P889 2

Collectors' Digest STORY PAPl!Jl. COLLECTOR Founded in 1941 by

W, H. GANDER

Vol, 21 No. 250

VB COIIB CF ,WE

OC'l'OBl!R 1967

COLLECTORS' DIG= Founded in 1946 by

HERBERT LECKEIIBY

Price 48, Od,

This would have been a proud doy for a ldndly, gentle Yorkshireman - Herbert Leckenby, the man who launched Collectors' Digest twenty-one years ago, and who edited it and produced it for so man,y successful years.

>,,, we look back to the beginning and to the man who achieved so much - Herbert Lecksnby, enthusiastic and tireless, who had so veey much more in his shop then he showed in his window - we feel sadnees "that he was taken from us so prematurely.

The ,..sazine which he gave us reaches this month its 250th issue, and its twenty - first birthdO,Y, For those of us who believe in a guid­ing star, in a Hidden Hand, in a etill 81118.ll voi ce - Herbert Leckenby IS proud of Collectors' Digest to-doy,

TilDe, the good healer, hae eased our sense of loes at hie passing, Bat • oexer forot Mm Ye nevr ceoe t-0 bow1r b1• On our 2lat

birt hday we p,,use t o p,,y tribute to him .

TWENTY-ONE YEARS

Pa 3

To the young , 21 yea:rs seems an enormous length of time. To ol der folk , the year 1946 seems as vivid as yes ter day . I t s tands cl early outlined against a background of memorie s . So sharp is the picture t hat it i s almost with a ch ill t ha t we tell ours elves t hat 21 long years have gone by si nce Collecto r s I Digest was born .

Down in the val l ey between 1967 and 1946 there rushes a t orrent -a torr ent of new ideas , new thoughts , new fashions ; a violen t cat arac t of rapid change ; a tumbling river of diso r ganis ed progress ; in some ways , a welte r of sli ppi ng st andards.

It was a very differen t Brita in in which Herbe rt Lecke nby launched Collec tors ' Digest duri ng tha t la t e autumn of 1946, twen ty- one ye ars ago. .

The world war had been over for more than a year . "Land of Hope and Glory " st ill meant someth ing to the people of t he tight little island . King George th e Sixth was on the throne with his grac i ous Queen at his side. Mr. Att lee was Pri me Ministe r. The Brit ish Empire was still in t act . The r ai lways were not yet nationalised . The trams were still running in London, Leeds , Liverpoo l, Glasgo w, Southampton, Edinburgh , and ot her Bri tish towns .

Not yet were t he country roads shudde ri ng under t he passing of a thou sand petrol and diesel engines in as many seconds. Ti cky Tapp ' s gambli ng dens were still illegal , res tr ic te d to t he pages of the Gem, Just a few televisi on se t s had t hei r owner s , bu t the t ime was still dis t ant when TV would becorce the addict i on of th e masses . The cinemas were st il l enjoying a pros perity such as t hey would never know again .

Every large to wn still had i t s mus i c hall , and names like Vera Lynn, Donald Pee r s , Gracie Fields , and Duggie Wakef i eld could be guaranteed to fil 1 them. To make a f or tune in the en t ertainment world it was s till necessary for a singer to be able to sing .

There were many mor e newspapers t han t her e are to- day . The Bunte Books were not yet born . Even th en , Charles Hamil ton was wonderin g what, if anythi ng , the future might hold in store for him , The Amalga mated Press was st i ll in oper atio n in Farri ngdon Stre et .

Not yet had star t ed the terrifying upwar d spi r al of t he cos t of livi ng , The pos t age on a let t er was 1~ . It cost jus t one penny t o pos t you your copy of C.D. A call from a t elephone kiosk was t wopenc e.

Rock 'n Roll, even , was s till f ar dis tant . The Eea t les were bounding wee boys , probably gi vi ng but l ittle indication that they were destined to be millionaires. Pat Pocock , the Surr ey bowler , due

P"8" 4

to play for England in the coming tour of the 11est Indie s , was not yet

in the land of the living . Alan Knott , Er,gland and Kent wicke t­keeper , was a baby .

Supermarkets and X- ce r tificates were s tj 11 waiting complacently

i n the wings . Lovely old Georgi an and Victorian houses still stood solid ly in their t.rim gardens, not fo reseeing that the avalanche of time would sweep them away to make spac e for giant blocks of flats. Not yet were the skyscrapers tmtering up to the heavena .

Your train l eft at 7 . 3() p.m. , not 19.37. The t emperature out ­side was 68F, not 21 C. Swearin g, obscenity , and pornography were not

yet fashionable among sel f- respecting people . In fac t , self - re spect was not yet old - fashioned.

Policemen still walk ed their beats. Dishonesty was not consider ­

ed cle ver . Violence - well , I could go on like this f or a long t ime , but you know it all yourael ves .

Such was Britain when Collectors ' Digest was born .

FROM THEN TILL NO'i In the very early days; Colle cto rs' Digest was published at

in terval s of two months. Otherwi se our 21st Birthday Special woul d be No. 252 ins tead of No. 250 .

The most re:,arka ble point in the histo ry of the cagatine is that ,

in a c:hrul&ing world , the tastes of our readers have changed but little .

In C.D. No. 1 you find Hamiltoniana , Blakiana , and t he Nels on Lee Column. You stil l find them in 1967, t wenty - one years on .

In 1946, Hamiltoniana had the grea test number of enthusiasts . It

still has in 1967. There has been no weakening of the interest . lie

know so much more of the subj e~t than we did 21 years back . 'ii th t he

introduction of such regular features as Let 's Be Controversial i n comparatively recent years , the in t eres t has grown, and we. have become

mor e cr i t ical . Long, long ago , we though t that the supply of topics for discussion must run dry , but it neve r has .

Blakiana still runs proudly , with loyal , dedicated folk at th e helm . llit h great skill t hey link the modern Blake with the s tories of the much- lov ed charac t er of earl ier times .. 'iihen C .. D .. was young,

there was no thought tha t Sexton Blake would find a new caree r .in paperbacks .

The Nelson Lee always formed a substantial part of C .D. It s following is perhaps more substantial to-day than 1 t has ever been .

Joining his m::>re illust rio us se niors in recent ti mes has bee n

Danny with hi s Diar y , and to-day Donny' s Diary is one of our most popular features .

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Our policy in la ter years has been to widen the scope of the Diges t, and some of our fin est artic l es have dealt with subjects some distance away from the parent the mes. Reader s have varyi ng views on the question of what should come within the scope of the Digest , but most peopl e are cont ent to leave it to the editor to decide .

Collectors ' Digest owes a real debt of gratitude to those wonder ­ful people who have contr i buted articl es to the magazine down the years, for any magazine is only as strong as its con ten t s , Many thanks to all our contributo rs .

PERSONAL FEELINGS Natura l l y on the occasion of our 21st birthday , I am very proud

indeed. But , beyond pri de t there is a thankfulness for the unfailing loyalty of readers , many of whom have been bulwa r ks since No. 1 made its appearance . You send me spl endid letters, which I of t en cannot find time to answer though I deeply appreciate every one , and in the course of my work I have made many hundreds of dear friend s. I feel myself vecy lucky .

The man at the helm of C.D. has a full - time job , and as he has , in addition, to earn his own living if he is not to fade away, he gets r eally no spare time at all . But he feels amply rewarded in the wonderful affection of hi s reade r s .

We commenced this Bi rthday chat with a l ook back at a grea t Yorkshireman . It may be appropriate (if not exac tl y modest) t o end with an ext r act fr om a let t er written by another great Yorkshireman -one of the greatest of them all - Gerald Allison .

He has wri tten me as fo ll ows: "If only I was a poet ! What a paean of praise and thanksgiving

I would write t o wel come the appearance of No. 250 of the dear ol d C .D., and to congratulate you on your 21st birthday .

'1But truly words cannot express the f e elings whi ch are i n my

heart at this moment. How many ti mes has the appearance of the old f amiliar buff envel ope wi th Coll ecto r s' Diges t inside seemed to save my li f e . May you have all the joy and happiness you have bro ught in ­to t he lives of your readers returned to you a hundredfold . In t ruth the mantle of Elijah has fallen upon Elisha . If only dear old Her ber t could know about No. 250 of his beloved Digest! 11

Any editor - even though he knows full well tha t t he sen t iments e xpressed are far , f ar gr eater than he deserves - cannot fail to be deeply touched by a le tt er lik~ that . I shall cher is h it always .

COLLECTORS I DIGEST ANNUAL The 21st edition of the Annual is now i n the course of pre pa.ra-

Page 6 tion. Roger Jenkins, who is unrivalled amo~ our writers, has con­tributed one of his finest - a survey of the development of the characte r of Harry Wharton. Our distinguished cont ri butor "Comicus" is represented with a real novelty under the title "Cut It Outl 11

Leonard Packman, who knows the old comic papers from A to Z, has "-Ti tten a beautit\llly comprehensive article on the characte r s we used t o love in our pre-Bunter days . Frank Lay take s on a rather neglected paper, which was very popular in its day - "The Boys' Magazine. 11

And that 's only a s tart , but my space has run out . Are you advertising in the Annual? And have you ordered your copy ye t?

THE EDITOR

FINE ARTICLE ON THE THOMSON PAPERS

Readers who have happy memories of Wizard and the Rover between th e wars should obtain the July issue of WORLD SPORTS (2/6) . This number contains a splendid article under the title "The Wonderfu l World of William Wilson" by Tom McNab. He writes about some of the great sportill8 charac ters of boys' fiction , and the article is delightfu l ly illustrated with pictures from the Thomson Paper s . This article is a must for those who remember Rockfist Rogan and the Cannonball Kid.

Mr. McNab was aided by reference t o papers loaned to him by C.D. reader, Jim Swan of Paddi ngton ..

MAGNETS (Mostly Blue/Gold) Greyfriar s S .O.Ls , Holiday Aruruals(1932 1933 1939) offered for exchange . You can make your 'own terms if you can offer from the follow i ng list of my wants . MAGNETS: f574-m? , 879-888, 925- 931 , 958, 959, 975- 979 . 995 , 1007 , 1012, 1013 , 1035, 1043, 1071 , 1084- 1086, 1110, 1133, 1134, 1255-1 261, 1264 , 1265, 1269( 1Z71, 1Z73- 1Z75, 1289- 1307 . RIO KID' S GOLD MINE1 B,F . L. 569 (or Z75J . ST. J I M' S SOLs. 196, 214, 218 , 258, 260 . KING OF THE ISLAND B.F .Ls . 602 (or 365) , 442, 489, 589 . ROVERS. 718, 719 , 726 , 7Z7, 732 , 740 , 742 , 742 , 758, 763, 764, 765 .

~. 101 PARK SQUARE, KING' S HEATH, NORTHAMPTON,

FOR SALE: Fi r st 7 volumes of "Eagle " (approx. 52 nos . in each volume ) . ~st 7 "Eagle" Annuals. 1:5- 15• the lot . Must be colle c ted.

DON llEBSTER, 143 GLOUCESTER COURT, KEW GARDENS, SURREY.

l

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DANNY'S DIARY OCTOBER 1917

The Gem i s still marking time , In fact , I think it t akes one step forward for every two steps backward , like when my brother Doug goes out marching with t he Cadet Corpse which he joined lately .

I Imist say that the first two tales in the Gem have not been so bad - they had their moments, like Mae Murray - but there were bits in each s tory which made me f eel kind of uncomfort able . The firs t one was 11Clampe' s Cousin , " and this was about such horrid snobbery that it didn ' t really ring true. Also , i t s eemed waste of time and space t o devote a whole tale to a minor cad of the New House.

Clampe' s cousin was an offi ce r in the Navy. Redfern' s brother was a seaman in t he Navy. Clam.pe' s cous in , walking in the woods , heard ::!la.mpe ma.king snobbish remarks about Red.fern ' s brother only being a seaman. So, when Clampe' s cousin turned up at St. Jim ' s , he arrived as a rather boozy seaman, and i t taught Clampe a lesson.

Next tale was "Mr. Selby ' s Dilemma,' ' and tho ugh it wasn•t bad it really somehow wasn ' t a very pleasant t ale. Mro Selby has been a great one for making recruiting speeches , a bit after t he sty le of Mr , Horatio Bottomley . Both say they ar e so sad t hat they can ' t go as priva t es in the army, which is safe enough when yo\l.'r e over age . Mr. Selby caused annoyance to Monty Lowther, and Monty arranged for the ex­acter , Horatio Curll , now a relief pianist a t the Courtfield Cinema, to turn up at St , Jim's to pretend he was a recruiting officer raking Mr. Selby into the army . The tale was funny in parts , but it didn ' t seem quite nice for the boys to make Mr. Sel by look such a fool .

Apart f r om their themes , those two t ales were nicely written , but the final two t ales came amol'l8 th e unspeakables. 1'The St . Jim ' s Parliament" was Gussy's idea . It looks as t hough it will be a series , and it proi:rises to be a dry one. The boys plan to hold th eir parlia ­mentary sessions i n a barn owned by a local man named Mr. Erasnrus Zachariah Pepper ,

Last tale of t he month, "Grundy the Patriot," continued about the St. Jim's Parliaoent . Mr. Pepper has t he r eputation of beiJ18 a miser, and Grundy thinks t his i s unpatriotic i n war time. He seeks to punish Mr. Pepper . Marie Rivers fli tt ed on the sce ne in this t al e, but i t was a dull affair.

Mr. Macdonal d , the old Gem artist , ca.me on leave f rom the Navy t his mont h

1 and he illust r ated the story uMr. Selby ' s Dil emma" just

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for the one week . It was nice to see h im back for th e li tt le visi t to the Gem.

Wi th t he days get t ing sh orte r and shor ter , the air rai ds hav e been ho t tin g up , and i t has been an exciting month . We thought we had see n t he en d of the zeppel i n raids , but 12 came over one dark night , bu t our own planes go up t o f igh t them now, and I reckon we won' t see much more of t he zepps . On this occas i on, four were br ought down, and one of them was al most in t ac t , so our own air peopl e can l ook it over .

Fr om the Huns ' poin t of view, t he aeroplanes are more effective for t he raids . One moonli t night , four groups of pla nes dropped bombs on the sou th-west of London. Ten peopl e were killed and about forty injured .

On my birthda y, Dad too k us all to Daly ' s Theatre in London, and we sa w the 3()0th perf ormance of "The Maid of t he Mountains . 0 I t is a lovely show, and i t featured a gi r l named Yvonne Arnaud who was very good indeed .

My Gran bought me a scoo t er which is ve ry good fun. Unfortunate­ly , the wheels are wood, and they are not wearing evenly , so I bop up and down as I go along . Mum i s a bit doobi ous about t he scoote r, as it causes me to wear out my ri ght shoe very quickly . Doug bough t me some books , and one of them was a Sex ton Blake Library entitled 11The Mysterious Mr. Reece . " Often I find that the Blake stories are a bit heavy for me, bu t t his one was r eal ly good . I hope to get so me more tales about Hr . Reece who is the hea d of a criminals ' conf eder ation .

The Magnet has con tin ued with the Judge Je ff ries series , and what a real whanger it is , In "The Barring Out a t Greyfriars , " Mr. Jeffreys , and his henchman , the horr i ble Mr. Schwar tz , driv e the Remove into rebellion , an d it was a t erri fic tale.

Then follo wed "Vi c tory," in which Jeff r eys was at last given the orde r of the boo t . A grand se r ies, and all too shor t .

The next story, ,.Rivals of th e Chase, 11 was a bit of an Aunty Climacks . Quite a chunk of drivel. Jack Archer t Mr. Pro ut ' s nep hew, had inven t ed so mething useful in the war. He ha s left the plans a t his lodgings, and Mr. Prou t sends so me of the Greyfriars boys to collect the plans,

The l as t t ale "Ponsonby ' s Pal" was f airis h, though I don 1 t care a lot fo r t al es about W1nga t e ' s minor. Jack Wingate has been gambling with Ponsonby, and stea l s some of Gwynne' s spor t s f und in or der to pay hi s debt . The Bounder truces a hand , and the f ag is able t o replace the money bef or e i t is missed .

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In North London two trams collided, a nd 24 people were injW'ed . One of our cinemas , the Popular, has been c losed down for a few

months . It has now been re-opened under the name, Palais De Luxe . I t really sounds much better than it is. They have star te d a new serial entitled "Patria, 11 and it fe atu re s Mrs. vernon Castle . Also, for the opening , they had a very good Hepwort h film entitled 0 Merely Mrs . Stubbs," which starred Henry &lwards and Alma Taylor .

'ie have also seen Theda Bara in "Darling of Par is. " Theda Bara is quite a corker. Gladys Cooper and Owen Nares were in "The Sorrows of Satan." It is said tha t Gladys Cooper is the most beautiful woman in the world.

We saw Jack Pickford and Louise Huff in "Freckles , " and I loved t his one . Jack Pickford and Louise Huff have made seve r al pictures t ogether, and I read in the paper that they are getting married in real life . Jack 1s Mary Pickford ' s brother .

One Saturday, Doug and I went to see a football match at Charlton . Aft e r the game we went on a tram to New Cross , where Doug had taken tickets for the first house at New Cross Empire . We saw a most wonder­ful magician named Chung Ling Soo. In his act 1 so:nebody shoots a gun at him, and he catches the bullet between his teeth . A wonderful trick. Also in the programme wer e Nellie Wallace , C. H. Chirgwin , and Daisy James. A r attling fine show, and the New Cross Empire is a lovely red- plush place . It is one of the Moss Empires .

