1957-06-15 — Page 7

THE CHINA MAIL, SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 1957.

Do we make fools

of ourselves

over animals?...

IMAGINE that your pet dog scampered out into

the main road this Sunday morning. Imagine it was killed a car which drove straight on. What would you do about it?

you

If you think the British go too for, consider this case history from America...of a dog that stirred the anger of a nation.

BOOKS by ROBERT PITMAN

the

it, they saw the big eyes Klaze over. They saw' the little teeth bared and the gums turn from plak to grey. The puppy

dead.

tho sophisticated Josephs

and

were stunned.

was

What would your reac- tion be ne you lifted up that small, broken body and car- ried it back to your gate? Indignation? Sickening

Ai thele new house in the grief? Or would

First, the author himself

country Richard

sophisticated simply shrug your shoul-45 year – old

Josephs learned to love Vicky ders, console the children, Joseph. When this story They loved her expressions The next day at his and set about buying an begins Joseph was a very always saddest," Joseph tells office Richard Joseph

sophisticated person indeed. us, "when the was other dog?

enjoying tried to read, But he As travel editor of the herself most"). Remarkable questions for American magazine E- THE CAR a book page, perhaps. But quire. he ceaselessly roved they are prompted by a re- the world sampling the markable book, a hook from smart places, the smart Amerien,

hotels.

1

It is the story of how one small dog's death stirred the anger of a nation.

It begins with the screech- ing of car wheels and a puppy's dreadful sereams on a summer's night. It ends with one of the most fan- tastic episodes in the bi tory of the printed word.

THE CHARACTERS -man, wife, dog

The book is just publish

Ils ed by W. H. Allen.

title: A LETTER TO THE MAN WHO KILLED MY DOG.

Look at its chief charac-

terg.

FIL

Then Joseph married sophisticated wife. She wag Fashion model aud

:1 writer.

12

could only think about the way Vicicy was kill- ed. At last, hot with anger, he sat down and

dressed it "To the Man Who Killed My Dog."

-a screech, a yelp typed a letter. He nd-

They loved her solen, ponderous movements. As they watched Vicky growing up, they told themselves that soon they would be watching their child growing up too.

But that was a sight which Vicky wasn't to share.

But these two phirticaled

Jt wrs. Inte оп Tuesday people had a sentimental dream. evening in midsummer. The Ard soon they turned the dreamt

puppy strutted at her master's to'o a plan for agiton. They feels down the front gravel plan, write: Richard Joseph, path. He stooped to pull at some She strutted on. And To v ve

uf New York and weeds.

Writes thing happened. into the enuntry, a tit ખા! People, cocktail parties....To Retard Joseph;

pose a child within the year. To get a dog far compchun ship In the menowidle."

ho

"I heard the roar of a moter

Which brings us in the third starded caracter in the story.

lier name was Vicky. She dig sad eyes. She also bag whiskers anet black spots

of brown Per patches

witte. 、 puppy.

She was a le Basset

along our quiet country road. There was the screech of skid- ding rubber, teen Vicky's wife's yelp, and my scream coming from a second storey window.

I ran out of our driveway as the driver of the enripped on the gas and raced his car down the road."

Gently they carried the little dog inside. There was no sign of a wound, Nursing and palling

12 short Into

para- graphs he poured more sincerity and feeling than into any million of the bright, smart words he usually tapped out, He wrote:

"I hope to Gud that when you

hit my dog you had for a

C

Vicky--a walk on a summer evening ....... a screech of tyres,

Page,,7

letters. For him they prove hurricane, The paralonale tals the decency and kindness of the it tells exactly matclics the human rac

weather.

11 1

But what kind of a book does it all amount to?

I And It fascinating slightly nauseating too.

Who la Mr Icarne?' He la aged 30. He grow up in Jamaica. He joined the R.A.F. but And he explains his origins like

THE PROBLEM -dogs or humans?

Let me explain why."

It is not that i divlike dogn, Even though, as friends of man,

1 And then somewhat over- rated.

this: "The Hearnes wore originally an Irish family but the main stream has received generous tribulary Birains of Scottish, Mxican, Englishy French, Jewish, Spanish and

Amerlozes blood."

In John Hearre the formula has paid off.

