In the Public Eye

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 24, 29 January 1938, Page 21

In the Public Eye

Alexandre Alexandrovitch yon Aljechin (or Alekhine), native of Russia and naturalised citizen of France, was born in Moscow on October 19, 1892. Therefore he is now 45 years of age, or nine years older than Dr.' Max Euwe, of Amsterdam, the rival he dethroned in world chess championship play at The Hague. ( After spending some time at a military academy,. Alekhine attended the Imperial Law School at St. Petersburg, an institution intended primarily for future, merfibers of the judiciary. .He studied there riot with' any definite idea of adopting a legal career, but for the purpose of rounding out a gentleman's education, ' While pursuing his studies, he acquired, a knowledge of chess. So well did he take to it that at the age of sixteen he had won his mastership in an important tournament.in. St. Petersburg. He was ..still wearing his regi- | mentals as a cadet when, early in 1914, he finished third1 in' 'tHe ; .great St. ! Petersburg ; tournanient;;ny.bn: ■by Dr. Emanuel Lasker, with- ;jdse Capablanca second. ' This international chess career was destined to .be1 cut short, however. That summer he visited Mannheim, in Germany. In the midst of the congress war broke out." Play ended abruptly and the committee in charge had barely time to apportion the prize money. Alekhine, with the best score, was declared the winner. Along with other Russians, of-whoiti there were many, .the young master was promptly interned. Thereafter, for/quite a spell; his -residence was at a .concentration camp, in Tribergi ;■ '/ -';> :.' •■ •■/ '''.- ■ During the spring pf; 1915 Alekhine contrived to make :n"is escape, penetrated the German "lines, and reached the forces of his own people. As an officer of infantry, he then saw real service on the Austrian front. He was wounded and, early, in 1917, he was in a monastic hospital in. Tarnopol. There he helped make life more bearable with exhibitions of his chess skill. One particularly brilliant game, included in his book, "My-Best Games of Chess," was played by him while blindfolded. He sacrificed his queen and the bewildered ,opponent soon, resigned. , ~ . Then came the "Russian revolution. During the next three years Alekhine practised his ': art"' among"'. appreciative people in Moscow. In 1921' he resumed in earnest his international Career, participating, in congresses at Tr.iberg, Budapest, and The Hague. After that he missed very little in the way of tournaments really worth while. He won first prizes at Hastings, Portsmouth, . Paris, Berne, Baden-Baden, Scarborough, Birmingham, Kecskemet (Hungary), Bradley Beach (New Jersey), San Remo; Bled (Czechoslovakia), London, and■■■■ Pasadena (California) In other tournaments, when he was not first, he usually finished second or, third; Dr. Alekhine, reached the peak of his career in 1927: wheh;; at Buenos Aires,; he took the .world championship frbm Capablanca, the Cuban expert. He defended the championship twice successfully in, matches, with, E. D..Bogoljubow, another Russian, who since the Woi'ld War has made Germany his home.- . ■ ' , , In 1935, after holding the • title for eight 'years, he lost it to Dr. Euwe, whose popular victory made the Amsterdam schoolmaster a national hero throughout the Netherlands. Lord Robert Cecil. '\ A joint reception -by the International Peace- Campaign and the League of Nations Union was held recently in Loridbn- in honour of Lord Cecil, on the occasion of his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. ' ■ " Lady Gladstone, who presided, is reported in "The.Times" as saying that, wherever people iwere striving for peace they looked to Lord Cecil for inspiration and guidance, and those countless-thousands shared with them the glory and pride they had in their hearts at the recognition of his tireless work for the League of Nations and for peace. Never was the prize more justly awarded, more nobly won, or more richly deserved. M. Pierre Cot, joint president- with Lord Cecil of the International Peace Campaign,, said nodecision which could have been made would have been •so well received by the world.1 " " Professor' Gilbert Murray said Lord Cecil was one of those rare figures'of history w.ho, by resigning the political power of office, had gained an inward power which no office could confer. He' was, , perhaps, hated |in some regions, but he was respected by all and revered. ■'~' Mr. P. J. Noel-Baker said the historian would record that there was no practical politician of our generation who had got such practical results as 'Lord Cecil had achieved. • Lord Cecil, who was greeted with prolonged cheers, said that the stream of congratulatory letters he had received from all parts of Europe and from America was'an expression of the passionate longing for peace which possessed the world. It was right to remember at this crisis, when dictators said they would have nothing to do with the League of Nations, that the overwhelming mass of the common people of the world desired peace and desired that the League .should succeed. ' - . ■ Speaking of his visit to America, Lord Cecil said Mr. Roosevelt was a profound" arid devoted believer in peace. That was true of almost all Americans. If we could present our case in such a way as would demonstrate that our foreign policy cared not so much for the individual interest of a country or its subjects but was out to protect the world from war he was satisfied that that cause would be widely acclaimed in the United States. But if- our statesmen persisted in repeating that the ' only thing that we could really take any-vigorous action upon- was what was called British interests—the protection of British property or British lives in this or that bart of the world—they' would receive no support from the United States. Every patriotic speech which made a great parade of British interests, and said "Why should we sacrifice ourselves'for this or that country?" was a nail in the coffin of > Anglo-American co-operation,:

