THE WEEK'S TALKS

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 22, 27 January 1938, Page 28

THE WEEK'S TALKS

Mr. E. E. Sharpe, who is to speak tomorrow night at 2YA on "England's Electrical Age," is a prominent figure in the electrical world in England. He js a member of the Institute of Electrical Engineers, a Fellow of the British Horological Institute, and two years ago was one of the British delegates to the World Power Conference.

New Zealand's Canterbury is rich in what may be called historic country estates, farms, and stations that* have been prominent in the development of the province, and through' remaining so long in the possession of the families that founded them, have acquired an aura of achievement and association. Best known of all perhaps is "Longbeach," the home of the Griggs, and one. of the finest properties in the British Empire. Mr. Douglas Cresswell, whose country talks have been a" feature of 3YA's programme recently, is beginning a series on Tuesday next on these historic Canterbury estates, commencing with the Rhodes family. « N .

How strongly error can be imbedded in the human mind as a result of habit is sho\vn by the persistence of misquotations. The commonest of these, such as "fresh fields and pastures new," are "repeatedly pointed out, but this has little or no effect on their currency. At 4YA on Tuesday evening next Mr. W. W. Bridgman is going to contribute' to this correction under the title of "Common Misquotations," and listeners will probably be surprised to find how often they err in everyday -speech.

What may be described as the greatest ami most resounding scandal of the kind in history is to be recalled this evening in Professor Yon Zedlitz's "Eye-witness" talk at 2YA, for Professor Yon Zedlitz reported the second trial of Dreyfus at Rennes in the late nineties. Dreyfus, a French artillery officer, was condemned for selling military secrets and sent to Devil's Island. As a result of a long agitation led by Emile Zola, he was vindicated" and reinstated in his rank in the army. The way in which the trials were conducted was such that even parodies do not seem to be greatly exaggerated: "VICTORIANA, No. 3.'? The third instalment of "Victoriana," the dramatic presentation of the Victorian era, constructed and produced by the National Broadcasting Service, has been completed and will be heard

from 2YA on Sunday, February 20. This time we are in the "Hungry Forties." The agitation for'the repeal of the Corn Laws is going on and Chartism is boiling up, to subside and give place to radicalism and trade unionism and to win eventually most of its demands. The Queen and the Prince Consort t are in the first years of their married life and both are subject to criticism. Duelling is still practised, but is in its last years. "Punch" publishes "The Song of the Shirt,", and small boys used as chimney sweeps are suffocated at their work. Abroad, there is war in Egypt and China. News comes of the appalling' disaster in Afghanistan, where one man out of an army escapes, and/ in conversation with that rising young statesman, William Ewart Gladstone, the Duke of Wellington expresses in explosive language his opinion of the policy that led up to this blow to British prestige. There is talk of trouble in the new distant colony of New Zealand. Thomas Carlyle discourses on hero-worship, and we are introduced to a new opera, "Maritana."