14
THE CHINA MAIL.
£2433682/839||||||||||||||¶Ð¶Ð£££££££?£££££££5447xtreet manners he admits that
BOOKS
THE "GOOD OLD DAYS."
LONDON LONG AGO,
AN INTERESTING BOOK,
There must be many who could tell us by word of mouth what London was really like in the "Good Old Days" of 60 to 70 years ago but few who could make an entertaining book of it. According to the standards of the modern Londoner the picture is a dismal one of life in the metropolis before the days of motor 'buses, tram-cars and motor-ears; when the
only method of travelling was by horse bus or steambont; London when lunchers had to proceed to the chop house, even more terribly primeval still, a London without lucifer matches. Few of us can have realised how comparatively recent is our emergence from the
age of lint and steel!
Far from dismal, however, he account which Mr. Bennet gives us. He has the happy kaak as being able to draw on a memory stored with first impressions of events many of us have comes look on
as past history; mor vital still, perhaps. the gift of being able to convey those impress sjons
to the reaten For instance, Mr. Bennet's personal recollections of the joy occasioned by the visits of the old time street entertainers leave one wonder- ing if, after all, the child of the 50's or 60's did not enjoy such, exhibitions as much as surfeited youngsters einemus today. tastes of their elders were sach thut relaxation and edification aplenty in their opinions were to be obtained from the amphi-, theatres, exhibitions, etc., of the
day.
do Акніп,
Dur the the
The First Railways. An interesting sidelight is thrown on the mentality of a little later period when railways first made their appearance by the author's recollections of a special service being run to the metropolis on the day appointed for the deliverance by a popular divine of a public sermon! It is also astonishing to read of the times when perforand postage stamps were introduced.
there cannot be two opinions. In his day eccentric persons of either sex, especially if old and infirm, would be surrounded and tormented by crowds of boys and girls who would never dream of passing a cat without throwing at As a member of the Institution it, setting a dog on it or chevying of Engineers and Past Vice- it in some way." He admits that President of the Institution of the cats who now come on to Locomotive Engineers, Mr. public pathways and sit and go Bennett speaks with authority en to sleep on door steps and window the subject of engines in vogue sills are eloquent of the softening in the early days of locomotion of manners which has occurred, but although he has an admiration No mid-Victorian eat would have for the workmanship of the day been such a fool, opines the both in this and other respects he author! has to admit that a system was at fault which could allow of a bridge being built so narrow as to cause death or injury to any one who protruded any part of their person even a few inches from the railway carriages! However, the good old days" had com- pensation to offer even in regard
to railways. What Londoner to-
day can travel to Brighton and hack for 26 or to Roulogne vin Folkestone for 7/6 return.
children
Mr. Bennelt, however, takes up arms on behalf of Victorian customs in other passages and particularly does he deplore the attitude of the modern present in allowing quantities of animated penny "unlimited
dreadfuls," A he the cinema films usually shown at terms
However, he has not allowed his matinee performances to-day. strong convictions on this and
other matters to constitute him a bigot and he has certainly sue- and entertaining book well worth ceeded in producing an educating
opportunity to read. the while of any who have the
by
E.R.P.
"London and Londoners In
Eighteen-Fifties And Sixties" Alfred Rosling Bennett. Publishers: T. Fisher Unwin,
Ltd., London,
"GRAY'S ELEGY."
Sir John Franklin. Of national life, as from matters appertaining to distinct
recollections of the funeral of the home and locality the author has
War and the search for Sir John Duke of Wellington the Crimean
Franklin all mixed up" as he puts it, with cholera and the dis- infection of the Thames. Very about Sir John Franklin bet few people do-day know much during the whole of the 50's, familiar in even the poorest writes Mr. Bennett, his name was
homes, this being due to the mystery which surrounded the of the North-West passage and fate of his expedition in search THE FAMOUS CHURCHYARD the persistence with which his devoted wife refused to abandon hape of his ultimate return. The seeing the famous explorer prior anthor had not the opportunity of
though tragic" failure, bus in to this voyage of "glorious, other chapters he gives his impressions of such notabilities as Lord Palmerston, Mr. Glad- stone, and the Crown Prince of Prussia whom he had oppor tunities of observing at first hand.
Stret Manners,
to the
The reader may come conclusion, and reasonably so that Mr. Bennett fails to see how much of what is often vaunted as the advantage ruing from the "advancing,e," of civilization may be appl in the period in which he li but regards
SAVED.
4.
"Nearly one-hundred and fifty-four years after the death of the poet Gray, Lord Grey of Fallodon on behalf of the National Trust, received the deeds of ten
acres of land which adjoin Stoke Poges eBurchyard, famous throughout the English-speaking world as the spot where the poet wrote, or more probably was inspired
write,
his "Elegy."" Lord Grey of Fallodon, on receiving the title deeds, said: Poges was that if was associated "The distinction of Stoke intimately and for ever with one of, the most perfect poems in all literature. Gray's 'Elegy" was a fixed star in the firmament of
to
literature. Not a star of the first magnitude, as great epics or great dramas are, but a star that shone with a ray which was peculiarly bright, clear, and serene.
