McCormick messenger. (McCormick, S.C.) 1902-current, February 09, 1939, Image 2
McCORMICK MESSENGER, McCORMICK, S, C., THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1939
WHO'S
NEWS
THIS
WEEK
By LEMUEL F. PARTON
N EW YORK.—John F. Stevens
was self-educated as an engi
neer. Therefore, he was an eclectic
and readily made use of a retired
_ . murderer to ac-
Fanted Engineer complish a des-
Used Murderer perately impor-
To Attain End tan * end > re
gardless of the
• lack of engineering precedent. He
is now 86, one of the greatest of
American engineers, the first engi
neer in charge of planning and
building the Panama canal, recently
awarded the Hoover medal by the
iAmerican Society of Civil Engineers
at its eighty-sixth annual meeting in
INaw York.
t The murderer who came in
handy was a Montana Blackfoot In
dian. Jim Hill’s new railroad, west
bound from St. Paul, was rather
impulsively started. It ran slap-
bang into the impenetrable wall of
the Rocky mountains. There was
an Indian legend that there was a
pass over the divide, along the
course of the Marias river. Mr.
Stevens, a young engineer for the
railroad, talked to the Blackfeet
about it. There was such a pass.
They knew all about it. But not all
of Jim Hill’s wampum could bribe
them even to point in that direc
tion. This Marias pass was the
dwelling place of. evil spirits, of
sorcerers, of dreadful demons, and
all who went that way lost either
their lives or their reason.
Mr. Stevens mnshed over the
mountains with the thermome
ter at 50 degrees below zero and
found no pass. But, by chance,
he found a wanderer in the wil
derness, a Blackfoot driven out
by his tribe because he had
killed a man. The Indian had
been having a difficult time. A
few devils and monsters, more
or less, meant little to him.
They made a deal. The story of
their days-on-end scramble to.
the roof of the continent through
five feet of snow and bitter cold,
with Mr. Stevens sleepless as he
kept an eye on Ids homicidal
guide, is one of the classics of
the conquest of the wilderness.
They found the pass, and their
return was another desperate
adventure. But soon the scream
of locomotives was crying down
the demons, who, presumably,
moved on.
When the Panama canal was pro
jected, John F. Stevens fought
through, against weighty opposition,
the lock principle against the sea-
level plan. The engineer in charge,
from 1905 until he was succeeded
by General Goethals, he flattened
all the demons of disease and dis
order which had licked De Lesseps.
General Goethals rated his work as
among the greatest of engineering
achievements. He was minister
plenipotentiary to the Soviets in
1917, remaining six years and re
organizing and rebuilding their rail
roads. • •»
r\R. VANNEVAR BUSH, testify-
ing on the patent system before
the national economy committee at
Washington, is the inventor of
_ . . , „ . a “mechanical
Scientistm Brain b r a i n,’* o r
Machine Downs “thinking ma-
Human Thinker chine.” It is as
big as a sawmill
that solves problems “too difficult
for the human brain.” It works nice
ly, and Franklin institute awarded
him a medal for it.
One can think offhand of a lot of
vexing problems that might be
tossed into its hopper these days.
Set up in congress, dealing the an
swers on war and peace, national
defense, relief and a balanced budg
et, it ought to save a lot of money.
Dr. Bush, former vice presi
dent of Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, became presi
dent of the Carnegie institution
on January 1 of this year. He is
one of the most distinguished
mathematical physicists in
America. A tall, genial, bespec
tacled scientist, with a slightly
stooped and somewhat stringy
figure, with untamed hair, he
leads reporters quite out of their
depth. His metallic cerebration
was just one of many of his in
teresting devices and discover
ies, including, particularly, re
search in the transmission of
electric power, to which he has
made notable contributions.
The son of a distinguished Bostor
clergyman, he romped througi.
Tufts, Harvard and M. I. T., picking
up three degrees in three and one-
half years, thereafter teaching at
M. I. T.
On February 19, 1936, addressing
the New York Patent Lawyers’ as
sociation, he was severely critical
of the American patent system, for
its “appalling fixity and lack of
adaptability.” At the current com
mittee hearing, he commends it, but
both meager news reports are out
of their context, and Dr. Bush doubt
less could defend himself against
charge of inconsistency.
• Consolidated News Features.
, WNU Service.
EXCELLENT DESIGN
The Whole World Topsy-Turvy to Him
Pretty Miss Nannelle Rentz dis
plays something in a new swimming
suit at Miami Beach. The suit is
white satin with brilliant flowers.
