REJECTED!

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 29, 27 April 1927, Page 13

REJECTED!

A COLLIER PORTRAIT G.B.S. NOT FOR ACADEMY ARTIST surprised 8 a.m- LONDON, Tuesday. The Royal Academy has rejected the Hon. John Collier’s portrait of Ber--ard Shaw. •*lt is a great surprise and bitter said ilr. Collier, ’ and .rtfaily unexpected. ••T only submitted two pictures, the •her a portrait of Aldous Huxley, t hich was accepted. **Mr Shaw gave me seven sittings. , intend to exhibit elsewhere. 1 "Words fail me, and the rejection . r . Shaw’s picture is only the second* rejection I have had in 50 years, i have no quarrel with the academy, l.ut 1 think I have been harshly tr "i*consider it a better portrait than ,hat of Aldous Huxley, which is accented. In fact * is m y best. I srave Mr. Shaw his quizzical, humorfins expression.” Mr. Shaw, in an interview, said he was surprised, like everyone else. "There is nothing wrong with the portrait or with Collier or me. It is for the academy to explain this discrimination, which must be against t he sitter. If it thinks the public is utterly tired of portraits of me, then I agree, and am delighted to yield my place to Mr. Huxley, a young and less shop-soiled literary colleague.—A. and N.Z. [•‘The Fallen Idol,” one of the Hon. rohn Collier’s best-known paintings, is In the Auckland Art Gallery. He studied .. t the Slade School, and in Paris and vtunich. He is represented in the National Gallery.]

'PME discovery of aluminium dates back to the eighteenth century, but its wonderful utility was not practically demonstrated until the last decade. Few womenfolk nov/adays are unacquainted with this metal, which lias such a variety of important uses. Found in common clay—always in ’umbination, and constituting nearly * per cent, of all matter of earth — aluminium ranks next to silicon in abundance. Precious stones such as garnets, sapphires, emeralds and rubies are aluminium compounds and almost all substances, including foods, contain this metal. FIRST DEPOSITS IN FRANCE Chemistry encouraged research to ilnd a common metal base in clay, and this base was given the name of alumina. One form of clay was found io contain more aluminium than any other, and it was called bauxite. It preponderated in Southern France and was also found in Northern Ireland. Now other countries furnish it in varying amounts, and it would not be surprising to know that New Zealand, so rich in minerals, also contains bauxite, which can be economically exploited. Deposits were unearthed in Georgia, U.S.A., in 1883, and later huge quantities were discovered in Arkansas, which American State now supplies a major portion of bauxite deposits for aluminium extraction. The metal was initially produced in powdered form by a GermaD chemist as far back as 1827, but not for 18 years did this experimenter succeed in presenting it in metallic globules. Ten years later it was exhibited in ingots at the World’s Fair at Paris, and aroused profound interest. In 1867 and 1878 it was shown in sheets, wire, foil and finished goods, its value then being about £lB 15s a pound. Its inherent lightness and strength was generally recognised, but not until an American, Charles M. Hall, devised, in 1886, an electrolytic process of extraction, did a lessened cost of production open up possibilities for both by increased usefulness. In that year only one and a-half tons was produced in America, but to-day the production there probably exceeds 150,000 tons annually. GREAT VARIETY OF USES The lay mind chiefly associates aluminium with cooking utensils, but its use has far outlived that sphere. Its electrical conductivity has made it a successful competitor with copper for feed wires on trolley systems, and as a paint it is in enormous demand for weighing machines, mail boxes, radiators and other familiar articles requiring clean and permanent surfaces. Io is used for solidifying steel and in condenser tubes where other metals corrode. Aluminium serves in tanks for the manufacture of paraffin from which candies and chewing gum are made, and leading trades dealing w ith the packing of vegetables, fruits, fruit juices find the metal ideal hygienically. The motor industry, in recent years, has become one of the sreatest consumers of the metal. In •teed the latest production of alloys of high tensile strength repeals a more extensive utility for aluminium for htal reciprocating and moving parts. Developing airplane construction is calling for aluminium which proyidea lightness and durability. Its ®inor uses include parts for cameras, basins, instruments and appliances used by the medical world. COST OF PRODUCTION The universally growing use of aluminium is not only attributed to its superior qualities, but also to its lessened cost of production, despite an enormously increased demand. In P rice had fallen to about ts a pound, and to-day that cost is Qo * a to is lid. . jOt only has aluminium gained for aelf a prominent position in industry n America, England, and on the Consent, but it gives promise to dis juace other metals which have been used for centuries. E.B.