THINGS TO COME A Run Through The Programmes

New Zealand Listener, Volume 1, Issue 5, 28 July 1939, Page 6

THINGS TO COME

A Run

Through The Programmes

HE women among the Canterbury pioneers are to have a series of talks of their own at 3YA, beginning on Friday, August 4. These women came out in small ships, and not only roughed it in Lyttelton and walked over the hills to the beginnings of Christchurch on the Avon, but also went far afield over the trackless plains where steering had to be done by compass at times. Eventually they got right up into the Mackenzie Country by bullock dray, and kept house in tents and sod huts while their men folk ran their sheep right up to the glaciers. Mrs. Mona Tracy, who is to begin this series with a talk on the voyage out, is already well known for her lively and colourful talks on the early days of the West Coast and Canterbury. Dog Heroes The fidelity of dogs can be exaggerated, but at the same time there are hundreds of authentic instances of canine loyalty. Many of these instances have been gathered together and dramatised, and they are presented in "Dog Heroes," the feature broadcast from 3ZB on Tuesday evenings at 6.15. "Dog Heroes" will end on September 5. Sub-Edited! This paragraph may not reach readers in the form in which it was originally written, for it deals with the work of sub-editors; and sub-editors are so much in the habit of using the blue pencil on all and sundry that even such a eulogy of their craft as this may not escape. On the other hand, when the Listener’s sub-editor reads that his is one of the most mentally strenuous jobs of work there are, he may be so paralysed with shock that the blue pencil will drop from his nerveless hand. But the fact remains that sub-editing is strenuous and important. An ordinary novel contains about 80,000 words, a long novel up to 160,000. A newspaper column carries about 1,200 words. Most week-day newspapers contain about 60 columns of matter other than advertising. So a newspaper contains about 70,000 words. Therefore, in eight hours on six days a week, sub-editors read,

check, rewrite and classify enough material for at least five fairly substantial novels. These facts give only a general idea of the work involved, but the sub-editor who will talk from 2YC on Thursday at 8.40 p.m. will enlighten you further. He might even convince you of your heresy in saying at breakfast: "There’s nothing in the paper to-day." (This paragraph did NOT escape: Sub-editor) When Knights Were Bold Most of us in our school days were thrilled by "Ivanhoe." It may also have been the only book by Sir Walter Scott which we did read. But Scott is still a classic, and in

"Tvanhoe," with its clashing of swords and splintering of lances in the days when knights were bold, there is something which still appeals to lovers of adventure. The N.B.S. is now producing a radio adaptation of "Ivanhoe," so that we shall all have a chance soon of finding out whether we really are old and realistic. Her Secret Smile "She is older than the rocks among which she sits; like the vampire, she has known death many times, and learnt the secrets of the grave; and has been a diver in deep seas, and keeps their fallen about her; and trafficked for strange webs with Eastern merchants." This is part of one of the most famous passages in modern English prose, and the

style of it has influenced the writing of two or three generations of English authors. It is_ from Walter Pater’s description of the Mona. Lisa. Pater’s centennial occurs this year; he was born on August 4, 1839, and died in 1894. C. R. Allen will describe his life and his influence in a talk from 4YA, Dunedin, at 8.40 p.m. on Friday, August 4. Hollywood Casting Office Aspirants to fame as movie actors will get some interesting sidelights in "Hollywood Casting Office," broadcast every Monday night at 8.15 by 2ZA, Palmerston North. The feature is, in fact, a hodge-podge of comedy, music, and repartee, that will amuse listeners of all classes, since it includes several artists well known over the American networks. The telephone operator who opens each episode is, for example, Elvia Allman, at present working with the screen comedian Charles Butterworth. Requiem Mass Although it is a setting of the traditional Latin words, Gabriel Faure’s "Requiem" is not the work of a professing Catholic. But whatever his theological tenets, Death was, for Faure, a tremendous and solemn fact. His message is that we should accept it with calm and tranquillity, knowing it as part of an inevitable natural process and remembering (in the words of Socrates) that "no evil can befall the good man whether in life or in death, and he is not forgotten of God." Faure’s "Requiem Mass" will be heard from 3YA, Christchurch, at 2.30 p.m. on Sunday, July 30. Barn-Storming The old-time theatre in Wellington was like the old-time the-aytre of the burlesques now being broadcast on the National Broadcasting Service system. In the forties those’ who wanted drama got it hot and strong at the Wellington Saloon or the Royal Victoria Theatre in Manners Street, or the Britannia Saloon in Willis Street. The titles of the plays tell their own story:" The Cross of Gold, or Teresa’s Vow," "The Spectre Bridegroom," "The Phantom Bride," "Sarah the Jewess,"

