The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-11-15
READ|NGMATTERFOR
 WOUNDED TOMM|ES
Queer Contributions Made
 to Big War Library
OVER 5O,OOO VOLUMES
Fully One-third Are Useless and Fit Only For Repulping-Amer- ican Slang in British Ad-
 miral's Report of Action
By HAYDEN CHURCH

By HAYDEN CHURCH
 , London, October 31-(Specail) )-One , of the most interesting and busy places in London just now is old Sur rey house. rambling Victorian man sion near Marble arch that formerly i was the town house of the late Lord Battersea. and has been used for many different purposes since he died, and is now the headquarters of the war library. as it Is called. that is being got together to supply reading matter !, for wounded British soldiers and the men of the North sea fleet.
 In response to an "appeal" issued only few days ago. over 5O,000 vol umes have been received. These fill to overflowing six rooms on the ground floor of Surrey house, and the work of sorting them, needless to say takes some doing. What Is more. it all has to be done by daylight--and the days in London are short now-for there is no lighting apparatus in Surrey house, and because of this tho willing volunteer workers, who include pr Augsburg Wright. the famous head of the London library, are working like beavers all day Sunday as we'll as throughout the week.
 Would that all the donors to the library were as patriotic! Many of them, however. seem to have seen in the library merely a good chance to get rid of a lot of their old and un- l wanted books, with the result that a good third of the number received arc only worth repulping. You will hardly believe it, but it is solemn fact all the same, that a London di rectory and a catalog of the army and navy stores have been among the contributions. I was taken into one room where there were nothing but seven pennies" the little we'll bound and well printed editions of popular novels that have been issued for the past year or two over here and are so popular. These go to convalescent wards and hospitals in this country as we'll as abroad. The sailors, 1t seems, Hike paper covered novels. and these , are mended. when necessary, and go , | to the fleet. 1 know of one patriotic , little woman who has collected over f 490 seven pennies among her friends and sent them to the library, and good ness only knows how many paper nov els. The latter she recovers with Q brown paper. sticks on the title and the authors name, neatly typewrit r ten, and finally decorates each volume a with a little Union Jack. l should like to confront her with whoever sen il in the London directory!
 American Slang in England ''Mr. Dooley" may not have been ss 7 far out after all when, In the cours. ' of characteristic chat with MT. Hen ' nessey on the vogue of American slani . in England he made Prime Ministe e Asauith remark: "Where's me lid, n !, must beat it." The premier, of course ], has not an American wife, but a To e of his principal supporters have, am it would be interesting to know hoy l- many "Americanisms" figure in tn | conversation of. say, the Right Hon Lewis Harcourt, the colonial secretary o whose spouse is a niece of the late J ''i Pierpont Morgan
 l. What reminds me of this Is the of
 ficial dispatch regarding the Heligo f. land fight by Vice Admiral Sir Davit Beatty of the North sea fleet, in whtcf }, this distinguished sea dog uses the ex
 pression, regarding one of the len q gagged" German vessels, T saw the, a had her beat Some of the London / newspapers, in quoting the phra se 7, point out that the gallant admiraf' }, wife is a former Chicago woman Sh' '- is, of course. the elder daughter of tn late Marshall Field.
 ! Hutchinson Makes Hit
 With n1S new ana clever mover, 7- Clean Heart" A. $, M. Hutchinson ap \. pears to have appealed to American
 reviewers and readers quite as sue
 cessfully as he did with that othe we'll written book of his, "Thc Happ.
 Warrior and the still earlier laughte
 maker, "Once On Board the Lugger.
 happen to know Hutchinson fairl,
 well. He is young man of not mucl over 30, who edits newspaper, ism
 quite sure whether he is a liberal o
 a conservative and is fond of telling
 his friends to pull up their socks.
 You would never suspect him as beinl the author of books like "The Clear
 Heart"
 Lucas Writes Review Book
 The example set by Max Pemberto, in providing the "boolS" of the largel. American review "Hullo! Ragtime
 and, later, of its successor, "Hullo
 Tango" at the London Hippodrome
 seems to have proved infectious an'
 we may yet see George Bernard Shay himself closing with ono of tho man,
 glittering offers that have been mad
 to him to write a review"
 Sir J. M Barrie, of course, also con
 tributed a "skit" to "Hullo! Ragtime
 called "The Playwrights Get Wha
 They Want" and now it Is announce
 that the book" for the forthcomin
 production at the Hippodrome. whic
 will be called Business As Usual" ha
 been written by--of all people-E. '
 Lucas, the biographer of Charles Laml
 and author of many charming studie
 of literary London. l. have writtei
 "of all people" and will let 1t stan, but it is not so surprising after al
 for Lucas Is a regular contributor {
 Punch" and in collaboration with
 |. Graves is the author of whole St
 ries of satrical parodies in book forn
 the best known of which are: "Wisdo' I1u rn Tor
 Half-penny." Lucas, too. has had oi
 playlet produced at the Palace, ar
 other music hall. but it had brief ca
 reer. His "book" for Business
 Usuar' has been written under u
 transparent nom de plume, F.
 Mark" ans Is certain to DO ~itty wha
 ever its defects may be.