GOSSIP FROM LONDON

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22517, 27 September 1938, Page 16

GOSSIP FROM LONDON

THE PRIME MINISTER'S HOLIDAY SIR HENRY WOOD'S JUBILEE SHORTAGE OF RECRUITS FOR POLICE FORCE (TBOIC «TT» OWV • COBE»SPOKDEI»T.) LONDON, August 5. The Prime Minister, Mr Neville Chamberlain, left London for his two months' holiday in Scotland with more invitations than he could possibly accept. He will stay with a number of friends and pay visits to others. It is likely that he will go twice to Bal-' mornl Castle. Another probable visit will be to Mr and Mrs George MercerNairne, who can provide him with as good salmon fishing as there is in Scotland. Lord Forbes will also entertain him at Castle Forbes, past which flows the river Don. The possibility of an emergency meeting of the Cabinet has not been overlooked, and the decision to call the various Ministers together during recess rests with Mr Chamberlain. Every one of th,em left his holiday ad-

dress and telephone number before leaving London, a precautionary measure which it is hoped will not be used. Sir Henry Wood Fifty years as an orchestral conductor are to be celebrated by Sir Henry Wood at the Royal Albert Hall on October 5. Sir Henry's first professional engagement as an orchestral conductor was for the All Saints' Choral and Orchestral Society at Clapton on January 1, 1888, for which he received two guineas. "I have always fought hard for women in the orchestra, on the same terms as men," he said, in an interview this week. "I was the first conductor to encourage this, and I don't know what we should have done without the women players during the- war period; as it was, we never cancelled a concert. Every orchestra ought to have its sprinkling of women. "I'm against public pets. I don't believe in spectacular conducting for the eye; by his gesture the conductor should .convey a musical thought. If anyone says to me, "I've been to "see" a conductor,' I reply,' 'And what did you hear?' As a matter of fact, one of the little ambitions of my life is to be shut up behind a screen 'with five or six other conductors. The orchestra would be in view; but we should be hidden and take turns to conduct. Next morning I would like to read the critics' decisions!" Sir Henry's personal popularity is immense, and "~lhe Albert Hall is already nearly sold out for October 5. The audience is in for a musical treat. There will be a choir of 700 voices, four orchestras, and Rachmaninoff is coming to London specially to play his Second Concerto. Police Recruits Needed The London policemen are causing Sir Philip Game, the Commissioner, a lot of worry. The policemen are becoming more difficult to acquire! There is a shortage of recruits. The Metropolitan Police Force, for instance, is 000 below establishment, and advertisements and appeals have failed to attract the right type of recruit. A criticism has been made of the "short service" system, introduced in 1933, which is declared to be a cause of the shortage. It may possibly be scrapped.

A "short service" man joins the force for a period not exceeding 10 years; as a constable, "with the possibility of promotion to sergeant." In the conditions of entry to the force, it is laid down that candidates may apply for cither short-term or longterm employment. But (in the words of the "Conditions of Entry" booklet): "It must be clearly understood that no guarantee can be given that they will be offered the type of engagement for which they apply. The number of short service and long service engagements offered is governed by the requirements of the force at the time." This uncertainty, it is urged, must prove a deterrent to many enthusiastic young men who would like to take up police work as a career.

Civil Air Guard While police authorities are wor» ried about the lack of response t0 their otters,, the Civil Air Guard authorities are beginning to wonderwhere the aeroplanes will come from to train the thousands of applicant* desiring to join the guards under the new scheme. Applications from those who want to take advantage of the new cheap rates for learning to fly which the heavy subsidy makes possible have been pouring in, and the Air Ministry and the flying clubs have had to deal with thousands of letters and telephone calls. It has been suggested that the immediate aim of the Air Ministry should be an aeroplane with side-by-side seating for two, easy to fly, and reasonably robust, costing £250. The Civil Air Guard scheme, quite apart from its value in providing a reserve of persons with a knowledge of aviation, is expected to act as an incentive for the production of a good, cheap private-owner type of light aroplane It presents the best opportunity yet offered for this achievement. Politics and the Sale Room The international situation, blamed as being responsible for a variety of reactions, was the cause of a depressed atmosohere in the London sale rooms during the recent season. Sales were fewer than last year, and the amount of money bid was less. Interesting trends of fashion were noticed. Napoleonic manuscripts, so very popular a lew years ago, have gone partly out of fashion, and a most interesting series, sold at Sotheby's a month or two ago, made rather a disappointing showing. The value of Dickens's letters, too. seems to 4?e wavering, principally, perhaps, bfr cause the Comte de Suzannet, the chigr* buyer of Dickens's manuscripts in* re J cent years, has begun to sell his collection. The Schiff collections produced the chief events of the 1937-38 seasons, for the pictures, statues, furniture, Limoges enamels, and other works of art, sold at Christie's in June, brought in £101,949. The most important item was a panel, "The Dream of Pope Sergius," painted about 1450 by Roger van der Weyden. It fetched £14,700. by far the highest picture price of the year, and more than treble this master's previous auction record. Schiffs library, which was sold at Sothebys in two sections, realised £38,631. Twelve books printed by Caxton were sold. Of these, one fetched £2500 and two others £2400 each- Such prices, though good, did not show any great activity among collectors of English books. They were very mucn the prices of 15 years ago.