~ of "The Dream of Fate." There were farces too, such as "The Middy Ashore," or "A Spree Upon the Land." There was a close connection between the theatres and neighbouring hotels, and proceedings were often much rowdier than present-day manners would tolerate. Dr. A. C. Keys is going to tell listeners something about these rotund days of the theatre in a talk from 2YA on Monday, July 31, at 8.40 p.m, One Inch, Small Type The most dramatic stories do not always make the biggest newspaper headlines. For his own good purposes "Taffrail" assumes that a ship has foundered, and that, through many anxious hours, men have worked to save her and their own lives. A one-inch paragraph appears in the newspapers, bottom column, small type. Then "Taffrail" looks "behind the news" and makes a dramatic radio play of what really has happened. "Behind the News" has been broadcast before, but 2YH believes it is worth repeating, and Hawke’s Bay people will have a chance to hear it on Thursday, August 3, at 8.22 p.m. Drama in Hospital Everyone knows that a nurse in a great hospital has one of the most arduous vocations in the world. Yet any nurse who really loves her job will tell you that she would not change it for any other. She may think that to see a sick man smile is sufficient recompense for all her hard tasks; but she won't tell you that because she does not believe in false heroics. You may, however, get her to agree that she sees life stripped of all its vanities, and human nature taken off guard. It is the truth, whether she admits it or not; and that is why the dramatic serial "Night ~ Nurse" is proving popular with listeners. Another episode will be heard from 3YA Christchurch on Thursday evening. The Air is Yours If all the NBS programme organisers suddenly downed scripts and left listeners to their own devices with the freedom of the air, what would happen? A new series, to be called "What I Like" and broadcast from

2YA from Friday, August 4, at 8 p.m., will give you some idea. All sorts of people in all sorts of trades and professions have: been given half-an-hour’s worth of the air for each succeeding week. A dentist will open the series. After Friday, August 11, the night will be changed to Thursday, as from August 17, Following the dentist will come a tramwayman, a doctor, a fishmonger, a policeman, and several others. It would spoil the fun to let you into the secret too much now, but at least it can be said with certainty that you will find the programmes not at all like your probable anticipations of them. The Age of Victoria Few ages in the history of England present such a fascinating front as the age of Victoria. Whether we laugh at its ostentatious purity, or extol its sweet serenity, it seldom fails to excite our interest. On July 30 the sixth in

a series of dramas about the Victorian age, "Victoriana," will be heard from 1YA Auck-land-a dramatic mosaic, not only of the fashions and foibles of the day, but also of such great historical events as the Exhibition of All Nations. Some listeners will remember, too, that a certain American lady, Mrs. Bloomer, broke into the news about this time with radical proposals for dress reform; and the programme also contains a humorous cameo of a young lady of the day experimenting in. new fashions, discarding her crinoline for a bustle and being laughed off the streets.

Plant For Your Lives We blame the deer, the chamois, the thar, the rabbit, and a-score of other animals, but if we can avoid it we do not blame ourselves. So it is just as well that we have an Arbor Day to remind us that men as well as beasts have their responsibilities to Nature. Fire and axe have cut our timber reserves below danger point; short-sighted grazing and tilling have skinned the best of the earth and vegetation from our hillsides; short-term land tenures and short-term methods have helped ignorance to ruin good farm lands. Flood follows, bringing erosion, with economic as well as aesthetic starvation close after. Arbor Day does something, if it does not do everything, to point the moral that in New Zealand we must plant trees for our lives. The 4YZ programme for Wednesday, August 2, includes Thoughts for Arbor Day at 8.42 p.m. and Mrs. Knox Gilmer will talk on Arbor Day from 2YC on Tuesday, August 1, at 7.40 p.m. Dvorak Went to Sleep We have been told that the English language is hard for foreigners. Dvorak, the composer, apparently found it so; for, so the story goes, when due to visit an English festival to conduct the first performance of his "Stabat Mater," he sent the following telegram: "Please send one to snatch me from the train lest I should not recognise the journey." As requested, he was duly snatched, and rehearsals proceeded for the performance. On the night itself, however, Dvorak became gradually more absorbed in his own thoughts, so that in one movement the beat dragged painfully, slower and slower. Disaster was imminent. A complete standstill was approaching. So the leader of the orchestra, plucking up the courage born of despair, leant forward and dug the composer smartly in the ribs, whereupon Dvorak came back to earth. Dvorak’s "Concerto in B Minor" will be presented from 2YC at 9.5 p.m. on Tuesday, August 1.