Passing Through Hongkong:
"Painted Veil" Author on Free Advertisement 'A noted figure of the literary world in the person of Mr. W. Somerset Maugham, in whom Hong-Kong has been specially interested, arrived in Hongkong yesterday by the N.Y.K, Tanda and leaves the Colony to-day for Saigon in the Str. Hanoi, says the "S. C, Morning. Post" of February 6.
The author of the "Painted Veil" on a holiday in the East, the main object of which is to material for now stories.
Maugham arrived here from Sanda-Kan by way of Manila, He has been away from England for about six months, now and is on his way home. His intention, he told representative of the "S.C. Post," is to go again to see the ruins of Angkor, which he characterizes ae the most beautiful and interesting place in the East.
have been travelling to find material for new stories, short stories, that is. I wanted material for three and T have found enough for several, so that I have been very lucky.'
One could hardly forbear to ask about the success of the novel which interested practically everybody Hongkong and the Far East, "The Painted Veil."
"Painted Veil" Very Successful expect you profited by the foolish fuss made about it here?" asked the interviewer.
"Yes," said Mr. Maugham, "it gave the book extra advertisement and I profited thereby: It ix one of my most successful books. causal the publishers a little inconence, but they made up for that by extra sales and $9 everybody was happy."
Remembering the success such novels as "The Moon and Sixpence" and others by Mr. Maugham, the fact that "The. Painted Veil" is one of the most successful ever wrote exhibits the usefulness to a writer, of public bodies stooping to recover what is imagined to be lose of dignity through imagined_ misrepresentation, "To us in London," added Mr Maugham, "the incident was a very trifling ote, It was all amicably settled and I don't wish to say much about it. I think the best thing public bodies can do if they think they have been misrepresented ly to He told us that he was relly in Hongkong by mistake, tried to get from Manila' straight to Saigon, but the boat left before he arrived and so he had to make the roundabout trip through Benj Kong. "It is four years since T here, I think; and I have arriv~ with no warm clothes, as I did of expect to come here and so 1 have only flannels, ducks and a topee" he laughingly added.
Mr. Maugham is known as an me vote rate curio collector and says he is taking advantage of his short stay here to hunt round the curio shops.
id he was having a very trip and was happy to have been 0 successful in obtaining 50 much material to work upon,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.