1929-09-19 — Page 6

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THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 19,

NOW IS THE TIME. TO GET YOUR-

FRIGIDAIRE

THERE ARE DOMESTIC MODELS OF FROM FOUR TO EIGHTEEN CUBIC FEET STORAGE CAPACITY.

OVER

dress-circle boxes are placed, and there is no further need to show how lamentably Hongkong is behind the times. What has been said in regard to entertainments is also true of public functions: the whole building is thoroughly nansultable for gatherings of any kind.

› MUSICAL JOTTINGS.

Concert Artists--Their Haridi caps in Hongkong What they Play and Why they Play It."

́DAY BY DAY.

HE WHO WILL TAKE UP ANOTHER'S' TIME AND FORTUNE IN HIS SERVICE,

THOUGH HE HAS NO PROSPECT, OF REWARDING HIS MERIT TOWARDS HIM, 18. AS UNJUST IN HIS DEALINGS As HE WHO TAKES UP GOODS OF A TRADESMAN WITHOUT INTENTION OR ABILITY TO PAY HIM Steele.

Thore was a clean bill of health in the Colony yesterday:

[BY "ALLEGRO."] Scarcely anyone could have lis toned to Segovia without being amazed not only at the, wonderful effects which he produced on his instrument but at the artistry and Senator Manuel Quezon, Prest musicianship displayed. The an-dent of the Philippine Senate, will dience was not a good one, but it arrive in Hongkong on Sunday by was much better than had been the s.s. President MacKinley on feared on Thursday when only route to Shanghai. He will spend about twenty seats were booked a month in North China for his

health.

state of affairs which prompted the rather "outspoken remarks in these columns. Since the recital Sentence of five montha' hard there has been some correapon labour, was imposed on a Chinese dence in the columns of the before Mr. T. S. Whyte Smith at Morning Post which originated the Kowloon Magistracy this mor with a critique, containing critics ning when the defendant pleaded iam of the "setting" (ie curtains guilty, to a charge of larceny of a Σ understand pair of trousers, valued at 40 cents, and lighting), that the writer had not been long from a hawker's stall in Battery in the Colony and was therefore Street. The defendant had one conviction of three not familiar with the old scenery previous which used to provide the back-months' imprisonment for larceny ground for concert artists until a in 1926. few months ago. Had he realized the enormous improvement these black and gold curtains represent ed, he would probably have agreed that we must be thankful for small mercies.

A good deal has been said and written latterly in regard to Hongkong's lack of cultural activities. Evidence of this ahortcoming can be found in our so-called Library and Museum Both are typical of the building in which they are housed-musty, out-of-date and most uninspiring. They are a disgrace to the Colony. But even if they were all that they should be, they would be thoroughly out of place in the age-old structure, which accommodates them. In the Old Country, every little town has its Public Hall, and the majority of them are fine, roomy, modern buildings. But Hongkong has to be content with a ramshackle pid structure which, though possibly more"thor adequate for the times in which it was built, is now of little other value than as a relic of the past. As our musical contributor says, this matter has been raised again and again, but nothing is ever done. Surely the time has now

for action The cost may be considerable, but for sing. as future generations will benefit; THURSDAY SEPT. 19, 1929. there is no reason whatever why the erection of a new building should not be financed by public loan.

1,000,000

IN ESE THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.

DODWELL & Co., Ltd.|

Sole Distributors BONG KONG & 3 JEITA

The

Hongkong Telegraph.

OUR CITY HALL.

"The scrapping of the Theatre and the erection of a new one on

a quieter site are needs of the Colony second only in importance to the questions of water supply and trade revival." Thus "Allegro" in

J

for a really satisfactory building in which concerts and other gatherings can be held with out the intolerable interruptions which cannot be avoided in the present City Hall.

come

The fact is that the Theatre Royal has long been recognised as a disgraceful hall for concert ar tists, and any efforts made to ameliorate conditions for them in the way of providing curtains, etc., can only represent a "make shift arrangement. We can only mitigate alightly the unfavourable conditions under which they play

cur.

T

The Very Idea!