Sir Douglas Haig has won a big victory at Passchendaele . His nephew, Ned Haig , is at school with me, I told Ned that I would swap my brother Doug for his wicle, but Ned wasn't having any .

As usual, the Boys' Friend has been a winner all th e way . First Rookwood tale of the month was "The Rookwood Refugee," and this was the sequel to the story about the convict (Gunner , an old Rookwood boy) in last month' s B.F . Gunner is hiding in a sec r e t place he knew near his old school , but he is t rapped a t last .

The Cedar Creek t ale 11Gunten ' s Sweepstake 11 was grea t . Gwiten , who arranged t he sweep, fixed it so t hat he himself drew the favourite , but he got advance news t hat the favourite hadn 't won.

Next month , 11The Winning Goal" was the Rookwood tale I and it was good fun . To please his uncle , Dodd played Cuffy in the Modern Side ' s team.. The Canadian story was "Trouble for Three t " i n which Frank Richards & Co came ac ro ss a sour apple f armer (I mean the famer was sour , not the apples) named Grimm. However, the boys r escued Gr imm's daught er from death, and so , when Grimm arrived at Cedar Creek , it was not to make a complaint to Miss Meadows. This story was very much like an old Gem tale I remember cal l ed "The Scamps of the School."

Page~- --- -- --- ---- -Then came two fine Mornington stories . Lattrey has al ways been

sore that Mornin gton turned over a new leaf . In "A Thief in the Night , 11 ' Erbert , who now has Morey ' s wealth , has money stolen from him during the ni B11t. It looks as though Morny is the thief . The Cedar Creek tale thi s month was "A Cockney in Canada " and told of th e arrival of a new boy , Harold Hopkins. Hopkins, from London Town, had his leg pulled a lot by the Canadian boys . This t ale reminded me of another old Gem tale , in which Harold Hammond, a cockney , went to St. Jim ' s .

In the final Rookwood s t ory, "Morning ton ' s Triumph , 11 Morny man­aged to prove t hat it was not he who had sto len from 1 Erbert . The guilty one was Lattrey . This t ime the Cedar Creek tale was "For His Father's Sake ," and i t was grand. Beauclerc ' s fath er , drinker and gambler , was desperately in need of money. And his s on managed to win it by t aking terrific p.mishment i.n a prize fight.

HUTTON MITCHELL - Original Magnet Artist

(From THE TIMFS- Sept . 16th 1967)

MONTREAL, Sept . 14 - Three Briti sh broth er s , who were t he original models for illustratio ns of characters such as Billy Bunter in popular boys ' books early in t he century , have been reunited afte r 46 years .

Alan and Bruce Mitchell are now promine nt figures in the Mont real art world . The third br othe r, Alexander , lives in Brisbane , Australia . They have all changed over th e years , but Alexande r had no trouble recognizing his brothers when he ar r ived at Montr ea l central station recently .

The two Montreal-based brothers said today they had been convinced they would never see Alexander again , until he won a smal l fortune on a s weepstake ticke t which enabled him to go to Canada .

The three were brought up in Sussex, where they played galf with Arthur Conan Doyle, Creator of Sher lock Holmes and a neighbour of their s. Their fathe r, the novelist and artist Hutton Mitchell , illus ­t rated Billy Bunter and ot her popular boys ' stories of t he period , using his sons as models . The t hree recall stuffing pillows into their trousers to portrey t he pudgy Bunter . - Reut er .

MUST DI SPOSE OF GALAXY MAGAZINES I to 88 , ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FEB. 1952 to OCT. 19€0 . EXCELLENT CONDITION. AN'l OFFERS.

W. H. GOODF!EAD1 50 PORTER ROAD, DERBY. --------

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NELSON LEE COLUMN CONDUCTED BY JACK WOOD

~ ~ -'1'2 ~ £0~ C!(IBS_D!G~ ~QM_N!P~E!! QF_T!!E_S!·_~ _:s_~ Q~ Dear fri ends,

I have been as ked to s ay a few wor ds on this occa s ion which marks the 21st Bir thday Number of Colle c tor s' Digest, It gives me grea t pleasure to know St . Frank.1 sis still r emembered today and even if we are no l oJ18er avai l able to the chroni clers we are very happy to .live on our happy memories . memor ies that will Jive forever in the minds of some of you.

Strangely enough, St. Fra.nk!s is no di fferent today from when i t was decided to record the last events here . although much has pass ed into history since t hat time . I well re call tho se old days when from my notebo ok the history of the old school was publ i sh e d; life seemed to be very much happier then than it is today . The Guv'nor has often spoken of t he good old days when we used to make a dash t o Gra y' s Tnn Road and leave St . F1·ank1 s to its fate . But even so , there was always the glorious home- coming, for St. Frank 1 s will al ways be our re ai. home.

In spite of the artifi cial censorship which has des cended upon t he old school ' s present-day life I can assure you th at were I able to pub­lish all that has gone int o perpetuity the even t s of long ago would read simple by comparison .

I have al ways co nside red the time when dear old Dr. Stafford was drugged to change hi m into a bestial beast as one of the out s tanding happe ningS a t St , Frank' s, but both durin g the Second World War and its afterma th the old sc hool went throu gh many periods of sensational ac t ivity . These ec li psed 0ven the most macabre moments I ever re corded and I have set t hem down in the hope th at one day they will see the light of prominence j ust as the earlier St . Frank ' s histo ry was made public .

Meanwhile though the scene may change t he charac t er s are a ll st ill here . All very much the same. Handforth still reigns i n Study D to rule over the destinies of Church and McClure . Sir Monti e Tregellis ­West and Tommy Wa tson cont in ue to look after me in Study C. Forr est , Gore- Pearce, Gulliver and Bell t o say nothiI18 of al l the othe r cads you know so well are st ill smoking and backing hor ses.

The Duke of Somer ton looks as untidy as ever while dear old Arch~ Glenthorn e still relies on Phipps f or guidance and the early morning

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tea . Teddy Lona: is sneaking and lis tenin g at keyholes as ever while Guy Sinclair and Kenmore of t he Upper School are no bette r than they should be .

Cecil DeValerie hasn • t changed one bit - I don I t suppose he ever will for Dr. Karnak seemed to al ter his whole being when he succumbed to t he Egyptolo gis t I s spell. Yet Val was always a dark horse when he fir st came to St . Frank. 1 s. ·

Buster Boots , Timothy Armstrong, Bob Christine & Co., are as large as ever and Reggie Pitt is as re ady as always to stand in as captain of the Remove should I be called away with Nelson Lee on a case .

But LordDorri more - dear ol d Dorrie - and Umlosi are away some­where in the ~rican jW1gle looking for trouble .

Yes , li f e at St . Frank ' s is very much the same as it was i n th e old days for whateve r comes along t o disturb us we eventually put things right.

We've had some narrow esc apes , though , in the past . There have been times when the fate of St . Frank ' s hung in the balance as you lmow, but we overcame them. Times like the Gennan- American millionaire Will iam K. Smith's attempt to completely turn the St . Frank ' s area into one vas t indus tria l factory . Times when rebellion threatened to lose a cause and times when a return to school from abroad seemed utterly r emote . Yet we came through them all victorious l y . Just as we did in ot her tight corners unlmown to you.

Finally Mr. Nelson Lee , my beloved guv ' nor, sends you his best wishes , His hope that Collectors • Digest will carry on many more years is echoed by us all here at St . Frank ' s .

Do try and visi t us sometime . Old Josh Cuttle has st ri ct instructions to open the lodge gates to you at an:J old time and to escor t you safely to Study C in the Ancient House.

* *

Yours to a cinder ,

Nipper.

"A BRAND FROM THE BURNING"

By GERRY ALLISON

I enjoyed immensely Bob Acraman • s excellent article CONFESSIONS OF A CONVERT and congratula te him on ge tti ng such i mmense pleasure from reading the NELSON LEE LIBRARY. I r eally envy him, and such ferve nt admirers of E. S . Brooks as William Li ster whose truly wonderful essay A TALE OF TWO YULE:rIDES in l ast December ' s Digest was read aloud a t

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the Northern Club • s Christmas par ty , A!3 I wrote in the March 1 C.D. ' I have never been able to read the

NELSON LEE, despite many attempts to do so . As reade r s of this msga­zine will know, my interes t s are wide and va".ried - I am by no means an ' idolatrous Hamil t onian. • On the contrary I can read and enjoy almost any old boys 1 - or girls ' - paper .

Wycliffe and Hay gar th are as enjoyable to me as Greyfriars and St, Jim • s - almost as good as Rookwood. David Goodwin' s stories in t he B.F.L. - I have 60 of th em - are read and re-rea d. Sex t on Blake is as popular as Nero 'tiolfe or Philip Marlowe with me. The stories of Tim Pippin by Roland Quiz I find delightful , as also the serials in the comics - THE GREAT ADVENTURE, THE SCHOOL BELL, THE GIRL FROM GAOL, etc, The fant astic stories in FUN & FICTION and FIREFLY, and the sentimental stuff i n CHEmIO and the RED MAGAZINE are favourites of mine . And, believe it or not , I can even read Jack, Sam and Pet e - in small doses.

Why therefore - l i ke the late Tom Hopperton , and others I could name, - do I find St . Frank's quite impossible? Bob Acraman says he obtains equal pleasure from Hamilton and Brooks - or Frank and Edwy -and I must believe him, amazing as I find hia statement.

I remember once thinking 'dammit , I will read a Nelson Lee , ' and settl ed down grimly with ''All His Own Fau~No . 103 1st New Series, N.L. Lib . I t was an unfortw'lB.te choice , and 'grim ' was the very word . I t is a s t ory abou t Handforth the grea te st 1 charac t er 1 at St . Fr ank ' s . I found his behaviour so gross , so fan t astic , so complete ly unbelieve ­able that I was soon groaning in sheer misery . Let me quote a fe w l i nes from the very first page - Hand.forth has overslept and his chums , Church and McCl ure are awakening him wit h a wet sponge - note his reaction .

Handforth splu t tered and gurgled , ••. , "What do you think you ' re doing? he shou t ed at las t. 11By George! You- you silly i di ots! I 'm drenched :" 11Ha, ha , ha! 0

l!andforth dragged the bedclothes over him, and lay down again , His face was angry - loold.ng , and his eyes were blazing .

"I'l l smash the pai r of you for t his when I get up!" he said hotly. 110f all the mean, conte mptible t r icks! Splashing water on a chap when he's aslee p !"

Church and McClure los t their grins . "Well , there ' s no need t o get shirty about i t , Handy/ ' protested

Church. 111 '11 get as shirty as I like ! 11 roared Hand.f orth. 0 1 was fas t

aslee p, and I' m jolly well going t o make you suff er for playing a

Page 14

filthy t rick like that ~ 11

"Hang it , don' t exaggerate! " said McClure. "I t was 11\Y idea in the first plac e , so you needntt blame Churchy. We only s plashed a little water in to your mouth. "

"And you 're a fi ne chap to talk , anyhow~" put in Church . 11How rr.any times have you ti pped the cold water jug over us, Handy?"

"I'm differe nt! " said Handfort h curtly .

That is only the beginning - it gets unspeakably worse . So once again I had to admit defeat , and put the book down, unfinished. As Bob Acraman said , our spare t ime is lim.i ted . I certainly could not was te mine reading stuff so stupidly impossible as to make its perusal sheer misery.

\lell , at the last Northern club meet i ng, we celeb rated the 50th Anniver sary of St, Frank ' s, and had a truly fine talk by Jack Wood -whose knowledge of E. S. Brooks I work is only exceeded by his own good temper . ( Why are many Leei tes so irascible?)

And then came the August DIGEST, with Bob Acraman's ' Confessions,' and so, yet once again I decided I would read a copy of NELSON LEE. This time I selected a single s t ory of a humorous nature, "THE ST. FRANK'S APRI L FOOIS" 1st New Series No. 152. And not only did I read it from start to finish, but , I will admit that I got quite a l>it of pl easure from i t !

In fac t I quite enjoyed it . The pl ot is a startling one - as many of Brooks 1s are . The principal characte rs have been away f rom England for 3 months on a world tour the School Ship Series. When they return , they find that St. Frank ' s has been turned into a girl's school , and that their own school has been removed in to what was the workhouse!

The plo t is skilfully worked - by the f$irls of Moor View School, and even the infallible Nipper is fooled. lln my earlier attempts at t he Nelson Lee, Nipper 's lmow-all attitude has irritated me as much as it has done Bob Blythe . )

There i s a light - hearted air about the s t ory which particularly appeal ed to me. And I liked such touches as 'as they ca.me along the st reet in Bel l ton, the trave lle rs were greeted with a cheery nod here and there from the village folk .'

Of course . there were certain things which I coul d criticize , but I will not spoil the effect by mentioning the se . Like the Caterpi llar at Highcliffe, I fe el grateful to Ja ck \lood and Bob Acraman for pluck ­ing me lik e a brand from the burnin 1

•

Page 15

.!:QLEMIC: MARCHING FORWARD - OR LOOKING BACKWARD? By Chri sto pher A. J . Lowder

I don' t know what the first issue of "Collectors Digest " looked like , because I wasn 't around at the time. Well , no - that 's not s t rictly t rue. I was, out only jus t . Anyway, for all that I was born five years after t he demise of the Magnet. I was s till reared on the "right stuff , " so to s peak. Or, at least , what I think was the "right stuff ." And thereby hangs this article .

The Lion was my Magnet and the Eagle my Gem. The orde r , to me, is significant . I prefe r Greyfriars to St. Jim 's , and the sto ries (picture - st rip and wri tt en) in the Lion were more meaty than those in the Eagle .

For i nstance , Sandy Dean's Tollgate - brimming over with mysterious mast ers , hooded monks who glided through the corr idors at the witching-hour of midnight , raiders from rival schools . barrings ­out , and secret passageways that made the ancient , ivy - heaped bui l d­ings seem like huge cheeses - was a clos er approximation to my ideas of what a Public School was !!Qi, than the Alma Mater of 'the Three Jays , Therefore Sandy Dean, and the Lion, came well ahead on poin t s . (I later went to a Publ ic School and was agreeably surprised to find that , for once , I had been right,)

Captain Condor , too, was my man. Whereas Dan Dare , of t he Eagl e , was very Establishmen t , Condor s t arted off by being branded as an outlaw by the Dictato r of Earth (a gentleman of indefin it e age who went about in what looked like a vicuna smoking-jacke t , wore Gle rm Mille r- type glasse s , and had a general lunatic air about him) , Condor raced off to the planet Zor in a ba t tered old freighter , managed to capture one of the Dict ator 's top space battleships , and, on returni ng to Earth , ended the Di c t ato r ' s Gestapo- like .reign by luring the latter ' s secret weapon - a monstrous robot - onto the positive and negative blocks of the Atom Smasher (or was it Atom Cracker?) , thereby sending the Di ctat or to where he belonged i n no uncer tain terms and a superb explosion that wrecked half of London. Captain Condor , and of course t he Lion, won by a K.O.

Not that I scorned the Eagle . Far fro m it, in fact. In con­junction with the radio serials , for ins tance, P.C. 49 and Jeff Arnold were stories into which one could get one' s teeth , and at leas t the reli gious stuff on the back page wasn ' t rammed down one 's throat but , by its very presentation , was made into exciting readiJ18. Too, if one had an inclina. tion towards the more se r ious side of life 1 · t here was always Macdonald Hast ings (Eagle Special Investigator) , Geor ge

Page 16

Cansdale , the eminent zoologist, and th a t awfUl chap (whose name

esc apes me now) who was forev er tryil18 to get "us la ds " to make

palatial r abbit hutches out of a c ouple of bits of old wood. And then there was the Sun and the Comet, two tabloid - type journals

(as opposed to th e semi- br oadsheet size of the Eagle) which wi 11 sure­

ly go down in boys papers' hi st ory as the greatest of the 1950s .

Packed full of good things, these two were - Dick Turpin, Claude Duval,

!'.ax Bravo ( t he HapPl' Hussar) , Bi lly the Kid ( the Masked Avenge r , not

that re al - life lo ut ) , Robin Rood, and th e ubiquitous Battle Britto n

( surely the greate st Engli sh comic hero to emerge from the pos t - war

years). Even Greyfriars and St. J i m' s were thrown in - the former

being br illian tly drawn in picture strip form by t he grea t C, H.

Chall"B.ll, 'ohich brings me to the artists - largely anonymous - of my er a.

