Here and There

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXXIX, Issue 21, 23 November 1907, Page 33

Here and There

Young Leaders for a Great Trust. It is believed in Wall-street that the Standard Oil Trust, with its many industrial interests, is being quietly reorganised. Younger men are displacing the millionaires who have directed the affairs of the trust for years, and whose operations in Wall-street have more than once disturbed the financial world. Shaken in health and worn out* by the terrific strain, and members of the “ Rockefeller group - ' are giving way to the next generation. The .reappearance of Mr. John D. Rockefeller at the head offices of the trust after eight years’ absence is taken to indicate that he is transferring his share of responsibility to his son, Mr. John D. Rockefeller, jun. Mr. Rockefeller, sen., is indisputedly the richest man in the world, but the' position has cost him his nerves, his digestion, and his hair. He lives on milk, and is unhappy. He is physically incapable of acting in a more than advisory capacity to the trust which he founded. Mr. William G. Rockefeller, jun., his eldest son, is also more active in the affairs of the Standaid Oil Trust. He is thirty-seven years old, while Mr. John D. Rockefeller, jun, is thirty-three. Mr. Henry H. Rogers, another member of the “ inner circle ” of the trust, and the great copper magnate, is likewise paying the penalty of overwork. He is suffering from paralysis, and it is considered doubtful, whether he will ever re-enter, the financial world. Mr. Rogers has been displaced to a large extent by his son-in-law, Mr. Urban H. Broughton, an English mining engineer. <•><•><?- What Would You Say? A problem was propounded in a London newsjiaper, “What would you say if you were allowed a minute and a half's conversation on the telephone with some one in Australia whom.you had.not seen for many years’” and it perplexed thousands. It was discussed on omnibuses, tramcars, and trains, and serious-minded men in the City lost themselves in contemplation of the ninety words they would use instead of playing dominoes after lunch. The correspondent who started the discussion declared that the subject was raised in a large family circle, and that no two agreed on the subject of the brief telephone conversation with the Antipodean relative. Mr. Max Pemberton, Mr. Cecil Raleigh, and Mrs. Aria gave their opinions as follows:— Mr. Max Pemberton: —The talk would be quite commonplace. 1 should ask her if she was in good health, and what she was doing, and give her an opportunity of inquirfhg about anything she wanted to know. Then there would be no time left for anything but to wish her good luck. Of course, there might be special circumstances; but that is what would happen in an ordinary way. Possibly I might not get my one and a half minutes. The person at the other end might want to do all the talking. 1 remember an interviewer calling to see me and doing every bit of the talking. He afterwards declared that it was the most delightful interview he had ever had. Mr. Cecil Raleigh:—l think I should ask the person at the other end of the wire to keep my photograph so that she would know me when 1 joined her in Australia. The conversation would be ordinary, unless I had anything important to say; and if 1 had 1 could easily ring up again. If it was very expensive and I had no money 1 would pawn my watch. This would be a model message:—“How are you, Jane? The canary is still alive. Mother has pawned the flat iron. Send me a fiver if j ou can.” Mrs. Aria:—l think the talk would be about news. 1 should say it was hot, and ask what sort of weather they were

having al the other' side. After that I should say that the Drury Lane drama was good. Really, though, one naturally begins to‘talk about oneself. When the subject is changed you ring off. <3> <s> <S> The New Theology. Almost simultaneously with the promulgation of the Pope’s Encyclical against ” Modernism ” conies the publication of a ne,w volume by th.» Rev. R. J Campbell, the apostle of the New Theology. The book contains a nan*.her of sermons preached by Mr. Campbell .during the past year, and they are offered as “a practical demonstration of the way in which the principles of the New Thealogy”—as expounded by the minister of the City .Temple—“ find a homiletic application.’’ Mr. Campbell claims that there is nothing of a directly controversial character in his sermons, but in a very pungently written introduction to them he again runs full tilt against what he calls the “mischievous dogmatic accretions” of the orthodox theologian. He boldly claims that there is no other Gospel than tlie New Theology—it is, he says, Christianity stripped of these self-same “ mischievous dogmatic accretions.” ’ Combating the critcism that adherents of the New Theology do not agree m their interpretation of it, Mr. Campbell asks: —“ Do adherents of older theologies agree? It is a patent fact that they do not, and’ it is also a patent fact that they are all a wretched failure. The world is gradually ceasing to take notice of them, and they ihavc almost no influence upon either science or literature, not ta speak of -suci-al and political life. Whether the New Theology will have a different tale remains to be" seen. Already there are -some indications that if Will.” In another passage Mr, Campriel 1 sayst “It cannot be too'clearly emphasised that the other-worldisni .of so-called orthodox Christianity has in rca’ity nothing to do with Christianity. This is a thing which the average churchgoer apparently finds it difficult to understand, paid- yet it is beyond all question that the Church of Jesus originally knew of no to get men ready for a, heaven beyond the tomb?’ . 3> <s><£> - Sir A» Conan Doyle’s Wedding. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was quietly married recently at St. Margaret’s Church, Westminster, to Miss Jean Leckie, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. J. .B. Leckie, of Glebe House, Blackheatfi. The scene of the wedding was a wellkept secret, for not more than half a dozpn of the well-known novelist’s admirers knew when and where the ceremony was to be. . The chancel of- St. Margaret's was adorned with white flowers and palms, and a surpliced choir met the -.wedding party. The church itself was almost empty. The Rev. Cyrji Angell, of Victoria Park, the brother-in-law of the bride- • groom, officiated, ami the minister’s five-year-old son, Master Brailsford Angell, in a blue satin Court Suit, attended the bride as page of honour. Captain Hay Doyle, R.A., the brother of the bridegroom, acted as best man. The bride wore a robe of Spanish lace and silver tissue, with a full train, and she was escorted up the aisle on the arm of her father, attended by two bridesmaids Miss Lily Loder-Symond < and Miss Leslie Rose her friends. They carried shower bouquets, and wore jewelled brooches, the gift of Sir Arthur. As the bridal procession formed the choir sang “Praise the Lord! Ye heavens adore Him,” and passed up the nave to the altar steps, which were gay with chrysanthemums and Scotch heather - emblematic <»f good luck. The service, which was brief, was full choral, the organist playing the welding march from “Lohengrin” and, as Sir

