SHACKLETON TACKLES GERMAN.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14152, 11 March 1910, Page 6

SHACKLETON TACKLES GERMAN.

With the same "grit" that carried him to within a few miles of the South Pole, Sir Ernest Shackleton made a determined attempt recently to deliver a lecture in German before the German Colonial Society in the- great, hall o*f the Hochschule fur Musik, which was literally crowded to the doors. The lecture had been translated into German for the explorer, and for the last few days he had been practising its delivery. The- grim expression on the. face of the explorer as he struggled with the throat-rending gutturals and fearful arrays of consonants that waylaid him in his task could be dimlv seen in the shaded light of a reading lamp. Before the lecture Sir Ernest had expressed a. doubt whether the audience would be able to understand his accent. It soon became evident that the apprehension was well founded. The man who had triumphed over untold physical perils failed completely to conquer the nlionetic terrors of the German language. Whten he had been speaking for a quarter of an hour, aided occasionally by a prompter sitting by his side a low murmur was hoard among the audience It grew quickly into a great crv of "English," mingled with hand-clanning and much laughter. Sir Ernest's stern expression melted into a smile of relief The bulldog set of bis inw "Well," he said slowly, "it will be a i groat deal easier for me and I dare say j for you ton." Speaking, therefore, j with slow utterance and clear articu- | lation, Sir Ernest finished his lecture i in his own language, and the German I tontine, with its armament of un- | wieldly polysyllables, had overwhelmed j yet another would-be explorer of its mysteries."