CITY MISSIONER SEES THE WORLD

New Zealand Listener, Volume 7, Issue 161, 24 July 1942, Page 7

CITY MISSIONER SEES THE WORLD

After Hob-Nobbing With Hollywood Film Stars, The Rev. Jasper Calder Worked His Passage Home

HEN the Rev. Jasper Calder referred to Ann Sheridan as "full of beans and bus tickets," we realised that the nine months he spent in the United States recently had not been entirely profitless, and that this, his first holiday for 30 years, had given him a new idiom as well as a new physique. But the essential Jasper was unchanged, and nine months of coffeedrinking had not impaired his fondness for tea, As he poured it out hot

strong in his basement room at the Auckland City Mission he told us something of his first experience of broadcasting in the United States, "It was just after I reached America," he said. "Charles Laughton and Ann Sheridan were going to speak at a big meeting in Pershing Square, Los Angeles, to boost the sale of War Bonds, and the Mayor had asked me to speak, too. I. remember Charles Laughton gave the Gettysburg address, very impressive, I’ve forgotten what Ann Sheridan said, but she put it across all right, She certainly has magnetism. That evening I was sitting quietly at home twiddling the knob of my radio when I heard a familiar voice. And there was something familiar about the words, too. And I realised it was the speech I had made that afternoon. I had had no idea that they were recording the proceedings. After that, I had a number of offers from broadcasting companies, most of. whom wanted talks on New Zealand. I spoke on the early missionaries, on social legislation, and on people like Richard Seddon, and several times I was on a National Hook-up addressing 30,000,000 people. At least that’s what they told me, but I don’t suppose they were all listening." All American broadcesting is commercial, Mr, Calder explained, but this does not detract from the quality of the programmes, Advertisers are judged by the programmes they sponsor rather than by the announcement that precedes it, and it’s to their intérest to see that their session is a good one. Leading artists such as Lawrence Tibbett have no objection to being featured in programmes sponsored by chewing-gum manufacturers, and even Mrs. Roosevelt speaks in a coffee-session. Here, There, And Everywhere Preaching and lecturing also occupied @ proportion of Mr, Calder’s time, and he represented New Zealand at an All Nations’ Witness service in New York Cathedral. He stayed with all kinds of

people, and at all kinds of places, in Detroit as the guest of Henry Ford, and ‘in Los Angeles as the guest of the Seamen’s Institute. He spent some months touring the Californian coast as temporary lecturer on seamanship and navigation to United States coastguards, He hobnobbed with film stars in Hollywood, and even sold an idea for an animated cartoon to Leon Schlesinger. The Long Voyage Home | ‘But Td spent | long enough in

America, much as 1 liked it," he went on, "and it was time to find out how the Auckland City Mission was getting on. American wellwishers ‘had given me for the Mission a small steam yacht, to be used in cetting from Auckland to the children’s camp at Waiheke, and I’d chartered a crew and was all set to sail her home, But unfortunately, this was just at the time of the U-boat scare, and at the last minute, the authorities withdrew permission. I had no money, There was nothing for it but to work my passage home, ° : "I signed on as a deck-hand on a neutral ship bound for Australia. I did some of everything, painting, ropesplicing, loading cargo, and taking my turn .at the wheel-a boring business on a ship with electrically-controlled steering, because there wasn’t any "feel" to the job. We had one or two thrills, because most of the way we had no convoy, and it was a relief when we neared the shores of Australia and saw ships flying the White Ensign, "Sink Me the Ship . , ." "Fortunately, she was a fairly fast ship (she did 174% knots), and though we were chased on several occasions, we usually managed to out-distance our pursuer, On one occasion, we allowod ourselves. to get unpleasantly close, and the result was that at the next stop we had to put the bos’n and one or two of the crew ashore and, there being nobody much else, I became bos’n, I liked that. I had to take charge of the boys and see that they got their lifeboat drill. Not that we had much time for that, because we were six members of the crew short; so we all had to take turns at peeling potatoes and washing the dishes." We pressed Mr. Calder to tell us of his narrow escapes, but he refused to be drawn. However, he mentioned that the six British aboard had entered into an agreement to sink the ship if its cap-

ture by Japanese seemed imminent, and somewhat shamefacedly he admitted that in this event he was the man appointed to go down to the hold and fire the fatal fuse. "Which goes to show that as far as war-mentality is concerned, we haven't advanced very far since the time of Sir Richard Grenville," remarked Mr. Calder, as he thoughtfully stirred his tea.