ENTERTAINMENTS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2403, 8 March 1915, Page 3

ENTERTAINMENTS

HIS MAJESTY'S THEATRE

For the customary weekly change of programme by the Fulier-Brennan Vaudeville* Company at His Majesty's Theatre to-night several star attractions have been engaged. The newcomers include Mr. Fred Dyer, a singing boxer, recently champion welterweight of Wales, said to be possessed of a well-trained baritone voice, of good quality, of whieli he makes good use in an Italian burlesque. Features of his act are illustrations of exercises practised by famous boxers whilst in training. Arrivals from England are Saltley and The Dude, who will make their first appearance in Wellington in an exhibition of wire-walking, a feature of which is said to be the interpolated comedy; Miss Poincaire, a French artist, whose specialty is imitation of birds and animals: the Randell-Jackson Company of English entertainers, which includes Miss Florence West, Mr. Geo. Nash, Mr. Herbert _ Winter, and Miss May Windsor, will appear in an entire change of programme. Other artists who will contribute to the bill are Mann and Franks,' vocalists and comedians, and Max Martin, comedian. This combination will perform nightly, and a matinee will be given on Saturday.

THE KING'S THEATRE. In the new programme at the King's Theatre to-night a remarkable Selig photo-play is being presented. It has a strong dramatic interest, and the story is well and clearly told. Kathleen Williams and Edwin Wallace share honours in the principal roles. Briefly, the story is of Robert Wayne, an English missionary in Central Africa, who is advised that he has been left a legacy of £50,000. He immediately sets out for the coast, accompanied by his wife and child. On the way he is ambushed by hostile natives, and severely wounded in the head, the wound causing mental derangement. Wayne, without reason and fear,; wanders into the jungle, and lives . with the wild beasts. Seventeen .years elapse, and he is then rescued by the chance discovery of a photograph. Other attractive items on the bill are "The German Fleet Riding in Kiel Harbour," a film which indicates lone of the very fewplaces where the Kaiser's fighting ships c.iii ride with any degree of safety; "The Stenographer," a Vitagraph comedy. featuring Flora Finch and Lilian Walker; 'When Kings. Were Law," a striking costume drama: and the latest Pathe War Gazette. .Such an attractive programme should result in good attendances during the week.

"THE' MILLIONAIRE BRIGAND:" ■ To-day's new picture programme at the People's ■ Picture Palace will be headed by .an Aquila feature drama, entitled "The Millionaire Brigand," four parts (4000 ft. of film). It is the story of an aged millionaire, a rascally secretary, a wayward son, and- a pretty daughter; of intrigue, robbery, and villainy finally unmasked. Good supporting items are promised to accompany the big picture, and special' orchestral selections have been arranged for the occasion.

EVERYBODY'S. To-day, at noon, Everybody's will screen a programme which is stated to be one of the best yet seen at that popular.house—two big star features, a war drama, and a screaming comedy. The war drama (3500 ft.) is entitled "On His Majesty's Service," a, story full of thrilling features, depicting the opening of the war' between England and Germany. Two German merchants in London, who are in the; employ of tho German Government, are -holding themselves in readiness to obey the commands of tho Kaiser. Th'eir typist, who is an agent of the " English Secret; Service! watches closely . their .move-' ments, and is able to obtain valuable information as to the spies' intentions. The Keystone's latest star success "A Gentleman of Nerve" shows Charles Chaplain and Mabel Normand in a screaming farce. Supporting subjects include "Gaumont War Graphic," "Flora," "Zephyrs" (a Nature study), and thelatest war topicals.

; THE EMPRESS THEATRE. The new programme at the Empress Theatre continuous pictures to-day and to-night'will introduce the Lubin Company's "featuro" drama "On Suspicion." This is described as a stirring 'modem story dealing with the much-condemned American police method. of extracting "confessions" from suspected persons by the "third degree" system. The pictures associated with the "star" film are: "The Eclair War Journal," "Girl at the Throttle" (Kalem's sensational drama), "Mid-, summer Love Tangle" (Beauty farcecomedy), "Making Steel Rails" (industrial), and "He Wanted Chickens" (Lubin comedy). FLORENCE YOUNG'S MUSICAL , DRAMATIC COMPANY. The box plans for the forthcomingseason of the Florence Young Musical Dramatic Company, which commences at the Town Hall Concert Chamber on Saturday evening next, will be on view on and after to-morrow morning at the Bristol. Miss Young and the company supporting her have for many years been prime favourites with New Zealand theatre-goers, and liave appeared with success in all the J. C. Williamson comic opera and in ucical comedy productions. "The Climax," which. will form the attraction during the season, has had long seasons in both England and America, whilst in Australia it was generally. stated that in this production Mi6s Young' easily eclipsed all her previous successes. Notable among the artists supporting Miss Young are Messrs. Reginald Roberts, Claude Bantock, and Edmund Sherras.,