America has suddenly awakened." to the fact that she has built to many theatres, according to a writer in Scribner's Magazine. And in order to keep them all going managers have to provido bumpor, programmes, which lose in quality they gain in quantity. This low level of quality is slowly discourag ing the old type of theatregoer, who went to be entertained. "The vast majority of those who do at- tend the theatres Dow," says the writer, referring to the popular. priced houses, "don't really go They there to be entertained: come in to hold hands, or becauso the theatro has a cooling system, or to get out of the rain--any num

reasons none particularly ber of strong

Magistrate's clerk at Lowes-De you admit or deny the offence) Man -Yes."

Debter at Shoreditch County Court-I am reluctant to pay it. I am not compelled to

I would rather trust a man's word": than a 'wonian's—Âï: woman at. Shoreditch County Court

Constable at Highgate When I Mr. R. Stanley Dollar, Vice President of the Dollar Steamship told the prisoner he was drunk, ho Line and President of the Ameri- replied-"That is not news, I know: can Mail Line, will arrive in Hong-it

Clerk (to wife complaining at kong on Saturday by the .. President Polk and will salt on Highgate that har husband bad Sunday for Genoa by the same been persistently cruel to her steamer. Mr. Dollar is accom- When he last hit you had you had

a quarroll Wife No, I had receiv panied by Mrs. R. Stanley Dollar, Miss Diana Dollar, Master Stanley ed a cheque and would not tell him

Dorathea how much it was for. Dollar, Jr., and Miss

Albert. Mr. T. J. Cokely. General Manager of the Dollar interests in the East, with Mrs. Cokely will ac- company the party as far as Manila. Mr. Dollar la making a Round-the-World tour, visiting all offices of the Company.

CORRESPONDENCE.

Kowloon Parking.

[To The Editor of Hongkong Telegraph.]

Hongkong, Sept. 19th, 1929.

*

Two little girls were discussing their parents.

U

"Is your mother strict!" one in- quired.

"Ooh! Yes, she is just," she was told.

"Is she said the first little girl "Wall-I'didn't think so-cos she scome to let you do as you like.".

"Oh Me" the second girl ex- claimed. "Why, yes-I'm all right -but my-she's awful strict with Dal".

Mr. Cara

I

•

shocking life I'm living...

If being well-dressed needs them

all why Gosh! I'm scarcely dressed

..at ll

She was saying her prayera, taak always performed with s unction that made a cynic of her ben-years-old twin brother. "And" make me a good girl," she pleaded, "because I do so want to know what it feels like."

19.

• * •

"But I thought you had thrown Reggie over."

"Yea but you know how a girt throws!””

The Retired. Barrister: Quit

ling, past, or a motor tooted just Every time a tranicar came tink- outside the hall, the audience winced, and poor Segovia, play- ing delicate airs on a delicate guitar, went

untold through agonies. In the whole course of Health Propaganda.

his tours, he had never played in

(American fashion experts Pursued to its widest limits, the a building where one got so many

estimate that a well-dressed man health propaganda campaign pro- external disturbances. Realizing

should have twenty suits, eight posed by the Sanitary Board is a the trouble in store for him, once Sir,-A short while ago mo overcoats, twelve hats, and twenty- commendable project, the value of he had seen the theatre, he chang- torist was brought up before the four pairs of boots.) which cannot be too highly ed a part of his programme, Magistrate at Kowloon for park- Till recently I've always thought: estimated. Present plans are eliminating some of the quieter Ing his ear outside the white lines his Musical ottinge which will be limited to the exhibition of colour-pieces. Had he known the hall at the Railway Station. In the That quite sufficient clothes

bought out the beforehand, he declared, he would same locality there is a notice prof counted all my sults (I've two, found on another page in this ed posters pointing

dangers of the spread of diseases have struck Hongkong off his hibiting the parking of cars in the And neither of them very new!) issue. The reference is, of by means of flies and dirt, and the itinerary. But trams and motor- approach to the Station, under And guessed I had enough to wear. course, to the block of buildings evils of the spitting habit, cars were not the only distrac- cover, yet this morning I found which comprise the Theatre especially in its relation to that tions. As he was about to com- two cars so parked, one of which But now I'm weighted down with

dread scourge, tuberculosis. In Royal, the City Hall and the the future, we trust, the idea wil menee his second item, piercing had dust been driven in by an In- This news that I need-twenty suita Museum, and the occasion which be extended to the circulation of voices echoed through the build- spector of Police in uniform. Will Eight overcoats, and heaps of booth,

small pamphlets or hand-bills, aing: some coolie women were en- he be brought before the Magis- hear with grave misgiving. inspires the comment Was

method capable, we believe, of gaged in an argument just out-trate on a charge of illegal park This sort of thing leads one to the recent recital given by producing better results, providing side and he had to wait until it ing? I venture to doubt it.

