incomes with each other for the rest of their lives.

Naturally, Sir Arthur refused such a ridiculous offer. He admitted later that ho regretted having made the refusal. The £2-a-weok youngster was Charlie Chaplin.