ORGAN RECITAL. The usual weekly organ recital by the City Organist (Mr. Bernard F. Page) was given in the Town Hall oil Saturday night, before an appreciative audience. The programmo opened with , the "Concerto in D Minor" (Handel), followed by a "Pastoral" (Op. 19) (Cesar Franck); "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor" (Bach); "Psychological• Poem" (llebikoff), "Summer Sketches" (Lemare). and "Piece Heroique" (Cesar Franck). The last-named number is one finest of three pieces written specially for the inauguration of the colossal organ at the Trocadero during the exhibition of 1878. Mr. Page played it with masterly technique. The recital, all through, was marked by that quality of artistic excellence which patrons of municipal organ musio have come to expect from Mr. Page. The "Glad Eye" Comedy Company is to pay a return season to Wellington with the new comedy "Who's the Lady?" commencing at the Grand Opera House on May 1.,

Tie first of the four volumes of its History of the War which "The Times" announces it will publish during the year is now in the hands of the publisher for Australasia, T. Shaw Fitchett, 376 Swanaton Street, Melbourne. It is a massive and handsome volume of 520 royal pages, rich in maps and illustrations, and richer still as giving in lucid terms, and in exact and orderly form, the opening pages in the story of the greatest war in human history. The Scale of the Conflict. Many histories of the war will be written; it is a drama which will create a whole new literature of its own. But every history of ' the war must begin where "'The Times' History" begins; it must give precisely the information it offers; The present volume, indeed, supplies exactly the information which will make intelligible those pages of this great history which are as yet unwritten—the events which still lie in the hands of fate, unknown and unguessed. There was never a war which kindled such a passionate desire for knowledge, nor one, it may be added, as to which the possibilities of knowledge were so scanty. ..We'want' to know tho story of the present struggle, not merely because it is the biggest in human history, but because our own national fate is bound up in it. We are giving to it not only our money, but our very flesh- and blood. Now, for many reasons, knowledge about the present war ought to be easy. Here are stupendous battles being fought in the very centre of the civilised world, with electric lines radiating from the actual battle-fields, across land and sea, to every part of the world. Every shot fired in these great battles might well be audible to the whole civilised world. Some limitations to the knowledge for which we are hungering are, of course, inevitable. , The very scale of the drama, which makes the desire to know so passionate, helps to : make knowledge difficult. It is too vast and crowded for the human mind. Even their own generals cannot know overy detail—every ebb and • flow—of battles in which the combatants are to be numbered by millions. Sealing Up the News Sources. ' But,, for. strategic reasons in this war, secrecy'is erected into a deliberate policy, and both sides agree in the policy. So the battles on which, hangs the whole fate of;modern -civilisation are being fought, as-faras the spectators are concerned, in darkness. ■- All'this [explains the need of a history of the war like that which "The Times" newsnaper,.h:\s and of which jthe first volume : .is., to' .hand, -and uaj be 1 secured by readers in Australia and New Zealand on easy subscription term? ■through; -t|ie publisher., for Australasia. I( is a great' history,, one. which none but a journal like* "The Times" could attempt with any. chance of adequate success.