consideration in the was over before he could play: ask whether, in this Colony, there Segovia, recognised as one of careful

framing, the governing principle During one item one of the City is one law for the public and one the world's greatest musicians. being brevity. The Chairman of Hall hands walked loudly across for the officials?

Enclosing my card, I sign my- That recital, like so many others the Board is taking a rather short the stage just behind the

view, in our opinion, in regarding taina that, by the way, is a form self, which have taken place in the the present proposals as being in of interruption which can be

CURIOUS. Theatre, was greatly marred by the nature of an experiment. One avoided, the City Hall authorities the noise of passing. tramcars is left with the impression that the being under an obligation to see intention is to put the "postera that their staff behave themselves and motors, and it is because of into circulation for, say, six during a recital of that kind. Shamshulpo and the Kal Tack the Colony's lack of a suitable months, after which the matter The scrapping of the Theatre aerodrome and pay good prices to

will be reconsidered by the Board and the erection of a new hear him. hall for events of this character in the light of the results achieved. one on a quieter alte, are needs that the cry goes up periodically Perhaps we are mistaken. We of the Colony second only in im- That these visiting artists do

should like to think so. Obvious portance to the questions of water not put on their most "highbrow" to discover the tangible benefits of says this at one time or another be denied. It is known through ly it would be next to impossible supply and trade revival, Everyone programmes for Hongkong cannot the campaign at the end of sixit has been talked and written out the East as a place where a quibbling, sir. Who was --Henry months, or for that matter, sixteen about for years. But Governora "leg show" draws full houses and VIII. Answer, "Yes" or "No." months. The only justification' for putting the scheme Into opera change continually, concert artists Compared with the wonderful come and go, Legislative Councilea musician faces an empty hall. tion at all is willingness to persist, and theatrical companies, swear audiences these concert artists An important meeting of the td' impress upon 'the public mind, That the need of a new Theatre again and again, the very real and pass on elsewhere. Only one and City Hali la felt need cause responsibility resting upon every thing remains unchangeable as the member of the community in the years roll on-the decrepit City DO surprise when It remembered that the present build-ly. If the problem is to be tackled

interests of public health general- Hall and Theatre. Ing has been in existence for no half-heartedly, it might just as Post discussions was the criticism Another feature of the Morning less than sixty years, the open-well be abandoned before levelled against the Hongkong begun and the expenditure ing ceremony having taken place, involved employed in some more Musical Society for boosting the Hongkong to press representa WHO WAS-7 as far back as 1869. In the useful, direction. We prefer to artists who are to perform, rather tives, on her return to the States. believe, however, that the Chair- than the programmes they are to Moiseiwitsch says he will always circumstances, it is not surprising man of the Board did not make play. There is no need to go over be pleased to return to Hongkong, that concert artistes and theatri-himself quite clear. We have the ground again. But I recall a to stay at Répulas Bay Hotel, but

noticed encouraging signs since pianist cal companies who come to the Wellington took over the cital in the Club Lusitano some be wondered at, that in choosing are never to give a concert. Can it Colony should be disgusted with responsible position of Director of months ago. He was world-their programmes they say to them- the, accommodation available. In Medical and Sanitary Services touring" and therefore, in the selves Heavy classical stuff will Segovia's case, having been warn that the principle of prevention is opinion of the correspondent who never go down here. I had being given more and more atten- | criticised the Society, a "first class bitter give them well-known ed beforehand, he changed his tion. The field of propaganda, artist" The Society, apparently, things." And they are justified. programme by omitting some of properly handled, offers immense should have made much of the fact A small handful of "people would

possibilities in this direction. But that this man would play the prefer to have an austere the more delicate pieces of his the reward comes only with per Appassionata of Beethoven, some gramme made up of big works of repertoire, but, oven so, he de severence, clared afterwards that if bo knew what the conditions were really like, he would have struck Hongkong off his list. It is

Paris surely no credit to the Colony Brussels that world-famed artistes should

Amsterdam Berlin suffer such affronts and carry Copenhagen

Vienna away such Impressions of Hong-

Helsingfors kong. But if these people suffer, Lisbon

Bucharest how much more do residents, who

Buenos Aires have to put up with the present Shanghal Theatre year in and your out?