Their various styles were/ar e as identifiable, to me, as tho.se of Val ,

Arthur Clarke , Leonard Shield s , et al. , were / are to an older genera­

tion. One of my particular favouri te s - I , unfortunately, do not have

my note-books with ce as I wri t e, so names in this article will be few

and far - between , mem.ory beiJ\6 , so t o speak , the order of the day - was

the chap (I ' 11 call him Anon) who illustrated most of the Dic k Turp in

yarns in the Thrill er Comic Library , the Sun, and elsewhere . His

Knights of the Road were truly dashing - and distinguishable one from

another, which was a welcome change fr om those s trips where you could

never tell Turpin from Tom King , and th e only differenc e bet ween Flic k

and Pat was t hat Pat , being Irish (or Oirish - I th i nk th ey 'r e a

se par ate race) had sligh tly dar ker hai r. Anon ' s draughtsmanship in general was sp lendidly Gothic. His

illustrations for Thriller Comic Library (here i nafter initialle d as

T.C. L.) No. 37, Harrison Ains wor th' s class i c "Windsor Cast l e , " were

all t hat one cou ld ask for in a tale of it s type , Heme th e Hunter

being particUlarly Satanic. Anon•s scions of noble blood were alwa,ys

noble , his evil Barons unfailing ly evil. For the la tter, take a loo k

if you can at T.C.L, No. 214, a Robin Hood tale which concern ed a boy

(lost heir , naturally) who had been brought up amongst wol ve s . This

particular sto ry, incid ental ly , contained nearly every element tha t

goes to make up the best type of Gothic thriller - lost heir , wicked

Baron, courageous hero (Robin Hood). venerable, old woodsman and wife ,

brutal and licentious so ldiery and an awe-inspir ing cast le . The only

thing missing was a flash of lightning here and there, but I suppose

the wolves made up in sotte part for that notable otl.ission. Most of t he artists of my da,y had presumably graduated f rom the

Page 17

pre - war A.P. s t able , since a t tention to detail appeared to be of paramount importance - unlike the slap-dash methods (one hesita t es t o use the word "ar t is t ry " in this cont ext) of t oday 1 s lot . A.N. Othe r ( I do really apol ogis e) was a cas e in point. He was the one who had D' A-·taganan and the Three Musketee r s under his wing, and a splendid job he made of them . No interchanging of Athos and Aramis here , and who could ever mistake the lus t y Por thos f or anyone else'? A.N. Ot her was exceptiona lly good a t dra wing huge , tu r reted old castles t hat s tu ck out of the plains of Fr ance Jike pointing finge r s of doom. These usua l ly collapsed abou t the ears of t heir inhabitan t s a t s ome appropriate poin t in t he story .

Cer tainly the artists who il l ustrated the papers of my er a wer e craf t smen, one and all. They kne w how to dr aw. U.N. Know , who "did fo r " Captain Dack, Ernest Dudley ( the Armchair De te ctiv e ) , and a variety of charac t ers in the old Super Det ective Library (S .D.L. -where in one could f i nd illustrated versions of s uch crime classics as Edgar Wal lace ' s "Door With Seven Locks , 11 Sapper' s Bulldog Drummond -rather a Fascist , but an amiable one cert ainly - yarns , Les lie Charteris ' s "The High Fence , " etc . , et c ., ) was another of my favourites. He wa.s at his best when the fenland mists were stealing over the count ry mansio n and three (a t least) house guests had already bee n slaugh t er ed.

The great , the magnifice nt Eric Pa rker, too , was very well represented in the lis t s . He was i ni mit able - still is. Familiar i ty with his s tyl e rill neve r breed conte mpt in me. Not a great ar t ist , as such , but he had that inde f inable magic t ha t is so rare even amongst craf t smen.

Mind, credi t where cr edi t is due . The ar t ists of today , and he r e I am thinking more of certain of our American cousins , are not duds . But - and here is the crux of t he whole mat t er - the r e is no discipline in thei r work.. The l i nes are crud e , the features unformed . Art ists are in distinguishable from each other . Col our (should I say 11colo r 11?) , wher e it is used - though t his is more to do with t he product i on side of things than any f ault of the artis t s concerned - is washy , some­tiir.es even amateurish. The contents - i.e . the story - line (s t ory-l ine? - is usually worse. Quite f r ankly , t he cajori t y of these II thri l ling" comics of today are abou t as thri l l i ng as a wet Sunday afternoon.

It i s my bel ief, afte r perusing the con ten ts of as many and as wide a range of juvenile paper s that I coul d lay my hands on r ecently , t hat a large par t of th e ear l y - and middle -t eenage world has a reality grasp of approx i mating to - or perh a ps even lower than - t hat of the t l'u'ee or four year ol d section of the populace . NOw, in my day •• •

Pago 16

Of course - here ' s the point I wish to make. I have no doubt that , i n 30 years time, there will be people who will recall the adven ­

tures of Superman, Batman, the Spider and the rest wit h affection and

nostalgia , Just as I recall the Lion, T.C.L., Sun, Comet, etc. Just

as m.v older readers re call the llagnet, Gem, Union Jack , Nelson Lee Library , etc ., etc. Just as ... And so on, ad infinitum .

Say what you like , the - dare I put it this way? - sent imental thread which connec ts golden youth to russet middle-age never fully breaks ( though it may get a mite frayed here and there), and the youngsters of today - though attitudes, codes of behaviour, morals ,

manners, rule s of the game cay change through the years - are , deep down, the same as I once was, and the same as you once were.

That is why , in this the 21st year of Collectors Digest'• exist ­

ence , I think it i s very important for readers , contributors, ard. collectors to take a serious look at the aims and ideals of our

magazine . Its existence is entirely due to three men and one fictional

charact er - Charles Hamilton , John Staniforth (Maxwell Scott) , Edwy

Searles Brooks and Sexton Blake. Its foundation is due to the late Herbert Leckenby and a hard core of enthusiasts who formed themselv es

into a society after the Second World liar to preserve the memory of th e , so to speak, "what- used- to-be . " After them - the deluge .

But the sands of time run fast . Can there be t en men still alive

who recall rea di ng "The Missing Millionai r e" way back in the mists of

the early 1690s? Elven those who remember purchas ing t he very first issue of the Magnet with aey sort of clarity DftlSt be rel atively few and far between .

It seems to me t hat the C.D. should reflect youth through its read i ng matter . Not just the youth of 40 or 50 years ago , but youth -

period . If the scope of our magazine is limi t ed to the era 1900 -

1940 the object of the exercise is defeated . Naturally . Of course , it all depends on whether reader s care for this

particular exercise . !tall depends on whether readers agree with u,y

views on the obj ect of the Diges t . Therein lies the heart of the mat te r .

I t would be int ere sting to hear what other people have to say abou t this. Should the C. D. widen its scope to include a generation

who knew not - at least , at first hand - the Gem, llagnet , S. B.L. , and

other papers of 40 years ago? Should it reflect the ju venile tastes of the 1940s and 1950s , with Sexton Blake , Greyfriars , St, Jim's and St . Frank•s as the come r- stones?

Personal ly r I could go on for eve r . I haven' t even really begun

Page 19

to extract the memories from IQl' br ain. Memories of the old Knockout ; the short-lived Rocket (edited , or so it was said , by Do1J8las Bader) ; the Wizard and the Adventure ; of how Wilson , damn near si ngle - handed , shattered the Aussies in the great Test series of - 1953 , was it? ; of the best , and funniest , Grammar School serial of them all , "Don's Diary" ( which can s till make me chuckle); and of that tireless Scot ­land Yard sleu th from t he Radio Fun , who fi r s t put me, by various devious avenue s , on t o Edgar Wallac e, t he detective ta le in general , Sexton Blake i n particula r, and, logically really , Collectors Diges t. Funny how thing., pan out .

Whatever happens , it is to be hoped that tha t latter journal will continue to prosper for anothe r 21 years - and mor e. The s tore of juvenile memories f rom every gene ration is really , when you come to think of i t, infinite. And always varied .

So let it be that from every generation we may take our deli ght,

(EDITORIAL COMMENT: The scope of Collectors' Digest is NOT limited to the period 1900 - 1940. We have published ple nty of ar ticles dealing wi th mid-Vict orian publicat i ons and also with post - 1940 material . Articles dealing with ANY period of Old Boys ' Book lo re are always welcome at the editorial office .)

DOUBLE NUMBERS

By Don Webster

There 1s magic in those two words - Double Number! What memories t hey r ecall . Many older r eade r s will remember with nostalgia those issues of their favourite periodicals with the co loure d covers and ex tr a pages . Oh, t he feel of a Double No. You couldn ' t believe your good luck , When afte r the exciting announcement the previous week, it was actually in your hands . How thick it felt . Sometimes we eve n had 64 pages !

We had Spring Double Nos, , Summer Double Nos. , and Christmas Doubl e Nos. The latter were a great favourite. I can see thei r covers now, with snow dripping f rom the fron t page title , and the seasonab l e illustrations inside .

We all have our favourite Double Number, but I venture t o think that some of the following would be accepted as amongst the most popul ar choices : -

MAGNET No. 253 "Drummed out of Greyfriars " (Xmas Double No,) - -- -~- ~

11The Return of The Prodigal) " " ·- -" - ----

'.'._age 20

MAGNRI' No. 392 409 461

GEM No. 250 302 375 393

"Schoolboys Never Shall be Slaves " "Harry Wharton Co' s Pantomime. " 11The House on The Heath . 11

Nobody' s Study Mystery of the Painted Room Winning His Spur s . The Housemas ter' s Homecoming

(Summer Double No. ) (Xmas " ) ( .. ) (Xmas Double No. ) ( II !I II) (Spring " " ) (Summer " " )

The Gem seemed to be in the ascendancy prio r to the First Worl d War as re gar ds Double Numbers, and it is a sad fact that these e nlarged issues were never published afte r 1917. What fine Magnet Double Nos. we could have had.

Of course the 11Union Jack , 11 Sexton Blake Library and Nelson Lee , etc . al l had their Double Numbers , but I am not qualified to write on these magazines .

The "Boys Friend" with i t s beautiful coloured cover and presenta ­tion Art Plates was outstanding for its Double Numbers, but copies of these seem unobtainable these days. Those of us who are lucky enough to remember can vi sua lise the comic papers with ext r a pages , and at Christmastime the covers ·11ere adorned with drawings of snowflakes , holly , and plum puddings .

Oh, halcyon days of the Double No. - when times were peaceful and the world wasn' t in such a hurry - these are gone , alas , never t o return.

Our own C.D. has produced its Double Nos. too - but I daresay somebody else will have dealt wi th them e lse where in this issue.

We a re indeed privileged that we have an Edi tor with such a youthful outlook , for he knows that secretly we' ve been counting the days until this special Double No. arrived . I wonder when the nex t one will be - ?

EXCHANGE: 3 Playtice Comics ( 1920) ; 7 Young Britains ; 1 Startler No. 6; 1 Rover (19 27) 1 Rover (1938) ; 2 \lizards (1938) 2 \lizards (1939) . WANTED: Dixon Hawke Libs .

McMAHON, 54 HOZIER CRES. , TANNOCHSIDE, UDDINGSTON.

SALE: 21 Magnet s , 1482, 14813, 1503 , 1506, 1531, · 1535 , 1555, 1576, 1597, 1580, 1603, 1605, 1608, 1630, 1652, 1668 , 1673 , 1670, 1674,

1675, 1677. C.3. 10. O. pos t ed . 0 , II. IIADHAM, 12 MILITARY ROAD, LOWER HUTT, NEW ZEALAND,

Page 21

B LAKIANA Conduc t ed by JOSEPHINE PACKMAN

271 Archdale Road, Eas t Dulwich 1 London, S .E. 22

For some conside rable t ime I have had great difficulty in keepill8 BLAKIANA goi~ . Thanks to several staunch supporters I am abl e to use my full quota of pages this month . This is all the more pleasill8 as it is in keepill8 with the 250th (special) number of t he Collectors • Digest .

Maybe the present radio series featuring Sexton Blake - and the t/v series to appear later on - will induce some of you to write some­t hi~ for this section of the magazine! ( I have been conductill8 BLAKIANA now for over fourteen years!!)

To ALL my supporters - past , present and future - I say THANK YOU VERY MUCH. Josie Packman.

DEATH OF TWO MORE BLAKE PERSONALITI ES

Dur~ a recent visit to Fleetway House I learned of the death of Len Pratt, editor of the Sexton Blake Library from about 192 1 until the mid- 1 fifties when W. Howard Baker took over .

Living in re t irement at Westc l iff - on-Sea , Esse:ic::, Len Pratt was seventy - six.

Whilst havill8 lunc h with Lesl i e Charter is , th e world - famous SAINT creator , and talking about authors in gene ral , Mr. Charteris mentioned that Hugh Clevely had died , Cl ever wri t er of the "Gangsmasher" s tories , Hugh Clevely wrote several excellent Blake yarns in the 'fi f ties .

Once more a fine writer has gone from us and left a gap in the rank s of thriller wri t e r s tha t will not be easily filled ,

II, O. G. Lofts

* * * * * HOii DOROTHY SAYERS INTRODUCED SEXTON BLAKE Bv Ross Sto ry

I bought a copy of DETECTION, MYSTERY AND HORROR on a secondhand bookstall for the magnificent sum of 6d , edited by Dorothy Sayers, and in her introduction, where she touches on all the aspects of de tection - Sherlock Holmes, Poe, Dupin , etc. , she writ es the following: ( Incidentally , the date of th i s book was September ®

Page 22

"While on this subject, we must not forge t t he cur i ous and i nt ere s ting dev el op1tent of detective f ic tio n which has pr oduced t he Adventur es of Sex ton Blake and other al l ied cycl es , This is the Holmes tradition , adap ted for th e r ead ing of the board - schoo l boy and c r ossed with the Buffalo Bill ad ven ture type. The books are W'ri tten by a syndica te of autho r s , each one of whom uses a set of charac t ers of his own in ventio n, grouped about a central and tr adi ti ona l group consisting of Sexton Bl ake and hi s boy assistant , Tink e r , their comic landl ady, Mrs. Bar dell and th eir bulldog , (sic . ) Pedr o. As might be e xpec ted , the quality of the writin g and th e det ect i ve methods employ ­ed vary cons i de ra bly from one author to ano ther. The bes t specime ns display extreme ingenuity and an immense vigo ur and f erti lity in pl ot and incident . Never the less , the cen tr al types ar e pretty consis tent l y pr eserved thro ughout the series. Blake and Tinker are less intu i ti ve than Hol mes , from whom, however , t hey a r e direc tly descended , as their addre ss i n Baker Street shows. They are more car ele ss and rec kless in t heir methods, more given to displays of per sonal he ro ism and pugili sm; more simple and humm in their emotions . The really interes t ing point about them is that they present the nearest modern approach t o a national folklore , conceived as the cen tr e for a cycle of l oosely connecte d romance s in the Arthurian manner.. Their significance in popular literature and educ a tion would ri chly repay scientific i nvesti ­gati on . "

THE UNWRITTEN STORY MYSTERY

By "Anon"

In 1932 the Editor of the UNION JACK devised a contest between six of its authors in which ea ch, given details of t he same identical situation , had to write a stor y aroWld i t. This , of course , was the famous "Pro ud" Tram series ..

For those not familiar wit h t he t heme which formed t he bas i s of the cont es t i t was this :

On ni ght in a liorth London tram depot , th e cleaners discover on a tram ' s t op deck , the body of a s tout, middl e-age d man named Al fre d

·Mowbray Proud, and at his feet , the unconsc io us f i~ re of Sexton Bl ake . The man has a number of unlikely a rti cl es with him ranging from two pawntickets (on e for a mandolin, t he other for a carpe t) to maps of London's Underground and Tram sys tems ; from a mousetrap and a knuckle­duster to a fir eman's bras s helmet and a rolled up banner with the wording: "WE DEMAND JUSTICE FOR OUR FELLOW SUFFERERS."

Page 23

The autho r s involved originally were Gwyn Evans , Donal Stuart , Gilbert Chester, Anthony Skene, G. H. Teed and Robert Murray .

Stor ies by the first five authors appeared as scheduled , then the fol lowing aru1ouncement appeared in the Edi tor ' s "Round Table " cha t .

"Robert Murray wi 11 be unable to write the six th and last of the Tram Series stori es as promised . I nstead it will be written by Ed.wy Searles Brooks.

1'A sudden attack of influenza and a sort of nervous br eak - down t o f ollow l¥ts put Rober t Murray on the inac t ive list. A few weeks ago he wrote to say

1 • • • I am making satisfactory pr ogress with t his story , THE MAN

FROM MANDALAY. Here are a few incidents from the yarn . A mysterious blind man, living in a mysterious house with a girl

secretary who, terrified by certain events, comes to Blake , telling hi m how her employer is driven to a f r enzy each day by a man who arriv es outside the house , places a carpet on the pavement , squats down and plays "The Road To Mandalay" on a mandolin . Every day the blind man in th e house, despi t e his evident hatred, sends out a pound not e - when the player departs ,

Each day, the girl takes t he blind man on a tour of London' s Undergrowul and Tram sys tems followed by the mandol i n player, The bl ind man is t r ying to det ermine by sound, a certain station or stopping place • . • • ,

' These are only a few points . I ·hope you will like the yarn when it is finished.' "

The Edi tor averred that all th e readers should have enj oyed it , and I heartily concur,

The question now arises - was this story ever finished or was i t abandoned when Robert Murray coul dn't meet th e dead- line? Over to you

~· The Editor t hen went on to tell how he sent out an S .O.S. at t he

las t minute to Edwy Searles Brooks , to wri t e the f inal st ory i n t he series - which he did in a couple of days . By a st r ange c oincidence this substitute story dealt with a blind man and was called THE MYSTERY OF BLIND WKE, but t he plot in no way resembled Murray ' s.

In conclusion , i t is in t eresting t o note that the reader s of t he UNION JACK were asked to vote as t o whi ch author wrote the best solution to the Proud Tram Myst ery, The winner was t he added starter - E. S. Brooks .

