Evening star., 1924-12-30

then I shall be fully available. Bas-
ildon.'
Good"
Sir Thomas marched off. and pres
emily Lord Almeric and / were driving
down to Battersea and the Merlin.
We wasted no time in getting away.
Lord Almeric bade Milliken and me
hearty farewells, and to a cheer for
my mechanic from his English con-
freres-with whom he had apparent
ly established himself a favorite-
we took off just before 10 o'clock,
due west and headed for our own
country. With our luck holding, we
reckoned to be at Gardiner Bay by
ha1f-paSt 8, American time.
We were flying high by the time we
got above the Bristol Channel, and
every now and then we would pass a
plane, one of Sir Thomas Basildon's
scouts He must have sent out word
of our departure, for we were not
challenged. When We passed near
enough. We invariably got a signal
wishing us good luck, and once or
twice voice came over the radio
phone, which was in open circuit,
with a "Cheerio, Merlin--keep your
eyes skinned going overt
Once above the open sea. I gave
the pilot seat to Milliken, and turned
to read the English journals I had
brought with me. They were full, of
course, OF the raid on the Bank of
England, and for the most part the
story was told without much flourish
or waste of words. In the leading
columns of some the fact was CLOSED
over that the government had been
caught mapping with a policy of re-
ducing the air service and space was
taken up with the useless condemna-
ton of the Criminals" behind the
raid. Those particular journals. it
was easy to see, were government
organs.
The papers of the opposite party
vigorously rubbed in all the
damaging facts, and were brightly
humorous over the blackened faces of
the cabinet. One journal spoke pom
derously of the affair in the House of
Commons as IL it had been a sort of
niger minstrel show:
THE WESTMINSTER TROUPE OF
MINsTRELs.
"There has long been a suspicion
of familiar favour about the night
ly entertainment at ST. Stephens
Hall. Time and again some chord of
memory has been struck, and we have
endeavoured in vain to trace where
we had heard that note before, but
the bright idea is conceived by the
leading comedian at our famous
house of misunderstanding more
subtle than the use of little burnt
cork-revealed in a fash whence
came the old familiar flavor. The
Nigger Minstrels, Of course,
'Brudder Bones, cane yu tail me
the similarity between an orphan
boy, the Prince of Wales, a bald
headed man and a monkeys mother?
"'No, Brudder Jawnsum, ah cane
not tail you the similarity be-
tween-etc., etc.
THE surprise sprung upon us was
an elaborate one. 1t was known that
great efforts we're being made on the
part Of the management to provide a
full-dress, bumper entertainment.
None of the leading lights of the
Front Bench were to be missing: from
corner man to corner man, and from
the front row to the back bench of
the chorus, the full complement of
the company was to be turned out for
this occasion only. We were to wit
ness the screaming absurdity entitled,
Too Much in the Air
"It must be confessed that the en-
tertainment dragged a little at the
start, due to the inclusion of too
many stump speeches in the program.
THE speakers, moreover all were
too conscientiously impersonating the
old-time members of Parliament, and
1t Is a we'll established axiom in the
art of entertaining that close imita-
tion of familiar types need not neces-
sarily be funny. The broad touch of
burlesque was needed. 1t is painful
to report, so tedious did the show be-
come that not only the audience fell
asleep, but the entertainers them
selves were lulled into peaceful
slumber! Even the bright particular
stars Of the Front Bench were affect
ed, and fell victims to their own So
porif1c platitudes, sleeping, by the
clock, a round couple of hours.