NIGHT CLUB QUEEN

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22024, 5 August 1933, Page 4

NIGHT CLUB QUEEN

MRS MEYRICK’S EXPERIENCES " Queen of the Night Clubs.” By Mrs Mey- | rick. With Frontispiece.. Sydney: Angus and Robertson. (6s net.) ■ Mrs Meyrick’s name is probably as well ! known to newspaper readers at tae I Antipodes ag to the patrons of her London night clubs. Her activities brought her fairly frequently into the courts, and as she was the acknowledged “ Queen of the Night Clubs,” her appearances therein had a considerable news value. She claims in this book, which was written i shortly before her death, that although she was guilty of technical infringements of the law, she conducted her “clubs well. Referring to raids, of which she had frequent experience, she says: “The English police are in reality fairly tolerant as regards night clubs. In their hearts they do not really sympathise with the ridiculous restrictions they are supposed to enforce. They are far too human to harbour any genuine objection to people enjoying themselves at whatever hour they please. In response to any specific complaint, however,. they have no option but to take action. Perhaps somebody has a grievance against the club, either real or imaginary—he may have lost his hat; he may have been annoyed by a waiter or cut dead by a girl. Off he goes to the police with his story, filled with some vague idea of ‘ getting even.’ The inevitable outcome is a surprise visit by a squad pf police officers. This is how most raids come about, though many, of course, are the sequel to - official suspicion of long standing.” Mrs Meyrick states that when, early in her career, “ Dalton’s Club ” was raided, for giving hospitality to “ undej sirable ” women, her fine was a light ; punishment in comparison with the j “ agonies or shame and ignominy she ; suffered on hearing her “ innocent_ venture described in court as a ‘ hell of iniquity.’ 1 , This raid, she says, changed her whole ■ outlook on life. Hitherto she had rei garded the law as something almost 1 sacred, henceforth she no longer cared ; very much for what she did. ! Her most famous venture, the ’43 Club,” was housed in a building in , whicn Dryden had lived, and Mrs Meyrick’s dream was that it should “ be the home of all that was pre-eminent m the realms of aristocracy, of finance, and of the arts.” Sophie Tucker, Ted Lewis. | and Paul Whiteman performed there ( “with a verve and abandonment such as i they never, achieved in their more lucrative professional appearances”; many peers and millionaires are named as visitors; there royalty consented “to amuseitself with lesser lights”; while Mrs Meyrick recalls among literary and artistic visitors Conrad, Nevinson, Augustus John and Epstein. A mysterious Mohammedan gentleman lost a ring in the “43 Club” of no intrinsic value, and when Mrs Meyrick returned it to him she received a massive gold ring set with three magnificent emeralds. Some of her guests were less desirable, including “Brilliant Chang.” who was the “ master-mind behind the drug traffic in England.” Mrs Meyrick devotes a chapter to the famous “ Goddard case,” denying that she paid bribes to the police sergeant concerned. It earned her a 15-months’ gaol sentence, one of the five terms she spent in durance, and provided her with the opportunity of describing her prison experiences. “Queen of the Night Clubs” should prove an interesting hook for any who are interested in gossip and scandal, but the author’s somewhat hysterica] style robs it of any other value that is claimed for it. M‘G.

On Book Collecting Mr Ifould, New South Wales State librarian, in a recent address, stated that the most valuable book in the world to-day was a first edition of the Gutenberg Bible, printed in 1456. A copy of that edition printed on vellum would probably be worth about £30,000 if offered at public auction. He mentioned that some years ago he sold an original edition of Keats, which had author s annotations and corrections, for SOgns. He followed the future history of that book through different sales, until it was eventually purchased by Mr Pierpont Morgan for 5500 dollars. # lt offered to-day it would probably bring 20,000 dollars. He ventured to prophesy that books and other Australiana purchased judiciously to-day would in value by leaps and bounds within 20 or 30 years. Any books or papers published in New South Wales,. Tasmania, or England before 1830 relating to Australia were certain to become more valuable in the future. He believed that in the near future American collectors would be turning their attention to Australia, because by that time they would haie exhausted the treasures of Europe.

Lilliput Library A lilliput library of 6000 books, few of them larger than a postage stamp. hi collected by Dir Robert L. Henderson of Massachusetts. The books include a com plete Bible, all Shakespeare s plajs, and a selection of Abraham Lincoln’s spc<^ s -