University of South Carolina Libraries
McCORMICK MESSENGER. McCORMICK. S. C.. THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 1939 By LEMUEL WHO’S NEWS THIS WEEK F. PARTON "NJEW YORK.—Not all the news these days has to do with fight ing and contention among the na tions. On a week-end run to Wash ington, this writer found Brazil borrow ing Walter Ten nyson Swingle, America’s 68-year-old plant wizard, in a unique and friendly deal which probably will ring more cash regis ters than would Mussolini if he swallowed all the Balkans in one gulp. Plant Wizard to Brazil to Grow Goodwill Fruit Busy all over the world for 40 years or more, Mr. Swingle has created enough new wealth with his plant conjuring to build a sizable battle fleet. Brazil, getting on Uncle • Sam’s cuff for $120,000,000, breaks precedent among debtor nations by immediately getting busy in a long- range effort to set up a favorable trade balance and get square with the export-import bank. She thinks Mr. Swingle can show her how to grow many things which we urgent ly need. Furthermore, she intends to become entirely independent of aggressor nations, not by ersatz or by a strong-arm economy, but by scientific utilization of her natural resources in soil and climate. Mr. Swingle departs for Brazil with the sanction and co-operation of the department of agriculture. His ex penses are paid by the Brazilian government. Tung oil trees, rubber and quinine will get Mr. Swingle’s immediate attention. Brazil thinks that, with some expert coaching by Mr. Swingle, she can bring all these through as negotiable assets in interest or amortization day. It looks to this observer like a sunny break in the blizzard of screwball eco nomics which has been sweeping over the world. The above will be just a starter. Mr v Swin gle’s research will cover virtual ly the entire range of Brazilian agriculture and forestry. tn Search of Plante for U. S. A native of Pennsylvania, a bota nist, educated at the Kansas State agricultural college, he became an “agricultural explorer” for the Unit- — ed States gov- Toared World ernment in 1902 working in near ly every coun try in the world. He brought Egyptian cotton to Ari zona and Acala cotton to California, and helped establish the date indus try in the latter state. In Florida, he achieved miracles of hybridiza tion in citrus fruits. He added im measurably to the knowledge of pol- lenization, hopped up the seeing power of the microscope, and, in French, German, and English, wrote authoritative treatises on plant pathology, cytology, taxonomic bot any and citrus propagation. His fame is widely international and he is a member of every important sci entific society in his field. A homespun American, he is as clubby as a suburban garden er, exchanging garden lore over the back fence with his neigh bor. His export of ideas and seeds and cuttings has yielded vastly more goodwill and tangi ble wealth than our exports of scrap iron, and his imports have run up into billions. npWO years ago, it appeared that John Logie Baird, the mop-haired garret inventor who took the lead in British television, was running sec- „ . „ , . ond to other in- Sunset Red and venters. The Morning Gray; postmaster gen- A Start On Way e** 1 A ruled against him in picking the Marconi-Emi system for the British Broadcasting corpora tion. But now his system is work ing in London motion picture thea ters and his representatives are here to install it in several Broadway houses. The son of a Scottish country parson, in an old tweed coat and slacks, he lived meagerly in a dark soho attic and worked with a set of carpenter’s tools, a vac uum tube and a few magnets, with no results. When he start ed thinking his way through a problem, he went to bed. He had been in bed a couple of weeks, when, almost despairing, he saw a red sunset through the window. That suggested a take off from the infra-red zone of the spectrum. On February 3, 1923, he flashed a picture across the ocean, a ghost face flickering on the wall of the dark cellar of A. M. Hart, of Hartsdale, N. Y. In the old days, his trousers were patched, his hair was a brush heap, and he usually had one sock droop ing. Now, as president of Baird Television, Ltd., he is slicked up a lot, and, according to all accounts, is becoming a magnate. “Sunset red and morning gray start the trav eler on his way.” e Consolidated News Feature*. WNU Service. i-aul. Nature Made to Order by Movieland Technicians Nature is merely a pawn in the hands of Hollywood movie technicians who make it rain or snow, and even make the grass grow—all at a moment’s notice. A downpour was one of the desired effects in a production star ring Merle