ETRY TANEQ-KALY * SATURDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1928, ---- i CHIN EMAY AlTKAG HUN New Array of Talent With the Celebrated Japanese Mentalist. Patrons at the Grand House will remember the mentalist who was here with Culture Vaudeville last season. He is to be here again shortly with the Classics of 1924, a company of international artists gathered from all parts of thre world. With this company is l.a Terpisichore, the wonderful dancer from the Theatr: La Scala, the famous opera house of Milan, Italy. She is considered by those who ought to know as the equal to the great Paviowa, Liane d'Eve, who, in private life is the Countess D' Millon, who comes here direct from the Coliseum, Lon- don, brings' with her a full stock wardrobe of Parisian gowns which were entered by the United States customs officials as worth fifty thousand dollars. She is the French Eva Tanguay and has made hersel! & great favorite with English audi- ences. Palo and Palet, the latest musical sensation from Broadway, have just finished a long engagement with the Ziegfield Follies, and are quite tha best in their particular business. Tameo Kajiyama needs no intro. duction to a Kingston audience. He is to be congratulated on bringing to this city an even greater troupe of artists than that which delighted local theatre-goers during his last visit, Batencourt, a native of Havana, Opera famous the Cuba, brings a novelty and highly déVéToped equilibristic act of great merit, Yet another attraction Noel, a mim.¢, halls frog: the lead- ing London, Eng, vaudeville thea- tres, delineating in charming fash- fon Duteh and English character ketches, The Classics of 1924 will be In Kingston at the Grand Opera House for three nights, commencing Dec. 24th, with a special matinee on Christmas Day, ------------------------ WHOLE BLOCK BURNS IN FILM SPECTACLE Alice Calhoun and Percy Mar- mont Narrowly Escape Death in Flames. ee. One of the most stupendous fire spectacles ever offered will be seen at the Capitol theatre Monday, Tues- day and Wednesday. It is one of the sensational scenes in the highly dra- Pmatio Vitagraph super-production, "The Midnight Alarm." In "The Midnight Alarm" is shown the destruction by fire of an en. tire block of buildings, including a six-story structure. This was one of the most costly structures ever bailt for the sole purpose of destruction, and was in keeping with the policy that nothifig be shown unless it 'was realistic and that fakes and the like be barred. Director Smith also sought to make this production more spectacular than even 'Ninety and Nine" or "Masters of Men," both of RECOLLECTIONS OF A PRIVATE SECRETARY By J. L. PAYNE Early Newspaper Days and Men--S8ir James Edgar's Trained Political Choir--The Private Secretary, His Duties, Painful and Otherwise--Civil Service and Patronage. (ARTICLE THREE) Sir MacKenzie Bowell came to Can- ada a poor boy, nine years of age, and won his way to the highest post in the gift of the Canadian people. He pro- vided his own equipment as he climbed the long ascent. In a large sense, greatness was thrust upon him; for it had never been his ambition to be- come Prime Minister of Canada. He told me so--not once but many times, and he was not the kind of man who "talked insincerities His" final flight to high place grew odt off a long series of promotions; | yet the play of circum- stances had more to da with his reach. ing the peak than anything else. He became the logical legatee of Sir John Thompson's mantle by right of Cabi- net authority, rather than by com- manding merit in a free field. I was very happy with my big- hearted old chief Sir John Carling; but Sir MacKenzie Bowell needed a pri- vate secretary, and Sir John took the _ view that my interests would be serv- "ed by accepting the post. It vould not be established as a fact; yet 1 fancy | Sir John had a premonition that Ca- binet changes were impending which might affect himself. At ail events, he yielded to Sir MacKenzie Bowell's re- quest. That was in the autumn of 1892. My new chief was then Minister of Militia. He had been Minister of Customs from 1878 to 1892, and made a name for himself in a department ealling for high judicial qualities and administrative skill in its head. I had "known him well