How "The Time*" Planned Its History. "The 'Times" is, in some respects, the . greatest daily journal in the world. There are journals with a bigger circulation, but a none with the resources, the organisation, the traditions of enterprise, the maj chinery for collecting news, and the re- . putation for accuracy and honour in the s use of news, to compare with "The Lonn don Times." It has representativesnewspaper experts of tie highest reputation—in every civilised capital, and if any literary organisation in existence coiild, with any chance of success, un.dertake the task of recording accurately a and adequately, the war now Taging, it t is "The Times." And the first volume n of this fine History will enable the readt er to judge what the completed work will t be. It has the true historical note-4e-tached, judicial, dispassionate. It aims 1 to give, and it succeeds brilliantly in giving, the facts of the war, with perfect ' e lucidity, in the exact order of time, and in the. true scale of their importance. It would be easy for any newspaper to rush ,j out a hurried collection of mere battle- , gossip; of unrelated incidents and undijj gested official documents; of descriptions 0 which are picturesque without being accurate. But such a collection of 6tories e be neither literature nor history; !(. they would fill the reader's shelves, but p leave his mind empty. r '• Analysing the Causes of the War, e ■ e " 'Tho Times' History of the War" is of e another type. The firM; volume begins h with two .chapters which give, with, admiril able brevity and clearness, the story of y those orowded and fateful days betwixt n July 31 and August 5, when, in the very e centre of modern civilisation, war broke i- out political Krakatoa,. blacke ening, with its dust and smoke, all the e skies of the world. But any adequate is account, of..a. war so.great .nrust.be planis ned on a great scale. It must be a o building with foundations laid broad and 1. deep. So '"The Times' History," after iv the. opening chapters, .which, tell how' the if war began, devotes no fewer than seven;o teen chapters to a scientific, study of all the factors in the great drama. These chapters are a series of essays written'by experts, dealing with the armies of the I various contending nations—the German r, Army and its strategy; the French Army r, and its methods;''the Eussia'n' Army, in lo its new and formidable shape;' the Ger:o man, French, and British theories of t, war; tlie native Indian Army; ttie armies n of tlie Dominions; tbe army'and fortresses <■• of Belgium; the navies of the.great riay tions, etc. Then we have chapters on the financial aspects of the war, on Gerh man finance, on the commerce aud sliipty ping, of the British Empire, on the rails id of the Empire, etc. A. study., of .tjie. huis man factors in the great-drama follows: [t the biography of Lord Kitchener, for exit ample, is given in a chapter which, ii it published as a separate work, would maks a valuable and interesting volume.

A Record of History in the Maklno. 8 These chapters are an encyclopaedia: of e battle-literature; and they have the qualt ities of an encyclopaedia—the wide knowlejlge, the judicial temper, the minute accuracy—which such a work demands. The s- information they give is the key to as yet e untold events; it will make intelligible i- all the after-events of the war. No his- - tory which may be published later will i- aifect the value of the information these f seventeen chapters supply. e With the invasion of Belgium by the i- German columns begins the actual story of y the fighting; and when we remember the t 6cale, the passion, and the'fury "of the e great battles fought on both frontiers I- it is certain that the succeeding " vol--11 umes of this History will be literature of i- unsurpassed interest and value. . s The story told in the present volume r - makes some things perfectly clear. We :t hardly need to wait until events and .peril sons can be seen in the too often dim t perspective of time. For here is. a Hish tory written while the history itself is in ■- the making, while the actors are near, i- and the forces can be assessed, the inciis dents verified. And when all this is done in the true historic temper—when the s facts are set out lucidly, accurately, and ; in order of , time—the whole drama" bet comes intelligible. It is possible to assess the forces behind the events; .to discover the motives of the actors," to acquit and condemn with something .like- certainty of judgment. ; if ; . '• .. Lies That Have Been Slatn. The sketch of German policy; for exv ample, given in the volume under review € —the policy which made this war inevitable—covers a -wide , sweep .of facts—of e facts told in briefest terms, and with :e crystalline lucidity. It is shown, beyond the possibility of doubt, that this is Gera many's war, riot merely because she d might, by a single word to Austria, have :r stopped it, but because bv her whole 0 policy she made it inevitable, i- Again, in the first volume of '"The [1 Times' History" some lies are killed be;e yond any possibility of resurrection; they y die an instant death, slain by the logic e of plain facts. A whole choir of Gern man. voices, for example^-the voices - of y professors, diplomatists, journalists—den ; clare; that the guilt of this war lies soler- ly on Great Britain; it planned the war if for its own profit, and from a dark and !S guilty desire to destroy' Germany. But >s the mere logic of. dates proves that chargs i- to be a lie. The actual incident which n started the war, it will be Temenibered, r- was the race .in mobilisation betwixt Ans- -- tria, Russia, and Germany; for under the y system of vast armaments which cursed l- it, ; Europe:.'le.seihblcd;;bothing so much }; as a camp of cowboys; each man with res' volver in belt, watchins* his neighbour to if nee that he did not "draw" his weapon ;e first. Let the dates of the various mobilisations be noted:—

