Abbe Qualified to Speak
On Dads’Day; He Has 8
By EDITH NEWTON
Being the father of eight children makes James Abbe, news
commentator and photographer, well qualified to speak at the
annual Dads’ Day luncheon scheduled for February 13 in John
Straub memorial hall. His oldest child is 30 years old, and the
youngest only a year and a half.
Abbe’s three famous children,
who wrote the 1936 best-seller,
“Around the World in Eleven
Years,” are expected to come
with their dad to attend the
Dads’ celebration on the campus.
Patience, Richard, and Johnny
wrote their book after traveling
for 11 years and having a variety
of experiences in places all over
the globe.
Mail Heavy
Abbe receives a goodly amount
of mail since he started making
nine news broadcasts a week and
he has made a point of answering
each letter personally. When he
first started, this wasn’t much of
a job, but as the mail kept grow
ing Abbe fell farther behind in
his correspondence.
He refused to- give up his pol
icy of answering all letters, but
it became plain that something
must be done. So he appealed to
his daughter Patience for help.
She promised to cooperate, but
refused to let “Papa” tell her
what to write. As Abbe says,
“she has a mind of her own.” As
protection to himself, he wrote
the following letter and had it
mimeographed, sending along a
copy with each letter Patience
answers:
“Dear Listener: My new secre
tary, my daughter Patience, has
undertaken to answer my lis
tener mail, which, I am happy to
say, has reached large propor
tions.
Wrote Book at 11
“Inasmuch as she and her
younger brothers wrote a suc
cessful book, ‘Around the World
in Eleven Years,’ when she was
11, she is prone to express her
own views and opinions, which
are not mine. Now that she is 18,
she has even more definite opin
ions than when she was 11.
“My bargain with her is that
she shall have a free rein, and
I'm hoping for the best and hold
ing my breath. Please believe me,
that both Patience and I ‘mean
Arthur Dance
Set by Dorms
“King Arthur,” a drama in
blank verse by John Dryden set
to music by Henry Purcell, will
be presented March 1 by the Uni
versity of Oregon choral union
under the direction of Dr. Theo
dore Kratt, dean of the school of
music at the University of Ore
gon.
Also to be given at the same
time is a choral fantasia from
Wagner’s music drama, “Tann
hauser,” and a choral work,
“America,” by Ernest Bloch. Of
the number, “America,” Dr. Kratt
said, “This number is taken from
the symphony “America” by Er
nest Block. Bloch is a nationally
famous composer and makes his
home at Agate Beach, Oregon.
Published 1691
The words to “King Arthur”
were originally published in 1691
by Dryden. The music was never
published during Purcell’s time,
and in consequence much of the
music was lost. William H. Cum
mings, present publisher of the
work, says, “I have been able to
make this edition of Purcell’s
‘King Arthur' more complete than
any previous publication of the
opera.”
The work is dedicated to King
Charles XI. It was first performed
at the Queen’s theater in London.
Downes’ Account
A music critic of the time
named Downes wrote the follow
ing account in his Roscius Angel
icanus of the first performance
of the work: “King Arthur, and
opera, wrote by Mr. Dryden; it
was excellently adorn'd with
scenes and machines', the musical
part set by famous Mr. Henry
Purcell, and dances made by Mr.
Jo Priest. The play and musick
pleas’d the Court and City, and
being well perform’d, ’twas very
gainful to the company.’’
The complete score to “King
Arthur” has never been discov
ered.
well.” Very sincerely yours,
(signed) Jim Abbe.
But to top things off. Abbe says
he had to write another note, ex
plaining away his daughter’s lack
of spelling ability, fie say's,
“When she was four, she could
speak excellently in four lang
uages, but to this day, she can’t
spell worth a darn in one of ’em.”
Strike
Out
for Fun
• 'You’ll have a ipiod time
knocking over the pins on
our modern air-condition
ed allev.
Corner West 11 tli and Willamette
French Desire
Security First
Says Dr. Wright
(Continued from page one)
of these methods had been used,
but each at the wrong time, ex
plaining that the “mailed fist,”
which would have stopped Hitler,
was ineffectual against the Ger
man republic, while the concilia
tion which France did offer Hit
ler would only have been profit
able against the republic.
Although there were 11 for
eign ministers during the “twi
light” of the third republic, and
30 cabinets, which “followed each
other like a litter of guinea pigs,”
according to Dr. Wright, the
whole epoch can be divided into
four major periods of unique poli
cies.
“Good Will”
The first period from 1918 to
1924 was dominated by right
wing nationalists, men of the
Poincare school, which gave way
in ’24 to a period of conciliation
and “good will toward all men,
including Germans.”
With the rise of Hitler in the
early ’30’s, French politicians
played a “confused brand of blind
man’s buff” with the government
affairs, Dr. Wright recalled, un
til 1936, when Hitler re-occupied
the disputed Rhine territory and
cut France off from her eastern
European allies.
