6o2 



The Review of Reviews. 



December 1, lOvS. 



The Theatre in Geneve, 

 In which a plaj- was performed in Esperanto. 



them together as if they were brothers. 



Wednesday Moniiiig. — Blazingly hot e\"en at 9.30 

 yet the Aula of the University was full. Long and 

 earnest discussions upon the various reports of the 

 language and acting committees took place. ■ We 

 were due at midda\ at the Bastions for the great 

 dejeihicr. at which some eight hundred guests sat 

 down, but on way stopped for a photo, to be taken. 

 The group on the Uni\-ersity steps was a notable 

 sight. A pretty young lady in a white blouse had 

 posed just behind a gentleman whose beautiful white 

 hair is always noticeable, so she had to change 

 places with a black-coated man amid much laugh- 

 ter. It is these happy little family occurrences which 

 make our Esperanto gatherings as joyful as the 

 Christmas gatherings of the olden times. 



After the midday meal, with its speeches, tele- 

 grams, jokes and music (we all practised the Es- 

 peranto call, to the amazement of some reporters 

 who were present), the time was whollv occupied 

 with special unofficial committees, 

 and, alas ! I badly wanted to be 

 present at two which took place at 

 the same hour — the Red Cross and 

 Teachers' Committees — yet missed 

 both, for one was away up in the 

 University, the other at the School 

 of Commerce. No placard having 

 been posted, I failed to find either. 



Musicians, mathematicians, So- 

 cialists, Catholics, etc., etc., all 

 met in special rooms, and the Bri- 

 tish section seized the one unoccu- 

 pied half-hour, 6 to 6.30, to dis- 

 cuss two important points — the B. 

 E. A. registration and the place of 

 the next Congress. One enthusiast 

 cried out that Esperanto must be 

 used, but the "noes " were decided. 

 Imagine eighty people with a 

 tongue of their own trying to get 

 in a discussion on two such sub- 

 jects in half an hour in what is, 

 after all, a foreign language. 



It was settled tha't we must be courageous and 

 invite the Congress to England next year, and then 

 we hurried off to prepare for the e\"ening at the 

 theatre, where a charming little comedy — " A Letter 

 of Recommendation '' — was played by a Russian, 

 a Frenchman, and a Portuguese, followed by a 

 tragedy of " Edmond de Amicis,'' translated by 

 Mnie. Junck — and in which she was the chief ' per- 

 former. 



Friday. — No time to write yesterday, for we had 

 to be at the quay at 8.30 in order to go to 

 Ve\ey, Did ever a ship before contain so cosmo- 

 politan a crowd? 



" Where will Esperanto be if our ship goes 

 down?" was said by one Esperantist. "Ah!'' was 

 the reply, " our cause is secure. If we are all drown- 

 ed our friends everywhere will only work the harder 

 and keep more closely to the rules we have laid 

 down." 



"It is the day of my life. " I heard someone 

 sa\ . " what with the beauty of the scenery, the vivid 

 colouring, the delightful little circles for talk of all 

 kinds, which formed and broke up, and then formed 

 portions of other such little groups." "Have you 

 seen M. Deshays? — Do point him out — I must ask 

 about his song." "Who knows Dr. Mybs? — I have 

 corresponded with him, but I don't know him by 

 sight," and so on, .and so on; and, after all, some 

 of us missed just the person we badly wanted to 

 meet. A touching incident was the boarding of the 

 boat at Ouchv by two blind girls, who had come a 

 long distance to meet Dr. Zamenhof. They spoke 

 Esperanto charmingly, and the younger one said 

 to the Doctor: "May I not kiss you, dear master? 

 Xe\er can I exprt?ss what you have done for me," 



To-dav at the second general meeting the British 



On the Saisson Glacier. 

 Tlie Picnic side of the Congress. 



