The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-03-14

She told me. but the name conveyed nothing. No" she laughed, "I am quite an humble person; you have never heard of me before. And so you truly think that my letter will reach Mir. Roosevelt?"
 Once more I asserted my conviction that 1t would and then.' having made a note of oyster Bay. N. Y.," she thanked me and withdrew. So, should this chance to meet your eye, Colonel letter.
 Making Bust of. Chamberlain That brilliant sculpton son of an American father Francis Dcrwent Wood, whose bust of Henry James has just been placed in the Tate gallery, is now. I hear. hard at work on one of the late Joseph Chamberlain. This has been commissioned by the cor poration of London and. when com pleted will be placed in the famous Guildhall. where the freedom of the city is conferred on distinguished for eigners and where ex-President Roose- yelt exploded his famous oratorical bombshen on the subject of British policy in Egypt
 To assist him in his latest task Wood has complete set of portraits of the famous colonial secretary, be- ginning with those taken in the statesmans childhood and including Sargent's portrait of him and the last photograph that ever was taken, this latter. by the way, having been ob- tained by Mrs. Chamberlain herself who. as everybody knows was former ly Miss Mary Endicott of U. S. A. Mrs. Chamberlain and Austen Chamberlain. rhe statesman's eldest son. have. more over. been constant visitors to Woods studio in Chelsea during the progress of the work and the former has just passed" the clay model which she de- scribes as the finest bust of her late husband that she has ever seen.
 Derwent Wood. who though the son of an American. was born at Keswick 42 years ago, was, of course. the sculp- tor chosen by the American women in England to make the statue of Will liam Pitt which is to be presented to the United States in commemoration of the hundred years of peace, while among other renowned works of his are the statue of Queen Victoria at Pataila. India. that of the late Charles Sturgeon at the Baptist church house. London and the four statues of the arts in the Glasgow art galleries. lis fine bust of Henry James was first commissioned by that authors distin- guished fellow countryman and close friend, John Singer Sargent, but when it was nearing completion the trus-
 
 coveted it and so Sargent consented to waive his claim. To compensate him. self, however. Sargent resolved to do a portrait of Henry James and ;t was this portait. when eventually exhibited at the Royal Academy. that a suffra- getts went for with a hatchct in those dear dead days before the war of which we all think so fondly now. It may be added. by the bye. that to have a work of art purchased by the Chant rey bequest is about the highest con- pliment which can be paid to a painter or sculptor in this country.
 Now, it seems Wood has been asked by Sargent, as a member of the British arts committee of the Panama exhibition. to permit his James bust to be shown at Sal Francisco and has given his consent, so the now famous work will cross the Atlantic with the other British art exhib- its on the Jason"
 Literary Recruits
 Still they come, the literary recruits to Britain's new army. Two of the latest are Cosmo Hamilton of "The. Blindness of Virtue'' fame. and "Ian Hay" who gave us Pip and "The Right Stuff" and whose latest book "A Knight on Wheels" has given his readers a few more hearty laughs and helped them to forget the war for a while. Hamilton, who looked like settling down permanently in the United States a while back has joined the Royal Flying corps. so I hear, while Han Hay is a member of a machine gun battery. The latters real name. by the bye, is John Hay Beith, and he lives at Oban, north O the Tweed. He was a 'headmaster'' before he began to write books, which accounts for the prominence of school life in his novels, and he is, as you no doubt have gathered, an ar dent motorist and a member, see, of the Royal Automobile club One wishes by the way, that they would keep him em- ployed safely at the war office or else where, and not let him go within a hum dred miles of the front, for the thought of his coming to grief is one that just does not bear thinking of, now that real humorists are so few and far between
 Conrad in Middle of Fight
 Meanwhile it appears that the war nearly robbed Britain of her greatest writer of the sea. A publisher told me, yesterday, that Joseph Conrad, whose own life story is almost as romantic as his wonderful novels, was in Poland hard at work on a new novel when he found himself in the midst of the fighting. He sat tight, however, went on with his work and is now safely out of the tourmoil. One hears with pleasure. moreover, that new volume from his pen, consisting of four 1ong-short stories will probably be ready toWdiu tuc cru Ol tHo u cONeT6 an island in the South Seas. secret serv- ice in the north of SpainS and, of course, the raging deep and its perils through out.
 Dramatized Novel Successful
 The stage version of w. B. Maxwell's delightful novel, Mrs. Thompson" which was made by the late Sydney Grundy, was played for the first time at Shef- field this week, with Mrs. Langtry in the name part. and, apparently, proved an unqualified success. Meanwhile, hear, another adaptation which has been made of Maxwell's Ragged Messenger" is likely to- see the light in the United States ere long, The author, who has just lost his famous mother, Miss Brad don, is, as I told you last week. a lieu tenant in the Royal Fusiliers, but does not expect to go to the front much be- fore May next. which is when Kitch- ener says the war is going to begin
 SOlace Versus Stimulation
 From the Spr. n ofia1d Ranub1fcap