for years. Everybody "knew him. He was what the world "calls a good mixer. He was in parti- at Sl cular the warm friend of all the mem- bers of thé Press Gallery, and of news- Paper men in general. This may have been due in part to the subtle free-masonry which draws journalists together, since he belonged to the fraternity of the fourth estate; of David Smith, Vitagraph director, | THE. DAILY BRITISH WHIG } is Eunice | | | Scene from ** Monday, which tremendous successes were directed by Mm. He personally supervised all con- struction for this picture A large portion of the twenty<4three acre S-T-R-A-N-D STARTS MONDAY "CHILDREN OF JAZZ" With EILEEN PERCY and PI KOSLOFF inefficient as the head of a depart- ment of Government, without suffer- ing loss of prestige; but mediocrity must. toil or fall. If I were asked to sum up in a few words Sir MacKenzie Bowell's justification for having been a Cabinet Minister for eighteen years, and Prime Minister of Canada for fif- teen months of that period. I should say it was to be found in his rugged common sense, his unswerving integ- rity, and his great capacity for details. He certainly was not a'born leader of men, a great thinker, a powerful de- bater, nor a man of extraordinary parts. A few months after I joined him. Sir MacKenzie became the head of the newly constructed' Department of Trade and Commerce. He built it up but I suspect it was also due in part to a shrewd sense of policy. The press is a powerful force in politics. It can make or break men. That is not my postulate. It is the indubitable teaching of modern history. It is probable a genial and companionable man like Bowell would have come to be on good terms with pressmen in the ordin ary course of events, especially in a centre like Ottawa; yet I know that he would have done a good deal to make sure of his footing in that regard had it been in doubt. At bottom he realized that he needed helpful influences. He certainly did not adopt any meretric- ious methods to win those influences; yet he valued them and did all in his power to keep them in his favor, At all events; he got them. A Hard Worker. Sir MacKenzie's estimate of himself was frankly given to me under pathe- tic circumstances, to which I shall come in a few moments. A few things must first be said, for the sake of se. quence. As Minister of Militia he was as industrious as he had been in the Customs Department. He had been a military man and held the rank of colonel. He was a hard worker. He reached his office early, and rarely left it before six at night. A man of out- standing genius may be careless and NESSES... ... 1OYE @ Co. Dintrthoe Tir Wimeaton from the ground, choosing his own material. In doing so, I know that he deliberately selected men upon whom he could depend rather than mea of exceptional ability. Was he not right in so doing? How hard it is to get men who can be counted on under all circumstances! One of the first things he did was to plan for the extension of Canadian trade to new markets. . The mission to Australia grew out of that purpose. It took place in 1893. Sir MacKenzie did not select some one for that important piece of work. He went himself. I had moved about a great deal with Sir John Car- ling; but I now realized, as never be- fore, the compensatioy which a private secretary receives for rather slavish work in the privilege of travelling. All my dreams of seeing much of the world came true during my service with six Cabinet Ministers. But this trip to the Antipodes, carrying us through the South Seas, was the most wonderful of all my meanderings abroad. The Pacific Cable. The Pacific cable grew directly out of that mission to Australia. Sir Mac- Kenzie took with him Sir Sandford Fleming, who had conceived that great project, stuck to it through years of discouragement, received from the various Australian states rather chilling answers, and finally carried it to victorious achievement. He was a man of conspicuous ability and infin- ite patience, joined to sweetness of character. That combination is more or less rare. The Colonial Conference, held at Ottawa, in 1894, was another out- growth of the mission to Australia. I had the honor of being official secre- tary of that important gathering, joint- ly with the late