London

One of the strangest of song recitals was given here the other day. The soloist was a recently released convict who was billed with no further name than his prison number --562. He sang half a dozen songs in a magnificent tenor. One of these, dedicated to his wife, was a' member of a group of 150 compositions that he wrote in prison.

No. 562 was at one time a well known opera tenor. He committed a crime, the nature of which is not revealed, and was sentenced to three years of imprisonment. To the jail in which he was incarcerated came a soprano of prominence to give a recital for the prisoners. No. 562 volunteered to join her in a duet. She sang with him, and was astonished at the power and beauty of his voice. He told her something of his history, but kept his name from her. Now he is free, and has embarked upon a recital career. But still he keeps his true identity secret. People who knew him in his other life cannot recognize him any more, he has changed so much. He wa,nts to obliterate the days that were his before he passed into prison, and make for himself another existence. He stands No. 562, concert tenor.

It is announced that Sir Richard Haget, well known experimenter, has devised an artificial throat capable of uttering with close perfection the tones of human speech and song. In this is recalled the age-old attempts to create a human-like mechanism that could talk like a man. Albertus Magnus is said to have constructed one so perfect that his pious pupil, Thomas Aquinas, smashed the machine with a cane, saying that it was the work of Satan and that Satan was in it. In more recent years mechanical reproductions of the human throat have been attempted, but some of the vowel sounds could not be made to sound truly. For a long time organ manufacturers have tried to fashion a genuine " vox humana," a mechanical singing voice. It is said that the new device will bring the ideal of speaking dolls.