I t is interesting to conjec tur e who would have won, had Robert Murray been able to finish his s t ory ! (On one of the occasions when Bob Blyt~and mysel f vis i ted Edwy Searles

Page 24

Brooks we as ked hi m ab out th is "stend - in " story. He told us pr ac t i ­cally as related above , and added that so far as his own co ntr ibu t ion was concerned he found no diffi culty a t all in writi ng i t - in fact it

was quite easy ! * * * * * Len Packman. )

Appr oximat e t r anscrip t of a t al k r eco r ded a t the B.B.C. bet ween John East and Len Packman for the ra di o se ri es TODAY (Home Service) . (Mr. East speaks about all the Blake mat er i al he has seen when visit ­ing my house , inc l udi ng sev en or eigh t hund re d Sex ton Blak e Libraries of t he 1s t and 2nd series , about 18 bound volumes of t he Union Jack , many odd i ssues of such as Pluck, Dreadnought , Detective Weekly e t c . , and t he bust of Sexton Blake ) . J .E. How did your inter est in Sexton Blake start ?

L.P . I began re adi ng about his adventures when I was a boy of abou t twel ve . At th a t ti me my f a ther (home on leave in 1917) use d to have th e UNION J ACK every week , and when he had re ad it he let me have it. Si nce th en I have neve r los t i n te r es t i n the charac t er - and that covers a pe r iod of over fifty years ! -­

J .E. Wha t was the da t e of th e first Blak e s t ory ? L.P . The very first s to ry (as far as we know) , called :'The Missing Millionaire, 11 was published in December 1893 in a li t tle pape r cal l ed t he MARVEL. His as sis t ant , Tinker , di d not join him until 1904 , and his ot her ass i s t ant , Pedro, the blood hound , was not creat ed until 1905. J .E. What so r t of char acter was or ..!.§. Bl ake ?

L.P. He has always been the same ( in my opinion) . He is a man of many par t s or face t s ; s trict ly methodical , a t t imes ta ci turn, deter ­mined and fe ar less ; but when the occas io n warran t s it he can be (and often ho.s been) kind and mer cifu l. There i s some magnet ic quality about him which has made him attr active to every stra ta of society : to the schoolboy - the hero par exce llen ce ; to the father - a phan tasy figure . J.E. What is this maga zine, th e Collector s ' Digest ? L.P. It ' s an amateur monthl y magazi ne a bou t j uveni le publica t ions of the past - such as the Magnet , Gem, Nels on Lee, Union Jack a nd so on. One section of it i s devoted to Sexton Blake and is c onduc te d by Mrs . Packma.n, f or her interest in Sexto n Blake is as grea t as my own, ind eed, our col lec t ion i s more hers t han mine ! Subscribers to this magazine ~e all over the world, in cluding Canada , Australia, New Zealand , Ceylon, Br azil and I celand .

Page 25

J .E . Who wrote the stories? L.P . They were written by C'.i8..0Y different authors . I personally know of over 150 ( to inc l ude pen-names) , including Rex Hardini;e, G. H. Teed, Gilb ert Cheste r , Donald Stuart, Edwy Searl es Brooks - who also wrote W1der the names of Berk el ey Gray and Victor Gunn - and t he pr esen t ve ry fine writer W. Howard Baker . J . E. Wha t is it th a t has made the cha r ac t er so enduring? L. P. Throu ghout the whole of the Blak e saga hi s adventur es have always been topical; by which I mean t he s tories were alwa ys up-to-date and woven around any parti cul arly noteworthy event of th e time • •. • he even had te levision in 1928 l

J ~E. Would you say the charac t er has changed out of a l l re cognit ion? L.P. No. I disa gr ee ! Apart from being more sophistica te d or ' ~i th it' as the y say , he is the same Blak e as he al ways was , and the curren t paper - backs portray him exce l len t ly. J.E . Some of the stories were dr amati sed, were they not? L.P. Yes. He has a ppeared in play s and films ; in f ac t, in your book 'NEATH THE MASK' you t ell about th e pl ay , SEXTON BLAKE, produced by your grandf athe r in 1900 . J . E. That is tru e . J .E. wbat do you SFJ:J to th e present desc ri ption of Blake as "Sexy Sexton? 11

L. P. He is no more sexy t han is in keeping with the times. This is what you might cal l the "sex age" • • • You c ould sa y the same of Tinker , but he is no more se xy than his master . If you mean has Blake ever had any subtl e feelings t owards women - he had a very soft spot fo r a cert ai n Mdlle . Yvorme Cartier, but he never let his heart ov·er ­ride his profes sion . J.E. Will Blake be here in 74 year s time 0

L. P, You had bet ter ask Mrs. Packman about that! J.P. Oh yes . lie sha ll be in the s pace age by th en , a nd no doubt Sext on Blake will be makif18 tr ips t o the moon chas ing his adversa ries:

* * ... * * Issue No. 1 of the UNION JACK (2nd se ri es) is dated 17 October

1903. (Thi s was a non- Blake s t ory by T.C. Bridges t i tled WITH PICK AND LAMP.)

Unlike the Collectors ' Digest , t he U.J. di d not have a "Spec i al Birthday Number" twenty-one yea r s late r . The issue dated 18 Octobe r

Page 26

1924 did in fa ct fea ture the Criminals ' Confederation . The story THE MANDARIN'S MILLIONS was a good one , and in tr oduce d

many popular charac t er s of t he t i me, including : Dirk Dolland { the Bat) , Profe sso r Jason Reece , Fan Too, Inspector Coutts , John Fade , The Black Duchess {Ysabel de Ferre) , Sir Henry Fairfax and Mrs Bardell .

I t is actually one of a series of ' Confederation ' sto rie s running at th a t time (not consecutive l y but a t inte rvals and spread over a long per i od).

On page si x there is a special column about th e famous Cri mina ls • Confedera tion, and for t he benef i t of r eaders of the Diges t who have never had the pleasure of reading the exciting stories featuring this Organisation (and perhaps also bring back ple asan t memories to tho s e who have ! ) the follow i ng extr ac t may be of in t e rest ••.• • , . . , ."Mr. Reece met hi s dea t h as a result : of his anti - socia l warf are , and s imul t aneous attemp t s were made by two members of t he Confede r ation to snatch at the presiden t ship . One of th ese aspiran t s was Ysabel de Ferre , known as t he "Bl ack Duchess 0 of Jorsi ca ; and the ot her was Hoang Ho, a Chinese mandarin.

-c ht Mr. Reece did not intend t ha t either of these should s t ep in ­to hift shoes . Pro fe ssor Jason Reece , his bro ther , was a prisoner in the Frencf convic t se t tlem en t on the i sland of Tute a , and plans were made to res cue him and i nvest him with the pres i den t sh i p .

Mean t ime the once - powerf ul Confede r a tion had languished , and the new President set himself to t he task of re - establishing i t . His f irst care was to obt ai n a s t ee l ches t whi ch his dead broth er had hidden , and which contained the sec ret of the hiding-place of the sum of a million poW1ds, put by as a re serv e fWld in case of ne ed .

Pro f essor Reece is robbed of this money al.most in the act of taki ng i t by Fan Too, the son of the Mandarin Hoang Ho, who has died in one of the battles with the Black Duchess.

In the l as t episode published {No. 1094 , week ending Sept ember 27th) , Professor Reece is on t he run f rom Sexton Blake , clos e press ed after his abortive a tt empt to r ais e money to make up fo r the l oss of the million . He escapes by aer opl ane from Wimbl edon Common, just eluding Sexton Blake and the dete ctives f r om Scotland Yard.

The present s t ory takes up t he t hread from there , and will be fo llo wed shortly by anothe r which will re la t e the end of t he even t s which are now being deal t with." ( The final epi sode of t his partic ular seri es appeared in U . J. No.1 117 FOUND - AND LOST. A ~ s erie s of ep isodes be tween Sexton Blake and the Confeder a tion began with U.J . No. 1119 , da t ed 21 March 1925, e ntitled REECE' S REPUBLIC. ) I.en Paclanan .

Page 31 from their s t orie s. A file of Sarnways s t ories revea ls certain facts that a casual reade r woul d not notice . Apart from creating his own characte r s , suc h as Phyll i s and Archie Howell , Dennis Carr , Dick Mason, etc , Sam.ways also crea t ed t wo pl aces which wer e featured exclusively in his own stories. One was the Ely sian Cafe in Court­field , and the other was t he town of Burches t er , which appeared f i r st in the Magnet but later also in the Gem, in c lud i ng 955 to which I refer . Among Samways " trade marks" were the common use of "So saying , •• . 11 to start a paragraph , and "at t his (or tha t ) junc tur e • • 11

These may sound common enough e xpr essions , but my statistics show that they are pr actically unuse d by any othe r Magnet and Gem wri t er s.

Both "So saying . .... and "at that juncture • • " appear in 955 , but quite apart from this the s t ory is absolu t ely typical of Samways s ty le and characte r isa t ion . I t is interes t ing to recall t he famous inc i den t in Magnet 436 (Samways) when Prout walked ac ross t he sigh t screen , causing Wingate to lose his wicket, and the Greyfriars captain called Prout , among other t hings a 11dolt , " an "insane imbecile " and a "frabjous dummy. " In Gem 955 Ratcliff walks across the sightsc r een when Gussy is well set , wher eupon Bob Bradshaw ( the new school cricket coach) bello ws at Ratty , 11Hi, you frantic idiot! " As further evidence , Br ad$haw 1s absurd ord er that every cr icke t er (senior and junior alike) must in future bat only le ft- handed could only have appeared in a story by Sam.ways or one of his i mita t or s in farce, such as F . G. Cook.

F. G. Cook was not so pro l ific as Sam.ways or Pentelow , and only a detailed study has recently en~bled me to identify his sto r ies fr om ext ensive notes t aken on each s t ory read . With rega r d ta Gem 668 , the r e are a couple of typical Cook inci dent s which s houl d at l east prove the i r non- Hamil ton or igin . The f i rst is t he episode i.n chapte r 2 where Taggl es jus t happens t o appear at the foot of the s tai r s with a pail of whitewaah as Selby and Wally D'Ar cy go rolling down. I n case anybody objects that i nk, gum, soot , e t c featured extensively in Hamilton ' s s tor i es I would poin t out that such inciden t s invariably had some bearing on the plot, and we knew in advance that the mi xture was pr epared and why the person possessed it!

The second incident is much more conclusiv e . Wally D' Arcy has mounted a l adder t o speak to Gussy t hr ough the window of the punish ­ment room. Selby ascends afte r him, whereupon Wally goes down past Selby underneath the ladder . F. G. Cook tells us : "The ladde r was r ath er an old one , and several of t he rungs were loose . Wally t ook his penknife from his pocket , and as he climbed down he hack ed a t t he rungs. Mr. Selby , making clumsy ef f or ts to get down, did not per­ceive what Wally was doing . By t he time Wally r eached t he bot t om of

r 32

the ladder he had wrenched si x rungs from their places , thus leaving a long gap between Mr. Selby and the ground ." Imar· ne removing six ladder rungs (whi ch had just borne a man' s weight with a penknif e in less time than it took Selby to descend the ladder? Later Dr. Holmes arrives on the scene : "D'Arcy minor , your disregard of discipline is amazing ! Kindly replace those rungs in the ladder, so that Mr. Selby can descend! 11 One final un-Hamil ton quote from the end of the story : 11but none was more glad, it is verily believed , than Gussy himself. 11

If the foregoing fa i ls to convince I would add a few examples from the F . G. Cook vocabulary , with Gem numbers of other Cook stor i es in which they also occur ; • • like a Paladin of old (652) i "You dunde r­headed jabberwock" (651) ; wondering mightily (651); semblance of a smile (621.651) ; face went pink (621) ; suiting his action to his word (645) ; the Cloisters (622 , e t c) - I don ' t think C.H . ever referred to the Clo isters at St . Jims , but only at Greyfriars ; the Rylcombe Lane (656, etc.) - Cook and other sub writers usually referred to the Rylcombe Lane, but Hamilton always just Ryl combe Lane ; a choleric look (621 .652 , etc,)

Gem 386 is so clearly the work of J . N. Pentelow that it is unnecessary to go into details . The story creaks along in t he inevi t­ab le Pentelow style and , of course , there is the usual quo t a of "notions , 11 etc .

· Going back to G. R. Samways I recently dis cove re d , quite by chance , that he was the author of the Gem football serial 11Renton of the Rovers , 11 which appea r ed in 1920 under the pen- name of Paul Masters . I had been r ead in g the Levison - Dirk Power series when the word "Burchester" caught ary eye in t he serial when turning the pages. I only needed to read the first page and to run my eyes down the rest. There was the paragraph commencing "So saying, •• 11 Apa.rt from t his , two schools mentioned in the story (Grandcourt and St. Clive ' s) featured in Samways St. Jim ' s story in Gem 681, and in anothe r story that I r ecall and wold dig out. Finally , I would confirm that S .O.L. 15 ( "Football Heroe s " ) already ac knowledged as a sub s tory, was also the work of Samways •

• * * FRANK RICHARDS AND THE ISLE OF Tl!ANET

By Brian Sayer

111 came to live in Thane t," Frank Richards once told me between puffs at his pi pe, "because I heard that no one ever dies here . "

The twinkle in his eyes conveyed that he did not really believe

Page 33

that old l ocal legend - but there was no denying tha t in spi r it a t least he remained ever yotmg.

I t i s the ai r , clea r , br acing , of t en with a co l d nip that pr ob- ' ably gave birth to myth of immortal ity.

The fresh ai r , lo t s of sunshine and gol den sands are the reasons why (dar e I say it?) the is l and has for so long been a "l!la81let" for holidaymakers and re tir ement couples .

Bunt er, we are told in t he Easter Cruise series (Magnet 1314 "Saved From The Sea 11

) liked Marga te. "And t he re was one thing he spe cially li ke d abou t Margat e - t he

ai r made a fellow f eel hungry. 11

Earlier , Bob Cherry declared tha t it was II jolly . 11 Said the author : "It was difficult for anybody not to feel j olly i n the br acing ai r of Margate . 11

Frank Richards used Thanet as a backcloth for Magnet sto ri es a t leas t three t imes in the Magnet s of t he 1930' s .

W.G.B . , we are told in 11Saved From The Sea , 11 kne w evecy pl ace between Westga te and Bro adsta irs . Potter and Gree n t al ked about going t o the Winter Gardens,

Of course Bunter knew about Margate and other pl aces i n Thane t: so did Frank , For some thirty year s t he is l and was his home.

I was born in Margate. By one of t hose in t ri guing coin cidences my fi r st happy acquain t anc e with Gr eyf ri ars came as a small boy aft er world war two wi th a few Magnets which included t he Muccol ini Ci r cus seri es , par t of which was set in Margate .

Spurred on by you thful imagination , I used t o cycle i n th e woody Kingsgate area on the f r inge of Margate , hoping t hat by some magical chance I would meet \iharton and Co somewhere alo ng those leaf y lanes .

Alas , ther e was no jingl e of bells from five fellows on j i gge r s with a fat pers pir ing Owl trailing beh ind ,

I eight , had I realised it , have met their creator on a cyc le jaunt from hi s nearby home.

I n "The Boy Who Knew Too Much" (1490) , Bunter ' s fat caree r nearl y came to an end i n Thanet at the hand s of the ra sca lly circus master .

Lured along t he beach , Bunter was le ft on the sands a t a poi nt wher e the beach between Margate and Kingsgate was fl ooded by the in­coming tide. Luckily , Ferrers Locke and Wharton and Co . wer e on hand to rescue him.

Curiously, Thane t was cas t again in the last se ries of the Magnet . Bob Cherry remarked that t he weath er was "tip top f or a pull along t o Bro adstairs or Ramsgate 11 in "The Uns een Enemy11

( 1678 ) .

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As i n othe r Magnet and Gem yarns , caves and the sea played an import ant role in t ha t spy series. The re a l thing was only a short walk from Fr ank I s home.

Fr ank was no doubt referring to his Kingsgate home when he wrote in his autobiograp hy of "so me little property on the south eas t coast wher e he now l ived . 11

The area became a danger zone in wartime and Fr ank moved to London,

He retur ned in peace time to find "no real damage had been done in the li ttl e hamlet , though places near by had been badly bombed. "

He added : 11f iv e year s neglect" had l eft his pro pe rty 11in a shocking s ta te. 11

Rose Lawn, Frank 1 s home, was i n Per cy Avenue, Kingsga t e - a pleas ant , al most rural part of Bro ads tair s .

At the bott om of Per cy Avenue are grassy c li ffs which drop to the beach and form deligh tf ul bays (and no cockl e and whelk stalls with in sigh t : )

I n one directio n l ies "Merry Margate " - as Frank t ermed i t - and the othe r , Br oads t airs and Ramsgat e .

It was natural that Frank shou l d put Bunte r on a donkey (and off agai n r at her sharply ! ) on a t r i p to t he seaside.

I have since wondered , however, how we missed hearing him crunch ­ing Margat e rock or becoming s ticky wit h csndyfloss .

And Bunter on t he scenic r a ilw ay or in the ghos t tr ain seems too good to have been missed .

Frank li ved quietly i n Thanet . Indeed, t he majority of locals , thou gh familia r i n one way or anoth er ri th W .G .B . , did not realis e that his c r eator was in t heir mids t .