Sir Charles Tegart, whose appointment as Adviser to the Palestine Administration coincided with the announcement" by Mr." Ormsby-Gore of vigorous action against terrorism, is well qualified to aid the Governmenfin this field. For he has. had great experience .in dealing with terrorism" in Bengal, where it has been worse than anywhere else in,'lndia. Sir Charles was born-56 years ago and is the son of an Irish clergyman. He was educated at Portora -.Royal. School, Enniskillen,, and at Trinity College, Dublin. He joined the Indian Police in 1901 and retired in 1931. 1n.1932.he became a member of the Council of India. He was knighted in 1926 and received the Star ,of India on his retirement from the Police Force, while in 1912 he was made a.Member of the Victorian ■ Order. During his work against .the Indian terrorists' his life was seldom times attempted and he is considered to. possess'--, a ; remarkable knowledge of terrorist ways.- ; , The Rev. G. Brtynat. The Most. Rev.-, Gabriel Breynat, Bishop of the Vicariate-Apostolic of Mackenzie, with headquarters at Fort Smith, in the. District, of Mackenzie, in the northern part of Canada, who is known as "The Bishop.of the Wind" in his -vicariate,-which takes in 600,000 square miles, including Arctic territories; made' a flying visit to New York recently. . ... Bishop Breynat, who is 70 years old, arrived at Newark Airport in the aeroplane which he uses to make the rounds and which has gained for. him the sobriquet of "The Bishop of the Wind." •.-■■.••■ Though he has been travelling throughout his vic.ariate in a plane since 1919, Bishop Breynat does not steer the ship on its trips to the Roman Catholic missionary posts in the Arctic regions, He has a private pilot. ■ Bishop Breynat went to New York on a business.-trip. -'He;,landed at Newark Airport eleven hours after leaving.Edmonton, Alberta. He passed the-night-at. the headquarters of the Oblate Fathers, at Palisades, New Jersey;' He is a member of the-Order. The Bishop then went across the Hudson by ferry to visit the national headquarters of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, 109 East Thirty-eighth Street. After the visit he returned to the Oblate house. He intended to depart next day for the return' trip,' but"iwas grounded by the rain. He said, he would .take off when the, weather cleared. Bishop Breynat intended to halt at Montreal and Quebec on ' the return flight in order to confer with/.Government authorities. Bishop Breynat ,was accompanied by the Rev. D. A. Gobeil, who.edits several papers in Edmonton. He found New York streets a bit more vexatious for travel than the air lanes. It took his car forty-five minutes to go from a point in mid-town on the East Side to the Forty-second Street: ferry, at North River. : '•■■■■ The plane whicb/thfe Bishop uses is so designed that it can carry pontoons, wheels or- skis, depending on weather, .for flights in the northern regions, 'where .he has .twenty-three churches and chapels. There are also three hospitals under his jurisdiction,To assist the Bishop in'; ministering to the parishioners, there are fortyeight priests, sixty-five nuns, and ten brothers. Some of the nuns serve in the hospitals as nurses. "Also under the jurisdiction of Bishop Breynat are four schools. Besides the aeroplane, the Bishop has a boat for use in the church work. Sir Samuel Hoare. Sir Samuel Hoare, the Home Secretary, told guests at" a ' luncheon. given by King George's Jubilee Trust at the Savoy Hotel, London, how he once won a tango competition on the Continent and of Mr. Baldwins-comment. Sir Samuel, who has always been a skilled dancer and, is an expert skater, had been urging, the need for more clubs and. the means of extending the opportunities for social life of girls who had been "uprooted" from their homes and particularly desired facilities for swimming and dancing. "I sincerely sympathise with both i these aspirations," said Sir Samuel. "I have always myself been very fond of dancing, and Twill let you into a secret which I hope will not be,us#d against me in the House of Commons. On one occasion I won a tango competition at a casino on the Continent. It is now many years ago and.since then I Have been a- reformed character. (Laughter.) - "■ " ": " ■ "When I returned home I said to Mr. Baldwin, 'Well, I have done something during the recess,' and We asked, 'What is it?' I replied, 'I have won a tango competition.' Mr. Baldwin exclaimed, 'Thank God my Cabinet has done one good thing.'" Sir Samuel spoke of his interest in the problem of the migration of industry, and said they required not only clubs of the "terribly genteel and respectable type," but clubs Ln which girls of energy could get a great amount of amusement and in which the management was not too rigid. | Time after time while he had been at the Home Office he had been struck by the quite silly little offences which had been the beginning of careers which had ended in Dartmoor or Holloway. Many- of these mischievous acts had been committed because boys and girls had no means of occupying their leisure. They wanted as many centres as possible where boys and girls could indulge in healthy exercises. His object was to keep as many people out of prison as possible, and, if fhey did get there, to prevent them from going back again. The luncheon was given in connection with the launching, of "Christmas Pie,",which was published for the benefit of the fund. Lord Portal presided, and messages expressing hope for.the1 success of . the, enterprise were read from Queen Mary and the Duke of Gloucester. ' ~ '