Evening star., 1928-04-10

Gilbert and Sullivan and "H. NJ. S.
Pinafore" inevitably were brought TO
mind by the disclosure through court
proceedings Of what the recent myste-
rious row on board the British battle
ship Royal Oak was all about. II seems
that instead Of mutiny, as rumors from
Gibraltar originally had It, the whole
affair simmered down to a farcical
quarrel between Rear Admiral Collard
on the one hand and Capt. Dewar and
Comdr. Daniel on the other over music
for dance.
Complaints as TO the actions of Ad-
miral Collard "have been seeping out" !"
according to the st. Louis Post-Dis-
patch, and as nearly as that paper
'can make out" they are that he Cd
thought the marine band aboard the
Royal Oak was rotten and wanted 1t
replaced by Jazz orchestra: CD COM
planned that there were great many
ladies at dancing party aboard the
ship who were not provided with part
ners; (3) refused TO answer O salute OF
officers and actually "cut Capt. Dewar
dead" The Post Dispatch says Of the
matter: Shades Of Trafalgarl Is this
the sort OF thing TO which his majesty's
navy has descended? No wonder
Britannia no longer rules the waves: no
wonder Great Britain attends confer
ences designed To reduce its capital
ships What Is the use of having a
navy when the officers Of the fleet get
into row over such trtvialities as
these? What would Britain do II she
had flock OF Sims, plnnkettS and
AHa AN taO
THE denotion of Comdr Daniel" de-
clares the Toronto Daily Star, "has
little TO do with his efficiency as an
officer of ship of war. His main Of
fense was that he chivalrously sided
with the bandmaster. who was publicly
| and profanely upbraided by the admiral
| during dance that the latter was CIV
| ing on the ship. The Lam
guage Of the admiral, his rebukes OF
senior officers before junior officers and
men and his angry refusal to acknoWl-
edge saiutes suggest that he was the
| original, II not the most fragrant, Of
| fender. and that he, not less than the
commander and captain. needs to learn
what conduct is becoming an officer In
the service OF democratic country"
n 4 y
| NOW III W. iluu 10 MflIe
| H M. s. Pinafore' anew" suggests the
| Cleveland Plain Dealer. "can any one
| doubt that he would find in the facts
Of the Royal Oak dance and the woes
OF the bandmaster a Briton with the
perfectly delicious name OF Barnaele
sufficient material for a veracious IL
bretto2 The only trouble is that the
true story Is probably quite as funny
| as the great Gilbert could make 1t with
all his gift of satire" The Waterbury
| Republican brands the conditions as
| "grievoug when an admiral Of the Brit
ish navy called the music of the marine
band bloody noise, and they were
all the more so because there was no
Little Buttercup around TO clear mat
tefs up"
''We grtldgingly admit" comedies the
Baltimore Sun, that Gilbert gained
some laurels over reality by the intro
ducti1n OF poor Little Buttercup,' but
not even this prince Of Whimsy ever
conceived a character with nomcncla-
ture so delicious as that Ut Percy Bar
naGie, bandmaster Of the ROYAL Oak.
| Aud Barnacle IL was 10 whom the un-
| mentt0nable name was applied which
profoundly discouraged him and the
| rest OF the musicians. just what the
admiral called poor Harnacle In uncFF-
tain. though II IL rumofed that 1t was
preceded by an adjective beginning with
big, big ~ There h one school
which maintains that the unfortunate
bandmaater was pilloried as a fellow.
Others insist that Coilard. though
cholerio. did not go so far as this, but
merely classified the miserable musikef
rs 'hally rotter' Hut this In turn
leads 10 the diso0neefting issue Of
whether damned bally rotter' or 'bally
damnee EUsEsE, Kaa ths :. sblssSElQnapla