Broadstai r s t akes gre at pride in the fa ct that Charl es Dickens penned some of his work i n that resort . Ther e is an annua l 'Dick ens Festiv al • comprising various Dickens - s ty le even ts.

Simila r ly , perhaps Kingsgate - whi ch to me, at any r a te, means ' Hamil toni a 1 - will one day boa s t of its famous reside nt .

* * * * * LET' S BE CONTROVERSIAL

No. 116. There In His Noisy Mansion ---

Having been a schoolmas t er for a great many yea r s , I may possibly be able to t urn the spotlight upon that species without giving offence to other members of the brotherhood . For when , t r eacherously , I have

Page 35

a chuckle at the expense of schoolmas t ers , I am laughing at myself. Authors can make schoolmasters . Charles Hamil ton made plenty,

all much fro m the same mould . ln real life a good schoolmaste r can never be made. A good schoolma.ster must be born . ·

I forget ,mo it was imo made the sli ghtl y spiteful, and mildly amusll18, coD111ent that a schoolmaster is a man among boys ~nd a boy among men. General ly speaking , it is not true , of course . School ­maste r s t hrow the ir weight about i n class. They do not expect their remarks to be cha l lenged, and they are not challeng ed. So accus tomed are they to having their own way in class, that they ant ic i pate the same success in adult life , And what they expect they usual ly get, for people are often accep te d at their own valuations.

Most schoolmasters , as a r esul t of their c al ling , are more or less dogmatic, and many of us , wi thout realising it , carry our dog­matism i nt o adu lt life. Chest er ton once observed t hat a teacher who is not dogmati c is simply a teacher who is not teaching .

What do we remember of our own te ache r s? Surely we hardly th ought of them as real people at all. We regarded them as br ainy people , infallible in their teaching , but so simple when it came to the normal fa c ts of life . I t never occur r ed to us ~hat they might be sens itive, that they might have the ir own frustrations, or tha t t hey were , in fact , ordinary human beings l ike our own mums and dads.

When we assembl e t he staff of Greyfriar s , St. Jim ' s , or Rookwood we look upon a gathering of theatrical charac ters - a group of puppets - a cast . And that , for boy re ade r s, a t any rate , i s just how it shoul d be . A cast of characters. I s not that just how we remember our own tea che rs?

And just as they intended . too, for how else could they preserve their pri va t e personali t y except by assuming a p.iblic mask?

The Hamilton schoolmasters , on the surface, were true to life . But in life , the real schoolmaster removes his mask when he gets away from his work, excep t in the rar e cas es when the mask develops into part of the human per sonality. We only saw the Hamilt on masters wi t h t hei r masks on.

\ii th the exception of Quelch and Prout, all the Hamilton maste rs were like characte r s in a theatre set . And Quelch and Pr out obtained their characterisation by acc i dent wi t h t he passing of time . Quelch soon gained the re putation of being a severe but just master, and th ere was nothing particularly r emarkable in t hat . I t was not really till the Rebel Series that the rea l characterisation of Quelch was developed, and that came as a foil t o Wharto n . In the Stacey Series ,

Page 36

Quelch even seemed out of charActer. We could not accept that the shre wd (&elch should be tak en in by a cunning schoolbo y, Of course , he was not out of character at all , for schoolmast ers are only human like everybody else • It' s just that we tend to regard them as so me­thing different. A cunning schoolboy in real life can take in a shrewd schoolmaster , for most of us are not nearly as shre wd as we think we are .

Prout originated as a comedy creat ion. I t was as a foil for Coker that he developed as a masterpiece of characte r creation -weighty , pompous, and overpowering. Magnifi cen t ly jealous of his ovn dignity , like all we schoolmasters are .

Few r eal schoo lmaster s escape being dubbed with a nickname . W'e are just lucky if it happens to be not too offensive. A nickname can be a symbol of dislike or it may be a sign of condescending affection. Where were the nicknames among the Hamil ton masters?

The best was "Old Pompous, 11 shortened to 11Pompey" just as would certainly have happened in real life . 11Pompey11 was Mr. Greely of Rook­wood, who , in many ways, was an echo of Prout .

A good one was 11'lbe Aci d Drop" for Hacker, and we never heard of that till the Magnet was an old paper. Smedley was "The Creeper and Crawler , 11 which was more of a description than a nickname. It was not nearly s lick enough. Ratcliff was "Ratty" which was merely cause and effect . Were there any others among the permanent cast? If so , I can ' t bring them to mind.

I n real life , almost al l masters , popular or unpopular, have nick­names, and · the origin of those nicknames is usually lost in the mists of t ime .

Hamilton was more successful wit h his older adults, but he had th e odd qui rk of speak ing of the older s taff as though t hey were elder­l y . He would refer, on occasion, to the Headmasters, or Quelch , or Prout, or Bootl e s , as the "ol d gentlemen, 11 when they cannot have been anything of the sort. They cannot have be en much more than middle­aged , for it would not have made sense . Of course , he did the same t hing with the parents and relatives . Redwing's fat her was often "the old sailorman; 11 Harry Wharton ' s uncle was "the old colonel; 11 Levi son's father was "the old gentleman . "

Thi s was clearly a weakness , giving as it did , a false impression. Nevertheless , Hamilton 1 s older characters were more successful than the younger ones. So far as I was concerned, Lascelles and Dalton, to name but two of the younger staff , seldom r ang the bell . They seemed artificial and coy .

Page 37

So, among that masked cas t, we had the severe , the verbose , the pompous, the fluffy , th e disagreeable. We neve r re ally knew whi ch were good teachers and which were not. We coul d assume tha t Monsieur Charpentie r was not a good teacher, for he was portrayed as a poor disciplinarian, but , for the rest, there was no indication .

With Jimmy Mccann, Hamilton gave us the reforming Headmaster. As I have commented befo r e , 11The School for Slackers" failed because the Headmast er never succeeded .. The idea was a good one, and the characterisation was sound. It could have been a smash hit in a long story in which the Headmaster won in the end. But , in a se ries , t he Headmaster could not win, for that would bring the seri es to an end . So , by and la rge, t he idea was a flop , even thoU8h some i ndividual tales made good reading .

Mr. Hamilton might well have tried out the same idea at High­cliff e , which suffe r ed from "dry rot " due to an inefficient Head­master and staff. But if Highcliffe had been reformed , it would not have been Highcliffe as we knew it and wanted it. So the dry rot remained in Highcliffe.

Talbot Baine s Reed gave a br i lliant 1i ttle cameo of the zealous, reforming Head in the first couple of chapt er s of 11A Dog With a Bad Name." Here , the result of the reform was tragedy . The lout i sh nineteen - year old , dr iven from his rut into a Rugby scrum , seriously injured a much smaller and younger lad who was crippl e d for l ife. The weakness of the idea was tha t so big a fellow should be playing at all in a game with much small er boys , but it made a basis for a fine s tory, and the picture of the reforming Head is memorable.

So Charles Hamil ton gave us a commendable cast of masters . We salute him. We remember t hose masters with affec ti on.

All the same, it is to Goldsmith we have t o l ook for the t rue , simple ske tch of the schoolmaste r . He wipes the smug smile from our fa ces , and leaves us with a tear on our eyelashes .

"Well had the boding trembler s learned t o trace The day's disasters in his morning face . 11

As Bob Cherry might have said : "Have a care . Quelchy has a nasty glint in his eye. 11

"Full well they lau ghed with coun terf ei te d gl ee , At. all his jokes , for many a joke had he . n

Any -schoolboy lmows that hi s master like s to crack feeble jokes - and it is expedient to laugh at them dutifull y.

And perhaps Goldsmith really sums us up: 11In arguing too , the parson owned his skill , For e'en though vangui shed 1 he could argue stil l. 11

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Mmmm.m! Does he mean th at , wi th British grit , we never say die? Or could he mean that we never admit ourselves in the wrong?

As we have done so much quoting about schoolmaste r s , perhaps it is as well to close with the words of Seneca: "I t is when the gods hate a man with wicommon abhorrence that they drive him into the profession of a schoolmas ter."

So let ' s shed a tear for Messrs . Ratcliff , Selby and Manders. Obviously the gods made th em what t hey were .

* * .. * * CONTROVERSIAL ECHOES

GEORGE SELLARS: think the first St . J im ' s stories in the old Pluck Library did a great deal in making Charles Hamil ton a great writer of school stor i es . I have only read a few of these of Blake & Co. in the Gem reprinted later , ond very sad to say never read the arrival of one of my n:.os t loved characters as , of course , it was never reprinted . I refer to the Hon . A. A. D'Arcy (Gussy) . In my opinion most of his fir s t fresh bloom work was written in those grand old Blue Gems in h.is early days when I couJd imagine C. H. was well under 30 years pf age , so youthful and fresh in his style . Yes, same as you dear editor I think the old Blue Gem was always his first love , and some of his greates t work .

WANTED: UNION JACK LIBRARY, especially 1312 , 927 , 869 , 868, 1333 , 1329 , 1323, 1476, 1400 , 1484 , 1500 , 1504 , 1508 , 1513 , 1526, 1529 , 1493; ALDINE BUFFAlO BILL 4d NOVELS, especially 66 , 119 , 164 ; BOYS' FRIEND 4d (NEW SERIES) , especially 8 , 9 , 12 , 28 , 30 , 36 , 37 , 38 ; NE\INES "BLACK BESS" LIBRARY (NEii SERIES) 10 , 12 , 13, 14 , 15 , 16 ; !:ONSTER LI BRARY, CHUMS, SCOUTS ANNUALS, SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY - Li st of available items with prices appreciated .

ROBERT W, STORY, 34 ABERDEEN CRESCENT, BRAMALEA1 via Brampton , Ontario, Canada .

WANTED: MAGNETS862- 865 , 1038 , 1043, 1047T1049, 1118, 1125 , 1208 ,

1312 , 1313, 1316 and others ; also Gems 1023, 1024 , and Hamil t on B.F. Libraries. Will buy or exchange . Magnet s and S. O.Ls. for sale .

NEIL BECK, 77 HIGHD0\111 ROAD, LEWES, SUSSEX.

Page }9

NEWS OF THE CL UBS

Meeti ng held August 22nd The attendance was thi rte en, a good turn out conside ring two

very regular members, Ivan Webster and Norman Gregory were on holiday .

A spate cf correspondence was to hand , amongst which was a thank

you let t er from Roger Jenkins on his welcome to our meeting last month .

Also one from Fleetway Publications informing us tha t the rec ent

publica t ion "The Best of the l!a8net and Gem" has been sufficiently

successful for them to consider anothe r book in the near future, A

letter from Molly Allison concerned with the proposed Chesterfield

reunion fixed the date at 15th October, a Sunday. We are at present awaiting confirmation from the Portland Hotel, Chesterf ie ld, gr anting

us a booking . About 25 members of the Northern and Kid land clubs seem likely to go.

The programme was entirely in the hands of the acting sec retary

for the evening , although an impromptu item was included at the end .

This was a reading by Gerald Price's eleven year ol d soil of a Bunter

story he had written himself . We were al l delighted with it . The programme consisted of a quiz wit h all the 9.uest iona in

rhyme ( these were taken from the 1920 Holiday Annual ), a reading from

l!a8net No. 1519 and a discuss i on based on George Orwell ' s c r iticisms

of Charles Hacilton 's writing in his now very well - knom essay , 0 Boys 1

Weeklies." The quiz was unusual and proved amusing and not too difficult .

All the rhymes described Greyfriar s characters and these had to be

writt en down. Tom Porter and Mervyn AdaJ:18 were .,.i nners with eigh t

correct out of ten . The reading described a stand up row between Mr. Quelch and the

snobbish Mr. Mobbs of Highcli (fe with Mob by getting vecy much the

worst of it . This was a brand of humour Charles Hamilton did superbly

well and the reading caused much amusement. The di scussio n dragged on while we partook of coffee and cakes ,

the las t named provided very generously by our worthy chairman George

Chatham. Tom Port er said t hat much abuse had been poured upon Orwell

by llaJDilton devotees but the fact was that the es say contains praise

as well as criticism , though he thought Orwell had not read the old

papers thoroughly enough to give a jus t appraisal.

Page 40

Charles Hamilton was defended by Gerald Price and Bert Fleeing who thought that Orwell's criticisms were beside the point . The dis ­

cussion could wel l be pursued at another meeting . The Anniversary number and Collectors ' Item brought by Tom Porter

were Boys' Friend Library No. 504 "In the Days of the K.~ights " by Alfred Armitaa,, (the Collectors' item) and Magnet 1227 "A Dog with a

Bad Name, " published on 22nd August , 1931. Thie was 36 years old to the day .

The raffle wirmers wore John Pri ce and Ted Davey and the proceeds

were as usual to buy books for our library . We meet again on September 26th and we hope for yet another good

at tcndance . J . F , Bellfield

Correspondent

LONDON

The fifth Annual wnch Party of the club took place on Sunday,

Sept ember 3rd . The rendezvous on this occasion was th e Royal Star Hotel , Maidstone . T-,,,enty one members etc ., boarded the now famil i ar

'Claude Duval' coach at Victoria and had a good run down. First meet­ings were in the Cavalier bar of the hotel where those coming by their

transport joined the coach party . Then proceeding to the Oak Room of

the hotel , the host s of the meeting , John and Mrs . Wernham, wel comed

one and all. The two honoured guests of the luncheon were Miss Edit h

Hood and Mr, C. H. Chaixnan. A very fine menu had been selec t ed and

the souvenir cards were the gift of the President , John Wernhsm.

John had chosen some illustrations of "The Boy's Own Paper" to grace the menu cards and this year •s one will be a worthy companion to its fou.r predecesoors . Aft er grace had been said by the Pr esiden t a very

fine lunch was enjoyed . Then can:e the toasts, the first by Len Pack:Dan, who made a very fine , short and concise opeech . The toast

was 11Ttle Old Boys ' Book Club. " Following this toast , it was the

turn of Roger Jenkins to propose the toast to the guests , this af ter

another fine speech given by Roger in his own inimi t able style ,

After the lunch it was coach and other tr ansport to the Charles Haiulton museum. Here the first item was the inspection of the

wseum , truly a collectors ' dream of delight . Those for whom it "WaS,

their first visit , and those who had been before , found pl enty to

interest them, After a lengthy perusa l by all it was up to the

n:ceting room and the cinema show. Films shown dealt with "Roselawn,"

Page 41

Frank Richards , C. H. ChaJlDBil'S dra,rings and the one showing Gerald

Campion tak ing both Billy and Wal t er Bunter parts on the occasion when

they changed places for a short time at Greyfriars. Several ot her

interesting short films were shown and then Len Packman read two club

reports froo, Newsletters one and twenty four . He conduc ted a quiz

from the latter and it was chainoan Don who was the winner. An excellent reading by Roger Je nkins on early "Magnets" and the

characters who appeared in them, followed . After this Marjorie Norris

read a story from her new book, "Give A Dog a Bad Name. " This about

her brother Tony Bil bow and his dog was greatly enjoyed . The book is

to be published shortly by Hut chinsons at 21/- . An excellent tea was supplied by the hosts but J ohn Wernham

refu sed to reveal the title of his next publication . Neverth eles s

all enjoyed the day ' s proceedings and coming afte r th o Eastwood House,

Greyfr1ars , Fr iarda le, and Ashford gatherings i t was the delightfUl

drive homeward for all , Mr. Chapman joining the coach party . Thus

six weeks to the homely ataosphere of 35, Woodhouse Road, Leytonstone,

London, E.11 for the next meeting, hosts Reuben and Mrs . Godsave .

The da t e, Sunday, Cx:tober 15th , Uncle BenjaOlin.

NORTHERN

Meeting held Saturda y, 9th September . 1967 Even though the O.B.B.C . does not indulge in a "Summer Receas 11

( perish the thought) t here is al ways an air of holidays - over- let ' s -

get-doim-to-it about the Septeniber meeting . When t he proceedings

were opened by the Chairman, Geoffrey llilde , though one or two regu ­

lars were absen t , we were plea3ed to see Alan Barker, Breeze Bentley

and Norman Smith agai n, and in s.11 eighteen were present . The minutes and fin.a.nee dispo sed of , Gerry Allison read an item

about Nelson Lee memories from Northerner II 1n t he "Yorkshire Post . 11

Letters from postal members contained holiday news, and a general

discussion follo wed re holidays in Ireland, seve ral OBBC- ites having

favoured th e Emerald I sle this year. Schoolmaste r members , Geoffrey Wilde and Breeze Bentl ey reported

lending "Ma87lets" to convalescing children of colleagues. Apparently

said children could not be prised away from them - proof again that

the old magic can enthrall modern youngsters stil l. . The. programme then started vi th the next instalment of our Grey -

friars YI!= • Jack Vood, givi ng the last but t vo episode t ied a fev

ends togeth er. Bunter and Vibl ey , missing fo r a week , are prisoners

Page 42

in the smuggl ers caves which l ead to Greyfriars . Ferrers Locke ( on the tr ai l of th e stolen space - craft plans) i s r evealed as one of the myste ri ous unkn owns, and , on the l i gh ter side , Coker once more rash ly invading the Ra g, depar t s de corate d wit h i nk , soot and gl ue ! Over now t o Ron Hodgson for next month .

A break fo r ta s ty sandwiche s , te a and bi scui t s ga ve a chanc e of gene ral gossip and future programme ar r anging .

