A New Zealander In Sydney Town

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 772, 19 September 1929, Page 15

A New Zealander In Sydney Town

(THE SUN’S Syaney Correspondent) SYDNEY, September 12. It is hardly likely now that Dame Janet Campbell, the British maternal and infant welfare expert, who is visiting Australia at the invitation of the Commonwealth Government, will visit New Zealand. Dame Janet told me that she was still in communication with the New Zealand Government by cable, and that the matter had not been finally decided. “I expect to return to England,” said Dame Janet, who is tall and distinguished looking and contradicts most emphatically all old-fashioned notions concerning women doctors, “by the route I came, so the chances are that I shall not see New Zealand at all now.” Paganelli's Matrimonial Difficulties New Zealand music-lovers will recall Paganelli, the tenor, one of the most popular members of the Sistine Singers combination, which toured the Dominion on two occasions. He is settled in Capetown these days, according to a message deceived in Sydney this week, but all has not been plain sailing by any means as far as his matrimonial affairs are concerned. During his New Zealand tour, stated the singer when applying to the Supreme Court for leave to sue for a divorce by special edict, he had been offered a permanent position in Wellington, but as his wife declined to join him, he refused it. Subsequently, he accepted an appointment with the Capetown College of Music. When he visited his wife at Como last year it is alleged she compelled him to sign certain settlement deeds, in addition to taking all the proceeds of his tours, by retaining his passport. Paganelli also, whether it was a freewill gift is not mentioned, handed over 5,000 lira to his mother-in-law. Signora Paganelli, it is believed, is of independent means. She also refused an invitation to join her husband in South Africa. Free Concerts As a result of a donation made by Mr. Sidney Myer, the head of the ! well-known Melbourne emporium, the ! Melbourne Symphony Orchestra will ;

be able to provide free concerts by 90 performers during the summer. Mr. Myer’s gift is in the form of an annua.l payment of £I,OOO. Au effort is being made to follow Melbourne s example in Sydney. To date, however, no rich man has stepped forward with a corresponding offer to emulate Mr. Myer’s generosity. . Old Union Club to Go New Zealand visitors to Sydney, even if they have not had the privilege of stepping inside of that exclusive sanctum, the Union Club, will regret to hear of its passing. To Bligh Street for years past it has lent an air of Old Sydney —the Sydney of Burdekin House, of flat-tenanted mansions at Potts Point, v and of equally attractive colonial homes, now unhappily engulfed in such industrial, but once fashionable, areas as Balmain. Robert Louis Stevenson is but ohe of the many distinguished men who have stayed at the club. New Zealanders who keep in touch with Australian literature ’ will also have recognised it in “Max Flambard,” John Dailey’s last novel. The land is to be used by the City Council. The new club will be nearby in Elizabeth Street. Patriotic New Zealanders . New Zealanders resident in Sj’dney intend being really patriotic on Dominion Day. Instead of the usual dull, drab and rather informal reception at the office of our Government representative, the New Zealand Association of New South Wales will sponsor a luncheon at the Arts Club. The guest of honour will be the Premier, Mr. Bavin, whom Kaiapoi claims for one of her sons. Maori Records in Sydney. It did one’s ears good during the week to hear such familiar Maori ditties as “E Pari Ra” and “Pokarekare’’—l last heard them in the Maori village of Ngaruawaliia—at a gramophone recital at which the records of Ana Hato and Deane Waratini, of Rotorua, were introduced to Sydneysiders. The average Australian cannot understand the New Zealanders’ appreciation of his Maori brethren, but he can appreciate his taste in Maori music. These records are really excellent publicity for the Dominion, and I sincerely hope that their sale in Australia will recompense the enterprise of their manufacturers. —ERIC RAMSDEN.