Arthur and Lady Doyle left the church, Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March.** A reception, to which some 300 guests ’were invited was afterwards held at the Hotel Metropole. Sir Arthur and his bride drove up 'somewhat sooner than had been arranged, and the bridegroom himself acted as trainbearer to his wife on the red-carpeted stairs leading from Whitehall Court. One of the very first to congratulate Sir Arthur and Luly Doyle was Mr. George Edal Ji, to prove whose innocence of the police charges brought against fiini at Great Wyrley the novelist has done so much- . As a mark of *os appreciation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's efforts Mr. Edalji presented the newly-married pair with copies of ‘•'Shakespeare” anti “Tennyson.” . Many authors attended the reception, among them being Mr. J. M. Barrie, Mr. Jerome K. Jerome, Mr. Max Pemberton, Air. Coulson Kernahan, and Sir Gilbert Parker. More than a hundred wedding present?’ yyere received. & & Gilded Reading Room. 200,000 LEAVES OF GOLD USED IN MUSEUM DECORATJ J.W. When the students and habitual users bf the British Museum reading-room are allowed to return to their accustomed places (writes a London paper), they will find a bright room of white and gold instead of the dingy, dull place of former days. The work of .renovating and redecorating the room is now practically finished. It tvas begun last April, ami the task \vas a Considerable one, since the roaei had not been overhauled for fifty yean, Some idea of the work involve#. bd gathered from the following It entailed th? using of: — • 25 tons of cream and old-gold paint. 200,000 leaves-of pure gold. 3000 scaffold poles representing 400 miles of wood. 30 tons of scaffold cording. 100 ladders. The cost is approximately £6OOO. It has taken 150 men five months to complete the best part of the work and rix coats of paint have been given to the walks. The dust of fifty years had gathered under the dome like a heavy fleece two or three inches in thickness. Perhaps the m st successful feat was the building of the huge scaffolding. 150 feet in height, without any accident or damage. The strictest precautions were taken to avoid any accidents. A fireman was in the room all day, and the workmen were forbidden to smoke under pain of dismissal. . Not one of them dare even strike ar match, There still remains the task—no light one—of replacing the 70,01)6 books in their places on the shelves. Supers" Desert Stage. There is a dearth of theatrical “supers'’ in Paris owing to the extension of the cinematograph. There are cin&iintogi aph shows everywhere in Paris now. and the companies which run them need numbers of people as actors and actresses for their living pictures. The general piy of the Paris “super ’ in a theatre was about Ls. a day, or even less, la-t season. This season managers are offering 2s. fid. a day without success. The cinematograph companies are paying os. and 75., and they engage their supers by the month, and in large The consequence of this state of affairs is a curious one. Paris theatrical managers arc refusing plays with stags crowds in them, and even the Odeon Theatre, which is subsidised by the ’State an 1 pays its people well, is shelving plays in which n any su|»crs are needed. In some cases, for small crowds, actors out of work are being taken on. They are not paid as much as the cinematograph companies pay their supers, but they prefer a lower wage on the stage of a theatre to running the risk of their faces being «p?n in cinematograph picti.res all over the wnrl I later on when < .y have found work i worthy of them.