A qui ~ was next by Gerry Al l i s on . He read init ials of Greyfriar s charac t e r s and the ans wers had to be called out . Some responses came i n chorus , but oth ers , wi th not - so-famil iar middle names , t ook a little ponderin g, Jack Wood had most , wi th Geor ge Riley and Mollie Allis on seco nds , and Elsie Taylo r , Breez e Bentley and Ron Hodgson , we r e jointly thi rd .

A talk which Cliff Webb had se nt to Gerr y , was read by John Robert s . I t was entitle d "Why I am an Old Boy, " and the note i t s tru ck f ound a response in all pre se nt. Especia l ly the contention that appre cia tion of thes e s tor ies of past decades does not mean that one 1.s l i ving i n th e past .

About twent y minut es re mained , and the Secretary provided four ite ms for a "20 Questions" sess i on . Team, Keru1eth Whittaker , Geor ge Riley , Br eeze Ben tl ey and Ala n Barker , did very well , get t ing a ll fo ur objec t s , although "TEA IN HALL" was a near t hing.

Next meeti ng , Saturday , 14th Octo ber , 1967.

THE POSTMAN

M. L, Allison Hon . Sec.

CAL LED ( In teresting items from the Edi to r' s l e tter - bag )

R. ACRAMAN (Rui s li p} : I am r a ther at a loss t o understand reader Jack Cook' s l etter in Postbag las t month, fo llo wing my a rti cle in the previous mont h' s magazine . Surel y , since I stated t ha t I was pr evio us ­ly a 95% Hamiltoni a man it is obvious th a t I am completely familiar with Rookwood, the Benbow, the Rio Kid and Cliff House - all of which I have read th orou ghly and enjoyed as a l ad and also as an adult , Since it was onl y this year I started seriousl y readi ng E.S .B. my prais e for the write r su rely extend s to all his wri ti ngs i ncl udi ng Sexton Blake - a c olle c tion of whos e works I alrea dy have. I am af r a id reade r Cook is r a ther of f th e rails here , s ince i t must also be qui t e clea r t ha t my ar ti c le was not addre ss ed tp obvious E.S.B. .

Pa 43

stalwarts , such as Bob Blyt he, Len & Josie Packman; Charli e Wrigh t, John & Neil Beck etc . , etc. , all of whom need no tel line of the attractions of E. S.B.

Had a:ny Nelson Lee man written , I would have expected something a.long the lines of 11Your article is just what was wanted to let other soloists see what they are missing in E.S.B ., and a mu.ch- needed sho t in the arm for Nelson Lee" instead of which I am left wit h the impression that his remarks are ill-chosen, and that he conside r s my article a reflectiOn on himself for some reason . If thi s is the case, I hope my remarks above clear the point but it cannot be deni ed that E.S.B's works deserve wider recogni t ion in the Club by Club members.

Incidentally , i n cl osing , I would add for the guidance of reade rs that the firs t five serials I read (unfortunately not printed) were :­The Ezra Quirke series ; the Banishing of Bernard Forrest; the Return of Bernard Forrest ; the Death of Church and the Firs t Northestrian series.

RAY BENNE'CT (Solihull) : I know I am voicing the sentiments of many when I SEJ¥ we do appreciate your efforts with the C .D. , keeping interest sustained in surely the most deligh tf ul hobby of all, which has also made many friends fo r me in 21 years ~ without whom my life would be poorer .

TOM JOHNSON (Neston) : Congratulations to C.D. on its 21st Birthday . The arrival each month of this grand little mag is indeed a red letter day for me. I look forward to it immensely . I am probably one of the "oldest" subscribe rs - as my first copy {No. 3) was sent to me by Herbert , and 11ve had every copy si nce. Long may i t flourish.

LEN llORMULL (Romford) : 21 years of C .D. - what a wonderful achievement ~ The editor

says he is lazy by nature. I only wish I had a fraction of t he energy he puts into this noble enterprise ; the job must be all-consuming. C.D. already holds the "key" to success . Its fresh arrival each month provides the same thrill in adulthood as did the old papers in boyhood. It is the vital link in holding toge th er the chain of happy memories. Happy birthday greetings - with the hope of many more to come!

O. 11. VADHAI!-(Lower Hutt, New Zealand) : The Ju ly issue of Coll ec tor, Diges t. plainly postmarked July 1, reached me on August 28th . notice J , S. Ellio tt comments: "There is quite a lot which could be wri t ten about Spring Books , a detail of which O. 11, lladham seems

Page 44

woefully unaware." Quite true . I never lmew Spring Books existed till this year . They were published at a tim e when I was a member

of the N.Z. Permanent Army , and , serving for 21 years , I had li t tle

chanc e to renew acquaintance with boys ' papers . llaybe J . s. Ellio tt

could supply for C. D. some of those details of which I am unaware .

H, G, IIARTIN (Orpington) : To think that "Collectors' Diges t" has

reached it s 250th issue - and I've missed '237 of them! Yes , I 'm that

much of a ''new boy. " I was intr oduced to it by Lauri e Sutton , who lives at the other end of the t own, and he also gave me the opportunity

to handle and savour again the very first "Magnet" I ever read. Although during the years 1927- 1934 I sampled most of the boys '

literature of the day , and found great pleasure in the pages of 11W'izard ," 11Hotspur, " 11Bullseye ,1t "Gem11 and the rest , it was ultima tely to Greyfriars tha t I gave my unswerving a lle giance ,

It was that first s tory - "Six in the Soup" - i,hich sparked off

the interest , and although it took a little while to enter completely

into this new and fascinating world in which I found myself , with its

myriad characters , its history , geograpliy , background and tra ditio n,

Hamilto n' s Kentish school had cl ea r ly cas t its spell . \lhilst othe r papers were "swapped, " my "Magnets" were jealously hoarded so that by

the tu,e I left school I lll1St have accumula ted 300 or more . Then, during a "spring-cl ean , " they were consigned to the dustbin by my

mother who, in all f airness , did not knOw jus t what they meant t o me.

If I was unhappy then - and i t too k me weeks t o recover from my loss

- the mere thought nearly drives me f rant i c now: Of course I grew up, acquired other interests and read more

sophisticated literature - but always lurki ng in the bacl<Qound was

Greyfriars and the friends I had made there . Then, like so many oth ers ,

I found as I approached middle - age a re - awakened pass io n for them which was something more than mere nos ta lgia .

To-day I lllJSt largely live with my memories , which are s t ill so

sharp and clear that, in the space of an hour a year or so ago, I was able to jo t down the names of 65 of the scholars (including so:ne of

t he lesse r persona liti es) and cl assify most of them i n t heir forms . All the mast ers , too , I remembere d, as well as such 11background" characters as Mrs. llimble and P.C. Tozer .

I have been able to acqui re a few odd copies and hope one day -

when other col!ll!litments permit - to seriousl y begin collecting . In the

meantime what a ble ssing is "Collectors ' Digest . 11

One t hing is certain , Al though I have a t idy- minded wife and t i,o

destruc tive children , these will not suffe r the same fate as my lamented "Magnets":

Page 4;

NR. BUDD LE'S GREATESl

!:il.....!:eo.=;:.....!:..!l.lil!i:e

t t was a ,,an, afternoon . As the hea't rrom th e autum sun penetr ated the cloth or Ms jacket , Hr. Buddle moved hts shoulders in mild discor. irorL, and woodered N'lether he m1ght have been a li ttle premature In donning hls winter woollies .

He had enj oyed h1 s t ea on th e shadY verandah or Y1: Olde Devonshire Tea Shoppe. Now he had crossed t.he na!'t'Ow Hi gh Street of t he village or Evers lade , and he tomd h imself on the sunny s ide, gazing Into a window or Hr . Passenger' s second• hand Shop.

Mr. Passenger's shop was double­tronted. On one s Ide he had on d I splay a considerable varl ety or junk - aged 011-stcves, an unusually heavy -l ooking blcycle with rusty handlebars , a perambulator with tired sprin gs , and a nwri>er or pots and pans of all shapes and sl z.es.

J twas the other side , however , l'ill ch Interested Hr . Buddl e. Second-hand books or every type were latd out tn arras tn the space behi nd Mr. Passenger • s lert -hana window. When he was t n Everslade , Hr , Buddle usuall.y paused ror a rew minutes to gaz e In at the books Nr, Passenger had on dtsplay . Up ti ll the present , Mr. BWdle had never , In all hts years on the st.ar r at Slade, cNss ed the thr eshold or thf secct1d-hand book shop. He was about t.o do son~ .

Ther e nere about rt r ty books spread ou t t.o make a wtndoff d lsplay . No doubt Hr. Passenger had selec t.ed the les s-wom or ht s stock , along with some whi ch had lurid dust - Jackets , to tec:pt a pr ospective cus t omer who st.ood, li ke Hr. BWdh , on the outs ide l ooking In.

For a \\hll e Hr, BUC:Sdle stood In doubt , thoo.ghtrully scann ing one or the volumes. I t nestl ed snug}y between Hall & Knight ' s Algebra and tll nor Glyn' s "Three Weeks . 11

SUddenly, as he real i sed that the sun was getting uncomrortabl.Y warm, he oode up his mind and ente red the shop.

I t was dusky Ins id e , 1t was hOt, flle:re was a decidedly rusty smell .

A. big bals:1-headed man, In shirt sleevE yellcwr braces . and with a cigare tte tn thE corner or Ms J:ICUth, c.ame rorward . He eyed Mr, BadcUe lazll,y without speaking,

•There t s a book In the centre or yow window, I t t s called, I think , the Grey­rrlar s Holiday Ann ual . That one t hcre1• Mr. 81.ddle and Mr. Passenger leaned over the low pa!"tltlon wh1ch dlvtded th e wlnd OI' display fro m t he shop proper , and 11r, Bueldle po1nt.ed. • Could I, perh.'lps , have ~ look. at It ?"

Using his tongue to transrer hl s cigarette rro m. one comer or hi s rout h t o the ot.her 1 Mr. Passenger stretched out an arm over tll.e partlticn . Wtth a grunt he managed t o withdraw the book 1ndlcatecl , and haul I t out or the window . He banged on 1t and bl ew on tt to dtspel some dust , and then passed tt t o Mr. Buddle .

Mr. Buddl e scannea t he cover 'ffmlch bore th e words C:re yrr1ars Holiday Annual , and t.he date 1922. He flicked over a few pages and was Intrigued by what he saw.

He glanced a t ttr , Passenger, •eCM ooch?" • Pour bob l " Nr . Buek'.Sl e ra1 sed his eye brows . •That ' s expenstv e, tsn • t tt7 Four

shillings ror a second - hand book. • Hr. Passenger spat out his cigarette

and put his root on 1 t. 'Three bob to you, then - and lt. 'S a

gift at tha t pr i ce . • ttr, Buddl e took out his pur se, and

extracted thre e :tilll1ngs which he plac ed on the grl!I\Y counter . He hel d ou t the book to Mr. Passenger .

"Thank you. Perhaps you wl 11 wrap It up ror me.• .

ttr. Passenger gl ared . •wrap t t up?• He so1mded as though h

could scarcely cred i t hts ear s. •You oon• t want 1111ch tor three bob I do you? W aon• t wrap up second-hand books,"

Mr. Buddle tr i ed to th i nk or a deva• stating r eply , but none was ror th ca::ilng.

l'aee 46 Tuckln& the book under hta .,.. , be tMr'led into the sunshine. He fplt rat.tier con• spl t.uoas "I th the naked book under hts ana, ana Mped t hat. he would meet none or hts puptls .

He had onl)' taken a f ew s\.eps "hen be saw Mr. aoo Hrs. r roao eomlnc towaru, tum on t he na.~['Ol'I pa veme-nt.. M!'. F'ro~ M s the switot' Muse-master at Slade, a r-ath er bulk.,y man wi th t IT1 u.blt- tuft.ed eyebrClll's , and: so unusoo.llY 1a.,;e nose. Hf' taugh t t,atin m1d creel!: t<> the uppe!' form In th e $.;f100 l .

NJ·. Budd) e said •Both er L' under nu bt'ffllh . He nls e-d Ms hat poli te ly to Hr s . rr-oao, and nr . F l' C'lln !'etumed the salute .

•You have been mak Ing a purchase, Cl.),'

dea" 8Uddle11 obser.'ed nr . Fr omo pl easantly ..

'A present. ra- a young relative,• e.xpla1nea Hr. Buddle. .lie wmea pHlk.

•t1a.»vell ou:1 weath er for tn e t l D'l or yea : , ttr·0 Btndle s• pu t In Nr .!'I. J'romo.

t1r . Buddle ag f'eea t.hat lt was, lnae'!<l, marvel lous weaU'ler to, the t 1m.e or ye ar , ana l'f.r. and & s. f roiro walked , ,rio

But t'tr'0 Bua:n~•s or d~al was no~ yet ov!r'. He had only g,•ne a f ew hllnd.red ya."Os turf.her- 'l'hen a )' cUng man emergoo r n:, 11 .11. sher,. t t 'l'lfaS t1.1·. c.-a, t ord, Who was spor ts mst er at S lade .

8rfi>athfng hard, Hr . Buocne pushed the Holi day AMual ru.--tht r wxter his arai . 8 1) 'l lt oro usly , ln r ac ta that it s lipp ed. out behind h l ai and rel l on "he paveci.ent.

e"'ro re 11r·. Buodle could oolll!ct hts p!'?p~r ty , Nr. C'raytord had darted rorwaro aud plck ed It up . '!11e spor ts master· g1anc~ at the bOc'lk , am gr tnned . Kl! handed It to Mr. 8Wdlt1:.

• Do yoo •nt to be an engine drl ver vtlen you gr ,:;w up': " enqutr-ed Hr. Cray r O!'d. He walked on, l aughtn g.

f'or the seoond t lme that afternoon, Hr. Buddle stru ggled t <' thlnk or a deva­s\.8.ting r epl.y, bu t once agaln he stl"U8gled ln va tn .

Pl nke l" Lhan ev"'r; 11r . Buddle hur r 1t!d on hl S way. When he sair two bt g Slade re ll O'fll'S - Ant.robus , the Sl ade captain, and Sca"l i'l , a pr e re c1.. - c ::-.tng towards him, 21r. Bll:ldle dlved i nto a newsagent's ltlop, and bought a n""spaper. I t came In hana,y t o wrap up th e Holiday Annual.

Nr. Buctl le C'ljO)'ed ht_. H " l tb hU Roll dQ Annutl . Indffd , he round tt raact natlna: . Bet ore ret Iring to bed that nl aht , h~ brc,111sed through tt, th orrughl.y savour lne lta n rt ed cont ent a .

When evt ntuall)' he wmt to bed, Kr . Buadle started on one or the atcr1ea c It. was tn tl tled • r ,, S ave Hls Honour .• He h ad not been ('tadJns ro r lon& before h e re a li sed that he had read the 3tory bef ore . The dta conry tntrlgued him .

•Undoubtedl.Y a stor y fr"CD the Ge111,• lll.lsed Hr . Buddle . He "as qult.e " e ll acqua1n t ed wt th th, Gem, and l i ked It tmiense}J . Any Gen st ory ns ¥!Orth r eading: a second t.ime , ln hi s opi nion . He se t t.led down to read .

It tool( h1in thre e ai cc esslvt"! nights to coq,lete hi s re&dl ng of that st.ory, which was a lona on e .

Sy Saturday tie was :•eaa lng a 3?.ory ab:>U'. Rookword School . Mr. Buddle was not "ell acqo,i 1nr'td wtth RookVtol'Kl, tMugh he had CODY:! &Cl'OSS 1 t on one occasion .

Por Sunday th ere was a lengthy narrativ e around a s i.:hool namea Greytrtars . Mr. Btddle found It tt1tertalntng . He had Comi! to the conclusion that his ou t lay or three shillings on that Holiday Annual ha:! been money ,re ll spent .

(In t1onc&ay even ing, having marked a s.et or exercises worked by one or his Dl.gUsh classes, he s etLl ~d hims elf comfortably In hls ar,ncha t r to r e&(l the l u t story which really Int erested h1m In hi s Holiday A.J\l'lual . It was a story o r th ? boys or St . J Im' s, and , wi th a 1..our.h ot s ent. l l'tlr'nt.alil,y, Hr . Buddle had purpo s ely kept i t tQ wind up hi s glut. or tha t tYPe or r ead i ng .

The 81.ltum"'l dusk had rauen , and he ha:! swi tc hed on h1s study llgh', 0 Prom a als­tan ce came the sound or boyish vok es as Slade rellc.ws, wlth thelr ev mtng •pr e))" t lnlsh&d , betook t.hemselves t.o the COIIIOCIO Rooms tor a gossip or to t.he gymaslum for some s parr1 ng.

Mr. BudOle, however 5 'N'as uncUstul'tled by t tle di s tant oounds 9r ycuthrul htgh spirits. He was lozneu ed In his se cond story or S t . J tm• s provi ded by th e Holiday Annual .

Arte r· a wbJle he sat back tor a few minutes to rest his eyes , and to t htnk ov<>r what h,: had read. He waa about to 1·esl.lD1.! his :-eacun, 'olhen a tap ca:ne at the door.

Mr . Buddle grt.r1t ed. Jo; still wanted

Page 47

neariy an hour before he lllOUl<:1 be due to The man lowered hts voic e to l ittl e more carry out a junior dormitory t nspectlon , than a Mllspe r . •11r. Budd.le, I have sol ved and he dld not relish any encroachment on the problem or t.he seventh d imension ." his limited spare thoe . 'The seventh dlmenslo nt• Dl.ltter ed Hr.

