Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Saturday 19 September 1925, page 5


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MEN, WOMEN AND BOOKS. , Sir Rider Haggard's Will..

Sir Henry Rider Haggard, the novelist, who left estate of the 'gross value . of £61,725, with net personality £57,288, left to his wife, the copyright of all his published or unpublished works! ? with the

dramatic rights. ^In his will he stated:— 'With, the' concurrence of my wife, I desire that the passing for press and general literary handling of .all my works, published or unpublished, and of any films or other forms of dramatic .representation shail be left to the direction of Ida Hector, my r secretary. 1 desire that,' if ?possible, the issue ot a uniform cheap edition oi my. books. shall be arranged. As to the MS. of. the work I have designated 'The Days of My Life,' an autobiography, I enjoin my wife not to destroy such Alij. in any, circumstances, and I express' the hope and belief that she will rellect well and- -take ? sound and expert advice, . hot only as to when it shall be- published, bu also as to what passages, if any, should be omitted.' ?'...-?? He left £1,000 to his- secretary. Ida Hector,- 'as a - small and inadequate acknowledgment of my gratitude for her long and faithful service.' ' Hilaire Belloc -and the Cinema. In the course of an address at the City, of London Vacation Course, in_ Edu-cation, recently, Mr. Hilaire Belloc spoke on the teaching of histery, which, he said, could not be taught croperly without visualization, a. fact that was gradually being recognised in our text books. More important than any illustration, however, was the picture that could be given by the cinema, and it was a most astonishing thing to him that it was not used. - As an example of what could . be* . done he' suggested 'a short picture of London Bridge' to-day, 100 years' ago, 200 years ago. and so on back to the time of thev3omans. It would not cost much,. except .in cardboard and. paint, and would give a true idea of the peoples of the different ages, their dress, and gestures. Such films need not be shown in every school, but a library of them could be formed and the children could 'be taken to a-^entraj hall which would serve a district or town, and be shown) such pictures dealing with the period of history which the*- wwp .ti.rlv.

^Vill Sartt Mr. Will Scott has a. novel method of jTsualmng his chief characters, such as Giglamp8- and Disher, before he actually starts work on them. :He malccs some scores of drawings of the character-to-be until he gets it exactly as he imagines it; nen a iinal picture is made and affixed to his desk, and 'lives' with him until the last word js' written. Mr. Scott prepared for his novel 'Disher'' by reading 500 detective novels— English, American, and French. The result was, as he says, to weary him for life of the detective who works with a magnifying glass and collects, cigarette ash in an old envelope, as-well as the threadbare ' problems of 'Who killed the man?' and 'Who stole he pearls?' ? ? .'?

..'?-. Veiriion Knowles. In 'its review of Verndn Kniwles's book, 'The Street of Queer Houses,' John o' London's Weekly writes:— . 'The architect who designed The Street of Queer Houses' spoke very like a psychoanalyist. and acted even more bke one. Somewhere among his repressions (although he does not confess as much) there existed a dozen sidea of his character he'd kept to himself. But repressions must out, and so came into being 'The Street of Queer Houses.' In this there livCd 1^ queer people and one normal man— a spinster, a poet, a sculptor and his wife, a doctor (whq^had fitted his watch with a voice and his .little- oak table with not only a voice, but sufficient., brains ,to enable itt(i'.playand'beat.him5Bt chess)1, a'tnuHC girl and her 'mother, a man who dabblec in'_magie, a gardener, and the Mayor. Mr. Knowles in this, and U tales that qllow, has. a. delicate fancy ? which helos hi-n to surmount the rather formidable difficulty of making the supernatural conincing.' . ' N Kitchener.

Lieut.-Cbl. E: D. Miller, in 'Fifty- ircarg of. Sport,' tells some interesting stories of Kitchener. It was Lord Kitchener who, in the South African War, collected a few casual men at Kroonstad, men out of hospital, or returning from leave or other duties, and detailed them to escort a. convoy which was urgently 'required for Lindley:— . ? : 'He had no officer handy to put in command- till he saw what he 'thought was a very' smart-looking cavalry officer strut ting tip and down the platform. So he told him off for the job. The. man looked very nervous, and said, Tlease, sir, I don't feel competent to undertake the work.' 'How dare yon confess your incompetence, \ sir, for such an elementary job! What is your name and rank, and regiment?' 'If you .please, sir, I am , the1 master tailor of the 10th Hussars.' ' , . The great field-marshal used to tell the following story himself:— . 'Lord Kitchener always wore, a plain khaki jacket, with no badges of rank or medal ribbons, and so was sometimes not even recognised as an officer. He was riding into Pretoria in front of his staff when helmet a most dejected-looking, dead-beat infantryman, .a straggler,. left far behind by his column. He asked him who he was and what he belonged to, and received . the startling reply, 'I belong to the 23rd Royal Welch Fed TJps; what do you belong to?' ' . .

. .'The 'Same Olil Language.' Here are two stories. about a general unnamed who had wit and also a command of vigorous language: — ? 'He once met one of hjs old comrades in the street., and asked him how he was. The man did not know his ' old colonel, which made the general furious, and in the strongest possible language he told the man exactly what sort of a fool he thought him. 'Ah,' said the man, 'face a bit older, hair a bit thinner and whiter, but 'he same old language: I am delighted to see you are so, well, sir.' . 'On one , occasion, on coining out of Buckingham Palace, where he.had been to receive a decoration', a grimy 'sweep brushed against his beautiful red tunic and was greeted. with a flow of the very best language. The -sweep listened respectfully to his remarks, and when - they had quite, ceased, he replied, quietly, JWell, if I- was quite sure you- were dean in the house I'd keep you for' a pet.'' ,.-. Rebecca West. Miss West hopes shortly to return to America, where, it. will be recalled, she has already made one triumphal trip.' acquiring a great reputation by her brilliant lectures 'and her. delightful personality. The title of her new' novel- is still apparently, a secret. -\ Rebecca West, although about M years of age, might' easily pass for 20. , Her figure is slight and girlish, while , she has a beautiful complexion, tojrether with fine brown eyes: and dark hair. , ?..-??? ?'?,'??-? Miss Jessie Conrad. has written an intimate study of -her ; husband, 'Joseph Conrad as I Knew. Him,' to be published by Messrs. Heincmann later in the year