"Their confidence that its place was assured for ever in literature was due in no small degree to that epithet 'serene,' for serenity WAS one of those qualities to which, in all the ages, humanity, itself so little serene, was most prone to attribute what was eternal. The very great and the perfect." Lord Grey continued, "have this much in common, that they render us silent.
"Shakespeare, you may say, re- A perfect duces us to silence. thing like Gray's 'Elegy' pre- disposes us to silence. You can- not read it without feeling at the end an absolute content, which by praise of it. you are unwilling to disturb, even
Gray's Elegy
thing. stands as a perfect and complete
cover that everyone who cares "Gray's 'Elegy is so easy to for it is familiar with the whole work, and that unites us in some thing more potent than admira- the same thing.” tion-the bond of affection for
"For a long while the seclusion of the quiet Buckinghamshire churchyard has been threatened by building operations. That danger has now been removed for ever by a. fund of several thou. sands of pounds raised by sub- scriptions from almost every part of the globe where the English tongue is spoken," says J. A. in the "Weekly Dispatch."
"In future, the scene of Gray's mournful meditations, though not exactly existing far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife, will at any rate remain some dis- tance from it.
"The "ground which has been preserved for the nation, and upon which Tuesday's ceremony may be fairly identified with the actual len over which, musing in the oncoming twilight. Gray watched the lowing herds of the first stanza of his poem wind slowly homewards.
"After Stratford-on-Avon, and celebrated Burns's cottage, the Stoke Poges churchyard is probably the most popular objective for a literary pilgrimage in Great Britain. Every year visitors stream to it from America and the Domin- this country. The number last ions, as well as from all parts of year reached the huge total of 50,000."
|
YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION.
HUBBUC PRIEST LAY
NOR RNG POURS DYC S LACTEAL B È CAN H YAP A SHAM DON NICE APPEARANCES TYRO BIG ETCH A H T PRY A
TICES WHELP PER THUN USE AVE TRYING WALLED
ไม่
GOA
#9##1879=0&TIMATE
"The fact that the spot has not changed very greatly from what it was in Gray's day makes
tery one than to many of our the pilgrimage a more satisfac-
literary shrines that time and change have robbed of most of their associations.
"It is quite casy in the old churchyard to conjure up the illusion of the poet brooding over the short and simple annals of the poor. And the rural scenery in the vicinity (though a railway Ene is but a mile away) still seems to belong to the poem. Not far from Gray's own grave in the churchyard still stands the ancient yew tree beneath whose shade the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep."
*"Gray's
association with Stoke Poges dates from 1741. when his mother came to live in cottage at West End, a hamlet a mile from the church, after the death of her husband." "Gray was. then twenty-five. ------
"Certainly melancholy seems to have claimed the poet as her own more thoroughly at Stoke than anywhere else. Besides the. Elegy, his beautiful Ode Distant Prospect of Eton College claims Stoke as its birthplace. And this poem, too, the earliest of Gray's printed verses, closes with
on a
series of mournful reflections, the concluding one of which has passed into a proverb: 'Where ignorance is blise, 'Tis folly to be
wise.'
"At Stoke everything he saw seemed to turn to food for sad lusty young Eton boys enjoying meditations, even the sight of their pastimes in the playing- fields.
SATURDAY, JUNE
CHINA MAIL'S CROSS-WORD PUZZLEY
(These orass-word puzzles have been made by experts but our readers.are warned to watch out for occasional phonetic spellinge, such as harbor, plow, and altho.).
12
13
15
16
19
10
11
12
13
14.
15
16
120
21
124
26
19
8
X
28 29
34
38
46
117
18
22
25
27
30
131
32 33
35
136
37
39
140
[41
43
144
45
47
P
OTHE INTERNATIONAL SYNDICATE.
SUGGESTIONS FOR SOLVING CROSS-WORD PUZZLES Start out by filling in the words of which you feel reasonably sure. These will give you a clue to other words crossing them, and they in turn to still others. A letter belongs in each white space, words starting at the numbered squares and running either horizontally or vertically or both.
HORIZONTAL
-A chansmER r-Pushoe
Boat propofter
Cry of bird 1-8ccluded
---Cyat
1-Northeastern State 11 da 17-To Incite
10-Pain- 21--Portion 22--Hint
23-Pole used in walking. 25-~~Wanders
28-Garment
27 To And fault 28-Conform
31Destroy wantonly 34--Anger
36-Term of respect 37-Spare
36-Pair
39-Biblical king
41Owed
VERTICAL
Mid-West State of U. S. 2 Political party (abbr.) 3-injure
4-Test
Scarcely Buffelent
6-Detent
To be indebted
-Definite portions of a journey 12-Stringed Instrument 14-Deed
15-Great American city. 17-Gilded by
18 Viscid vegetable substan: 4 20To cur away
22-Marine formation 24-East Indian matting 25-Crude.
