Page 13 Advertisements Column 5

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22064, 21 September 1933, Page 13

The suggestion of a national testimonial to the author of “Tipperary," the most famous marching song of the war, has been made by Lieutenantcolonel Beckles Willson, the founder of the Ypres League. Jack Judge, who wrote the words and music of “ Tipperary,” is now living in a Worcestershire' village. The song was a one-day job—it was composed on January 31, 1912, and Judge sang it the same evening at the Grand Theatre, Stalybridge, Lancashire, which thus gained a niche of its own in history. The composer of “ Madclon,” the French song which was most popular among the “ poilus,” was awarded the Legion of Honour, though this song never enjoyed the vogue of “ Tipperary.” The latter, indeed, was regarded as a “ second British national anthem ” by the French, and also, apparently, by the Americans. For a time before the United States entered the war it was banned in that country—presumably for fear of offending German susceptibilities. M. Louis Marin, a member of the French Chamber of Deputies, claims to be the world’s champion parliamentary orator. His speeches in the Chamber have occupied 59 hours 20 minutes. He once spoke 34 times in one day on a single topic. The words he has contributed to the French Hansard total 227,921.