Frank Balek, 12, Chicago youth, sees everything upside-down. He
originated his own method of writing by beginning at the bottom, in the
lower right hand corner, and writing from left to right. Not only does
he read and write in this manner, but objects are also visually upside-
down. He is in the fifth grade, and averages 85 in his studies, which indi
cates that his visual defection does not impede his educational progress.
Socialite—Honeymooner—Baseball Magnate
‘Old Pete’ Shares Billing at Flea Circus
Grover Cleveland Alexander, once the hero of Gotham baseball
crowds, recently spent a three-weeks’ engagement in a New York penny
museum whose chief attraction was a troupe of trained fleas. “Old Pete,”
as he was affectionately known, lectured on baseball and answered ques
tions put to him by fans.
OLD AGE ASSISTANCE
Whenever “Dynamite,” a London,
England, bulldog, wants a spot of
fresh air he is loaded aboard a
wheelbarrow by his master, an east
coast resident, and is taken for his
constitutional. He is accustomed to
this means of transportation and
looks forward to his daily ride.
\ _
Too Often a Champion, Skye Terrier Retired
Star Dust
^ Two 'Happy Endings 9
^ Another British Girl
Tex Ritter Shuns Horse
By Virginia Vale
T HEY’VE been having
“happy ending” trouble
with “Idiot’s Delight.” In the
play, the hero and heroine
prepared to die together. But
that didn’t seem to work out
too well when the picture was
previewed, so another ending
was prepared, to be used if
other pre-release audiences liked it
better than the original one.
*
Now that Vivien Leigh is sched
uled to shoot into stardom (if “Gone
With the Wind” turns out well for
her), some of the pictures in which
she appeared in England will be re
leased again over here.
Meanwhile we have the word of
Ernie Westmore, the demon make
up man, that another girl from the
British isles will “burn up Holly
wood.” Her name is Maureen
O’Hara, for screen purposes; in real
Miss Valerie Cole (left) of London, England, will be presented at court by her aunt, Mrs. Neville Cham
berlain. She is making her home at No. 10 Downing street, the prime minister’s home. Center: The former
Gloria Baker, heiress to $11,000,000, whose marriage to Henry J. Topping, tinplate heir, took place in Decem
ber, left recently with her husband for Honolulu, where they will spend several months at the George Vander
bilt home. Right: Helen Winthrope Weyant, 37, former chorus girl, is the largest beneficiary under the will of
the late Col. Jacob Ruppert, brewery and baseball magnate. In addition to $300,000 in cash, she gets one-third
of the income of the residuary and baseball trusts.
VIVIEN LEIGH
life it’s Maureen Fitzsimmons. She
hails from Dublin, is 18 years old,
and is the discovery of Erich Pom-
mer, discoverer of Marlene Diet-
: rich. She is working in London in
the new Charles Laughton picture,
“Jamaica Inn” as Laughton’s lead
ing lady.
&—
Tex Ritter, Monogram’s singing
cowboy, is on a two months’ person
al appearance tour, with four mem
bers of the musical unit used in his
pictures. They are traveling by car,
with Tex in his trailer, and expect
to stop in 52 towns before they re
turn to the studio and another se
ries of westerns.
*
Little Miss Barbara Bowden of London, England, and Champion Prince of Quarrydale, a fine Skye terrier,
pose obligingly for the cameraman at the National Terrier club show which was held in Olympia recently.
The Prince has been retired from championship classes because of his consistent success, having won 119
prizes in various shows. _ ___ _
There’s to be a new hair cut for
the ladies, named for Ina Claire; it
will be launched with tons of pub
licity. Of course. Miss Claire has
the kind of hair that will take and
hold any kind of hair-do, and can
have it whipped into shape by an
expert three or four times a week,
or even every day, which makes
things tough for her imitators.
*
George Raft’s departure from
Paramount was not exactly unex
pected. It came as a result of his
refusal to play the lead in “Magnifi
cent Fraud.” Lloyd Nolan has
formed the habit of stepping into the
parts that Raft doesn’t want, so
he did it this time. Last August,
when Raft refused a role in “St.
Louis Blues,” the same thing hap
pened.
*—
To this desk came a touching sto
ry about a cocker spaniel named
“Rudy,” given to Tommy Riggs
by Rudy Vallee a year ago: Ac
cording to this little tale from the
press representative, the dog al
ways listened to the Riggs Satur
day night air shows. It began to
pine in a corner when a dog char
acter was introduced on the pro
gram, not knowing that the dog
was played by Brad Barker, an ani
mal imitator.
And, ran the story, a doctor friend
of Riggs’ claimed that, when
“Rudy” died the next day, it was
because of “the nearest thing to a
broken heart that he had ever seen
in an animal.”