28-One killed in art 29-Orow-like bird 30-Refuse
32-A Greak latter 33-Exerted, power
35-Religious organizationa
42-Portalhing to organs of touch 36-Path
44 Insect 43--Faston
46-Leather strage
47-Wandering domestic animal
3-Buspend
|40-Ralsed platform
|42-Ta make brown |43--To permit
(The solution of the above 67088-word puzzle will appear in to-morrow's "China Mail" along with a nega cross-word puzzle,)
TO-DAY
TILL MONDAY
At 5,5 and 9.15 p.m. «
C. E. BLANEY'S GREAT BROADWAY SUCCESS
MORE TO BE PITIED
THAN SCORNED"
with an all-star cast including ALICE LAKE, ROSEMARY THESY, J. FRANK
||
GLENDON, ETC.
ALSO
JACK DEMPSEY
in
"THE TITLE HOLDER"
(The 7th. of the "FIGHT and WIN" Series)
STARTING TO-MORROW, 7.15 p.m.
"FANTOMAS"
Ep. 3 & 4
WORLD THEATRE
SCREENLAND.
"THE SIN FLOOD."
ONE OF THE GREATEST PICTURES.
HUMAN NATURE THE THEME.
At last an American photoplay has Been made in which every element is of artistic excellence; story, cas and production. In The Sin Flood produced by Goldwyn from "Syndafloden, a, drama by the eminent Swedish author, Henning Berger, a giant stride forward in the art of the cinema has been taken.
A DECIDED HIT.
MORE TO BE PITIED
THAN SCORNED."
Screen snecesses are not unusual in these days of the silver-shoot drama, but a success as sildly grounded 24 More to Be Pined Than Scorned" is neither usual nor commonplace.
The scenic settings are complete
This heart-irring old stage stay held thousands spellbound when it was firs praheed by its author, and the picturised version bids fair to rival the success of the original The Sin Flood," which will be by Edward J. LeSaint and headed A cast of usual merit, directed shown at the World Theatre-for 5 by J. Frank Glendon, Alice Lake, days beginning Tuesday next is a Rosemary Theby and Baby Joee- photoplay that can successfully phine Adair, putrivalled the lustre challenge the most artistic, the of the sterling actors of the speal- most realistic, the most human ing stage who first produced the pictures that the screen has to offer.play. "It is a step in advance of any photo- play yet proiled and will be hail- ed in future years as one of the most important milestones in the development of motion pictures from a mere amusement to an art
In the east will be seen such players ns Helene Chadwick, James Kirkwood, Richard Dix, Ralph Lewis, Otto Hoffman, L. H. King, Tolm Steppling, Will Walling, eye. as she always does, and made Rosemary Thehy appealed to the William Orlamond, Darwin Karr a complete and villainous villain- and Howard Davies. All have been ens. identified with exceptional screeni performances in the past; and now they appear together in one of the, most usual stories over filmed.
to the last degree, as is every de tail of the physical production of the picture.
The first-night andience registered gard to the performance of Baby complete approval, especially in re- Adair as Ruth Lorraine and Alico Toks as the wife and mother.
ed in the face of an almost certain death. In their new attitude boward death, the antagonisms that STORY BY FAMOUS AUTHOR, filled their days are forgotten. No lesa a literary figuro than Then a miracle happens. The Henning Berger, the world-famous impending doom is averted, They Swedish writer, is the author of are granted life once more. What "The Bin Flood," an original play. shall they do? Has the religion of a version of which was produced in, brotherhood been firmly implanted: 1917 by Arthur Hopkins under the, in their breasts? They are but title,The Deluge." The theme human their worldly responsibili of the play is human nature itself; ties call once more, v and us the story develops, it un folds a group of people bitterly quarrelsome and at odds with one another.
The business enemies take up their old quarrel; the derelicte awim away on the men of the life they thought they had left for good; but Caught by a cloudburst, they are to the lovers who have gathered in gathered in a cellar cafe, and the the group, the lesson of love and conviction is brought home to them humanity has taten root, that they cannot escape alive. In ELABORATE PRODUCTION. this horrible predicament, will the Nothing that would lend to the water rising and death stalling artland Bitccess of the picture has them hour by how, their bickerings, heen omitted by the Goldwyn Dom decline to nothing and they realisa pang All details of producticar that they cannot afford to meet thei Maker with oil in their hearts and mind to make The Sin Pland'
with one purpose-tai slander on their tongues. As the most logical and realistic picture A flash of heavenly insight of the senior Those who attend illuminates the hostile group, and the World Theatre during these five almost spontaneously they compon days will see a picture that will be their differences, ablolve Tone refold again and again at their fire- another from sin, and-grow re dides,
STARTING TUESDAY NEXT, 5.15 & 9.15
ONE OF THE GREATEST PICTURES OF ALL TIME
"Heaven's Thunder Peals!
THE
The Earth Trembles !
The Torrent is Here
It is The Deluge!"
GOLDWYN
·PPINES SEPTEM
HOOD
FRANK LLOYD
A GOLDWYN PICTURE
With a real a cas
Times Kirke
A Drama that strips the csak from Human Nat
picture that lays bare
graat-massage-for-sif-
WORLD
Jealousy and
hope of
Helene Chadwick, Richard Dix
THEATRE.