All Sports On Air Next Week

Radio Record, Volume VII, Issue 4, 4 August 1933, Page 20

All Sports On Air Next Week

Crowded Community Sing -Sir James Parr’s Bright Talks — Andy Shaw’s Large Audiences.

EXT radio week is to be a fat one for sportsmen.’ With interest at high pitch in the local club competitions, both Rugby and League, and the representative season ahead, football fans are very interested in the loudspeaker each week-end. ‘Then, in addition, next week has two wrestling relays, one on Monday and one on Saturday, each from the Town Hall. * * * LD Wire Whiskers" was in top form at 1YA recently with his sea story, "Will She Weather It?’ This was the well-told yarn of the speaker’s voyage as first mate in a limejuice barque from New York round the Horn to the Chilean nitrate ports and back to Hamburg. There was a happy, able crowd aboard and the ship. with runs of 264 and 271 miles on successive days, was smart and _ wellhandled. They had 21 days of tack and tack before they weathered "Cape Stiff,’ and the crew, good men, sang chanties after a double spell, four hours, of tops’l reefing, with the canvas frozen as stiff as a board and everyone hanging on by the eyebrows in the darkness and wind. On the run home the ship, caught by a sudden shift of wind was embayed with a lee shore very handy in the Gulf of Pinas. The splendid seamanship of master and crew that finally won out by the skin of their teéth made an epic story that would surely be appreciated by landlubbers as well as sailormen. And, above all, the whole thing had the savour of a personal experience, which makes such a vast difference in the realism for listeners. Ba * * NE of the most completely varied programmes heard for a long time over the northern air came from 1ZR last Wednesday. The concert was arranged by Miss Phyllis Gribbin, and the programme included vocal quartets, duets and solos; instrumental trios and character sketches with-blessed relief -not a record in the whole evening. Hach item was well done and the whole programme so varied that in these modern times of records all the time, it must have created a record. Indeed, with each new turn, it became increasingly difficult to realise that those were all real people. But they were, and so many thanks to 1ZR for the taste of a real programme. May we have lots more of them. * ae s NE of the best things from 1YA last week was an extraordinarily welltold mystery yarn, done by A. J. Allom, and recorded by the B.B.C. The yarn presented last Saturday sounded as if the speaker were talking asa friend to each individual listener. Listeners have discovered by now that the brand B.B.C. is no guarantee that the article won't be a "dud," but this was a real thriller. Something different should be 1YA’s ‘‘best seller’ for next week, when on Friday J. W. Bailey and company present a two hours’ programme under the title "An Evening at a London Var-

iety Theatre." The Baileys have never put on a poor show yet, so that when they say it’s a variety entertainment there should be variety-and that’s what listeners are hungry for. Dd 2 s IN the W.E.A. sessions from 1YA this week, Mr. Kingston-Smith continued his "Press and Public" series, and on Thursday Dr. R. P. Anschutz his "Famous Psychology Experiments." The former traced the history of foreign news-gathering from the day in 185¢ when Reuter had to give a fortnight’s free London trial of the first foreizr news service, up to the present. He dealt faithfully with news values, the comparative reliability of various news sources, and added: "Criticism of the cable news in New Zealand papers is merely criticism of the English papers from which, as snippets and summaries, it is taken." According to Dr. Anschutz, we have not a beggarly five senses only, & -- .

but fifteen, with more perhaps to be discovered. But I do wish he would define in simple and exact terms what psychology actually is. At present, in his own words, it all seems "very much like Bedlam," a * # (G01NG northward through Malaya, "Tpiscopus," speaking from 1YA on Thursday, described his journey to the Siamese border, with some observations on the notorious laziness of the Malay. He trains a monkey, on a string, for instance, to climb cononut palms and toss down the required nuts, while he has rigged an ingenious bamboo water wheel to save him the per sonal bother of irrigating his paddy fields. One of the impressions gathered was the universality of the humble bicycle, which everyone rides in Malaya. Even the boys leading the domestic buffalo home at night do this mounted on a "bike." The border between the Federated Malay States, all under British control, and Siam is guarded by a boom across the road and a soldier. * e s ANDY SHAW’S golf talks from 1YA on Wednesday will be decidedly in-

teresting to golfers, and there is a dry Scots humour about them that will bring a chuckle to the non-golfer, too, It was Donn Byrne who wroted: ‘The straight left rules the world,’ and euriously, according to Andrew, that seems to be a golfing as well as a boxing maxim of value. ‘The first talk last Wednesday had to do with grip and stance in preparation for the drive, and the instructions were so simply and clearly given that the veriest novice could surely follow them to his own profit. If you must play golf listen to 1YA these next wv ednesdays. HOSE who enjoy community singing over the air-and who doesn’t?had an unexpected slice of luck recently. IYA always relays the midday Wednesday sing. and makes a good job of it, but an extra effort was made last week on behalf of one of the queens in the Prosperity Week effort. That meant an extra big sing in the Town Hall on Friday night, plus the 1YA artists who appeared in person on the platform. The result of this union of broadcasting and community singing was a tip-top evening of song and jollity led by Mr. and Mrs. Albert Russell. In addition to the added pleasure of the hest of community sing fans, many others, whose occupations prevent them sharing in the midday sings, had their share of cheer-up at last. One of the best evenings for some time. The big Town Hall was packed. The collection totalled £74/11/23, a wonderful record for any sing. bd * « HAT was Major Elliott, the hardheaded Scot, who is trying at present to inflict quotas on New Zealand, Some day he will be Prime Minister of Great Britain," said Sir James Parr in his 1YA talk. He called London the home of history, then described a visit to the House of Commons as seen through his own eyes. He made the journey there, and the notable Parliamentarians he saw seem very vivid: realities. There were thumbnail sketches of many prominent persons-of Neville Chamberlain, the strongest man in the present Ministry; of friendly Ramsay MacDonald, "the handsomest man in the Ministry"; of Lloyd George, "always picturesque and seldom accurate," and many others. The speaker told a story of Lloyd George’s first election campaign, when a stupid opponent started the canard that the candidate was a hawker. At one meeting the original rumour-monger was incautious enough to ask a question about it. "Yes," said Lloyd George. "I was a hawker, Unfortunately I had to sell the eart, but I see the donkey has turned up here tonight." Sir James said if quotas were forced on us we had only ourselves to blame. At Ottawa we asked so much and gave so little.