The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-10-23
Furnished Him a Satisfac- tory Meal, Says Staff Of
 ficer of General French
CONAN DOYLE'S SON
 JOINS THE ARMY
Patrick McGill, the "Navvy-Poet' En- lists With Irish Rifles-Baroness Orczy Aroused by Questions as
 to Her Hungarian Birth
By HAYDEN cHuRcH

London, September (Special.) Mrs Elinor .Glyn, who wrote Three Weeks and the Visits of Elizabeth won't be bit pleased when she reads this little anecdote (which comes France). but it is so amusing that I just can't resistetelling it all the same.
 The man who told it to me, by the way, is Capt Aubrey Dennistoun Hoad, who brought to England the new his- toric dispatch from Sir John French about the retreat of the allied armies, and who will have returned to the. fir ing line long before you read these words. Hoad, by the way, is a mem Der of the staff of General Smith-Dor- rien, who was so warmly praised by of the fighting, as may be imagined from his statement that he has had no less than four orderlies killed since he went to the front But now for his little story!
 One day, just before left for Eng land" said Hoad, T noticed on an ambulance wagon that was passing me a paper covered novel, and out of GU riosity picked it up to see what it was. It proved to be The Reason Why by Mrs. Elinor Glyn. of whose "riting 1 never previously had read a line though had heard lot about them. Ac- cordjngly, having half an hour to my selt, l devoted it to perusing The Rea- son Why finally casting it aside, how ever, with the query. addressed to my self, Is it possible that there are peo- pie who enjoy reading such tommy rot? And when last I saw the vol- tune it was furnishing an apparently delectable repast for an old service mule"
 D0yle's Son at Front
 ITO the list of sons of famous au- thors who are now at the front the name of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's heir must now be added. Doyle, Jr. who was christened Arthur Alleyn Kingsley, and who has been studying his father s original profession at St. Mary's hos pital for. three years or more, joined the royar army medical corps, a few weeks ago, and is now in France with them. He is an aH-round athlete, be- irg particularly useful at squash rac- quets and throwing the hammer and if he goes in for actual fighting, will be nasty man for some German to meet, Incidentally he is the, apple of his fla ther's eye.
 One of his pals at St. Mary's received letter from him the other day, the parts of which that had been spared by the censor, made. entertaining reading and gave the definite idea that this young medico inherits some part at least of his sires literary gifts. His friends, in fact, prophecy that he will end by turning war correspondent in which capacity of course Sir Arthur did his first writing I am glad to hear, by the way, that Sir Arthur who has been decidedly "seedy" of late. is now much better.
 Authors Stop Writing Books
 Whoever it was that remarked that of the making of books there is no end must have reckoned without the pres ent war Certainly every British au- thor that one knows anything about has abandoned the writing of anything but articles relating to the war and devoted himself or (herself) unspar- ingly to doing his Cor her) little bit to help. Among the others is that ac- autohiographers. Mrs. Chester Ffoull1es In association with a. couple of women friends Mrs. .Ffoulxes has bought 50,o00 cigarettes and had them attractive1y put up in. packets decorated with the French and English flags. surmounted by laurel wreath. and bearing mes- sage of good cheer. and they arc to be given to wounded men as they go aboard the Hospital ship that, will bring them home. Mrs. Ffoullses Is under taking the distribution-s M 1i
 Mrs. Ffot B is credited with know. ing more about the secrets of Euro pean courts than most people. Among other volumes of memoirs she has "edited" was that of the ex-crown prin. cess of SAxony. whose marriage to the singer. reselIf. was the sensation oi a few years ago. She was a Miss Craven. daughter of the late William Craven of Brighton before she mar ried Chester Ffoulkes, Denbighshirs landowner, some years ago.
 The spelling of the name with . small "f." habit still continued by some families. Is really the perpetuation of Q mistake. In old-fashioned manuscript the capital 'f' was written in manner re. sembling "n." Many families-ths FFoulkes and the FFrenches among them cor tinue that form
 Baroness Orrzy Aroused
 Baroness Orczy, who wrote the enor. mously successful 'Scarlet Pinpernel,' ' ard whose royalties from this and hel many other popular novels must have made her quito plutocrat is In . state of tremendous wrath at present. Ar (have mentioned already, the haroness has been much to tho fore In the Eng. lish work fsr the Rsd czoap eociety and