July 25.—Austria mobilises eight army corps. Germany already had eight army corps ready to march, and' had issued notices recalling officers to their regiments; a veiled mobilisation, in brief, was In progress. July 28.—Austria declares wor on Servia, and bombards Belgrade. The German fleet concentrates at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. July 29.—Austria _ mobilises all her forces; Russia mobilises thirteen nrmy corps in the provinces nearest to Austria. July 30.—Russia completes mobilisation; Franco mobilises her covering forces. July 31.—Germany requires Russia to demobilise within twelve hours. At that moment Germany herself had 2,800,000 men with 6000 guns, ready: to march. August I.—Germany calls all her forces into action; France completes her mobilisation. but withdraws her frontier regiments ten miles within French territory, August 2.—A German army enters Lun emburg. August 4.—Great Britain, notifies that if Belgium is invaded she trill assist hoc with all her forces. August s.—Germany attacks Liege. Now, in all these breathless days, when Central Europe was shaken with the tread of gathering armies, nobody ■ thought of England. She did not "mobiliso" her army because she had no "army" in the Continental sense. She had to improvise sn army after the war had begun. The ' German Secretary for Foreign Affairs told the British Ambassador, indeed, that the few divisions of regular troops Great Britain could put into the ' field would -. "count for nothing" in the shock of f battle. The British Fleet sailed from - Portsmouth under sealed orders the day - after the German fleet had concentrated - at Kiel and Wilhelmshaven. These facts 3 prove, beyond doubt, that Great Britain, t during those crowded and fateful days 3 when the war began, was regarded by - Germany itself as a military cipher. The 1 British Army did not count either way. e And yet Germany now tries to persuade the world that it was Great Britain which e' actually began the war! . . ° The Paltry Excuses of Germany. ; f. " The Times' History," it may be addi ed, whips with keenest satire the excuse '; by which Germany has tried to justify : • to the conscience of the world its attack " on little Belgium; "The German, claim- - ing to be a superman, did not trouble V. " himself to be adroit in diplomacy. •'Finesse and scruples," ho said—in nc- * • J tion, if not in words—'for weaker folk; •: for me the mailed fist and the big batI talions—and the big guns.' So the Ger- " man deliberately embarked upon hiR coutso i," of war by committing a wrong—by out- >- j raging the neutrality of a little . State which he had pledged his honour to pro--3 tect. His lofty excuse to ,God and. his ' • own conscience was that he', would make .1-' i. it all Tight afterwards: T shall, defy God now,' he said, 'in order %to Vwin this war easily by a dishonourable itrick.-'and then, .when I have won the' war-tind 'all '• Europe is at my feet, I shall "condescend. to make amends to poor little'BGljiilm, who will then be my grateful sla^e."-.-v The German Atrocities. ;i f . A .vivid.and..moving'account is.given'iin i'. this History of the atrocities of which 1 German armies have been guilty in Bel-! w gium—an • account which will stir 1 the a sympathies and kindle the indignation. • e of every reader.And "'The Times' Hi- ,'4 0 tory" emphasises the fact that the rapine m and savagery of these' hordes',of modern b Hnns, what Mr.' Asquith has called "tho ■<: . greatest crime of modern history," was r not a mere accident of war. .' ..It was a t s deliberate policy. Thus "the .destruction •» . of 'louvain was not accidental;: ncuN the i f result of shell-fire. It was systematic- ! '> 1 ally: and deliberately c'arn'pd ont' hy.Ger- . man soldiers provided with special appli. r ances for the purpose." : 1 The present volume of '"The" Times' • t History of the War" covera only the » opehin'g pages in the greatest drama in ■ k secular history, the race hasknown. How > I) .great will' be-the interest of succeeding i- volumes -may. easily be imagined. i [Any.Tender who wisTies fult"details of h the extended subscription plan on which s- '"The Times' History of the War" may o be obtiiined—first volume now ready—may • n secure an Tllu=trated Prospectus without s cost or obligation by using order form given below.]