Oberon, left, but rainfalls are somewhat unruly. So the whole company moved indoors. There in the studio a complete countryside was rebuilt and overhead sprinklers were installed. Wind machines scat tered the water and gave the “even downpour” effect. Cameramen had to don oilskins. Miss Oberon (pictured in circle) is braving an indoor Hollywood “rainstorm,” manufactured to order. NO CAR—NO WORK Comfort? Home Was Never Like This Because Sir Reginald J. T. Hild- yard, governor of Bermuda, was un able to persuade the Bermuda as sembly to allow him the use of an automobile on the island he recently tendered his resignation to the Brit ish colonial secretary’s office. He will retire in September, before his normal term of five years expires. When easy-going William Porter, 59-year-old odd job man of East St. Louis, 111., decides to rest a bit, he really wants to rest. He has designed an easy chair equipped with 17 (at the last.count) acces sories. Built from the frame of an old bed, the chair contains a built-in radio, book case, fan, food compartment, bar, gear shift for raising and lowering the back, and many other conveniences. Porter plans on adding still more as he thinks of them. New Mexico U. Plans Anniversary Celebration The Estufa is a well-known landmark on the campus of the state university at Albuquerque, N. M., where Harold L. Ickes, secretary of the interior, will deliver the commencement address early in June, in connec tion with the dedication of new campus buildings. The Estufa is used as an initiation center by a Greek letter fraternity, and it is the boast of members that no member of the opposite sex has ever set foot in the building. Nation’s No. 1 Trailer Family at Home All the comforts of home are claimed by R. F. Vale, head of the nation’s No. 1 trailer family, who is busy working at his lathe during a short stop in Washington, D. C. Mrs. Vale, busy with housework, is aided by her daughters. The two youngest children were born in the trailer, and none can remember any other home. Mrs. Vale super vises the children’s education. HAPPY REUNION When Jerry McDonald, six, moved from Chicago to New York, neigh bors promised to send his Boston terrier on to him. When they failed to do so Jerry’s mother notified Chi cago police, who took possession of the dog and shipped him to the boy’r home in a big crate. Star Dust ★ Sleuthing for Talent ★ A Glutton for Doing ★ Typical Actor at Four By Virginia Vale I F A stranger bobs up in your town and begins asking people to take screen tests, don’t be surprised; just blame it on Jesse Lasky, who began making pictures way back in the early days. Probably you’ve listened to his “Gate way to Hollywood” on the air, and perhaps you heard the final result of that search for movie talent—the selection of Rowena Cook and Ralph Bowman as the two fortunate young people whose names will be changed to “Alice Eden” and “John Archer,” with the leading roles in the picture, “Career,” as their first screen ap pearances under these names. Six other contestants were given contracts, and the search- for new faces for the screen will probably be taken up again by some of the big producing companies. About every so often this search seems like a good idea to the movie-mak ers; usually it is practiced for a while, with plenty of ballyhoo and re sults that are anything but spec tacular, and very little in the way of real talent is brought into the studios. Carrying it on with the aid of radio, as Mr. Lasky has done, may be the solution. Certainly there are plenty of potential movie stars in our midst, and all they need is a chance to make good. —&— Jean Parker seems to be the pub lic’s favorite actress for the roles of file heroines of Gene Stratton Por ter’s novels. She appeared recently JEAN PARKER in “Romance of the Limberlost,” and was signed recently by Mono gram to do “Her Father’s Daugh ter,” by the same author. ^ “Never a dull moment” seems to be Leslie Howard’s slogan these days. Playing a leading role in “Gone With the Wind” isn’t enough to keep him really busy, it seems, so he has signed with Selznick In ternational to act as associate pro ducer on “Intermezzo” and play the leading role as well. It is scheduled to go into production early in May, and he is spending his spare time on pre-production plans. There’s an amusing story going around about Sally Eilers’ four- year-old son, one that would indi cate that he’s losing no time in acquiring the typical actor’s point of view. He made his screen debut in “They Made Her a Spy,” his mother’s latest picture. And when he was shown some of the rushes he demanded, like any actor greedy for close-ups, “Where’s more shoots of