Grorge

recom-

It is simply that I am rapidly Tirk of all animal books. For a powerful study of West Dodle Smith has written a story Indiens in London about dalmatians, Echel Mannin mend Mr

Lamming. has written about a cat, Rowena His novel, THE EMIGRANTS Farre has written about a seal, (Michael Joseph, 158.), gives US That should be quite enough. the men and women on the crowded cast-bounded chips for Yet now we have Richard whom Bullain is the Great Good Joseph and his beautiful, soft, Place. It is a fine book. But warm puppy

And I am forced 1 believe that the book he la "Aren't we getting our working on in his West Lon- little twisicut don flat-note down the title It be better for ten of Age and Innocence-will be puppies to be killed stii ner.

to ask: valuca Wouldn't thousand

on the road cach day than for

a single human being to riskt liás Ho in swerving to avoid one of them?"

Those Calypso novelists put

punch into it

WE

THAT better time could there be to welcome

the Calypso novelista?

Finally, for a powerful een- tras; recommend Mr V: S. Naipaul. Mr Naipaul is culy: 25. But his list novel, Just pub- lished, is the gayest and deflest satire I have road for years.

Its title: THE MYSTIO MASSEUR (Deutach, 12s, Gr.). Its chief character: Trinidad Hindu called Ganesh,

'nistond.

Ganesh is a failure al miorsȧge. He cures no cao, canas nothing. So he decides to become a mystic the last Drawing on penny of his wife's dowry he buya 300 volumes from the Everyman Library, Explains moment the sick dead feeling Its circulation was only a few or help look for a new pet, or

They are the brilliant young Ganesh in Golypso English: “If a in the throat that we have thousand, but he was more cager plan a campalga against drivers

writers from the West Indies man read all those book, it go known ever since. And that to see those paragraphe in print who killed dogs.

who are putting quite as much havo-nobody to touch him in the than any of the well-pald

Into British line of educatico. Not even the pun feel t

whenever you articles he had written for the

Then some other local papers colour and punch

as Ramadhin and Governor.") And he puts up an think about speeding down biz magazines.

reprinted the letter. Then it writing winding country road again.

appeared in a nation-wide syndi- Walcott have brought to British advertisement "Genesh; Mystic." A few days Inter his wife cated column. Then it was cricket,

The plan works. His advico "Because the next time sonje telephoned him at the offer, printed in Reader's Digest.

alt And, alter

the solema on spiritual problems is good. etplit-year-old boy might be "I've got the paper," she told Soon it was being used as the Fabian laik about the Colonies, He runs his own taxi-service for wobbling along on his first him sadly,

road campaigns in "but they haven't theme of

provide this corrective; people who want to consult tim bicycle..

printed your letter, Half an Australia, in Afrien, in Portugal, hy

actually

Ganesh criticise their And eventually they

they in for Indians;

politics with brilliant Ed Murrow interviewed Joseph fellow "Or maybe you'll be real lucky hour later she phoned agalu to

agati.

His most effective elec- and only kill another cry: "I've just seen why I about the letter, It was used refuse to accord ewed respect to success. dop, and break the heart of couldn't find your letter in the as a piece for recitation in everyone who ciocan't happen to tion posters- another family.”

letter column. They've spread schools,"

And the letters streamed in. They came in thousands. It was Just the beginning. When Richard Joseph

They caine home from New York he found

Richard Joseph posted the letter to his local weekly paper,

it all over the front page."

be white.

West

Who are they, these Calypso authors?

came from children, For a powerful story I recom- Hearne His from pensioners, from people mend Mr John

Ganesh is Able, Nice,

Energetic, Sincere,

Holy

KON

But I wouder what poster he names Uke

his driveway full of cars and whose dogs had been killed and new novel, FALES OF LOVE who had advice to give. Now, (Faber, 155.), is sent in the West people--people who had read his at the end of his book, Joseph India, It begins in the hot sun would write for teller and wanted to sympathise, prints a selection from those und comes to its climax in a Eccles or Summerskill?

ZAZAZ.

NATIONALISATION?

NATIONALISA-

apart from

being an ugly word. seemed, until the last few weeks, to have been generally agreet to be a pretty ugly iden.

Then, curiously, out of the

blue, Sir Hartley Shawcross. followed by Mr Richard

Stokes erupted in print with

"NATURALLY"

to Le a little confused about this

dots appear that the Labour But the Labour Party

Parly is in the throes of a suri- ous cicbate on the problem

COMEONE said last week that a

couple of undergraduates at

an Oxford college full fucked Into their beer and downed be-

began to become pubile just as

Linckfly, perhaps, this debate is not yet quite certain twee them 35 pints 70

* blistering attack on the National Coat Board publish-

the idea that it would be to its unual report. Now there if it means

good to nationalise

never the bas

been very

much

chemical and the cement desirabilly

serious debate about the

industries.

of taking the coal industry under publie ownership, At the time the deed was done Until their speeches, nobly the coal industry was lu n bad thought inat anybody was even way. It had to be saved onl considering nationalising there indus- tries, But surely dwo Socialist leaders of this calibro were not speaking merely

in

NEWS FROM BRITAIN

By Les Armour

-"Naturally, Yes"

or

-"Naturally, No"

minutes.

