The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1915-01-10

dent in England for some six years prior
to the war, Roberts, who got his won
derful knowledge of wild things and their
ways in the heart of the Canadian forest
and who describes himself as IAN old
backwoodsman,' Joined the legion of
frontiersmen as soon as the war began
and soon afterward was sent up to
Shrewsbury, where there is big mill
tary concentration camp, where, he I'M
derstood, he was to help break in the
raw mounts. As matter of fact, he
has really been engaged in giving les
sons in riding to newly joined men. and
/ is having, so he says. "a fine time"
incidentally having the keen satisfaction
of knowing that in spite of his 50-odd
years, he is doing his bit as the phrase
goes, to help.a
One of Roberts Oldest pals, Roy Nor
ton of vanishing Fleets" fame, seems
to have quite got into the habit of writ
ing his intensely interesting American
novels at British seaside resorts He did
his last one. THE Plunderer," which is
listed for speedy publication on your side
of the water. almost wholly at Brighton
after doing a lively sneak out of
Germany at the beginning of the war
and Is now at Torquay. and hard at work
on a new romance. He is very secretive
about this, and declined to tell me even
the name of it, but 1 may have my re-
venge, for they do say that Torquay
is the most likely of any seaside town
In England to be the object of a Ger
man submarine attack. This for the rea-
son that 1t is close to base" for Brit
ish submarine craft of which tho Teu-
tons would greatly like to annihilate a
few they at present outnumber the
German ones about six to one. So Nor
ton may have the material for another
war novel handed to him, as it were.
Peace Delegate at Front
Speaking of the war (and few of US
over here speak of anything else), some
of the best OF the dispatches that have
come from the front are the work Of
G. H. PERKS, who went out at the begin
ming of the campaign for the Chronicle,
of which his brother is news editor. The
joke of 1t is that PERKS, who Is an old
journalistic hand, and Is well known, too,
as an author, is a prominent pacificist
and not so long ago was chosen a dele
gate to the great international peace con-
sress that was to have been held in Aus
trla. Like a good many others. what
he has seen at the front has probably
| greatly altered his views on the whole
! question of the value of such meetings
Perris tried literary agency for some
years and quite successfully, one fancies
but for sometime now has devoted him.
| self wholly to journalism and author
| ship. His books. by the way, include.
besides a study of Emerson, one pub
| lished in 1912. on Germany and the
German Emperor"
Marie C0relli Mistaken
There are some things. it appear. that
are not known even to Marie Corelli. who
is engaged at present in a praiseworthy
attempt to demonstrate that the so-called
prophecy of the fourteenth century
| monk, Johannes, which foretells the doom
of the Hohenzollerns and of Germany,
| is bogus.
Writing on the subject in a London
daily, the new Swan Of Avon inquired
caustically:
"why should England be represented
by leopard. seeing that her symbol is
| a lion. and the finer animal of the two?"
And, OF course, there Immediately
arose no end of folk to inform her that
the leopard, and not the lion. was the
ancient symbol of her country.
An interesting literary anniversary that
occurred this week attracted little at
| tention in face Of the universal topic,
and yet 1t was not without it's topical
| interest. For. In December, 1894. Robert
Louis Stevenson died at Samoa. terri
! tory that has now been added to the con-
stantly growing list OF erstwhile Ger
man colonies, . fact In which "R. L.
s." would have rejoiced II he had lived
! to witness the hauling down of the nag
Of Culture His Samoan residence gave
| the writer an opportunity for forming
a frst-hand opinion OF the overbearing
methods Of German rule, and in his
"Footnote to History he expressed him
self somewhat freely in the matter. The
incredible pettiness of the Germanic
mind was displayed by an official order
for the burning Of the Tauchnitz edition
Of the "Footnote.''