HERE AND THEBE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16641, 25 January 1922, Page 6

HERE AND THEBE.

JAPANESE TENOR. w Mr Fujiwara, a Japanese fcen&r. fj appearing in London. At a reception at the Japanese Embassy, while the guests drank China tea from ©gg ®hel cuds. Mr Fujiwara delighted them with his songs. His voice was Milan, and suited admirably the- } ’ cini songs which he chose. 1 BIRTH CURIOSITIES Some curious evidence was given • f ) a sitting of the National Birthrate Commission by Mr G. B. Pell, author of “ The Law of Births and Deaths.” He said that of married couples in Paris who were prominent in a campaign for larger families 176 were childless. The average number of children, in those cases worked out at one and a third a family. Another example from Prance, he said, was provided by national committee of twenty-five, including ex-President Poincare, senator:* and other prominent men: “ T'h ese twenty-five persons, who preach to their fellow citizens by word and pen.” said Mr Pell, “have between them pineteen children, or not one child on au average per married couple.ln tl*o case of Quakers, well known a# carneisC Christians, the birth rate had fallen to eight per thousand- ~ „ „ ONLY ONE RELIGION,"^./

“ I am absolutely weary of the word religion and of the lines of research and argument associated with it•, ,, declarec. Sir Harry Johnston in a paper md at a Conference of Modern Religious Thinkers at Caxton Hall, London. “ The only things which stood out preeminent in the Christian phase of religious speculation were the warm human charity, love and liberty of thought which pervaded the recorder utterances of the Galilean peasant. With one or two exceptions, nothing similarly good and true was recorded in the Apostolic utterances. The imperfect records of the words and actions of Jesus deal mainly with the attitude of man towards man, and in that sense are perhaps imperishable for many centuries to come. The only religion I ran tolerate fa a Christianity which applies itself wholly and exclusively to the improvement of man's life on this planet and wastes no time on unprovable speculations concerning the idea of a divinitv not as yet made manifest through anv branch of scientific investigation ” _ # # AN OLD BANK.^SP^

The famous Bank of England Building. called the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, will soon be entirely rebuilt, made several storey’s higher and renovated so radically as to cause a change inside and out. In the many years of its activities the bank as it grew necessitated taking premises for branch work outside the old Threadneedle area. Now it is planned to bring all the work together under one roof. Efforts will be made to preserve as much as possible the original features of the building, but some of the gardens on the four acre plot probably will disappear. Despite its cold financial pursuit, the old building is full of romance. During the Gordon riots in 1780 the clerks were armed, inkstands were melted into bullets and the rioters were beaten off. . *** V AUTHOR OF “ MARSEILLAISE.”

In i 11 the excitement of the last three years the French Government apparently has forgotten to pass a law providing for the transfer of the ashes of the author of the “ Marseillaise ” to the Pantheon. Exhumed in 1915 from the little Cemetery Cboisy-le-Roi ancl placed in a silver casket, the remain* of Rouget DeTisle were placed temporarily in the crypt of the old Church St Louis dee Invalides after two hours of elocution by Poincaire, formerly President of the Republic, and other notables. A visitor p> the crypt recently discovered the coffin in A dark comer and started an investigation which probably will result in another ceremony at the Pantheon during the winter. Under the French law Delisle’s ashes cannot remain at the Invalides, which is reserved for marshals and military and civilian Governors, while the poet from whose words the French army obtained inspiration for victory only held a commission as a sub-lieutenant. V GERMAN BOY SCOUTS. German boys hare formed a Boy Scout organisation under the name of Der Pfadfinderbund. and will apply for affiliation with the international body at the next conference, which will be held in Paris next July, according to Lord Hamptqn, assistant chief commissioner of the organisation in Great Britain. He said the conference must decide whether the German organisation is along genuine scout lines, although it» claims to follow the British ideal faithfully. Before the war the German bund boys wore similar costumes end otherwise looked like Boy Scouts, but proved really to he only a camouflage for military cadets, and observers in Berlin now insist that certain scout organisations Btill are of a militarist and political nature. Lord Hampton says that if Germany can produce a genuine, sterling scout there* probably won’t be anv serious objection to his joining his brothers in the international jamboree. PEOPLE SEIZED BY FLU. A re crude scence of influenza was manifesting itself in London in December. Among twenty-five persons seized with illness in the streets in twenty-four hours, several were found to be suffering from influenza. Six deaths occurred in one Marylebone street in a short period, while there are seven patients at present in a short street in Camberwell. Deaths have occurred in ninetyeight large towns in England and Wales, and the death list numbered two hundred and thirty*seven for the week ended December 24, which. i» equal to less than a tenth of the weekly mortality during the great epidemic.

GIRL ABSCONDS. The correspondent of “ The Times " ? at Rome says that a sensation has been caused by the absconding of Ven John sen, aged fifteen, the adopted daughter of Prince Carovegno. £he was crginallv a foundling, the illegitimate child of a Norwegian singer, and took refuge with a poor family. Yer& asserts that was treated most horribly and with persistent cruelty by her princely adoptive parents, who have committed the affair to a solicitor. THEATRE QUEUES. The chairman of the L.C.C. Theft He? and Music Halls Committee states: “"VVe hare considered the following resolution passed by the Council : * That it be an instruction to the Theatres and Music Halls Committee to consider and report whether, with a view to Abolishing or minimising queues, it shall be » condition of license of places of public entertainment that a system of booking to all parts of the premises he instituted. ’ We are in communication,” adds the chairman, “with certain authorities interested in this question, with a view to obtaining tbeir observations on the proposal, and are consequently not in a position to report on the reference within the time prescribed by the standing order. Me hope to he able to submit a report- upon the whole matter afc an early dat<?»‘*