Evening star., 1926-12-26
ANTI-K|SS|NG DRIVE:
FAILURE IN BRITAIN
Health Society Makes Little
HeadWay Against Mistletoe
/ Sales at Christmas.
BY A. G. GARDINER.
Fv Radio to The Star,

LONDON, December 25.-Christ'
has came to England attended with
biting cold and heavy snow in the
north, but in spite of the night frosts
there was no prospect of skating this
eide of the English Channel.
The flight to Switzerland for Win,
ter sports and to the Riviera for sun
shine reached unprecedented dimen-
sions during the middle of the week,
and all English seaside resorts are
crowded with visitors.
In London vast preparations were
made for the celebration of Christmas.
THE tendency to keep the festival in
public places has almost abolished
the fireside family gathering among
the wealthy classes. The vogue for
dancing and jazz is chiefly responsible
3or this change in the habits of the
people.
Shaw Attacks Christmas.
Bernard Shaw has added to the
raiety Of the season by appearing In
The role of enemy of Father Christ
mas" He says he has never spent q
Christmas in his life and doesn't eX-
pect eyer 10 spend one. He regards
the season as a nuisance, which
should be abolished by act Of Parlia-
anent, with due compensation for shop
keepers Shaw protests that he has
no objection 10 the Christmas feeling,
but says that feeling should be spread
over the whole year and not exhibited
au a seasonal debauch.
Meanwhile, Shaw'S neighbor in
.Adelphi Torrance, Sir James NJ. Bar
Tie, has celebrated Christmas by being
present at the twenty-tirst revival of
Peter Pan" whose astonishing pop
ularity with children of all ages
shows no signs of tagging with the
wears. Dorothy Dickson again plays
the role of Peter, with, of course, an
American accent, which seems now
essential to the part.
Sir Thomas Becham, who recently
announced his intention of withdraw
$ng to America to escape the abomi-
nation of wireless music, has this
week returned TO the attack. He de-
clares radio is destructive to the
whole musical taste of the nation
Serious music as broadcast, he says,
is nothing but scarcely recognizable
1ravesty, sans tone, sans color. sans
distinction, sans everything but a
iumbled noise of the gramophonic
type Beecham's view is that the
only music tolerable on the radio is
the worst sort, the reason being thai
such music has the least to lose by
coarse reproduction. The question OF
how he proposes to escape the abomi'
nation of broadcasting by migrating
TO America still is obscure.
Drive Against Kissing.
The new health society has chosen
Christmas as a suitable occasion to
inaugurate q crusade. against the
practice of kissing, which is de
nounced as a source of infinite mis-.
chief, and which is derided as mere
barbarous relic of Druidical customs
Press comment on the crusade is to
the effect that it has not had any
appreciable effect on the demand fol
mistletoe, whose mystic association
with kissing is also reminiscent oi
our Druidical origin.
Political circles are commenting
much on the savage attack made by
Attorney General Hogg on David
Lloyd George. The attorney genera
SAYS that Mr.. Lloyd George when he
was prime minister, in the coalition
government. accumulated vast sums
of money by the sale OF hOnorS on a
scale unprecedented in political rec
ords and that he now is employing
this fund to buy the Liberal party
with the purpose of selling it to the
socialists. Such language, coming
from the chief legal adviser to the
government, is assumed to be calcu
lated, as challenge to Lloyd George
to bring action for libel. The return
of Lloyd George. who now is in South
France, is awaited with much inter.
est owing to this incident and the
more weighty reputation in the same
spirit by Lord Grey on behalf of re-
sponsible Liberals.
frnnvr;yh4 1905 i