This, they modestly thought, might be a record.

Some people, as a correspon- dence columna dispute in "The Times revealed, thought it was on outrage.

And, about the same time, a Mr G. L, Walker, vice-president of the Oxford Hotels and Board. Ing Establishments Association, Anyhow, it seems difficult for was deciding that the under. anyone to tell just how much graduale was very far gone the new obligations or the wage indeed. increases will cost. The board, however, is taking no chances.

And the public, it'ems, 1105

order to enjoy the melodious the simple fact Was that its no power to Induce it to take a sounds of their own voices? private owners did not have, and chance.

could not raise, tha funds The Inth, according to Mr necessary to do it. Aneurin Bevan's "Tribune," is

He sometimes, suid Mr Walker,

did not pay his bills.

He held noisy parties and broke things. And-horror of horrors-women had been seen British European Airways, going into and (happily) emerg- another nationailsed company, Ing from university establish- But the report was revealing landed itself in the fires of public ments after midnight. that the Labour Party will The Board made a prolit of debate this week by dropping shortly issue a policy statement about £12 million last year. calling for a nationalization pro- The report, however, blandly an- tables and publicity brochures. Walker's view.

the Union Jack, from its time- A thoroughly bad show, in Mr gramme of considerable extent: nounced that there would have Sie Hartley and Mr Stokes, it to be un increase in the price

Naturally, the Univerally veems, were making sure of get of coal.

This, the corporation explained ting the first word in.

candidly, was necessitated by the Marchal, a Mr W. R. Skinner, fact that the Union Jack is not sprang to the defence of outraged The directors admitted that popular in some

parts of the youth and proclaimed that the Whether or not "Tribune" is they were under a statutory ob- entirely right---and the people ligation to discuss the question it tended,

world and that literature bearing Oxford man was as virtuous, who make it their business to with consumer

therefore, to get industrious, and well-mannered bodies, set up stacked discreetly behind that as ever, distribute political tips seemed under the act and, therefore, Learing more popular symbols, they refrained from saying how

The intriguing thing is that much the Increuse would be.

Naturally, the public did not this debate which is as old and They seemed, however, to regard tako kindly to the suggestion as widespread as universities these consultations are rather that the dag should be hauled themselves should have made formal in kind since they made down.

The correspondence headlines, Big headlines.

POCKET CARTOON by OSDERT LANCASTER

"Oh, I do think you're so -right, Gjeneral-negotiation is always preferable to a long drawn-out strugule, except of course, in Cyprust"

it quite plain that there would columns of "The Times" bristled most certainly be some increase, with indignation.

Critics of nationallmylon have

The "Dally Telegraph" was so concerned about it that it actually sent a reporter to Cam bridge to see whether thinga were as bad thero,

Curiously, the corporation ud- not hesitated to point out tha mitid that it still paints the dog his does not seem to say much on its aircraft. It seems, there for the machinery of "consulta- fore, that the customer, who may The significance of It seems to ilan" which was supposed to have avoided the flag when he give the consumer rights which was reading his timetble must be that, now that the taxpayer he would never have had under necessarily come face to face is both financing the universities private enterpris».

with it as he boards the plans and providing the student with the very moment when the more funds, the public seems to ex The board's case for an in- uneasy sort of traveller is, any pect that the undergraduato will crease is that it expects that now how, wondering whether

bo a model of a decorum, obligations placed upon it by the would be better to go by oxcart, to his masters, and no boarding devoted to his books, obedient government (such as the oblign= tion to comprasate people whose And one of the corporation's housekeepers, and punctual in houses have been undermined) basses, taxed by a reporter, said the payment of his deble. will cost it about $15 million and the suggestion that the word

ft

that wage increases will cost ***British*** might be dropped THE WORST

about £10 million.

It

expects to do Anancially next your da well as it did this

and Increases in efficiency-the

from the company's name was "absolute nonsenso."

Perhaps tho assumption

Whatever happens, it seema

is the worst. la yet to come.......... that many customers cannot read result of vast capital expenditure even though

A woman in court this werk it must be lestifled that her husband, who aro expected to pay off to come assumed that they can recogniso was Communist, frightened extent. So the board will not the flag. But if they cannot her by threatening to have liar be in the hole to the full amount road, what are they doing with deported to Biberia when be be of its new costa,

come Commissar of Deptford.

the limetable anyway?

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