Douglas Stewart, who was the private secretary of Sir John Thompson. My colleague's part in the matter was, however, hongrary. The work fell on me. In the following year the Newfoundland Conference / took place, and on that occasion Sere was given the post of secretary. Both-those international assemblages gave methe privilege of contact with many men of eminence. Bowell As Premier. The tragic death of Sir John Thompson at Windsor Castle, on 12th The Midnight Alarm,' Tuesday and Wednesday. SATRES OFF >: by : ' at the Capitol Theatre mm studio owned by the Vitagraph Com- pany was devoted to the erection of & metropolitan business district. The set reached across the width of the studio grounds and consisted of a street and a group of buildings from three to six stories in height. At the farthest end, « practical six- story building was erected. The spectacle was so tremendous In scale it was necessary to obtain the permission of the Los Angeles authorities to carry it out, because of the danger of the flames epread- ing to the studio structures. Five thousand persons witnessed the destruction of the buildings and played @ part in the picture. The crowd was so dense special precau- tions had to be taken to prevent on- lookers from being injured. The fire bad to be roped off, while a crew ot picked guards and police kept terward; but at the time he was silent, From December 21st, 1894, until 27th April, 1896, Sir MacKenzie Bow- ell was at the head of the Government] of Canada. He made no changes in the Cabinet on taking the helm, How did his elevation affect him? In one sense, not at all. In another sense, very much. He remained the same affable, approachable, jaunty, sincere man he had always been. But his responsibili- ties" weighed upon him. They were naturally and unavoidably heavy, and he lacked in some important respects the capacity to bear them. If, however, he was having any trouble with his col- leagues, he concealed the fact from me. Communicative to a fault about other things, I never heard him utter a syll- able about what went on within the Privy Council Chamber. Later, he opened his heart to me unreservedly. Crash of 1896. Early in January 1896, came the crash. To myself it was a bolt without warning. Seven of Sir MacKenzie Bowell's ministers resigned in a body. They were: Hon. Messrs. Foster, Hag- gart, Ives, Montague, Dickey, Wood and Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper. Such a thing had never happened before in the political history "of the country. The people were thunderstruck. The Liberal Oppositionists saw in this ev- ent the debacle of the Conservative party and an early ending to their own eighteen long years in the wilderness. To a friend in Parliament, Sir Mac. Kenzie said, "I have been living in a nest of traitors," and the phrase stuck. Anxious days followed, Sir Mac- Kenzie made a statement to Parlia- ment, then in session, and asked time for reconstruction. In such crises it transpires tat meditators play import- ant roles, and this occasion was not an exception. The success of these go- betweens necessarily depends on diplo. macy carried on out of sight. I may now say that this important duty fell on two exceedingly competent men. Lord Strathcona (then Sir Donald Smith) and Hon. Sir Frank Smith. They brought about the understand- ings which restored a functioning Ca- binet. What lay at the bottom of this most distressing episode in our political evolution? For the first time since it occurred, I feel free to speak authori- tatively. Sir MacKenzie took occasion to dictate his version of the matter to me very fully, and authorized me to publish the statement if, in my judg- ment, it ever became necessary to do so. I interpreted that instruction to mean if it ever became necessary for his personal vindication. No such situ- ation has arisen, and it is not, therefore proposed to here give that statement. It would do no good. It would but open old sores; for it was tinged with the bitterness of personal disappoint- ment and i trayal. I was also made the confident |. of at least three of the bolting minist- ers, and know their point of view. ) Re Reason For Desertions. Five of the actors in that melan- choly drama are dead. 1 can, therefore without violation of trust, EER -- -- ~ = the throng within bounds. The chief danger was the menace of onrushing fire apparatus. Nine cameramen protested by saffely shields in vantage points cranked as the flames progressed and the film fire brigade battled ic. With the flames Hoking their clothes, the firemen mounted ladders and rescued the persons actually !mpris. oned in the burning buildings. Alice Calhoun and Percy Mar- mont, leads in the picture, were in grave peril when the ladder hoisted to take them to safety caught fire in spite of the streams of water playing om it. In desperation, they were fore- ed to plunge to fire netw that were hurried to the scene by the Lés An- beles fire department. Their bravery was greeted with frenzied cheers of the spectators. Extra pumping engines were draft- ed to force water through extra pump lines from the studio reser- voirs. " Through the night the firemen worked to extinguish the blage. They were menaced by the falling timber of the structures, and many of them sustained cuts and bruises. The filming of the fire was bailed on all sides as one of the most gigantic feats Sver accomplished for the screen, ---------- "Children of Jazs" Coming, The Paramount picturization of the play, "Other Times," by Harold Brighouse, with Theodore Kosloft Ricaro Contez, Robert Cain and Eileen Percy in featured roles, comes to the Strand Theatre for a three days' run commencing Monday. Beu- lah Marie Dix adapted the produc- tion which was directed by Jerome Storm. The supporting cast is of the finest. o ® needed. That man was felt to be Sir Charles Tupper. But how to get him? That was the question. Afraid of Tupper. However it may be understood, let me say that at that very moment the answer lay within my own breast. Sir MacKenzie Bowell had not deceived himself. Not one of his troubled col- leagues knew better than he his' unfit- ness for the colossal task which lay ahead. As the general election drew near, he many times told me of his dread: With the utmost frankness and sincerity he spoke of his desire to re- sign; "but," he asked, "who in the Cabinet would be acceptable .as my successor? Sir, Charles Tupper might be willing to take my place; but I can- not approach him. I am afraid of him," He always spoke that way of Sir Charles. He did not say '"'distrust;" but "afraid." The impression he made on my mind was that he did not like Sir: Charles, and felt unable to cope with him in a contest of wits, Sir Charles Tupper was then High Commissioner in London. I can now say something very definitely, which will show how easily the situation in 1896 could have been composed. Sir MacKenzie Bowell would have cheer- fully exchanged places with Sir Char- les Tupper, as a means of escaping from a position for which he felt him- self unsuitable--not unsuitable in a general way, but in view of the ap- proaching election. I can say that with the utmost positiveness, because he told me so a few months prior to the resignations, and also made it a part of the statement he entrusted to me. But he had not taken his colleagues into his confidence, and in panicky efforts to find a way out they simply struck. Swifty succeeding events showed that at the same time they also committed suicide; for in the election which fol- lowed in June the Conservative party was overwhelmed. ' As I look back on those dark days, my heart aches. I was exceedingly fond of 'Sir MacKenzie Bowell, He was the most considerafe man I ever knew. Brusque, and blunt as he often was under irritation, he had a heart of gold. If he ever wounded by his hasty words, he could not rest until he had poured balm on the hurt, He was more particular to do so if the injured one was a man in humble circumstan- ces. He was too proud to confess his weakness, and therefore stressed the fact of what he called "a cabal" His resentment was directed chiefly against one or two of his colleagues, wham he regarded as ring-leaders in the matter. He had an affectionate attachment for Sir Charles Hibbert Tupper, and, strange to say--having regard to the outcome of the affair--he completely exculpated him from blame. I must reserve for a later sketch sev- eral stories and observations which jt is assumed will illustrate the character and peculiarities of the man as he was revealed t6 me. They