•come ln l' he cal led out , Buddle In wonder, A lll'ln entered. He was carry in g a Hr, Gl.yn sntled . He l ooked more

squar e box by a hardle bolted to the top . youthful as he smll ea . r vr a moment. Mr. Buddle thought It was a •t have conquered time, Nr . Buddle, port able sewing- machine. I have long reallsed that all eras .. past ,

The man cl osed the door , He approa~ present, and ruwre - are In exis t ence ~ the tab le, and put down his boX, He togethe:- on dtr t erent planes . By tumtr..g a panted a little , as tMugh his burden had switch , I can t.rans t er a per son from one been M avy. plan e to another - f rom the present to the

Hr, Buddle stared at him tn amazeoent. past , rrom the past to the future. I can •tty name is Glyn,' sa1d the n~ comer. take you back Into the dear deact days . No 'Cl yn1' !!r.:hoed Hr. Buddle. The name l onger are they t,eyJnd rtca ll . Ir you

see~ farnl11ar . He seamed hts vtsttor . wt ll, I can provide you wHh a v1slt to any Mr. Buddle• s rtrst t1111ress1on had been year or the present century,•

tha t U\e Intruder was a young man, but at Hr. Buddle gave a haU-suppressea closer <.1uarters the lines were itvtdmt In S'IOrt.. He took a coupl e or paces forward. his forehead. Deep lin es . Tile hatr 'fttil~h 1 Thls ls ineer nonsenseL• he rawed had s':emeo:! !laxen from a distance was out.. •11Y'. CLYn, please leave my st udY, or actuall.1 White. He was or below average I must r ing to!' a servant to e.scort you out height... Ht wore a shabby mackintosh. 1 It ts not nonsense, ttr . BUddle. Hy

•What 00 you want wtth me, 11r. Cl,yn'?• machine ts here. I call lt the elec t ronic , asked Mr. Buddle. He spoke sourl.y . •You radtoph on&tte, anti-c l ock. You can test 1L should not vistt r:zy studY una.Mounced. t or yourself . You wll l co~ to no harm. Thi s 1s a private part.. or the college.• At pr esen:.. ~ range ls llml ted. At t.he

•I have made a remarkable sctenttrtc imlll!nt, about thirty years ts the utmos t 1 discovery ,• said Hr. Cilyn. Hts voice was can tak e you bade In time. Arter rurthe r low, with ju st Uie suspic i on or a lisp , •1 research , I Sl'lall be abl e to oonve,y ~ relt that. you YOuld be i nterested , Hr. passen gers to an lnrtnltelY grea te:- depth . Buddle. ' It will be possible to discover whet her

•A sct enti tl c dlsc overy1• ejac ulated Bacon wrote Shakespeare ard how the Druids 11r. Bl.Idelle. He rose t o hts reet , and "ent managed to convey those llJge rocks to on lrrltabl,y. 1 1 am not 1nterest..ed In Stonehenge.• sctenr.e , sir. 11uch or the misery has been Interested In splt.e or htmseH, Hr. brought •..o t,h1s world by scleno:". You !fllS!. Buddle leaned over the table. r1r. Glyn be seektng our sc i ence mast er - Mr. Crathl e . unfastened strong c l1ps nnd removed the You will t1nd his study tar t.her al ong t.lle ~o"er or his boi. A queef'-look lng machlM corri dor .• - tr it \\'ere a mach ine at al l - was dts -

The stronge li t t l e man shc,ok hts head. closed. It C':>nststed or a th ick roct or •No, Hr. Buddle , I am not s eeking Hr . metal, wttJi metal handles pro jec tin g fl"OC'I

Cra!.hte. 1 have pu."l)oselY come t o you. It . lnsulat i!d wir es disappear ed aoong a You ar-e aware t hat t.he most astound ing mass er valv~ s . strldl!S have been made 1n science In Uie •A most odd device ,• observed Mr •

. last th tl·ty years . Things wMeh we accept. Buddle dUblously. as normal to-daY would have been rega."<ied •s o ra!· , t have eonQuered the sevmtt by .:>U!' grandparents as tirposslb l e • magic dimension. In t ime I shall do more. • qui te unbeli evable.• Where , a t thls moment, I ean onl.Y tak e Yl'IU

•No doubt&' said Hr . Buddle. •Well?• tnto t he past, there will come a t ime iti en •To-.day aq invention Is beyond belief, I shall be able t.o tak e y.)a Into the rut U!'E

ln t.he sas:ne way tha t r adio ana electr i c ity, You wlll be able t o pa,y a visit to the Y'3aJ tal k ing pictures and at r travel , would have ntnet.eel'H'ltne t)"-1'llne, Hr. BUdcUe.• been beyond belle( t.o our grandparents .• ' Perish the thoughtl' yapp~ Mr.

·~~~~~~~-'-~·~~~~~~~~--~~~-

Page 48 Buddle. •under no circ umstances lC>Uld I remar kable Hr. Glyn spoke ~ arp].y. "lsh to see Into the t utm-e.• Solemn!y he •Take a handlet• quoted th e ..-oros or his ravourlt. e hYm: t1echa.nlcal1Y, Hr. Buddle t.ook a handl e. •God holds the key or all unknown - and 1 Ni·. GlYn st1·et c hOO out a hand , and twisted am glad .• first one knob aM then anothe r . He

Hr. GJyn shnlgged his should ers. adjus t ed a clock-like devlce . He pressed •Neverth el ess, you will accoq>any ~ a button.

on a b!'let trip into U!e l1m1ecllate past . n.ere was a deep hum t roll the ma.chine . You wtll enjoy that . l ::a.y say that I have The llght t n U'le st udY snapp ed out ; there paid several vlS l ts to the ear J.y years or was a sud.den burst or sunshine. ttie centur y. Yest.e.rda.v l had l unch a t the •oawn,• ej aculated Hr. B\lldle . HotP.l c~c!l 1n the Stranelt In the year Wfesterday's sunse t1• came th e lisping 1920. I have al ways returned te our own voice or Mr. Clyn. day and age without. d ttclcu lt..Y. Ther e Is ni.e hum gre w l oUder . Mr . Buddle was no danger, Hr . Buddle .• consc t ou.s or l'.b:)tton - cease le ss motion -

Mr . Buddle wr1nUt>::I his bro'l'ls In an odd whtr-1 t n which hls senses gre w r.Mught. gtdd,v . Plashing l1ght l¥1d dark , 11ke

He said slowly: •A vlsll; Into t he F'irework Nig.ht g,;i1"le mad . A sensation or past. It would be pl easan t , lu s t. tor a ru~ln g - 1-u!tJtn g - -·,ery short. t Im::, to fi nd onese lf a yoWlg •we ar-e Lher-ein ~ame the vo lce of Mr . man - even a boy - aga1 n. " Clyn .

Hr. Glyn shook hi s hP.ad . Mr. Buddle released t.he handl e. The •You mlsunderstandt Mr. Buddle. machtne was resting on the top e r a low

Tho1.1gh we ma) go back half a cmtur:,t you wall on I.he ve..-ge or a green, grassy convnon. :,ours o:"lr ., (11 nor ,:hange. J shall oerely 'n\e sun .,..as wan:'l. The slcy was clo udless. t.•ansrer you, as :,cu are, trom one plan e to wwoo:re are we?' demanded M:-. Buddl e. anothP.r. Al. th e present tl !m! you are Hr . Gl:m was pale wl th excitement . He sl llty --" consul t ed a dial on the machine.

•At. t.he present t.ta: I Bl!l rtrt y,• •we 8.!"e ln the year 1913 .. th e autu m, snapped Hr. Bu:ldle. I th i nk, rrom the loo k or U'l.ose trees. 1

ttr. Gl:m bowed. regu l ated the machine to m::ive a mil e for • t was mere ly speatlng 1n round each year cllppe d away. Ir ll?f calcu lati ons

r tgure s . You are ri ~ty no,,. You wi 11 be are coITect , we are on the outskirts or r!CtY v.hen we a light In the year nineteen Ptymouth .• hundred or thereabouts . I canno t change •wonderf ul\' oottered Mr. Buddle. He human belngs , but I can change th e ir pl anes . drew a deep , deep breath . The air was lik e tn a rew years time , ramlll es will go back the rat·es t wlne. lnt. ('I history to spend tt .e lr SUlll[ler "We cannot stay l ong , but you would hol tdays . •Where art YOO spendtng your llk e to have a short wal K?• .suggested ttr. holiday this year? • somEOne will ask . And Glyn. •1 cannot lea ve the machine - i t the reply will come 1We ar~ going into the might be sto l en or tS!Jllel"ed with . But you days or (j')od Queen Anne. ' Fascinating , I s can st roll ror a wh1le.• It not, Hr. Buddle?• •1 Should dearl y l ove to, • said Mr.

• J don't be l ieve It.,• sai d Mr. Buddle. Buddle impulsi vely. • You wll1 seet• promis ed Hr . Glyn. tlr . Gl,yn held up a hand .

H~ pointed to the r:la<'htr.e. •Hold one o r •A woro or wamtng , Mr . Buddle. I can thP. handles, Hr. Buddle, With your ot her give you , at the very outsid e , an hour l n hand , grip 1:11 shoul der . I must keep one fflllch to l ook around. Take note ot this ham rree to c:ianipulat e the controls . Do spot, tn order th at you can tl nd ale' again not be arra!d . You will not go Into orb i t . without dt tr lculty. tty batteries and One"! you se1 Z<' a handl e , you caMOt l et go accu rulat.ors are not as powerrul as th ey ttll 1 switch otr. You will feel but 11ttle will be when I have co~leted my r es earch. - cicrelY a tl C1at.H1g serisat.1on.• 1 JllUSt ge t back soon in order that I may

was 00 ~~::~~1; :s~;::;. ~~/xpe r len~e ~P~:U~~Y~~ul~h~~~~~o~/~,~~n:: =

Page 49_ Cl)' ant 1c l ock. gooe. You would be l ert In •No bott les t• crooned Kr. Buddl e . the year 19U . It might be lQ>Oss t ble ror •Where I come rrom, we get our m1lk f r<ltll me ever to rtnd you aga in.• bottles. •

ttr. 81.l;ttclle nodded. He spoke bre a th- •In this country we get 1t rrnm cows,' l essl y: retorte<J th e milkman.

•i. wi ll be back quickl y. I will just Hr . Buddle strolled on . A wate rin g• have a look round. It will be cost can, drawn ~Ya horse . was spraying one inst ructi ve . ! fllall return In less than an sl de or th e road . T'l'IO small b:>ys were hour . • dancing joy fully thrrugh th e pudcHes le ft

•Take note or th e surroundlngs,• behind. The dust was err ect lvel.Y laid . A warned Mr. Gl yn. sl lght s team rose rroc the wate!'ed surrac t

'A coCDOn with a brick wall, and a or the road, and the col ours or th e ratnbOfl srall lak e In the distan ce . A pillar-box gleamed In t he steam !.n the sun!h lne . ( Ol' le T.Le:rs. A see - saw tor children. r A fllJU1n-man passed a lcng , rlng tng his Shsll f ! rn:I Lhe sp!>t again eas1ly .• bell. Hr. Buddle hadnt t seen a 111Jrt1n- man

t1r. Suddle s poke with assurance. He ror years . hu.rrte d away across the cOC1DOn, and reached •No rush a,d t ear ~• C\11'1Wl'ed Mr. Buddl e a main roao. He looked back, and a ols • •s o qulet - so leisurely.• tan L Mr. C}yn "aved to him. '1n open- t opped TheN we:,e plenty or peopl e about , but tramcar hl.l!lllled along t h e road. Mr. Buddl e n0¥11lere was ~rowded . Thf' women wor-f' l ong signalled It, thf! car stopptd, and he sktrts nearly reachtng t.he pavement. They boar<Jed It . Before he had a scended to the wo"'e l arge hats perched on masses or natr . top deck, th e Lram was tn motion again . 1'1 always r..hought , • wsed Hr. Buddle ,

'thto: L"Olleyawheel sang o:n the wires •that Edwardian cloth?s ror waDEn were ugl y above. i:he wind bl ew In his race. - but rea lly these l adi es look qutte

A conductor caa:e up to hi m. beauttrul . • 1 The town ceri!.ral' s aid Hr . Buddle S:tmethlng about the men struck Hr .

recklessly . Buddle as OOd. For a YllU e he coul d not • A pennyt • said the conductor. He U'l.lnk what 1t was. Then he real lsed. All

c lipped a t icket with the tin g of a bell, t he men JJON hats or caps . 'nley looked as and slid the penny Into hls w..ney-bag " 1Ulout. tl'lougl:l. they mtght reel semi-nak ed without look tng at ft. t.he!r headgear . Arr:v t ng on hls vi sit rron

Soon t!r . Buddl e round hlmselr alight - a H ss . hat- consctous generation, Hr. Bu:tdle - Ing , and: th e ear sped on Its way. He "as in round th e change qutte str ik ing .

a ra lrly busy sLreet. The air was fre sh and •An absence of rlesh ," decided Mr. pl i?asant . Tw:, hor se-d rawn vehi cle s were tn Buddle. "Hands and races arP- all th es e s!ght . pMple have. All t he re st. or t.hem Is

•The atr Is aarvellous ,' sa id Hr. cl othes , clothe s , clothe s. • Buddle a loud. •No petro l ruces 1 of .;.curse. • A motot""car 1 ~pen to the skY, wt th a

A mllkmn was pushlnr. a SQUare trolley goggled dri ver st' ,t. lng hlgh behl od the along . Hanging al l row'KI the trolle y were wheel , chugged past . BP.side the driv er' sa1 leadeo• colow-ed cans. Hr . Bu~ l e stood a la d.Y, wear-Ing a rur , a tilg ha t, and a watching ror u rew 1DOments as t he man stopped huge "" 11 whl c.h ~·overed her race and her Lhe tro lley. · hat as we ll .

Lifting a large rcur -gallo n can rro m •we-e car s ever ltk.11 that? ' Mr. Buddle the i.:entre or th e tr olley, the mil kman askai himself. approached a house adj oin i ng a shop . A EnrJralled, he passe<l slcwly along the woman appeared with a j ug. The mil kman 1 lnes er shops, peel'."'lng tn th e windows. A deta ched a l adle , rilled It wHh aillk from mangle, wlth l&.-ge wooden r{iller~ and a the \!an, and t ipped the cont ent s or t he gtant hand l e, caught his e;ye. t.11.?asure lnLo the jug. ' My ~I.her had one ltke that, • excl allll'

As he r e turned , the Cl8l'l nottc':!d Mr. ed Mr. Buddle. Suddl~ surlng at hi m. His eyes dri fted to socie rurniture . A

•You' ll know me again , mtsterl " said g.randraLher chair wit h armrests : a grandoo th e milkman. D:)th er chair- wl th ouL arccNsts; a sora .

Page 50

The card annoWlCtd: Su l te U.-t 9-11 id. •Amaz.tna, • croone<1 Hr . 8Uddl e , He s t roll id on agatn . Then he

sr.opped oorore a newsa&fllt' s shop.s. Be­neath the wtnaow t ron t ,..Ere newspaper plae,,, ards , he ld In pl.act by wire meah.

One l'l!ad: Dall.)' Nf'll'S - Nr.s. Pank ­hurst places wreath on a,ran or woimn kill ed at the Dertiy . Anot.her: DallY Chronicle -Vuta Ti lley DanaerouslY Ill - Litt.le Hope; A t.hlr d: tv enln& Nt'NS .. Kent are the C"1c.ket ChaJ:ll)lons.

Mr. Buddlf wu ccnscloua that the placards were Lhere, but ht did not read th~ . On an lll)Ulse , he en t ered thf shop, The c.ounter .,., pl led hlih wl Lh papers and

periodical s or all shapes , slits , and col oW's.

A plucp woman wl t.h a la1 ge wart on her -:h1n lookird curio usly at th e little KMOluster .

•Have you a pape,· called the Cer:ir- no? asked,

Without speaking , :.he woman ju ic ed a blue---\..o,iered ptrlcxUc:al from a large heap .

Mr. Buddle ut.racud a shilling tro11 h.11 pocket, placed It on the count.er . and

wal 1,ed tor nts d\ance . the wocan took up i:.he shlllln& ,

acrutlnisea it , and then glared at Kr . BUOdle.

' F'or elgn money1• she sald seorn ru uy . Nr . Buddlt was star tled . Tlle pos:sl ­

b ill t..Y or a cWTtncy probl em had not oc~ced t ? him.. Ht gavt a stlt -conaetous laua)l.

•1 t Is t n1llsh money, •dam, but. Crom irnny years on ,• he assurtd t he aat.onlshed Shopkeeper .

• F'rom 'nhlch?• she demanded. She folded pl u:i> arm across her ample bosom.

Hr . Buddle sld led . •1 as a ,111tor r roa tht tut.UN!,

lll.'ldac,• he sa i d cl'latt.1ly. I do not. belong to the year 1913. I cooe Crom a year Iona arte r. •

'L on& after what?" •well, I suppose I mean lon, a r ter

Ul" war . • said Hr, Budd!,. •wnat war"?' 1be r.-m.n looked st artled

and SUJPI C'lou.s. "'The war aaalns t C~rmany, madaml Thts

Is t h'! year 1913, Isn ' t lt? • The woman did not an• er . Try in g t o

a.;.t unobtrUSt n lY, she picked up a scan

hammer 'ltl lCh had been lYln& on top or a ala ti or to rr ee on a uay . Sht gripped t he hamer hard .