Yokohama New

York Not only is their pleasure marred Geneva

Milan by outside noises, but the

Stockholm Theatre, da so fll-equipped. that | Oslo in summer the atmosphere is un-

Prague Madrid bearably, hot, whilst in winter Athens

Rio the audience gets almost frozen.

Rombay Add to these factors the extreme- Hong Kong ly uncomfortable seats and the Silver (spot)

Bilver (forward) ridiculous position in, which the

י,

EXCHANGE RATES.

London, Sept. 18.

34.88

123.855

who

gave

get in Japan and Mandia, and the Twenty-Four Guilds is to be held enthusiasm they meet with in at 7.30 p.m. to-day to discuss the Shanghal and Singapore, Hong Colony's currency problem. The kong is outwardly the most un- Chairman, Mr. Ho Kwong, le to musical spot which they strike in preside... wanderings. Mabel Garrison pub the whole of their Far Eastern licly expressed her opinion of

pro

Bach and Scarlatti, and some in- the accepted great composers. teresting Chopin numbers. The But the vast majority will give music counts rather than the the most applause to Moskowakia player." And yet, had the So "Jugglerena and Lladou's "Musl clety backed that concert, its re-cal Box," as they didat putation would have been ruined Moiseiwitsch's recital; to "Comin' for ever. The playing was atro- thro' the Rye" and "Home Sweet 1208% clous. I cannot imagine that any Home," as they did with Galli- 20.36 schoolgirl would have passed the Curci. The inclusion of such 18.203 LR.A.M., playing only up to his items in a programme. may 84.43 standard. The planlst did not frighten away the gentleman who 192% understand the use of the pedal; refused to hear Segovia, think- 108.20

his tempo was all wrong, and ing that the Bach he was playing, -817 47,7/32

7.782 his interpretations extraordinary, was merely an adaptation for the 2/8 who know anything whatever guitar, but if one thing is certain 1/11 about the pieces he was supposed it is that their exclusion would 4.84 21/32 to be playing, sat with an ex- result in the audiences being 25.16 pression of pain, clenched their much smaller even than they are 92.675 teeth and unwardly writhed of now. If we get a really ap 18.10 what use was It to boost the prectable body of music lovers 188% musical selections, when every together here whose joint efforts 82.86 piece was murdered by the and enthusiasm will clear this 876 executant? It is essential that Colony of the stigman of being 45% an artet shall come here with such an unmusical place, better 1/5.27/82 a good reputation before the local programmos will follow as & 1/10% Musical Society can take the matter of courses soon as the responsiblity of urging members artists and concert agents have to com from the Peak, Taikoo, revised their ideas as to what a

hopeless community we pre

18.205

British :Wiralons.

MACHIAVELLI.

The word "Machiavellian la used to denote the employment of brilliant, gifta in somewhat shady and ruthless practices: being derived from Niccolo di Bernardo del Machiavelli, famous Italian statesman and writer, who flourished at the beginning of the sixteenth cen- tury.

Born at Florence of a dis tinguished family, Machiavelli

and undertook important, dip. served in high offices of state, lomatic missions which he turned to account in bis writ- Inga en statecraft. A brilliant man, he was nevertheless uit. terly unscrupulous in the met- hods he advocated, for the ob

•taining of a stable government, holding that all was fair" in' diplomacy as well as in love and "war"

The influerice of his doctrines has been apparent in the pro cédure of many monarchs, from James L to the German Em porers, for he believed in the divine right of milers; his ident prince was an absolute despot.j Thus if you should hear, 65 you probably will hear, a politi cian described as a Machia vell, you will know that he is charged with employing his genius in questionable direc tions to gain his own ends..