People and Their Doings.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20503, 3 January 1935, Page 6

People and Their Doings .

Secret of Sir Clutha Mackenzie's Appreciation of Views He has Never Seen : Canada Does Not Take the Suggestion of the Duke of Kent as Next Governor-General Seriously.

gIR CLUTHA MACKENZIE is a remarkable example of the triumph of courage and will power over the most tragic of all disabilities. Nobody who has over been shown over the Institute for the Blind in Auckland by its director could forget how complete has been his victory over his blindness. Sir Clutha walks confidently all over the institute and its workrooms, upstairs and downstairs, explaining the processes of manufacture of the institute’s products. Sometimes he will stop before a window and point out the features of a view that he has never seen. If the tour extends to his neat little vegetable garden adjoining the institute, he may comment on the growth of the plants. The secret of this almost uncanny knowledge of the appearance of things about him is that Lady Mackenzie acts as her husband’s eyes. She has drawn vivid word pictures for him and he never forgets. 32? W W M ANY of the rooms in the Blind Institute are gaily painted and decorated. The casual observer might think that care in such details was wasted as far as the inmatrs were concerned, as they could not enjoy the appearance of their pleasant quarters. Sir Clutha Mackenzie told a visitor that such care is by no means wasted. The blind, he said, are sensitive to colour atmosphere. Though he were completely blind, a man could and did sense the difference in atmosphere of a gloomy and sombrely decorated room and one that was bright and cheerful. & ® m r COATES, the well-known English conductor, has written an opera about Mr Pickwick. It has taken him three years to compose and the idea grew otxt of a Pickwick scherzo he wrote in 1928. The new opera is in four acts and twelve scenes, foxir of which arc film projections giving a rapid survey of the more complicated incidents. They will be shown to orchestral accompaniment only. The opera begins with the Rochester manoeuvres, followed by an orchestral interlude, with cinema, leading to Dingley Dell. The cricket match is filmed above a “ cricket fugue.” The second acts give us the Manor Farm, the elopement of Jingle and the spinster aunt

and a drunken scene in which there is a cumulative chorus, “It Must Have Been the Salmon.” The trial scene is played on the stage and partly on the screen, and after three scenes in the Fleet Prison, the opera finishes happily in Pickwick's garden. Wherever possible Dickens’s own words are used, and the music is written in a light “ English ” idiom with very little modern harmony and a liberal use of traditional English tunes. 3S? REPORT circulated in London of a “ strong movement ” for the appointment of the Duke of Kent as the next GovernorGeneral of Canada is not taken very seriously in Canada. The Governor-General nowadays is named by the King on the advice of his Canadian advisers. The term of the Earl of Bessborough. present incumbent, does not expire until April, 1036. Meanwhile a general election will be held in this Dominion, and there is always the possibility that his Maiesty’s present Canadian advisers may not be in office when the time comes for consultations over Lord Bessborough’s successor. Thus it is imj probable that the subject so far has had any serious consideration. Such public reaction to the London report as became evident was favourable, however. Unquestionably the Duke of Kent and the Princess Marina would receive a most enthusiastic welcome if they took up their residence at historic R*'deau Trail in Ottawa. < anada’s list of Governor-Generals includes alreadv one member of the Royal House. The Duke of Connaught was there from 1911 to 1916, and his regime was one of the most popular and successful in the history of this office. SP 3? © PICTURESQUE TRIBUTE has just been paid to the new Duchess of Kent. ! Tn honour of the Roval wedding sonv' leadj ing hostesses, headed by Lady Strathmore, j held a Greek festa at which revels of Ancient Greece were reproduced. Nine girls, picked for their beauty, took the part of the Muses in a Greek masque, and I Ben Jonson’s poem, “ Th” Golden Age.” i originally performed at the Court of James 1., was recited. Classic dancing formed I part of the revels.

! TN THE HOT WEATHER over Christmas j and New Year, one of the most popular accessories at picnics, sports and seaside 1 gatherings all over Canterbury was the ! billycan. A city shopkeeper estimates that every December anything between two and three thousand “ billies ” are sold to Christchurch people preparing for the holidays. They would as soon forget Christmas plum duff or New Year crackers. The billycan has an interesting history. It came into existence as a result of the gold rush in Victoria in the ’fifties of last century, and later was soon in evidence on the West Coast diggings. It was born of an empty can that had contained a meat stew imported from France. This food, of which large quantities were consumed by the miners, was labelled “ Bouilli,” and, of course, an empty tin was a “ bouilli can” The miners, careless of French pronunciation. called it “ billy.” A loop of wire fitted to an empty bouilli can made a satisfactory vessel in which to boil water. Some years later manufacturers realised its worth and to-day the billycan is popular in England and America as well. ITcnrv Lawson helped to make it famous. Bushmen regard the billy as one of the necessities of life. s? m & gIXTY YEARS AGO (from the “Star” of January 3, 1875): Transit of Venus.—By the arrival of the Magellan Cloud, news is brought that the astronomical party on the Chatham Islands were unsuccessful. The weather was fine until December 9, when it became thick and overcast: a thick cloud passed over the sun at the time of ingress, and the weather was cloudy at the egress. Great American Circus.—There was a large attendance on • Saturday night; the spacious marquee being thronged in every part. A good programme was submitted and the company attained a greater measure of success than at the first performance. The horses were in a more docile humour, and the equestrianism was accordingly better than on Thursday night. The tumbling was again very good, i Dunedin Caledonian Games.—At the second day’s sports on Saturday last, Mr j Jacobsen, the winner of the champion walk- ! ing race on Friday, also won the mile walk--1 ing race, starting from scratch. Time—- < 7min '~~