me?” —&— Seems hard to believe, but Major Bowes’ “Capitol Theater Family Hour” celebrated its 852nd week on the air recently. It’s the oldest of the broadcasts, and the Major de serves a few bouquets for the way he has handled it. & Columbia is coming to the aid of all of us who have been complaining about the short pictures that we have to sit through in order to see the long ones. They are prepar ing a series of six, to be called “Fools Who Made History,” which will deal with men whose ideas real ly helped the human race, although their contemporaries thought they were slightly haywire. The first will be based on the work of Dr. Mor ton, who discovered anesthesia. —*— When Don Ameche was in the East he went to Connecticut and bought himself a house; Connecti cut is now practically a second Radio City, what with practically all radio stars either buying or renting there. But just when Mr. Ameche is going to find time to en joy that house ts a puzzling ques tion, for Hollywood apparently can’t get along without him; he seems to make twice as many pictures as anybody else does. & ODDS AND ENDS—That new “Au thor! Author!” program that is broadcast on Friday evenings promises to be almost as popular as “Information Please” ... And “Information Please” has made it practically impossible to get a dinner party together on Tuesday evenings if there's not a radio in the dining room ... “ff hat’s My Name?” which recently left the air, will return to take Fred Allen's place when he goes on vacation. C Western Newspaper Union. 1 Curtaining Windows To Increase Width By RUTH WYETH SPEARS A READER living on a rural route in South Dakota writes me: “My parlor is 16 by 14 feet and has an 8 foot ceiling. Right in the center of the 16 foot wall are two windows, each 6 feet high and 3 feet wide. They are only 1 foot apart and 1 foot from the ceiling. How should I curtain these windows? Should the drapes AN OUTLINE DRAWMG Of WALL MADE TO SCALE SHOWS THAT WINDOWS ARE BADLY SR4CED AND SHOULD LOOK WIDER THE TWO WINDOWS TREATED AS A UNIT- DRAPES EXTEND 6"OVER WUL AT SIDES cover the 1 foot space between them? How long should they be? Would you extend the drapes nearer the ceiling? I have been advised to do this.—S. A.” These questions are nice and definite and all dimensions are given. A scale drawing was made a little larger than the one shown here; Vs inch to a foot. This showed immediately that the win dows needed to look wider rather than higher. By framing them with a valance and side drapes to the floor they are made into a unit of pleasing proportions. Give your own home a fresh start with new curtains; slipcov ers; and other smart new touches, which you will find in Book 1, SEWING, for the Home Decora tor. Book 2, Gifts, Novelties and Embroidery, illustrates 90 em broidery stitches and many ways to use them. They are 25 cents each; with each order for both books, Crazypatch Leaflet showing 36 authentic embroidery stitches is included FREE. Address, Mrs. Spears, 210 S. Desplaines St., Chi cago, 111. AROUND THE HOUSE Reviving Serge. — Blue serge suits can be revived by sponging with vinegar and water before they are pressed. • * • Important Trifle.—A pinch of salt added to hot starch will give a high glow. * • * Scorched Linens. — To remove light scorches from linens, wet the stained area with cold water and expose it to the sun until the stain disappears. • • • Renovating Shades.—A coat of flat oil paint will prolong the life of window shades. * • • A Treat for Plants.—A little am monia in the water once a week when giving the plants their drink will keep the soil sweet and the leaves glossy. Can’t Eat, Can’t Sleep, Awful Gas PRESSES HEART "Oss on my stomach was so bad Z could not eat or sleep. It eren pressed on my heart. A friend suggested Adlerik*. The first dose bronght mo relief. Now I eat as Z wish, sleep fine, and neTer felt bettor.’’-- Mrs. Jas. Filler. Adlerika acta on BOTH upper and lower bowels. Adlerika gives your intestinal system a real cleansing, bringing out waste matter that may have caused GAS BLOATING, aour stomach, headaches, nervousness, and sleepless nights for months. You will be amased at this efficient intestinal cleanser. Just one spoonful usually^ rekevee GAS and constipation. Adlerika does not Select Few Better be with a few who an right, than with many who are wrong.—Jarvis A. Wood. SNOW-WHITE PETROLEUM JELLY The Real Test It is much harder to be honest with yourself than with others. • The best place to start your shop ping tour is in your favorite easy- chair, with an open newspaper. Make a habit of reading the advertise ments in this paper every week. They can save you time, energy and xnonay. SHOPPING Tour