The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-05-09
TODAY'S BIRTHDAY PARTY


 wright, who has won millions of admirers and friends on this side of the Atlantic through Maude Adams inter pretations of his plays, will pass his f1fty-fourth milestone today. Sir Matthew, as he is called by most of his friends, is pictured as the gen. tlest, shyest and most retiring of men, who shrinks from all pub licity. Few modern writers, with the possible exception of the late Joel Chandler Harris. creator of Uncle Remus, have been so averse to the Iirne1ight as the celebrated Scotchman. There is : another side to Barrie's charac- ter, however, and that part of him is as adventurous as a Rich ard Harding Davis hero. Bar rie's intimafes have been largely men of action, and in Sir Ernest ShackIeton, the late Capt. Scott, and other adventurers, he found kindred souls At heart the shy, sad-faced novelist is a. soldier of fortune, with a tremendous cu- riosity regarding the unmapped and the unknown. In Peter Pan'' he gave a name to this mysterious land where he wan ders in fancy v tNever-Never Land. =
 Barrie and the late Capt. Scott. who bravely met death in his quest for the South Pole. were the closest of friends. When Scott was in London he spent much of his time with Barrie. For hours they sat together, smoking their pipes. of which in those Nconversations Barrie matched with his dreams the 5 realities which had come within the experience of his companion. The novelist was godfather to the explorers son, Peter Scott, who was named after Peter Pan, Barriess immortal hero. One of Scottss last message perhaps the last, since it ends in undeci- pherable scratches of the pencil --is now the treasured posses sion of the novelist. Tn it the dy- ing explorer confided his son, Peter. to Barrie's care. It has been asserted that Barrie was the anonymous donor of a consider able portion of the fund for Sir Ernest Shack1eton's antarctic ex- petition.
 George Meredith was the It. erary patron of Sir James, but his allegiance is divided by his great
 
 Stevenson, a novelist who not oIl- x 1y wrote about strange lands, but lived in them. Barrie was born in Kirriemuir, Scotland, and was educated at Edinburgh Univer- sity. In his youth he was jour naiist. and entertained an ambi- tion to become a. critic. He was twenty-seven when his first book, Better Dead. was pub1ishe ed. fzI1 ys<.l-- T three volumes, including When a Mans Sing1e,' story of his struggles as a newspaper writ CT. Window in Thrums,' now a quarter of a century old, established his reputation, and succeeding novels and plays have won for him wealth, honor and title.
 The one great adventure of Barrie's life was when, with only a few shilIings in his pocket. he fortunes in the great city of Lon don. There were several lean years awaiting him, when he struggled daily with poverty and privations but by the time he was thirty he had friunphed over ob- stacles and won recognition for his genius won it solely by his genius, for he was too modest to push himself forward or stoot his own horn,
 Viseount Bryce Of Dechnont, which is the new title of that great diplomat and author who formerly represented the British King at the court Of Uncle Sam, was born in Belfest, seventy-six years ago to-morrow. Probab- ly no other ambassador sent to 2 Washington ever gained such widespread popularity among the American people as the Rt. Hon. James Bryce. He was g real diplomat, and he proved ie. on many occasions by delivering ad- dresses dealing with men or in- cidents of the American revo1u-s ton in a manner which was high Iy pleasing to both the British and American people-an orator ica1 triumph not without difH- culties.
 The first Parliament of the s Australian Commonwealth was convened thirteen years ago to- day, May g, 1901, the union of the six original Australian col~ onies. New South Wales, yicto-3 ria, Queensland, South Australia. Western Australia and Tasman- ia having been proclaimed on the first day of that year. The Australian Parlfa1n nent, which has been called the most pro- gressfve in the world z has ini- tiated many measures of reform at which older countries would stand aghast The Upper House of the Australian Parliament consists of thirty-six members. six for each State. Australian Senators are chosen for six years, instead of for life. as in Canada. The House of Representatives consists of seventy-f1ve members, elected for three years. Wom- en are not eligible to member ship in either branch. although the fair sex votes in ali elections in Australia. The power of con ciliation and ar bitratfon in indus trial disputes extending beyond any one State is vested In the Australian Parlia ment. Parlia- ment now meets at Melbourne, but a new federal capital is in process of construction at Yass Canberra-
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