Those who prefer novels to any other kind of reading and feel Somehow ashamed of it may take comfort from the spirited defence of novels made by Dr. Guppy in his address at Leeds as President of the Library Association, He said:— of literature, the books which a The great etaanding masteraece
separ nateatacs Rae Serre ie a ale aod tae rat Seat tae feeb" det state SEM. Mal? otras! et ate Teper fe ae wae Beet semepaci Me gt nine hen. haa rote they cathe EDT sede et ep nts ramsey dry, sume, eae Palatal Ste Meant eas a a one aman me, ical at abling ose a And Dr. Guppy spoke with con tempt of the "nonsensical criticism' levelled at public libraries for the preponderance of fiction they cir-Esines The reveree of thie est: forting reflexion is supplied "There are ten thousand novel Bee Miata Sen, ear droit soar ACES het ale sages (eae etl tad third-rate' (inthe publisher's est tiation) welter which ie to my" tas good as the best of the last -cen= tury, the Augustan age of ell it takes millions of acorns 10 produce one onk and thousands salmon eggs to produce one salmon, jand altogether Nature seems very wasteful, though Science tells us! that waste is a thing she does not. know. So perhaps it takes thousands of novels to produce one Jane Eyre. The thought makes one sorry for publishers' readers. But the result is surely worth it.
Mr. W, S. A. Winter, in his letter to the-editor, the day before yesterday, misunderstood the point it was intended to convey in the Note and Comment on Lord Rockmere The Best People." Mr. Winter's Interpretation of the character was not questioned at all: if we may say So, we agreed with the manner in which he handled the author's lines. But as we said at the time, the character was almost typical of frame American dramatists' ideas of the Bri mocracy. That iden is no more true of the British peer, than was the old time French conception of an Englishman, a person in. Norfolk suit, prominent teeth, and a pipe "on" in all circumstances, Tt is no more true than the conventional representation of a German some years ago, as' a genial old soul, wearing a huge meerschaum with his dachshund hidden away beneath the paunch of his master, or the narrow-waisted, pointed bearded specimen which' passed as your Frenchman, We know these things are not true, and we do not believe for one moment than anyone attending the excellent performances of "The Best People" carried away any idea other than that it was, one of those stage conventions necessary for introducing that species of humour into. the play. It would be Just as ludicrous for an Englishmut to object to' the author's conception of Lord Rockmere, as it would be for Americans to' become heated over the sketch of the American family in the same play, Tu local authorities have declitied to accede to the demands of agitators, for the immediate re-opening of the Seamen's Union, whick was supper fed on Saturday, and the release of the 10 arrested mon. They have also refused to release several agit tors arrested for attempting to. stir
with the Wanhsien incident, anti-foreign feeling in connexion In is officially reported thay. 20 foremen from Japanese mills and three strike leaders who had been dismissed met on Wednesday in Chapel to discuss compensation for the Jatter men. They demanded a contribution of $20 from each fore men and 40 cents from each worker. Not, knowing the attitude of the workers the foremen agreed to give $1 each, whereupon the meeting broke up, the dismissed men being dissatisfied.
Demaxos that General Chiang Kai-shek's personal representative visiting Marshal Chang Tso-lin should be executed, in order to stove that Marshal' Chang in is genuine i opposition to the Cantonese attack on the North, are said to have been made by General Chang Tsung-chang, General Chang Heueh-liang, son of the Mukden war-lord, and others. Tt was feared that by allowing the Canton envoy to depart with his head on his shoulders Marshal Chang's inten-8 be misconstrued by Wu Pel-fu arid Sun Chuan-fang.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.