Appeasement
“From that date, France found
herself tied to the coattails of
Chamberlain’s England, dragged
without too much protest into the
course of appeasement,” he add
ed.
Drawing a parallel between the
fall of the Napoleonic empire and
that of the third republic, Dr.
Wright declared that neither dis
aster, while each startled the
world with the suddenness of its
collapse, was purely military, re
marking, “Both were prepared by
futile, fumbling, short-sighted
diplomacy.”
“Rather Good”
Statesmen, in his opinion, at
first failed to realize that “they
could safely live next door to one
type of German government,”
and then when that government
had been abolished, considered
Hitler, “rather good for France,
because he made Germany un
popular.”
The Versailles treaty, which
France felt too neutral for her
national security, aroused fric
tion with the British when Poin
care tried to enforce it, determ
ined that France would not have
to pay the cost of the war. Bri
tain, however, was just beginning
to realize that a reasonably pros
perous Germany was essential to
English trade.
Hence when Poincare moved
troops into the disputed terri
tory of the Ruhr valley, morally
isolated France succeeded only
in losing more money than she
received from the land and en
couraged the rise of the German
militarists.
Idea Killed
This killed the old French idea
that the only way to treat the
German was to "knock him down
and kick him until he apolo
gized,” as Dr. Wright phrased it.
From then on, France followed
ENJOY
Delicious meals prepared
especially for you by our
French Chef
EUGENE
HOTEL
Record Hour
Varies Time
(Continued from taoe one)
be the first movement of Haydn's
Concerto in D major for harpis
chord, a soprano and tenor duet,
“Oh! the Transport of Possess
ing” by Arne, a gavotte by Bach,
and a work entitled “Green
sleeves,” arranged by Vaughan
Williams.
Concluding the program will be
a request number, “Return, O
Zephyr” by Monteverde, for those
who care to remain.
Miss Hager Specializes
Miss Hager has made a special
ty of collecting music of the 16th
and 17th centuries. Special refer
ence is made in the program
which she has selected to instru
ments which are the forerunners
of the modern, strings.
Hostesses for this Sunday’s
concert will be Miss Celeste
Campbell from the Mu Phi Epsi
lon group, Miss Wanda Eastwood
from the Mu Phi alumnae, Miss
Nymphia Lam from the active
group, and Miss Ella Carrick
from the library committee.
The concert is being held in the
evening instead of the afternoorr
so that students may attend the
orchestral concert which will be
held in the afternoon at 3 p.m. in
the music auditorium.
the lead of England, reluctant to
venture on any solo enterprise.
Dr. Wright emphasized, "The
memory of the Ruhr goes far to
explain why France did not stop
Hitler while there was yet time.”
Capitulation
From the Ruhr incident, Dr.
Wright traced French history
through the works of French for
eign ministers, from Laval na
tionalists, and Tardieu, to De
Ladier, and the Munich crisis.
He finally described the capitu
lation of the republic to invading
German forces, when through the
insidious tutelage of Laval, the
cabinet agreed in a 10-13 vote to
surrender, and old Marshall Pe
tain, the puppet, assumed con
trol.
Dr. Wright concluded, “The fall
of France cannot be blamed on
faulty diplomacy alone — they
would have had to overcome the
apathy and pacifism of the
French public, as well as the hos
tility and suspicions of Britain
and the United States.”
He added however, "It is a sad
Ray Dicksorr
Enacts Boxer
In New Play
By WILMA FOSTER
Ray Dickson, journalism ma
jor, returns to the Guild Hall
theater in its second production
of the year, "The Whole Town's
Talking,’’ by Anita Loos and
John Emerson.
He plays the role of Donald
Swift, a former Brooklyn welter
weight boxing champion, who s
become a very jealous motion pic
ture director.
Two years ago Dickson organ
ized a campus band known as
"The Collegians.” He writes mu
sic, plays and articles. One of his
pieces, "Nocturne in Blue” was
first played at the recent Senior
Ball.
Dickson nopes to enter radio
advertising when he leaves
school and at present has a job
waiting for him with the Nation
al Broadcasting company in Hol
lywood.
His current part as a boxer
with a Brooklyn accent is his
first in this type of part. He
played in “Idiot’s Delight” tak
ing the role of an Italian. In “The
Taming of the Shrew” he took
the part of a man 92 years old.
Several members of the \t
have just returned from ElkiJTi,
Oregon where they provided en
tertainment for a group meeting
to discuss the development of a
station of the ground observa
tion office of the army air corps.
commentary that the nation of
Richelieu, Fleury, and Talleyrand
could produce no greater states
men than Poincare and Laval.”
1 VALENTINE
DAY
® Express your wishes in the
time-honored way . . . with a
bouquet or corsage of beautiful,
freshly cut flowers.
ARCHAMBEAU
11th and Willamette