will bring out the human side, as separated from the of- ficial; and that is what 1 believe my readers will desire to see. It might be expldined at this time, however, that Sir MacKenzi¢ was born at Rickeng- a GRAND OPERA HOUSE TO-NIGHT REX STOCK (0, PRESENTING "CHEATING CHEATERS" Oliver Morosco's Great Comedy PM GR I I World--Introducing -Milan, Italy. PALO AND PALET- Follies TAKING. BUSPENSE! lcAPITOL Pe hall, Suffolk, England in 1828, lived to be 95. (To Be Continued.) -------------- BOOKS} A PRAIRIE YEAR. "The Turn of the Year," by Fred- erick Phillip Grove. Illustrated by C. M, Manly, AR.C.A. 287 pdges. MoClelland & Stewart, Toronto, and » To confess that one usually ex- periences a slight misgiving on dis- covering that a new book is by a Canadian author is to convict one- self of gross erejudice. But for sucn an aititude the hurrah methods ot our publishers are at least partly re- sponsible. So many "great Cana- dan" books have turned out to bs very labored productions Indeed when judged by artistic rather than nationalistic standaPde. The pleas. ure is therefore all the greater when one finds a book by a fellow-country- may which stands sturdily on its own bottom without needing to use the adjective Canadian first as a lure and then for an excuse, i "l.. Such a volume is this collection of ature -essays by' Mr. Grove, illus trated with eight drawings from the pen of Mr. Manly which are not quite the equal of the text. The auth- or havens to be the Hirh School Principal at Rapid City, Manitobs, but in the book you find him 2 man to whom "nature , hs vie great experience of life." you winter torn I hi SE mens $7 SA 106 arth AI with him through the euwwing six- teen weeks of blazing and passion- ate life till the heralds of LIANE D'EVE (Countess d'Milion) : From the Coliseum, London. LA TERPSICHORE--From the Scala Opera House, Instrumentalists from the Ziegfeld Broadway's Latest BATENOOURT--French Cuban Novelty Artist. EUNICE NOEL English and Dutch Character Delineator. ART SORENSEN---PIanist, late of Dumbelis PRICES--Evenings and Christmas Matinee 25¢,, SEATS NOW ON SALE. SHR RO HEART INTEREST DRAMA! SENSATIONAL THRILLS! THE BIGGEST SMASH PICTURE: OF THE YEAR. ! school teacher, -- NEXT-THURS., FRI, SAT. "OVER NIGHT" VAUDEVILLE BETWEEN ACTS Evenings 10c 20¢ S0e.s AND 3 NIGHTS MATINEE CHRISTMAS DAY AT 2.30, MEO KAJIYAMA / THE CELEBRATED MENTALIST, PRESENTS E CLASSICS OF 1924 An International Revue--The Season's Greatest Surprise Great European Stars -- Gargeous Gowns -- Elaborate Scenery--Superb- Music and an Entire Company of In- ternational Star Artists Gathered From all Parts of the 80c. Bat. Mat. 10c. 'and 25c. 24 COMMENCING Monday, Dec. Anglo-French Comedienne. Interpretive Dancer. Sensation. Company. 50c., 75¢., $1.00. FIRE! WITH A. CAST OF STARS HEADED By ALICE CALHOUN CULLEN LANDIS PERCY MARMONT JOSEPH KILGOUR "THE " THEATRE Monday the spring rains and summer ciouds, the heats, storms and frosts of hia year are more clear to you than those of any year in your own life. And long after these have "become blurred and forgotten the [celandie settler he describes in '"The Sower~ will stil] stand forth as clear-cut and heroic as a statue, ---- Presentation to Teacher, Miss Ruth Wanamaker, publie Marmora, is leaving at Christmas to take a position as teacher in a Toronto school, On Sunday the Sunday school and Young Peoples' League while meet- ng for Sunddy school presented her with a French ivory clock, tray and clothes brush. -------- "High class sweets." 50c and $1. Gibson's. Politeness of mind consists in the conception of homorabie and dell cate thoughts. ~The literature of the age is the photograph of its leading men and women. : "Christmas delivery." Gibson's. Every one complains of his mem- ory, and no one complains of his. Judgment. "Prince Charming Cigarettes," Gibson's, Diligence has greatest power in everything, particularly in defending uses . Gibson's. oa A / Public Library Bulletin New for the Holiday Season Wa Birds. Peo SR aa Sure Traveller--3. land. ® Michael's Byil Deeds--E. P. Oppenheim, Young FeMx--F. Swinnerton. 4 oor Cr Opa eA Bi Lummox--¥F. Hurst. ' Zarah She Srusl-g. Conquest. , Nervous Wreck--E. J. Rath. * * Send for Dr. OOrady--GQ. A. Birminge m. One of the -~E. F. Peany, ¥ ue--R. M.