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Page 20
* * * * *
You may remember an original and striking book of papers about the theatre
under the title of _Buzz-Buzz_. Its author, JAMES E. AGATE, has now
followed it with another, called, rather grimly, _Responsibility_
(RICHARDS). You will be absolutely correct in guessing that this is not a
treatise on revue, being indeed an autobiographical novel of (I feel bound
to add) precisely the same calibre as, in the sister realm of drama, made
the name of Manchester at one period a word of awe. Why do these young
Mancunians recollect to such stupendous purpose? Here is Mr. AGATE, with an
introduction of forty-four pages, all about time and infinity, before he
can get his protagonist so much as started anywhere at all. It is a little
like one of those demon-scenes out of the pantomimes he describes so
lovingly--"_Do so! May safety and success attend on Crusoe._" But of course
the subsequent action is more responsible. I imagine Mr. AGATE'S picture of
young-man life in the Manchester of the nineties to be very much like the
real thing. Relaxation was not wholly remote from it. Cotton and
commandments were broken with equal facility. Also you may be impressed by
the number of Germans in it. Finally, after telling us, sometimes
engagingly, sometimes verbosely, all he can remember about Lancashire, Mr.
AGATE brings his hero to Town, levers him along, year after year, and gets
(almost on his last page) to his big situation. I won't spoil it.
_Responsibility_, which might better have been called "Garrulity," is a
novel containing boredom and charm in about equal proportions; not to
mention promise for the days when its author has learned to discipline his
too-ready pen.
* * * * *
From the early part of 1915 until the end of 1917 Admiral Sir REGINALD
BACON commanded at Dover, and from the preface to _The Dover Patrol_
(HUTCHINSON) we can gather that he is smarting under a considerable sense
of injustice and injury. Of the merits of his case--he frankly describes
his dismissal as brutal--I do not pretend to judge, but can safely assume
that the other side have something to say for themselves, if they care to.
However, you are not to suppose that this is a bitter book. Most generous
are the praises which the Admiral bestows upon his subordinates; his venom
he reserves for just the chosen few who, no doubt, can bear it. Apart from
personal recriminations, of which some of us must be more than tired, these
two portly volumes are of real historical value. You will find in them not
only a record of actual achievements, often carried out under desperately
difficult conditions, but also of projects which for one reason or another
were never fulfilled. "Why don't we try to land on the Belgian coast?" was
a question our amateur strategists were never weary of asking. Well, here
is their answer. Here, too, are countless photographs, charts, plans and
diagrams--a really wonderful collection. Even if you are not in the least
interested in Sir REGINALD'S grievances you will find him a writer who has
a lot of useful things to say and knows how to say them.
* * * * *
AN EFFECT OF THE CRIME WAVE.
[Illustration: _Both._ "HM! HE _LOOKS_ RESPECTABLE--]
[Illustration: --_STILL_, ONE NEVER KNOWS."]
* * * * *
"The normal average amount of clothing required in a temperate climate
such as ours is: _One pound weight of clothing to every one stone
weight of the body_.... Thus the clothes of a child weighing 3 stones
should be 3lb., and for a man or woman weighing 10 stones the clothes
should weigh 10lb. This is a definite statement; at any rate, disprove
it who can."--_Sir JAMES CANTLIE in "The Daily Mail."_
We gave instructions to our Mathematical specialist to work out the
figures, and his report is that he finds them substantially correct.
End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume
158, February 11, 1920, by Various
*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PUNCH, OR THE LONDON ***
***** This file should be named 16394-8.txt or 16394-8.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/9/16394/
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