That doctor should have consulted
the elevator boy in Riggs’ apart
ment hotel, who confided to me the
fact that the dog died of distempel*.
But distempe$ doesn’t make a
touching little story for press
agents.
*
Got any hobbies? Dave Elman,
conductor of “Hobby Lobby,” de
clares that, according to statistics,
the life of modern man is prolonged
for several years through intelli
gent use of leisure time in cultivat
ing them. If Elman himself doesn’t
look out he’ll need something more
than a hobby to prolong his. Since
none of his “Hobby Lobby” guests
arrive in New York before Monday
morning, he works from nine o’clock
Monday morning until at least mid
night Monday night interviewing
them and preparing the material
for his broadcasts.
rfc
ODDS AND ENDS—Gabriel Heatter
tvishes that he could get another guest
for u lf'e, the People'' who'd attract as
many listeners as Tom Mooney did ...
Right along with the announcement of
the "Gone With the Wind" stars comes
the information that Waller Connolly,
who was signed long ago, wont be in
the cast; his options expired, and he'd
got rather tired of the whole thing . . .
Jimmie Cagney’s sister has been mah’
ing excellent screen tests.
<£> Western Newspaper Union.
TIPS ,o
Gardeners
Flowers for a Purpose
G ardeners want flowers for
house bouquets, for beautifi
cation of the yard, or both. To be
certain of an abundance of flow
ers for cutting throughout the
growing months, however, the
gardener need only plant packets
of three or four of the following
flowers:
Annuals—Snapdragon, aster, ca
lendula, calliopsis, candytuft, car
nation, bachelor button, cosmos,
dahlia, larkspur, annual lupin,
marigold, nasturtium, salpiglossis
and zinnia.
Perennials—Columbine, coreop
sis, gaillardia grandiflora, peren
nial lupin, pyrethrum (painted
daisy), and shasta daisy.
For earliest bloom, the follow
ing are recommended by Harry
A. Joy, flower expert: Calliopsis,
candytuft and calendula, among
the annuals, and coreopsis, del
phinium and pyrethrum, among
the perennials.
For late-blooming cut flowers,
grow zinnia, marigold, gaillardia,
snapdragon, aster, cosmos, dahlia
and larkspur.
RAW
THROAT
K Your Sore, Scratchy Throat
Comes from a Cold—Yon Can
Often Get Fast Relief this Way
1. To ease pain and
discomfort and re
duce fever taka 2
Bayer Tablets —
drink a glaas of water.
2. If throat is raw
from cold, crash and
dissolve 3 Bayer Tab
lets in 14 glass off
water... gargle.
Just Make Sure You Use
Genuine BAYER Aspirin
The simple way pictured above
often brings amazingly fast relief
from discomfort and sore throat
accompanying colds.
Try it. Then — see uour doctor.
a cold. And reduce fever.
^This simple way, backed by
scientific authority, has largely
supplanted the use of strong medi
cines in easing cold symptoms. Per
haps the easiest
way yet discovered.
But get genuine
BAYER Asr
spurn.
15!
IFOR 12 TABLETS
2 FULL DOZEN 2So
Two Examples
When you see a good man, think
of emulating him; when you see a
bad mem, examine your own
heart.—Confucius.
US SO BAD
CROWDS HEART
“My bowols wore wo glogglali and ay
■Romoeh ao bod X was Jot ndsorabla. Soma-
ttmaa gas bloated ma until It crowded my
haart. X triad Adlarika. Oh, what rsHaL
Tha tat doaa worked Uka magic. Adlarika
removed the gas and waste matter and my
stomach fait so good."—Mrs. 8. A. McAmls.
If gas in your stomach and bowels bloats
you up until you coop for breath, taka a
tableapoonful of Adlerika and notice how the
stomach OA8 la relieved almost at once.
Adlerika often moves tha bowels in lees thar.
two hours. Adlerika is BOTH carminative
and cathartic, carminative* to worm and soothe
the stomach and expel GAS, cathartics to
dear tha bowels and relieve intestinal nerva
pressure. Becominended by many doctors fat
aft years. Get genuine Adlerika today.
Sold at all drag start*
Affinity of Friendship
Friends follow the laws of di
vine necessity; they gravitate to
each other.
Mother-1
Relieve
TOUR CHILD'S
COLD
discomfort!
Penetro has from
two to three times
as. much medica
tion as any other
nationally sold
salve for cold dis
comfort.
That’s one reason
it is used by st>
many mothers in
America and ST
foreign countries.
Always demand
stainless, snow-
white Penetro.
PENETRO
MERCHANDISE
Must Be GOOD
to be
Consistently Advertised
BUY ADVERTISED GOODS