M.:·. Buddle d id not notice . He went on uc I t eeny :

•Next year , mdam , thl a country wlll be ac. war with cen.any. The war wtll go on till 1918. Dut'ln& that time , gold en sovereigns will disappear anct you will use D:'.lnt>y ma.1e o r poper. Arter that. , women will be &lven the vote. Peopl e will n y across th e Atlantk and tiadc 1n a rew hoU!'s. 8)' c.umlna a switch you 't'ill be able to hear an or~~stral concert rrom ttie con:1nent .•

SI.Jddenl)' lht we&w1 waved htr hacoer In the a u, and the st.artl•<J Mr. SUdale hopped baclt.

•Ber ~•· shr' eked the wmnan. Appa:-ent ­l y shf' • as calllne ror male assl&t.ancf' rrm S<Wlellhere b411,)'ond the door behind the counte.-. She ii.Id t.) Hr. 8udale:

• eel out, Y)UL You're pot.t.YI r won ' t. boa llllMe1'ed wt t.h?Ul a st!"U&&l e. Cet out btirore 'JI!! Bert comes and deal s with you. •

ettc1: again she waved the han:me,· tvl"OCl~sly.

'Oh, i:alamlt yL• gasped Nr. Bud:ne . Hasttly , he .skipped out or tht shop.

Soillt"wherit a .::lock was striking . Tbe sound gave H.l', BUddle a sense or urgenc )'.

•ccod heavens , h~ lon; have 1 tleen'? J t must be mo:-t than an hour. I mst

r tnd Mr. Clyn. • He r ei::. perspiration stand ing on ht s

tirow. Anxlousty ht looked rouM ror a traa::a.r . but n;>nt was tn sight.

•Oh, dearL t shall be le t t tiehtnd In 191 :,. What a co.t.astrophel' panted Mr, Buddl e .

He walked rul t n \..he dlrtctlon rrom l'tlfch h• had ,c:cie earlier . He broke Into a run. Peopl e scu ter-ed as he sped a lone th"! paveoents . The (".rowds on the pave­llM!nt s seemed to thl cken.

The sc,me was changln&. He caul d see the fl'e en comon In the dlstanct . There was the l ake , the pillar-box ror le t ters , the see-saw ror children.

Nr. BUO<tle' s teet pattered across tile cress or t.he cor:mon, There was no sign or Mr. cayn. No s11n o r the antteloc k r.ach ln e.

Mr. 8Uddlt was ca lli ng a., ht pan t ed alona .

l

• Hr . G!yn - H .... Cl\ '?l - Whfl-re ar e you, t1r . C!Yn? come back ror me, Mr. Gl.)'Tl_.

Pers Plt'a tl cn " as t tyt n& rrom ht s brow. Ht was making no progr-ess. He t.r !ed t.o ro rce ht s l egs up and dOYCl 1 l ke ptstons , but they a ct.ed lt ke 1118.chl nery bad l y tn need of l ubctc at.l on. He caught hls r oot tn s ome­thi ng and tr1ont si.agge:"tng f onwa.."'d. He n ung :>Ut hfS anns .

•ttr. GlYn, "here art you?-The com:JOn ..... a s spinn i ng. Th e light.

was rad 'ng. the atmosphei·e was hot and stlrlin g. S tl ll Hf' . Buadl e a tte mpt ed t o run , but could not . He t rie d t o shout but no words wou ld come. He f elt that hi s rhes t ll' &S burstl~.

• s t rL' car.ie a voice. •Mr. Clyn11 gasp l!<I out. Hr . Buddl e . •s ~r t• r epea t ed t he votu. Someone

wa s shaki ng hlm by th e sh:iul der . • Hr. Buddl e opened hls eyes . H1s s tu:iy

l ooked peacefu l in I.he glc;.w rro m t he shaded ele ct:" lc ll ght . A boy s t.rood a t his s !d&, l ooking a t him with some conc ern but wi th an aiwsed gU cmer in very blue eyes .

• Mer ea l th l ' ejac ul a !.ed Mr. Bood l e. The so!hoolr:iaste !" s at upri ght l n ht s ar.irchalr J erk i ng a handkerehle f f ro m h1s bre ast poUCet , he 1DC1pped his damp f ore head.

Meredith speke I't .spect tu l lY. but Hr. BUddle was c onscious or that- g leam or t un In the boy' s eyes .

• JTve brought. aq, es say , s i r. You t ola ce t-0 do I t. again , s i r , and bring 1t to yoo t h i s evening . I knocked on your door , sir, but. you did n' t an~r. I Maro a fUMY noi se U ke a pi g grunting, s ir , s o I th ought l ' d bett er come tn. "

WI t.hout a word, Ht·. Buddle to ok the exe rc is e book whi ch t,he boy was hol din g out to hi m.

Page 51

1 1 t hough t you mi ght have been tak en i ll, sir. I t..hought you might be ha-.,t ng a !it, s t.r ,• sa id tle!'!:!dt th so rt lY.

• ! had dro pped on tc sl eep,• snapp ed 11r. Buddle . Hls eyes res t ed on the Holi day Annual whi ch had f all en t-0 the n oor . Ar?.er a momen t , he p icked It up.

• 1 pu.--chasPd this book in Evers loo e l ast . week . Mere di th . 1 t see ms t o be the sort or ll te rature 'ffll!c h ~pea l s to you. 1 r yc,u car e t o have It , nu :may tak e It away with you . •

•Oh, sir, that ' s awrulIY &ood or ,:cul" Hered l t h too k the book , and tur n~ ov er a rew pages . •t rtiould lo ve to hav e I t , s ir. n, ank you very 1111Ch Inde ed, s i r.•

In th e kl ndnes 5 or hls heart , the ralr­hatred youth omi t t ed to menti on tha t he al.ready o1'1fled a o!Opy ')f th at editi on or th e Holt daY Annua l, giv en to hi e l ong ag<' by his rather .

•ve ry we l 111 s a1d Hr. Buddl e s t t r n y. • You may go 1 Mered ith. •

ner edtl h tuc ked th e book under h l s & 'lD ,

and t urne d to l eave th e stuay . •The::-c !s , • sa1d It' . Buddl e dr'e amtly,

• a curi ous tale In that vol ume about some-, one who invent s a oac htne whi ch can co nquer t tme. I t. t s , so tar as I r emeciber , entt tl e •Glyn' s Gt·eatest . • It " as probabl y beyorxt reas on a t. the tl l:)e tt 111as writt en , but , t n the se mod.em ti mes , wit h s o lll8ey ne w sc i en­t if ic d isco ve r i es , It does not seem so verJ t a.- retc hed. You s hou ld read the s t ory , Mer edit h. It wll l giv e you rood tor tho ugh

" I'm sure 1t wtl l, s ir . • t111'111.1red Me redi t h . •Good n l ght 1 s 1r1•

niere '!¥3.S an i n scr ut able smil e on his ra ce as he l e ft th e s t udy.

FOR SALE: Greyfriars S.O.Ls . 406 , 409 . Li ve- Wire Head S. O. L. 299.

6/- each . i nc. pos tage . "Backwoods" st ory in S.O.L. 184, 5/ - inc .

postage . 6 Gold Hawk books . St . J i m' s . 2/6 each.

E . B. FLI NDERS, 18 CONQUEST CLOSE, HI TCHIN, HERTS .

Page 52

REALI TY or IMPROBABI LITY By Maurice Kutne r

was in terested in t he editorial comment in the August C.D. that Greyfria r s was not all that i mprobab le in its own day and age .

I t s own day and age is as f ar removed fro m the present screaming sixties as the old - fashioned re ques t to the local barber " jus t th e usual short back and sides , please , 11 is to t he modern to nsor ial request for "just a litt le off t he shoulde r s. 11

Youth , in the f irst quarter of this century , may not have desired , or al ways expected , reality in th eir school sto r ies. The rea l ity of school days were not always pl easant even if the middle-aged reminis ­cent believes them. to have been so. As t o school it self , the seeming­ly eternal home- work, and the sword of Damocles, in the shape of The Cane, casting its shadow befo r e, - and someti mes behind , are two of my rr.ain realities. Even "sunny , carefree days " could have their little irri t ations like th e sudde n shock of an inky paper pellet reaching its mark wit h unerring aim .

Qreyfriars , to the young reader was cer t ainly a r eal school , but perhaps some of its happie r moment s were definitely bordering on the improb abl e, thereby keep i ng t he reader happy - and faithful.

One amongst many of these improbable moments at Grey fr iars was when Wally Bunter exchanged places with his cousin Bi l ly , s o gran ti ng St . Jim ' s the ques t ionable honour and pleasure of Billy Bunter ' s com­pany for the dur at ion .

The Bunter t ha t c arr i ed out his i mpostur e a t Greyf riars became overnigh t a mighty figh ting man, spo rt sman, and erudi t e scholar. No one , not even the gimle t- eyed Mr. Quel ch , or the keen Vernon Smith , queried or became suspic ious of this sudden miraculous re - bir th except , s tr angely enough , Sidney James Snoop, who kept Wal l y 1 s secret t o the end .

Wally felt safe in his deception until his cousin Bessie Bunte r wished to visit him, He was convinced that she was not as stupid as t he rest of the Gr eyfriars personnel , and he had a di smal foreboding t ha t she would see through the imposture

The genius of Frank Ri chards could paint bol d strokes of black and white, fusing them a t times into . delicat e and en t er t aining shades of grey . I mprobabili ty a nd reali sm often r an side by side, and in this particular series the characte r s of Snoop and Wally are finel y drawn by the author as reality and drama are introduced in the shape of Snoop's unfortuna t e fathe r , once a sleek City man and company E_romoter, and now an escaped convict desperately se eking help from his

'

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f.rightened , miserable , and shame- filled son. During Snoop' s struggles to .get the bet t er of his own weaknesses ,

11all,y is draWl) cl oser t o him than any ot he'r fellow a t Greyf ri ars. One

~ conjecture on the ultimat e e ffe c t on Sidney Snoop's characte r had

11all,y Bunter remained a permanent pupil at Greyfriars. Back again to impj'Obabili ty :- we see th e supposed Bi Uy Bunte r ,

magicall,y overnight discar ding the seven dead ly sins , becoming one of

the best scholars in the Remove and helping Tom Dutto n, tho deaf

junior , vith hls French lessons. One reC>embers a sad, long history of shouted misunders tandings when poor Tom ie asked, for example, such

a simpl e thin g as to "pass the salt , plea se. " . Even Bob-St entor ­

Cherry , posaeeaor of the st r onges t lungs in all Greyfriars , whose r oar

could nearly blast one's ear-drums at si x paces , had often in the past

be<>n accused by Tom Dutton of "mucbling . " So we are left wit h the

vision of \lall,y t r ying to ~ach his deaf study - mate Fr ench verb con­

jugations and adjec t ival endings. '.!'he author , in attempting to make a reality of an improbability ,

studiousl,y omits to refer to the condition of 11all,y's throat after

each less on. So the Greyfr iars saga is composed of a fair percen t age of i m-

frobabil i ty . And •hY not? Charles Hamil ton himself once indicated

in the Orwell affai r ) that the young r eader would have to face th e

realities of life soon enough , - all too soon !

THE START OF IT ALL By Charles H. Matt hews

I wonder how many of us can pinpoint vi th any accuracy the date

at which we started to read the old papers? I am fortunate enough to possess a series of photograp h albums

arranged chronologically , covering the period 1915 to 19(,(), ones that

I made myself , and having a spare CJOment the other day , and a mood for

nostalgia , I thumbed over the first of the se albun:bs. One of the photographs , dated 7th April , 1925, shows my girl

cousin and JI!YSelf on the front at Brighton . We were not , it seems,

short of reading Datter , for I am holding up in fro nt of me, The

Popular, and my Cousin - The Sunbeam, so I thus have i ndisputable

proof that I was reading The Popula r at the age of 10, at least .

\lhen, I wonder , did I start reading The Magnet and The Gem?

Actually , I suppose , it was some year s previous to this , as my

Cousin and I spent all our holidays a t Brighton vit h an Uncle and Aunt

who ·had a Confectionery and Nevsagent' s Busin ess in the Queens Park

Road,

Pa 54

The boys ' and girls ' weeklies were a grea t at t raction t o us , and we were a l lo wed to read th em before they went on sa le , provided , of course tha t we kept t hem clean . Childhood memories never seem to in ­cl ude wet days for the sun al ways seemed to shine , but wet days spe nt indoors could neve r have been i r ksome to us with so much congenial reading matte r at hand .

At firs t th e myst e r ious happenings at St, Frank ' s did not interest me, until in 1927 I succumbed to th e lure of Handforth's B-"'t'ring Out11

and r ead , and read again , the Christmas number in t hat fine series . So well indeed , did I like that Ser ies , that I put t heir. awey, and

in fact sti l l have the eigh t numbers that comprised it , Incidentally I wonder how many C.D. readers have the ori ginal numbers th ey purchased themselves all those years ago .

My interest , like the boys of St. Frank' s , su rvived the vicissi ­tudes of flood and fire , and even t he relegation of their exploits t o the back of the Nelson Lee Library , and I remained a regular reader until the age of 18, when the old paper merged with The Gem. This proved a mort al blow to my int erest in Nipper & Coy. and I read no more about St. Frank's for I did not care much for The Gem of tha t ti~ .

I was still , however, at 18, a regular subscriber to The Magnet, and used to buy back numbers whenever I could get them. There was always one place in the vecy early 1930 ' s where I coul d always be sure of picking up White Magnets , $ .0.L's and back numbers of the Nelso n Lee Libra ry published befor e my time . This was a stal l i n Wa ter Lane, Brixt on, near th e subway entrance to the s t a tion . I can reca l l , as if only yesterday , the voice of the neighbouring stall hold er, who un­ce asingly called "Shopping bags and iron-ho lders , l ady , shopping bags and iron-holders " while I was tu.ming over The Magnets and other ,boys 1

books . To this same stall in about 1932 , I well remember tak i ng a whole

pile of Magnets , and receivin& 3d . a dozen for them. How I wish I had kep t t hem, as I did the Whit e Magnets, which I still have. I cann ot now i magine lfhy I kept t hese for I neither l iked the stor ies nor t he illus tr at i ons .

I did, however, keep and s t ill have the very fine second Wharton Rebel se r ies of 1932.

I continued to read and really enjoy The Magnet until it finished when I was 25 years of age. For the l as t year of i t s exis ­t ence I had to get my own lunch on a Saturday, and t he menu never varied - sardines and bread and butte r, cream ecl airs , and the good

Page 55

old Magnet to read. I can remember, oh, so very cle arly my dismay (on enquiring of

my newsagent on Brixton Hill, the reason for the non-delivery of "The Battle of the Beaks") when he . told me that no Magnets had · come thrOU,!11, and that he underetood there would be no more "until after the var." ~

But the end of the Magnet also signified for me, the end of the sardines and cream e clairs , and a way of life to which I never re­turned, for within thre e weeks I waa instructed to report to Stan­more in llidd lea ex, to join the 50th Bn. The Royal Fusiliers.

The loee of The Magnet did no t worry me during the years I was in the Anr/f, but on my return t o Civvy Street, I wrote the ti.rat of meny letters to the Amalgamated Preas asking when, "if eve r , the Magnet wee coming back. The early repliee I recei ved blamed "the pre sent shortage of printing paper" for i t s non-appearance, but in subsequent lett ers , it vas regretted that "no info1'118tion can be given at the moment as to the possible re-publication of The Magnet."

I think I realised at last that the good old Magnet , like many other things enjoyed in the halcyon days of Pea ce , had gone fo r eve r. I deeply regretted then, the huge pile of J!aenete I had sold for so little before the war, and co1111oled myse lf by reading, and re-reading the few surviv ors tha t I still had - a mere four dozen or so.

After a while, however, things began to look up vith the issue of the hard cover Bunter and Tom Ner:ry Tales, and I discovered Bill Martir John lledcraft and Joseib Baguley, from wh(D I started to buy Nelson Lee's, until I almost had a complete collection. And then - unpredic ­tably, I lost i nterest and sold my collection of Lees," most of which vent back to Bill Martin .

llith the proceeds of this sale, my wife and I spent a fortnight in Vienna in 19'52, but MW I wish now, that I had my collection of Nelson Lee's .

lly interest today, is as great as ever it was, but I realise only too . well that the present prohibitive prices will preclude me fran eve, again building up s uch a collection, and laat yeer, vi th the co-opera ­tio n of Bob Blythe and Roger Jenkillll, I started once aga1n to read the ""8neta and the Lee's that had given me ao Dlch pleasure in the pa s t.

It is a sobering thoui!jlt when I look beck, to reali se how much I am indebted to Char les lludlton and &ivy Searle s Brooks, for taking me to the scholastic abadea of Greyfriara and St. Frank' e.

!lo more will I see the good old Magnet ccme thro""'1 th e letter boi but I await just aa ..,..rly now, the appearance of Collectors' Digest.

WHAT COLLEC TORS' DIGEST LOOKED tnCE:.WREH rr WAS VERY YOUNG

THE COLLECTORS

DIGEST